Are 5DIII users beta testers?

[shizam1]

I was wondering why the 5DIII came out BEFORE the 1DX camera, while having a similar AF unit...

I'm now wondering if Canon wanted people to figure out the quirks of the AF before releasing these features into their more professional body.

Just idle speculation on my part, lot's of companies do this sort of thing. Usually in reverse though, they take the exotic new technology and put it in top tier expensive equipment, and there the bugs are worked out, then production is ramped up and prices come down, and it trickles down to the more mass market people.

 

[Daniel Flather]

No.

 

[Tracy Pinto]

I agree with Daniel. This is a very important launch for a very good company.

The beta testers get their pre-production equipment for testing before sales start.

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

I was wondering why the 5DIII came out BEFORE the 1DX camera, while having a similar AF unit...

I'm now wondering if Canon wanted people to figure out the quirks of the AF before releasing these features into their more professional body.

Just idle speculation on my part, lot's of companies do this sort of thing. Usually in reverse though, they take the exotic new technology and put it in top tier expensive equipment, and there the bugs are worked out, then production is ramped up and prices come down, and it trickles down to the more mass market people.

With the Olympics and the 1DX AF being critical after the 1D3, part of me did wonder, even before the announcements if they might not toss in the new AF and test it first on a non-1 series body. But who knows, it could as easily or more just be how things happened, random, no correlation.

 

[ippikiokami]

Definitely no,

We've been asking for a new AF system. They gave us a new AF system. It's up to us now to find out what works best for us in certain situations. There is already literature out from Canon about the different modes. I've had a 7d and a 1d4 (along with a 5d2 and 1d3 blah blah) and i was really surprised at all the different options for AF this camera has.

The learning curve higher than the 5d2? definitely... But so far the results after figuring a few things out has been more than amazing.

 

[Loswr]

I was wondering why the 5DIII came out BEFORE the 1DX camera...

Because Canon is a publically-traded company and wants to show a profit, and the 5DIII will be much more profitable than the 1D X, based on volume.

Still, implicit in your question is, "Was the 5DIII released before it was ready?" Possibly - there are known issues (acknowledged by Canon) with both the 5DIII and the DPP update that was required to support it.

 

[shizam1]

With the Olympics and the 1DX AF being critical after the 1D3, part of me did wonder, even before the announcements if they might not toss in the new AF and test it first on a non-1 series body. But who knows, it could as easily or more just be how things happened, random, no correlation.

Yeah, I was thinking of the 1DIV as well, and maybe they wanted to make sure everything is 100% before release, at least as far as AF is concerned.

And things are not always caught with internal testing, look at the new Adobe LR4 release, and all the problems came with it? Good job that Adobe came out with some solutions very quickly, but still not good that so many errors slipped through their testing.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

There have been zero major issues found and confirmed with the 5D MK III. There will be some small things that are found, that have easy work arounds. The issue with the software is nasty, but several work arounds exist, and that issue has no impact on the camera itself.

The fact is, that 10 testers working 8 hours a day for a year to test everything will not be able to find issues that 100,000 users find in a week.

 

[jrista]

I was wondering why the 5DIII came out BEFORE the 1DX camera...

Because Canon is a publically-traded company and wants to show a profit, and the 5DIII will be much more profitable than the 1D X, based on volume.

Still, implicit in your question is, "Was the 5DIII released before it was ready?" Possibly - there are known issues (acknowledged by Canon) with both the 5DIII and the DPP update that was required to support it.

I think thats certainly part of it, however I think a lot of Canon's reputation, particularly on the AF front, rides on the performance of the 1D X. I think a more significant part of the 1D X delay is due to the fact that Canon knows they need to perform at least on-par with Nikon's 51pt AF system, and to really make any additional headway in that arena, they need to demonstrate that it is more capable than Nikon's system.

I think you were spot-on in one of your other answers to another thread...that Canon probably cannot add adequately competitive f/8 AF without improving the design of the one used in the 5D III, as its not just a software problem. You have to have phase-detection strips sensitive enough for f/8. I think Canon would have preferred that the 1D X hit the streets far enough in advance of the Olympics such that users would have some time to get used to the new AF system. As things stand now, I think its less about profit margins and more about reputation, and even that will be on the line soon if they can't deliver competitive AF in the 1D X by the time the Olympics start.

 

[wickidwombat]

I certainly feel like a beta tester.

However I have been wondering if this new super complicated AF system is just proving too much for 1 Digic processor and will the 1Dx breeze through it with 2 of them and a dedicated one for metering?

I have to say though that shooting in a studio f8 to f11 iso 100 with studio strobes and using my 50mm f1.4 the 5Dmk3 produced simply stunning results. Its only wide open in ambient light where i'm getting very flakey focusing. obviously at these apertures a few mm front or back are never going to show up its only wide apertures critical focus where i feel let down by the camera.

 

[JR]

I dont think we are beta tester. However it is possible that due to market pressure and Nikon timeline with the D800 that Canon may not have had time to test the mkiii as much as they would have for whatever reason. Remember that last year some of their energy was away from product dev with all the natural disaster in Japan and Asia...

Either that or the new unit is so complex that it requires more user knowledeg to figure out all possible scenario to best use the camera...

 

[EvilTed]

It's not the same AF system as the 1D X, it's part of it.
Therefore, it would be very bad science to try and deduce behavior, don't you think?

As an Engineering Professor would hammer into me 20 years ago, "like with like laddie, like with like"

ET

 

[jrista]

I dont think we are beta tester. However it is possible that due to market pressure and Nikon timeline with the D800 that Canon may not have had time to test the mkiii as much as they would have for whatever reason. Remember that last year some of their energy was away from product dev with all the natural disaster in Japan and Asia...

Either that or the new unit is so complex that it requires more user knowledeg to figure out all possible scenario to best use the camera...

I'd say both are pretty much equal factors. There were certainly a lot of pressures on camera manufacturers due to disasters, however Canon was not the sole victim there. I think the complexity of more advanced technology certainly plays a role. The 7D AF system, for example, is pretty awesome. I upgraded to a 7D from a 450D, and it has taken me a while to fully understand the capabilities of the 19pt AF system. Even understanding all of its capabilities, I personally am still not entirely able to fully realize those capabilities. Learning new technology, especially technology as advanced as a 61pt/41ct AF system with dynamic zones, auto-expanding points, AF-linked metering, etc. will take users time to understand and fully utilize.

 

[fotoworx]

If you are beta testers for Canon testing out the 5DMKIII, just be thankful that you weren't the beta testers for the White Star line testing out the Titanic!

 

[CanineCandidsByL]

Primarily I'd say no because there is little that could be learned in time to implement. Yes, firmware might be tuned slightly based on feedback from 5dm3, but that would just be a case of taking advantage of large sets of data that wasn't previously available.

 

[KeithR]

However I have been wondering if this new super complicated AF system is just proving too much for 1 Digic processor.

Shouldn't think so - Art Morris is gushing in his praise of the 5D Mk III's AF, and the examples he's posting suggest he's not lying.

 

[wickidwombat]

I dont think we are beta tester. However it is possible that due to market pressure and Nikon timeline with the D800 that Canon may not have had time to test the mkiii as much as they would have for whatever reason. Remember that last year some of their energy was away from product dev with all the natural disaster in Japan and Asia...

Either that or the new unit is so complex that it requires more user knowledeg to figure out all possible scenario to best use the camera...

I'd say both are pretty much equal factors. There were certainly a lot of pressures on camera manufacturers due to disasters, however Canon was not the sole victim there. I think the complexity of more advanced technology certainly plays a role. The 7D AF system, for example, is pretty awesome. I upgraded to a 7D from a 450D, and it has taken me a while to fully understand the capabilities of the 19pt AF system. Even understanding all of its capabilities, I personally am still not entirely able to fully realize those capabilities. Learning new technology, especially technology as advanced as a 61pt/41ct AF system with dynamic zones, auto-expanding points, AF-linked metering, etc. will take users time to understand and fully utilize.

I'd be pretty happy if using 1 centre point in spot focus would give me reliable results at the moment let alone all that space ship stuff

 

[nicku]

I was wondering why the 5DIII came out BEFORE the 1DX camera, while having a similar AF unit...

I'm now wondering if Canon wanted people to figure out the quirks of the AF before releasing these features into their more professional body.

Just idle speculation on my part, lot's of companies do this sort of thing. Usually in reverse though, they take the exotic new technology and put it in top tier expensive equipment, and there the bugs are worked out, then production is ramped up and prices come down, and it trickles down to the more mass market people.

Let me tell you something more relevant regarding the topic subject:

I have a good friend that works as an engineer in a car factory... the new SUV model was launched recently. Like many cars/brand lovers i wanted to buy a new car..... i asked my friend about the reliability of the new car.

Hi told me:

Nik, regardless how much we test the prototypes for problems in the series production we will encounter much more problems than we originally predicted . After 6 months of large scale production we evaluate the clients complains/problems and make the first ''full production'' corrective measures. After another 3 months they are fully implemented. ..... So, if you want to buy that car and be much more confident that you will not have any problems wait at least 10 months-1 year from when sales to the population have started.

I pretty much believe this criteria is aplaying even to the DSLR production.

I don;t say that the first cameras that where produced are bad or broken models, i say that the probability to buy a camera with some problems is more high.

 

[the-ninth]

I'd say no as well.

It'd be very difficult for their engineering to get back useful feedback from a broad and untrained customer base.

I think a prolonged beta period of the 1Dx with 50-100 experienced users with good rapport to engineering and clearly defined feedback processes would be much more valuable than a 5DIII with the same AF in the hands of tens of thousands of "normal" users.

Cheers, Robert

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

The fact is, that 10 testers working 8 hours a day for a year to test everything will not be able to find issues that 100,000 users find in a week.

exactly, which is why it might not be crazy to think they, at the very least, didn't mind the 5D3 out first, even if it wasn't directly planned, so the 100,000 users can give it a quick go and they can tweak it's firmware and that for 1DX, if need be, before pre-Olympic release