Canon 5D Mk3 Reliability

[GDub]

I've had my 5Dm3 for a year now. Bulletproof!

 

[RLPhoto]

A tank without the tank size.

 

[Harry Muff]

To be fair, I've had to remove the battery on my 5D2 at least once.


I'm sold. Thanks chaps.




Do you think £1000 for a near mint body with about 6000 actuations is fair? Thinking of just doing a 'Buy It Now' and seeing what happens. A lot of the auctions seem to topping out at that, so it might be a nice easy buy for someone.




I'm in London if anybody on here is interested too. Comes with an aftermarket grip. 8)

 

[Dantana]

To be fair, I've had to remove the battery on my 5D2 at least once.


I'm sold. Thanks chaps.




Do you think £1000 for a near mint body with about 6000 actuations is fair? Thinking of just doing a 'Buy It Now' and seeing what happens. A lot of the auctions seem to topping out at that, so it might be a nice easy buy for someone.




I'm in London if anybody on here is interested too. Comes with an aftermarket grip. 8)

With such a clean 5D Mk2, I am curious which new features are prompting an upgrade. I know there are many things improved on the Mk3, but what specifically makes you want to upgrade right now?

I ask partially because the idea of a used Mk2 always seems to work its way into my camera upgrade thoughts, and it would be interesting to know.

 

[Harry Muff]

To be fair, I've had to remove the battery on my 5D2 at least once.


I'm sold. Thanks chaps.




Do you think £1000 for a near mint body with about 6000 actuations is fair? Thinking of just doing a 'Buy It Now' and seeing what happens. A lot of the auctions seem to topping out at that, so it might be a nice easy buy for someone.




I'm in London if anybody on here is interested too. Comes with an aftermarket grip. 8)

With such a clean 5D Mk2, I am curious which new features are prompting an upgrade. I know there are many things improved on the Mk3, but what specifically makes you want to upgrade right now?

I ask partially because the idea of a used Mk2 always seems to work its way into my camera upgrade thoughts, and it would be interesting to know.

Basically, the AF. The 5D2 is more than usable for most stuff, but I do the occasional action shoot too. I always seem to end up doing low light too, so the extra headroom the new sensor gives will be more than useful.

I was blown away by the low light capability of the 5D2 after coming from a 30D so I'm looking forward to the Mk3.

The only other cameras that would tempt me are the 1DX (too expensive), and the D800 (wrong system).

I genuinely think that the original price of the Mk3 was way too much. Yeah, it's better that the Mk2, but it's not DOUBLE the camera the Mk2 is. So I don't see how they could charge £3000 while you could pick up a new 5D2 for around £1500 at the time.


£1850 is more realistic, so I think it's time to jump.




My Mk2 has been flawless, but it's just not a Mk3.

 

[bchernicoff]

Mine came in the first shipment to the US. The only minor thing I have noticed is that the toggle between Live View and Video mode is much harder to move now than when new. Anyone else notice this and if so did you care enough to have Canon look at it?

 

[GuyF]

My 5D III, pre-ordered before release so it was full price, initially under-exposed all shots by about 2/3 of a stop. It went off to Canon for repair/review, and came back within the week working fine.

Since then, it has very occasionally lost the will to focus, but turning it off and on again has cured that.

No other problems, and a real joy to use - particularly if you like low-light photography. I've certainly never regretted the decision to buy.

I keep it in silent shutter mode most of the time - the quietness is a real benefit. Sitting watching a school play when the official (commercial) photography snaps away with his noisy Nikon that can be heard across the room, and thinking I could do that so much more discretely has been a bitter-sweet experience.

Interesting that you say the exposure was under by 2/3rds of a stop - I also feel mine under-exposes too often by about that much but usually put that down to never picking the right metering for the subject! Joking aside, I've been taking pics for probably 30yrs so should've learnt about exposure by now and yet I feel the need to over-expose by half or 2/3rds of a stop almost all the time. I suppose this isn't a vast amount but it does make me frown at times. I wonder if Canon tweaked a software parameter or made a hardware adjustment. Any clues?

Anyone else concerned by their 5D3's metering? (I don't need anyone to tell us all to buy a 1DX instead, yawn.)

 

[klickflip]

So far seems solid - 1yr , feels so much more solid & responsive than mkII and exposure is spot on compared to mkII which always underexposed..

 

[Sporgon]

To be fair, I've had to remove the battery on my 5D2 at least once.
I'm sold. Thanks chaps
Do you think £1000 for a near mint body with about 6000 actuations is fair? Thinking of just doing a 'Buy It Now' and seeing what happens. A lot of the auctions seem to topping out at that, so it might be a nice easy buy for someone.


I'm in London if anybody on here is interested too. Comes with an aftermarket grip. 8)

Harry: you're right with the value on e bay UK. Mint mk2's with box are going for between £1020 and £1100. But my experience with e bay is things like this tend not to sell at 'top book price' if that's the price they are initially set at. I'd go for auction with plenty of close up photos of it.

 

[Dylan777]

I got my 5D III from 1st patch and still running with original firmware - SOLID -

 

[jm977]

Extremely happy with it. It's my second though as I exchanged my first copy after taking it out of the box and looking through the viewfinder for the first time. It had a big chunk of dust or something inside the viewfinder (almost smack in the middle dang it) and didn't think I could live with looking at it not know how long it would take to dislodge and get out of my line of sight.

 

[Deva]

My 5D III, pre-ordered before release so it was full price, initially under-exposed all shots by about 2/3 of a stop. It went off to Canon for repair/review, and came back within the week working fine.

Since then, it has very occasionally lost the will to focus, but turning it off and on again has cured that.

No other problems, and a real joy to use - particularly if you like low-light photography. I've certainly never regretted the decision to buy.

I keep it in silent shutter mode most of the time - the quietness is a real benefit. Sitting watching a school play when the official (commercial) photography snaps away with his noisy Nikon that can be heard across the room, and thinking I could do that so much more discretely has been a bitter-sweet experience.

Interesting that you say the exposure was under by 2/3rds of a stop - I also feel mine under-exposes too often by about that much but usually put that down to never picking the right metering for the subject! Joking aside, I've been taking pics for probably 30yrs so should've learnt about exposure by now and yet I feel the need to over-expose by half or 2/3rds of a stop almost all the time. I suppose this isn't a vast amount but it does make me frown at times. I wonder if Canon tweaked a software parameter or made a hardware adjustment. Any clues?

Anyone else concerned by their 5D3's metering? (I don't need anyone to tell us all to buy a 1DX instead, yawn.)

I'm afraid there was no indication with the returned camera what they had altered.

To convince myself that it wasn't just me not understanding my new camera's metering, I tested it by photographing a neutral grey (gravel) under a cloudy sky - and it came out clearly underexposed. I contacted Canon (through Canon Professional Services), they asked me to send them some sample images, and once they saw them, they said to send the camera in. Back within a week, and exposure has been fine (subject to the usual challenges) since then.

The only oddity about the returned camera was that the shutter count had leapt by about 6,000, although someone else on this forum has explained that this would have happened when the camera picked up on the numbering of a card inserted by the repair workshop, and doesn't mean they took 6,000 photos to get it right!

 

[RGF]

I got my 5D III from 1st patch and still running with original firmware - SOLID -

Dylan

Do you ever upgrade firmware? I tend to keep current but not sure if it is worth the risk (camera gets locked up just at the wrong time).

 

[East Wind Photography]

My 5D III, pre-ordered before release so it was full price, initially under-exposed all shots by about 2/3 of a stop. It went off to Canon for repair/review, and came back within the week working fine.

Since then, it has very occasionally lost the will to focus, but turning it off and on again has cured that.

No other problems, and a real joy to use - particularly if you like low-light photography. I've certainly never regretted the decision to buy.

I keep it in silent shutter mode most of the time - the quietness is a real benefit. Sitting watching a school play when the official (commercial) photography snaps away with his noisy Nikon that can be heard across the room, and thinking I could do that so much more discretely has been a bitter-sweet experience.

Interesting that you say the exposure was under by 2/3rds of a stop - I also feel mine under-exposes too often by about that much but usually put that down to never picking the right metering for the subject! Joking aside, I've been taking pics for probably 30yrs so should've learnt about exposure by now and yet I feel the need to over-expose by half or 2/3rds of a stop almost all the time. I suppose this isn't a vast amount but it does make me frown at times. I wonder if Canon tweaked a software parameter or made a hardware adjustment. Any clues?

Anyone else concerned by their 5D3's metering? (I don't need anyone to tell us all to buy a 1DX instead, yawn.)

I usually shoot 1 to 2 stops over anyway and pull back down in post (as long as highlights are under control) Cuts the noise and banding down to nothing at higher ISO's.

And BTW, the 1DX also underexposes about 2/3 of a stop below the 5D3...but it also has an AE microadjustment setting so it can be tweaked....just sayin'

 

[Deva]

I meant to say, based on my experience, I would suggest having the exposure checked out - other than not having your camera for a few days, there's really nothing to lose. Personally I found having to have 2/3rds of a stop over-exposure permanently dialled in to be a pain, as I prefer to start from a mid-point before I decide whether any under or over-exposure is happening/necessary.

With no particular justification other than proof that I'm happy with the camera's metering now, these are a couple of pictures I took the other week - neither have had any exposure adjustment applied, they're just as they came from the camera. One with my 24-105mm, one with 8-15mm.

 

[mr few shots]

wow an amazing camera
upgraded from the 5DC which is also a very good camera only lacking in the AF Dept for moving subjects.
the silent shutter mode is the best for not spooking wildlife on the 5DIII
The only improvement would be faster frames per second but that is what you pay for in a 1DX
6 FPS is still pretty good especially for 22MP
I have to say when I do my part right the image quality is excellent.
I cannot fault this camera and I have used it vigorously since it was launched.

 

[Dylan777]

I got my 5D III from 1st patch and still running with original firmware - SOLID -

Dylan

Do you ever upgrade firmware? I tend to keep current but not sure if it is worth the risk (camera gets locked up just at the wrong time).

No....still using original firmware(ver: 1.0.7) and original "Light Leak" issue ;D

 

[bdunbar79]

I got my 5D III from 1st patch and still running with original firmware - SOLID -

Dylan

Do you ever upgrade firmware? I tend to keep current but not sure if it is worth the risk (camera gets locked up just at the wrong time).

Still using original firmware(ver: 1.0.7) and original "Light Leak" issue

Me too. My lens cap shots are just terrible. And EWP, I agree with the 1Dx's exposure vs. the 5D3. I confirmed it today. I would say, and I'm speculating, that this is designed such that at 0EV, there are no highlights blown, in evaluative mode. I don't know for sure though. The 1Dx has some added sophistication to its metering system.

 

[RMC33]

wow an amazing camera
upgraded from the 5DC which is also a very good camera only lacking in the AF Dept for moving subjects.
the silent shutter mode is the best for not spooking wildlife on the 5DIII
The only improvement would be faster frames per second but that is what you pay for in a 1DX
6 FPS is still pretty good especially for 22MP
I have to say when I do my part right the image quality is excellent.
I cannot fault this camera and I have used it vigorously since it was launched.

Higher FPS isn't the only thing the 1Dx better... Faster lens focus drive, much better metering, Much better sealing and construction, Dual CF cards ... list goes on. I do like the 5D3 silent shutter for weddings and events where the 1Dx shutter makes too much noise, like shooting golf.

 

[Ahven]

Had quite a few problems with mark III... the first one (just after 3 months of use) was the joystick button falling off. This was deemed a production flaw, but because my warranty is European and I live in South_America now I could not get it fixed which made me pretty furious. Apart from that on a recent trip to Yosemite I trusted its weather sealing and took photos in a little bit of rain. The camera died immediately and I could not get photos of an awesome thunderstorm hike near Half Dome (I wanted those long exposure lightning shots).

So I've had quite many problems, but what makes me nervous is Canons total disregard of my equipment when I'm not in their "warranty zone". I have had many doubts if I can continue working on Canon gear with these experiences. When I get back to Europe I will see if they'll make an exception in their warranty policies because I have already informed about the situation and that I'm coming back a bit after the warranty should be over. If or not I can get my camera fixed under warranty then will play a big role in my decision to continue with Canon.