Canon 5D Mk III Official Thread

2008 5D2 has been very popular in the entertainment industry - the only full-frame with full HD for much of the past 3½ year and the shallow depth of field only FF can deliver.

I'm very surprised that 5D3, 1DX, and Nikon D800 have not broken through the 1080 30p barrier when the entertainment industry is pushing into 48 and 60fps since digital movie projectors are now capable of 144fps.

This leave the door wide-open for a full-frame camera capable of 1080 60p to enter and quite possibly take over the entertainment market. All eyes will be on the two upcoming Sony full-frame cameras since the company has been so aggressively pushing into APS-C 1080 60p HD with phase-detection AF and video silent lenses.

I have yet to find a single person in the entertainment industry who'd seen 60p movie projection not convinced that it is the future - it has the realism filmmakers have been craving for. Here's a video of Cameron talking about the 60fps movies.

4) No flash (even if you buy a mini led flash you will not have sTTL options)

Wouldn't a LED mini flash which uses Canon E-TTL II (EX Series) flash protocol provide S-TTL capability? But a simple led trigger is all that is required to optically sync a top-end strobe like a YS-250.

Wouldn't a LED mini flash which uses Canon E-TTL II (EX Series) flash protocol provide S-TTL capability? But a simple led trigger is all that is required to optically sync a top-end strobe like a YS-250.

Yes it would, but AFAIK there are no such devices. Maybe Heinrich Weikamp or someone like him could build it...

YS 250 does not provide sTTL so yes, a simple led trigger like Carlos Villoch´s or Hedwig Dieraert´s would serve well.

Yes it would, but AFAIK there are no such devices. Maybe Heinrich Weikamp or someone like him could build it...

 

YS 250 does not provide sTTL so yes, a simple led trigger like Carlos Villoch´s or Hedwig Dieraert´s would serve well.

TTL conversion seems to be a bit rare for Canon. Eg Ikelite only makes an external TTl adapter for Nikon, not Canon.

Si I wouldnt get hopes up too high for more than a trigger at best.

Otara

On a somewhat related note, the price of the 5D MkII has now officially dropped with the announcement of the MkIII. B&H's price is now US$2200, down from $2500. If you've been thinking of a new MkII, now may be the time.

-Gina

I want to see a full-on review VS the D800 before I make up my mind on this one.....

Seems like a $1,000 price hike is a bit much for the increased specs I see on paper...... Have to see real images to see if the new kid on the block earns its higher price tag. The D800 is $3k and that was my expectation for the 5DIII.

In the meantime, there are at least double the number of used 5DIIs on eBay this week as there were last week. If they drop much below $1500 for a minty sample, I will seriously consider THAT as my first foray into FF over the III. I've always shot Canon crop (7d currently) since switching to digital a decade ago, but I do miss the large 35mm viewfinder, wide lenses being wide, and of course, the large images.......

Here's hoping that Aquatica (or possibly other manufacturer's, but since I use Aquatica.... ) will have an option to purchase a new backplate, instead of a whole new housing. I imagine that just the back plate will be $1000, but that'd be better than re-buying the entire housing to go from 5D2 to 5D3.

Having said that, I'm not sure if the 5D3 will offer enough of an upgrade to be worthwhile. If they had updated the 1/200 sync speed, then it'd be a no brainer...

I can't see sufficient rationale for a 5D2 owner to upgrade. Yes, a 'nice' to have but maybe not a 'need' to have...

Looking the MkII and MkIII specification comparison on the Canon UK www site, the upgrade would seem to offer AF functionality improvements, 2 stops ISO, HDR in camera, 6 fps (versus 3.9) and a SD slot (useful for separating low-res jpgs for quick review). But I can't see that these features are worth the bucks unless you have the revenue to support the investment.

But as an addition to a couple of 7Ds and a first investment in FX... Bring the MkIII on!!!

Ah Tim, there's also All-I codec, about 1.5 stop of noise performance and improved DR. It's underwhelming compared to the D800's quantum leap from the D700, but I'm happy with 22mp. A few things I don't like is the 150k shutter (having just replaced both my 5D2s!) life since @ 6fps, the frame count will jump faster.

If I can shoot fast action @ ISO1600 cleanly vs ISO800, DOF will jump a stop and the AF improvements, the keeper/loser ratio should improve. It's a great stop gap until Epic Dragon is released, then it'll be 14mp @ 60fps @ 18stops HDR. Who needs DSLR after that?

Ah Tim, there's also All-I codec, about 1.5 stop of noise performance and improved DR. It's underwhelming compared to the D800's quantum leap from the D700, but I'm happy with 22mp. A few things I don't like is the 150k shutter (having just replaced both my 5D2s!) life since @ 6fps, the frame count will jump faster.

If I can shoot fast action @ ISO1600 cleanly vs ISO800, DOF will jump a stop and the AF improvements, the keeper/loser ratio should improve. It's a great stop gap until Epic Dragon is released, then it'll be 14mp @ 60fps @ 18stops HDR. Who needs DSLR after that?

But you are a DSLR video nasty Drew. But I'll get there one day, dragged kicking and screaming with my Aquavolts blazing...

Tim, that's the point.... @ 60fps... I can grab any of those frames as a still! The 2 formats are merging!

Tim, that's the point.... @ 60fps... I can grab any of those frames as a still! The 2 formats are merging!

Do you think Nikon will make one with built-in flash.

Ah Tim, there's also All-I codec, about 1.5 stop of noise performance and improved DR. It's underwhelming compared to the D800's quantum leap from the D700, but I'm happy with 22mp. A few things I don't like is the 150k shutter (having just replaced both my 5D2s!) life since @ 6fps, the frame count will jump faster.

If I can shoot fast action @ ISO1600 cleanly vs ISO800, DOF will jump a stop and the AF improvements, the keeper/loser ratio should improve. It's a great stop gap until Epic Dragon is released, then it'll be 14mp @ 60fps @ 18stops HDR. Who needs DSLR after that?

The video side is the important thing for me. I shoot video and still about equally, and I am really tired of dealing with two cameras. I would go with a GH2, but the housing choices are limited, and the still picture side is a little underwhelming. My guess is that everybody will house the 5D MKIII; the question is who will get there first?

I'm sure I would be happy with an APS-C version of the 5D MKIII (good video, same degree of sensor improvement, same size pixel, just smaller sensor and fewer pixels), but I have my doubts that it will ever happen. Who knows when Canon will update the 7D, and when they do, I bet it will have more pixels than the 5D MKIII, not fewer.

As to the lack of built-in flash, here is where Ikelite really has an advantage with their TTL implementation (all electronic). However, I'm sure somebody will come out with an LED based slave trigger. Of course, the best would be wireless TTL, but that would require entirely new strobes, and I don't know how well the signal would travel underwater (not my area of expertise).

--Mark

5D III vs D800 could be simple decision. Look into your lens bag what's compatible I wouldn't switch my lenses based on one camera generation for average pros and cons. As long as there is nothing substantial missing ...

Radio strobe firing sounds interesting. Would be cool to dive with completely cableless strobe housings

But the required hot-shoe mounted transmitter would give the camera housing a not soo cool design ;-)

Understood the touch control feature is just a second option of adjusting? As long as adjustments can still be made via the wheel we won't face a problem here.

.

 

As to the lack of built-in flash, here is where Ikelite really has an advantage with their TTL implementation (all electronic). However, I'm sure somebody will come out with an LED based slave trigger. Of course, the best would be wireless TTL, but that would require entirely new strobes, and I don't know how well the signal would travel underwater (not my area of expertise).

 

--Mark

Assuming a LED mini-flash where to be developed, firstly it would need to incorporate Canon's native flash protocol if S-TTL functionality where to be achieved otherwise it would be limited to a simple manual trigger and secondly, any housing would have to be equipped with sufficient space above the hot shoe and fibre optic sync ports. Without the latter two, I'd assume the prospect of FO sync on the 5D3 to be dead in the water...

Here is some pictures of Canon 5D mk3 in a Aquatica 5D mk2 UWhousing.

It won't go all the way in, need to remove one of the aperture wheels. But still missing 5mm.

The new buttons on the top is not in the same place.

Mark III in a 5D MkII housing

I think more of the aperture wheels need to go, so the camera can get all the way in.

Here is the wheel I took out. And you can see that the functions wheel is almost the same place.

I think I can get the Mark III to work, but only take pictures. But until Aquatica get a new housing out. The main trigger have to be adjusted a little.

Dag

Dag,

Completely off topic, but what s with the Swedgelock 90 degree elbow ontop of your housing? Using it as a vacuum port??

Erol

Dag,

 

Completely off topic, but what s with the Swedgelock 90 degree elbow ontop of your housing? Using it as a vacuum port??

 

Erol

Yes, I use it for vacuum testing.

Looking at how close it is on the Aquatica - there is probably a pretty good chance on a less "fitted" housing, such as the Ikelite?

Although in January I tried the Nikon D800 in both Subal and Ikelite housings and it wouldn't quite fit in either.

Alex

It's a great stop gap until Epic Dragon is released, then it'll be 14mp @ 60fps @ 18stops HDR. Who needs DSLR after that?

All that sounds good, but it means a change from using stobes to continous lighting. There are some distinct draw back to that.