Topic: Michael, have I missed your 5D3 review? (Read 70159 times)

Yakim Peled · « **on:** April 28, 2012, 04:38:09 pm »

Hi Michael,

I searched but couldn't find it. Have I missed it? Please send me a link.

OT: I know it's a smartphone but if you ever get a chance to play with the Nokia 808 I'd be grateful if you could write a few words on it. It interests me a lot.

TIA.

michael · « **Reply #1 on:** April 28, 2012, 04:51:49 pm »

Haven't received one yet. Also, not high on my priority list because it doesn't really move the state of the art forward that much, and given my limited time and resources that's where I'm focused right now, those products that do.

Michael

Yakim Peled · « **Reply #2 on:** April 28, 2012, 05:09:23 pm »

Got it.

Slobodan Blagojevic · « **Reply #3 on:** April 28, 2012, 05:54:04 pm »

Quote from: michael on April 28, 2012, 04:51:49 pm

... because it doesn't really move the state of the art forward that much...

Isn't that a perfect mini-review in itself!

Kirk Gittings · « **Reply #4 on:** April 28, 2012, 06:30:07 pm »

Ouch!

Keith Reeder · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2012, 08:05:48 pm »

I guess it depends on what you're shooting - it seems to do pretty damn' well with things that move around a bit, as Art Morris' recent experiences of it eloquently attest to.

Not being a seminal landscape body doesn't mean it's not a superlative camera.

asf · « **Reply #6 on:** April 28, 2012, 09:17:40 pm »

It's not going to get much love (except from some who use it), that's clear. I got one, like it a lot, it's a fantastically useable camera and a lot better than the II's I've been using the last 3.5 years. The II's are still great and can produce excellent files, I've kept them as backups.
Whatever the test results show doesn't matter much to me, it's much better built, better AF, VF, etc. And I notice less noise at all ASA's.

Will get a second one in 6 months if the 1dx performance isn't noticeably better for my work and Canon doesn't announce something like a 5dx.
If Nikon comes out with lenses to compete with the 17tse and 24tse (and the in camera and tethered live view isn't futzy as I fear it may be) I will happily consider using that system as well, or even switching completely.

Haven't loved any digital camera yet. Really really liked the Alpa a lot, didn't like any digital back that went with it. Last cameras I loved were the Makina 67's and 8x10 Deardorffs I shot in the 90's.

michael · « **Reply #7 on:** April 28, 2012, 09:47:08 pm »

I didn't say that it isn't a worthwhile improvement over the 5DMKII, or that it isn't a worthwhile camera. Only that it covers no new ground and so takes a back seat to those products that do. It also has the misfortune of having come out during the same month as the D800. Who wants to read (or write) a review of the latest Camry when there's a new Jag available for a test drive?

Put another way, the prettiest girl at the dance always gets the most attention. Doesn't mean that's the one that the guys go home with though, or marry.

Do you want to read Consumer's Report or Car and Driver?

And that's enough of those analogies.

Michael

kaelaria · « **Reply #8 on:** April 28, 2012, 10:02:49 pm »

Here, I'll sum it up for you...it's a FF 7D

MatthewCromer · « **Reply #9 on:** April 28, 2012, 11:27:24 pm »

Quote from: kaelaria on April 28, 2012, 10:02:49 pm

Here, I'll sum it up for you...it's a FF 7D

OUCH!

stever · « **Reply #10 on:** April 28, 2012, 11:40:41 pm »

a FF 7D is no bad thing -- at the right price

Yakim Peled · « **Reply #11 on:** April 29, 2012, 04:01:47 am »

Quote from: kaelaria on April 28, 2012, 10:02:49 pm

Here, I'll sum it up for you...it's a FF 7D

Owning a 7D for the past 2 years or so and playing a bit with the 5D3 I could not agree more. I did not like the 5D and 5D2 concept (great sensor in a mediocre body) but this one is a complete package which excel in every point and fails in none. I actually consider it the mythical 3D we've wished for, for so many years.

Yakim Peled · « **Reply #12 on:** April 29, 2012, 04:40:02 am »

Quote from: michael on April 28, 2012, 09:47:08 pm

Put another way, the prettiest girl at the dance always gets the most attention. Doesn't mean that's the one that the guys go home with though, or marry.

I know what you mean. I'd certainly give her all my attention and go home with her and ask her to marry me.

Please don't be crossed. I just couldn't resist.

Chris Pollock · « **Reply #13 on:** April 29, 2012, 06:23:28 am »

Quote from: Yakim Peled on April 29, 2012, 04:01:47 am

I did not like the 5D and 5D2 concept (great sensor in a mediocre body) but this one is a complete package which excel in every point and fails in none.

Ironically the 5D Mark III is a great (or at least good) body with a mediocre sensor. You win some, you lose some.

michael · « **Reply #14 on:** April 29, 2012, 08:03:56 am »

"Ironically the 5D Mark III is a great (or at least good) body with a mediocre sensor."

Ironically, its predecessor the 5D Mark II was the other way round.

Michael

Yakim Peled · « **Reply #15 on:** April 29, 2012, 08:17:02 am »

Quote from: Chris Pollock on April 29, 2012, 06:23:28 am

Ironically the 5D Mark III is a great (or at least good) body with a mediocre sensor. You win some, you lose some.

I don't think so. The sensor of the 5D2 was simply so good that only minor modifications were necessary.

BJL · « **Reply #16 on:** April 29, 2012, 09:10:06 am »

Quote from: michael on April 29, 2012, 08:03:56 am

"Ironically the 5D Mark III is a great (or at least good) body with a mediocre sensor."

Ironically, its predecessor the 5D Mark II was the other way round.

Quote from: Yakim Peled on April 29, 2012, 08:17:02 am

I don't think so. The sensor of the 5D2 was simply so good that only minor modifications were necessary.

Yakim,
I somewhat agree with you that criticism of the 5D3 sensor is a bit exaggerated: the 5D2 had, for its time, a great sensor (maybe even better than that of the well-received 1D3) at a good price, with the main weakness being that Canon cut a few too many corners elsewhere in the body, especially when compared to the D700 and A900 that arrived ~~soon after~~ at about the same time. So Canon's priorities for the 5D3 were understandably along the lines of offering an ”EOS 3" class of body with things like improved AF and VF, which now are Canon's best, not its second best. Oh, and improved video.

But there is one respect in which even that sensor's being "state of the art" when it arrived four years ago is very different from "needing only minor modifications": it was well-noted even then that for some scenes of high subject brightness range, the 5D2 (along with every other sensor in existence then!) could fall short, to the point that this was the one aspect of performance where digital still trailed film, or at least required more careful handling than with film. So Canon's failure to progress in maximum dynamic range is not fully justified by the claim that "only minor modifications were necessary". At least not in a model that is the highest resolution offering in the entire Canon system, and so the best Canon option for some photography of landscapes, architecture, and such.

By the way, it seems that you too have offered your own 5D3 mini-review; all this forum user feedback is even more reason for Michael not to do a review!

32BT · « **Reply #17 on:** April 29, 2012, 09:29:36 am »

Quote from: kaelaria on April 28, 2012, 10:02:49 pm

Here, I'll sum it up for you...it's a FF 7D

LOL, funny. Would be really funny though if it had the corresponding 46 mpx so we would get endless discussions about mpx vs dr.

michael · « **Reply #18 on:** April 29, 2012, 09:35:01 am »

As I wrote, the 5D MKIII sensor would have been fine if it didn't have the D800 to contend with. But, this is a marketplace issue, not one related to the ability of the camera and sensor to produce great IQ, which the MKIII certainly can.

start of metaphor

As the saying goes, I wouldn't kick it out of bed. But the beautiful girl from the dance sure has captured a lot of people's fantasies.

end of metaphor

Michael

Yakim Peled · « **Reply #19 on:** April 29, 2012, 09:37:29 am »

Quote from: BJL on April 29, 2012, 09:10:06 am

Yakim,
I somewhat agree with you that criticism of the 5D3 sensor is a bit exaggerated: the 5D2 had, for its time, a great sensor (maybe even better than that of the well-received 1D3) at a good price, with the main weakness being that Canon cut a few too many corners elsewhere in the body, especially when compared to the D700 and A900 that arrived ~~soon after~~ at about the same time. So Canon's priorities for the 5D3 were understandably along the lines of offering an ”EOS 3" class of body with things like improved AF and VF, which now are Canon's best, not its second best. Oh, and improved video.

But there is one respect in which even that sensor's being "state of the art" when it arrived four years ago is very different from "needing only minor modifications": it was well-noted even then that for some scenes of high subject brightness range, the 5D2 (along with every other sensor in existence then!) could fall short, to the point that this was the one aspect of performance where digital still trailed film, or at least required more careful handling than with film. So Canon's failure to progress in maximum dynamic range is not fully justified by the claim that "only minor modifications were necessary". At least not in a model that is the highest resolution offering in the entire Canon system, and so the best Canon option for some photography of landscapes, architecture, and such.

I am no expert in sensor design. I was only speaking in general terms.

Quote from: BJL on April 29, 2012, 09:10:06 am

By the way, it seems that you too have offered your own 5D3 mini-review; all this forum user feedback is even more reason for Michael not to do a review!

My 5D3 mini-review? Where? I don't recall doing so. I only have an opinion based on reading user reviews and ~1 hour play with it. This will by no means match Michael's experience and knowledge. That's exactly why I was interested in reading his view on it.

Author Topic: Michael, have I missed your 5D3 review? (Read 70159 times)