So I took the 5D MkIII to Loftus for some Super Rugby .....

[SimonDP]

.....with the Bulls taking on the Brumbies and me taking on the game with my trusty 1D MkIV and a loaner 5D MkIII from Sean. Idea was to compare the high ISO noise and AF tracking capabilities of the 5D MkIII. How did it go? I was surprised...........!

[BrerFox]

..... and so are we, Simon!

[Andrew Aveley]

How surprised, and the reason.......

[Roberto]

I was surprised...........!

Yes, could you shed some more light?

[kappaj]

Don't just leave us hanging there !!! Share share share!

[Francois Retief]

Yes - we are also surprised that Sean gave you his brand new 5D3 on loan for the day

[Hannes Thirion]

http://www.actionimage.co.za/2012_super15_rugby.htm

[Forgiss - Sean Nel]

Wow... Simon ... that was a bloody good teaser!

[SimonDP]

A teaser it will remain for some time, and I could have elaborated a little more, couldn't I?
I promised Sean a quick write-up with samples and comparing it to my 1D MkIV.
And sorry Hannes - those shots on my website are all from the 1D MkIV.

Yes - we are also surprised that Sean gave you his brand new 5D3 on loan for the day

He practically begged me to test it out. He also still thinks I'm returning it.

This is however one 5D MkIII sample, cropped about 15%, resized, USM 60/0.5/6, saved level 7. Exif 500/4 L, 1/640, f4 ISO3200 :

[Anonymous]

Colour me unimpressed.

[CarlNicholson]

Following

[Forgiss - Sean Nel]

Colour me unimpressed.

Not sure what this means? could you elaborate?

[Anonymous]

Not sure what this means? could you elaborate?

I'm unimpressed with the colour.

[Forgiss - Sean Nel]

I'm unimpressed with the colour.

Hahahaha... ok...

I am not to worried about the colour because that you set up as you like it. What I wanted Simon to test was how well the AF picks up, how strong it will track and then how well does the low light/high ISO performance stack up in something like the Artificial light of the stadium.

Essentially, I don't think the 5DmkIII is a sports or wildlife camera, but I have been unexpectedly impressed with how well it handles in those fields. I wanted somebody that actually works in these scenarios to test it out and give me an opinion. I really doubt that anybody would be replacing a 1-series for a 5-series, but my gut feel was that the 7D might be in danger to be replaced as a backup (but maybe not as a primary if that is what you are shooting more because a: the 7D is less than half the price and b: a 1DmkIII is a seriously nice cam and secondhand very good value for money if that is your main goal...)

For my type of shooting, it's a no brainer... it's a brilliant upgrade. But for other uses, is it capable?

[SimonDP]

I'm unimpressed with the colour.

The shot posted was a straight from the camera L-jpg, all I did was to resize and save at an acceptable level for the file size. Colour is really quite accurate, the issue here is mainly the AWB setting which I didn't bother to change registering a K value of 4850 vs 5050 which I use under the lights at Loftus. My short review will have the usual developed samples attached. Anyway enough for now, work awaits me.

[Nqina Dlamini]

The shot posted was a straight from the camera L-jpg, .......

I think its a tongue-in-cheek thing about the "BLUE" bulls.

[kobuspotgieter]

For my type of shooting, ... it's a brilliant upgrade.

Serious ??

The AF upgrade and the shooting speed upgrade from the 5D2 to 5D3 is brilliant. But assume that your type of shooting don't need it and the reason you let someone else test that ?

For the rest I cannot see the brilliance. Not that it is worse, just not "a brilliant upgrade".

Maybe you can elaborate on what makes the 5d3 so much better than a 5d2 for your type of shooting.

[Forgiss - Sean Nel]

Serious ??...
Maybe you can elaborate on what makes the 5d3 so much better than a 5d2 for your type of shooting.

Well... where to start...

I think the feature I like most is the low light performance and Image Quality. I think it's a solid stop better, some say 2 stops. If you are willing to get a JPEG as a result, it's even more. To me, that means that you can handhold inside a cathedral, for instance, and get high MP images that can sell. For a wedding photographer, it means lots more "non-flash" shots, and available light shots.

The rest are more "feature upgrades" - doing the old stuff better...

AF is down to -2EV

AF sensors lock nice and solid, even with backlight and lowlight. The AF also feels generally sharper than the old 5DmkII (had both running with the same lenses side by side, and swopping cameras every few seconds to get a "gut feel" for AF response) I think the 41 cross type sensors, 5 double cross type etc has a little something to do with that...

The AF point coverage is also 10% or something like that wider

AF Sensor points can be locked or assigned to rotation (so you can have an AF focus point and mode assigned to portrait left, portrait right or horisontal shooting) this seems arbitrary, but when a shoot picks up speed and you quickly rotate, it's nice to have the focus points more or less set on the eyes, no matter which way you turn the camera. Saves time and keeps the momentum going.

Light meters are waaay more accurate during Av or TV shooting

ISO is much closer to actual ISO than most cameras

The new AF modes track action very well, so if you are shooting movement in studio or on location, it's a much simpler action (think kids on a swing, model walking across a backdrop type shots)

Then there is the results from movie modes (which I like because I actually use it for stock and BTS video) but may not be relevant to the majority of photographers here.

Also, filling the buffer is not so painful... It clears quite fast if you have decent speed cards, and shooting JPEG-L and RAW gives you 7 Shots (closer to 9 because the buffer clears actively) that moves up to about 14 shots if you shoot only RAW

The dual card slots are nice because now you can shoot main images on the CF card and preview shots to ipad's or screens for a creative director to peruse with a JPG-S through a fairly cheap eye-fi.

[Roberto]

...anybody want to buy a 5DII?

[Dodging]

Auto White Balance is way off - the pinks look blue