Moving to the Canon 5D Mark III / and RAW converters
Discussion
3 replies
Posted by Karl Buiter on March 26, 2012 at 12:13 PM
I finally made the move to Full Frame with the 5D Mark III.
Coming from the 7D, I am quite impressed by many of the improvements seen just from one night playing with it on the Las Vegas strip and at the Conservatory in the Bellagio. Super-fast AF; white-balance was much improved; and there was stuff I pushed at 12800 (looked like mush on my friend's D7000 and I could only dream of something on my 7D). Important was the headroom I had shooting moving things in low light - I played comfortably at 1600 without concern. I am also happy to be using lenses the way they are intended to be used - the ranges suddenly make more sense (came from film). I dont have a 5D Mark II, so I cant give you a comparison or tell you if its worth a $1500 upgrade.
One important note (kinda why I posted) - for those looking or having switched - the RAW converters are messed up. The-Digital-Picture reported that Canon's own DPP generates soft images in High Quality mode - going High Speed is the workaround. Still waiting for native compatibility in LR and DxO Optics Pro. The Adobe 6.7 for PS and the batch DNG Converter seem to be the best tools for now.
I'll leave samples to others. I may be in Death Valley next weekend and we'll see what comes of that. My biggest challenge now is to find a UWA replacement for my EFS 10-22 If I can muster the budget, that new Zeiss 15mm may be ticket.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on March 26, 2012 at 1:15 PM
Congrats on the new toy, Karl.
Have you tried manual focus through the viewfinder, or do you always use live view?
Lloyd Chambers on his site just commented about it...
"The focusing screen for manual focus is indeed terrible as some users supposed. It’s very hard to achieve manual focus accuracy— completely unreliable for accurate focus. On the plus side, the focus assist (green dot) feature works pretty well for *some* lenses, but doesn’t work at all for non-chipped lenses (e.g. Zeiss ZF.2 or Leica or anything else with a lens adapter)."
Just a consideration for your Zeiss lens purchase, since the 5D3 does not have interchangeable screens.
I've never changed screens and always used the focus confirm/assist or live view, so it's not an issue for me, assuming the assist still works with Canon TS-E lenses ?
Posted by Karl Buiter on March 26, 2012 at 1:55 PM
I am often in Manual Focus for landscape. Fortunately my long eyesight is 20/15 so the viewfinder works well. I do like Live View but my near sight is going to crap (bi-focal here I come!) - but zooming way in and checking is still in my range. Nevertheless it is a consideration.
The ZE version of the Zeiss 15mm apparently is chipped and has the ability to show the focus confirmations; but I got to learn more about that. I have also been mulling over the ZF.2 version with manual aperture ring and Nikon compatibility but I get the sense the Canon version would be easier to deal with for just that reason.
Initially I was thinking a direct 1:1 trade 16-35 II for the 10-22. But I have been rather unhappy with the corner softness reviews and frankly I am looking for something special. My histogram of previous shots with the crop 10-22 show a large portion in the 10mm slot, and then not so many until I get to crop 14 or 15mm which equates to 22-24. I know there has been more than a few times that a couple more degrees of angle would have helped. If I get the Zeiss, I'll probably just keep the 10-22 and fill in my FF needs with more primes (the 21) or TS-E (the 17) over time
I heard the 5D3 doesnt have interchangeable screens. But coming from the 7D, not yet sure what I am missing.
There is a thread on Fred Miranda (topic 1099192) that suggests strongly that the MF-assist is very good with the much improved 1DX-borrowed AF system. I suppose some additional evidence and my own use of MF will be helpful - but this is very promising.
Discussion
3 repliesComing from the 7D, I am quite impressed by many of the improvements seen just from one night playing with it on the Las Vegas strip and at the Conservatory in the Bellagio. Super-fast AF; white-balance was much improved; and there was stuff I pushed at 12800 (looked like mush on my friend's D7000 and I could only dream of something on my 7D). Important was the headroom I had shooting moving things in low light - I played comfortably at 1600 without concern. I am also happy to be using lenses the way they are intended to be used - the ranges suddenly make more sense (came from film). I dont have a 5D Mark II, so I cant give you a comparison or tell you if its worth a $1500 upgrade.
One important note (kinda why I posted) - for those looking or having switched - the RAW converters are messed up. The-Digital-Picture reported that Canon's own DPP generates soft images in High Quality mode - going High Speed is the workaround. Still waiting for native compatibility in LR and DxO Optics Pro. The Adobe 6.7 for PS and the batch DNG Converter seem to be the best tools for now.
I'll leave samples to others. I may be in Death Valley next weekend and we'll see what comes of that. My biggest challenge now is to find a UWA replacement for my EFS 10-22 If I can muster the budget, that new Zeiss 15mm may be ticket.
Have you tried manual focus through the viewfinder, or do you always use live view?
Lloyd Chambers on his site just commented about it...
"The focusing screen for manual focus is indeed terrible as some users supposed. It’s very hard to achieve manual focus accuracy— completely unreliable for accurate focus. On the plus side, the focus assist (green dot) feature works pretty well for *some* lenses, but doesn’t work at all for non-chipped lenses (e.g. Zeiss ZF.2 or Leica or anything else with a lens adapter)."
Just a consideration for your Zeiss lens purchase, since the 5D3 does not have interchangeable screens.
I've never changed screens and always used the focus confirm/assist or live view, so it's not an issue for me, assuming the assist still works with Canon TS-E lenses ?
I am often in Manual Focus for landscape. Fortunately my long eyesight is 20/15 so the viewfinder works well. I do like Live View but my near sight is going to crap (bi-focal here I come!) - but zooming way in and checking is still in my range. Nevertheless it is a consideration.
The ZE version of the Zeiss 15mm apparently is chipped and has the ability to show the focus confirmations; but I got to learn more about that. I have also been mulling over the ZF.2 version with manual aperture ring and Nikon compatibility but I get the sense the Canon version would be easier to deal with for just that reason.
Initially I was thinking a direct 1:1 trade 16-35 II for the 10-22. But I have been rather unhappy with the corner softness reviews and frankly I am looking for something special. My histogram of previous shots with the crop 10-22 show a large portion in the 10mm slot, and then not so many until I get to crop 14 or 15mm which equates to 22-24. I know there has been more than a few times that a couple more degrees of angle would have helped. If I get the Zeiss, I'll probably just keep the 10-22 and fill in my FF needs with more primes (the 21) or TS-E (the 17) over time
I heard the 5D3 doesnt have interchangeable screens. But coming from the 7D, not yet sure what I am missing.
There is a thread on Fred Miranda (topic 1099192) that suggests strongly that the MF-assist is very good with the much improved 1DX-borrowed AF system. I suppose some additional evidence and my own use of MF will be helpful - but this is very promising.