Canon 5D Mark III

I sold my 5D II and ordered a new III. I am going to Africa in August and just couldn't resist upgrading the II. I hope the faster AF and frame rate will be useful with wildlife. Anyone else using this camera for nature photography, either landscapes or wildlife? What do you like and dislike the most?

I've had my 5D Mark III for a few months now. What do I dislike the most? Wish it was 8 FPS or more, but that is certainly not a deal breaker. The camera performs extremely well. Great High ISO performance, the AF system is the best Canon has to offer as of today. I have a friend who is a superb bird photographer (flight) who owns a 1D Mark IV and the 5D Mark III. While the Mark IV is certainly no slouch, in every AF challenge, the 5D Mark III surpasses the Mark IV. The image quality is stunning. See a few of my posts in Avian for examples. Huge crops hold up just fine. Here is a link to a crop that is about 11% of the original frame . I don't think you will be disappointed!

I haven't used it extensively yet, but I like the couple of high ISO samples I've shot quite a bit.

Colin, where are you headed on your trip? I'll be in Africa in August as well, hitting a few spots in South Africa over three weeks.

Max

Thanks Keith, that is encouraging. The Crossbill shot is amazingly sharp.
Max, I am going to Kenya with the Joe VanOs group. Masai Mari and a couple of other spots. August 24th through Sept 8.

Colin,
I posted this on NPN a while back after spending time in the field with my 5DIII - I had upgraded from the 5DII as well.

http://goo.gl/NDMwH

I've not changed my opinion at all since that post. About the only nit I have is the zoom feature - the button moved to the left side of the back of the camera among the other buttons - it's a bit more cumbersome when reviewing an image for sharpness, and not as intuitive. I'll get used to it at some point.

There have been some discussions on the fact that it will not take advantage of the super high speed SD cards. I don't shoot video or a lot of wildlife, so it's not an issue for me. It will use the full speed of the fastest CF cards. I like having two card slots for even more capacity, even if they are a different format.

I have been impressed with how sharp my images have been. The biggest downside is that there are so many bells and whistles it'll take a while as to what settings you like - read up and play before you go on your trip! I was hoping for more out of the low noise at high iso, but haven't played with it much yet.

I am sure it is a good upgrade for both wildlife and landscape Colin, but the high price has kept me from upgrading so far. If it would have had more pixels I probably would have made the move, now I'd rather wait till there are more real world reviews on the 1DX and take it from there.

I upgraded as well and I've been impressed by the performance with the high ISO (I was shooting at 8000 ISO by mistake and was pretty impressed with it, they're not printable but they aren't a total loss) as well as the AF. I really wish they hadn't changed the zoom on playback but that's my only nit. I am also impressed with it's durability. I took it on a workshop in Costa Rica and thought I'd tightened it with the 70-200 f/2.8 into the ballhead but I didn't, it fell about 6 feet to concrete (had to be the only place we were actually on concrete) this was the first day of a 2 week workshop. I was able to separate the lens and the camera and use the camera for the rest of the trip although changing lenses was a challenge. When I got back it needed $1500.00 worth of repairs but all the images were just fine.

Thanks for the replies folks. I also think that the playback button being moved to the left back of the camera and than magnification advanced by the righthand/wheel is a bit clumsy, but maybe it will keep me from "chimping" so much in the field. Everything else about the III seems positive. It arrives on Monday.

Hi Colin, Hope you had a great time in Africa, taking great photos with your newly purchased camera 5D III. I would like to know your experience with 5D III and would like to see some images of your trip to Africa.

Hi Colin, Hope you had a great time in Africa, taking great photos with your newly purchased camera 5D III. I would like to know your experience with 5D III and would like to see some images of your trip to Africa.