EOS 5D Mark III strip tease: Perfection where you can’t see it.

What do you do if you rent out a camera and it comes back with a loose screw inside? You probably would send it in to a service center to get the problem fixed. But if you have the necessary technical skills (and you really need this skills) you may also decide to tackle the problem by yourself and to open the camera to find that damned screw that’s rattling around inside. This is what Roger Cicala of lensrentals.com must have thought as he got such a camera body in his hands. It happened to be an EOS 5D Mark III, and he posted the report on imaging-resource.

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EOS 5D Mark III reviews (and problems) small round-up

I still do not have any significant information (from retailers) about the rumored recall/stock delay of the EOS 5D Mark III, while it seems confirmed that new batches of the Mark III have a different top LCD cover (may it have to do with the leaking issue?). However, given the fact that Canon now officially recognizes the light-leaking issue I reported about, we should soon hear something more about. In the mean time, don’t get too much worried about these issues, at least not as long as you are not shooting with mounted lens caps :-). At least the problem with the EOS 5D Mark III RAW files should be resolved by a new version of DPP that is ready for download. But then: It seems that Canon is not the only company that has problems with its recent products! Nikon’s D800 is exploding, and has problems with tethering, colors and memory cards. And while we are waiting for (Canon-)news, why not have a look at the latest EOS 5D Mark III reviews…?

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New DPP (3.11.26) ready for download – UPDATE

A new release of Canon’s DPP (ver. 3.11.26) is available for download. Hopefully this release will solve the problems with EOS 5D RAW files. You have first to select your operating system. Click here to get the software. The download page is getting a lot of visitors, download may be slow.

Update 2: It seems that this release still does not solve the Powershot G1 X softness problem.

Update 1: the new release fixes the following problems:

  • Support for the following new lenses: EF 24mm F/2.8 IS USM, EF 28mm F/2.8 IS USM, EF 24-70mm F/2.8L II USM, EF 500mm F/4L IS II USM, EF 600mm F/4L IS II USM
  • Supports images taken with EOS 5D Mark III and EOS-1D X.
  • Digital lens optimizer function added.
  • Multiple image composition and HDR tools added.
  • Fixed a phenomenon that occurred when processing RAW images (original image properties could not be obtained)
  • Fixes a malfunction that occurs when using the quick check tool to check a large volume of images.

Short EOS 5D Mark III light-leaking update

Let me first say that the much discusses light-leaking issue is nothing that would seriously affect your images. And there is no reason to return your camera or to cancel pre-orders. However, a new 5D Mark III owner wrote to Canon and got this answer:

Further to your enquiry we would like to inform you that we very recently (in April) have become aware of this and is now a known issue with the EOS 5D Mark III model. The AE sensor in the camera detects the light from the LCD panel when it is turned on and the exposure value will be altered. The change is not significant as it will be altered by approximately 1/3rd of a stop but can be noticeable. You can continue to use your 5D Mark III and the LCD screen can be turned off to receive the correct exposure.

Check the videos to learn more…

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Canon’s LeakGate: Canon JP announcement

After Canon USA publishing a quality issue announcement regarding the light-leaking issue of the 5D Mark III, now also Canon Japan has reacted (Google translated) to the problem. They say that the problem raises in dark environment, and dark environment is defined as follows:

  1. If you have installed the body cap
  2. If you attach the lens cap

:-)

My thoughts about this can be read here. Canon is definitely in the heat with the problems the 5D Mark III is having.

EOS 5D Mark III price check (click on shop name): B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA. For a list of shops that have the 5D Mark III in stock click here. See the latest 5D Mark III pics uploaded to Flickr (click here).

EOS 5D Mark III vs Nikon D800 – How do they compare for photo-journalism?

Let’s go in another round of EOS 5D Mark III vs Nikon D800 comparison. Canon is facing hard times these days given the EOS 5D Mark III hardware problem we reported about and have now been officially confirmed. However, there is no reason to return your new 5D Mark III or to cancel pre-orders.

This is the second part on camerastore‘s ongoing field-testing of Canon and Nikon’s new full-frame cameras (I reported about the first part). This time, it is photojournalist Mike Drew who has a look at both cameras in a real-world, photo-event shooting at a horse competition. The setting is challenging: low light and fast moving subjects – the kind of tests I like. Hence, the attention goes mainly to how these cams cope with the issue. Moreover, JPGs are used. For a good reason, since a lot of people prefers to shot JPGs and hence is interested to know how the internal image processing performs.

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