[Review] EOS 5D Mark III Gets a Third Degree (by DPreview)

DPreview eventually published its 30 pages review (conclusion here) of the EOS 5D Mark III. I won’t anticipate too much here, just point out that the 5D3 has a “very sophisticated AF system with lots of fine-tuning potential and you’ve […] a super-flexible photographic tool that will get the job done on a wide range of assignments“, and that:

It quickly becomes obvious that the Mark III is a totally new camera with significant improvements over its predecessor. The new model takes many user interface elements of Canon’s flagship APS-C DSLR the EOS 7D and combines them with a 22MP full-frame CMOS sensor that is capable of capturing high quality output up to very high sensitivities.

Nevertheless, at DPreview they didn’t like everything the 5D3 has to offer:

We’re disappointed by how the 5D Mark III renders detail in JPEG files, and low-contrast details […] look rather mushy […]. At higher ISOs, noise reduction is more aggressive […] than we would like, resulting in comparatively clean but disappointingly soft images […]. The 5D Mark III’s sensor is capable of excellent results but if you want to get maximum detail you’ll have to shoot and convert raw files.

Well, if you want to get maximum detail you have to shot RAW with any camera. The review has a page dedicated to the video features of the EOS 5D Mark III (made by the people of EOSHD, see video above, click here to read their opinion on the 5D3 video features). For those who are in a hurry: click here for the high ISO review, here for the HDR mode, IQ high ISO comparison here, RAW IQ comparison here. Finally, the EOS 5D Mark III got 82 points out of 100, same as the Nikon D800.

World-wide EOS 5D Mark III availability and order (or pre-order, outside the US) options:

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE