Review: Nikonian Wedding Pro Reviews the 5DIII

[Asher Kelman]

An interesting take on the new camera. I have highlighted the parts that I found remarkable from a Nikon Photographer.

Originally Posted by Ryan Brenizer

Right now, Canon is primarily competing with the Nikon D800. At $500 cheaper and with a high-resolution, high dynamic range sensor, the D800 will be a tempting option for most users. For someone like me who takes more than a quarter million photos a year, the idea of a sensor that only shoots 36MP is a non-starter.

More importantly, Canon has built a near-perfect wedding camera. Great at high ISOs, accurate and customizable autofocus, speedy and quiet operation and with versatile RAW resolution, this camera is finally a worthy companion to Canon’s huge array of lenses. On either the Nikon or Canon side, you can’t use the camera as an excuse anymore.

Source

Amazingly he uses a Nikon flash with his 5D III

Interestingly, he feels that Canon does not do as well with shadows when one purposely underexposes, one can't recover them without banding. This is significant when shooting for silhouettes. It's really worthwhile reading his comments and looking at his pictures.

Asher

[Asher Kelman]

So what would one want solved with the 5DII? With live view, for studio photographers, one can get around four and even use MF most of the time. But to most event photographers it's going to be quirky focus. When that moment happens, missing it now means losing it forever.

So here's what fine wedding photographer and Nikonian friend Ryan Brenizer reports.

Originally Posted by Ryan Brenizer

Autofocus
Has Canon finally fixed the autofocus in the 5D line? In a word? Abso-freaking-lutely. The autofocus is accurate, fast, and a pleasure to use — in some ways moreso than the Nikon D3s. I immediately turned off all sensors except the extra-sensitive cross-type sensors — and still had 41 left! Combined with the joystick, I never have to play the focus and recompose game very much unless I want my point of focus to be at the very edge of the frame. And even then I can get it close enough to not compromise the accuracy of my focal plane, which can matter when you’re shooting with a lens like the 50mm f/1.2L

I shot parts of two wedding receptions with the 5D, using my Nikon SB-900 as a flash. I almost always shoot manual mode, which works fine with that combination, but the Canon can’t trigger any sort of AF assist beam on the Nikon flash. A dark reception with people dancing around is a nightmare scenario, and one that often frustrated 5D and 5DII users, but even without an AF assist beam the 5DIII worked really, really well, capturing lots of great moments even at f/1.2

Ryan Brenizer: 50mm f/1.2L, f/1.2, 1/200th, ISO 4000

With permission

To me, this makes the new Canon 5D Mark IIII DSLR worth serious consideration for any event photographer, even if it was the only improvement.

Asher

[Asher Kelman]

The next special feature that the 5DIII pleases our Nikonian is the tracking of focus. I admit, I don;'t use this on the 5D or 5DII but now I have to rethink this if the 5DIII is in my future. Ryan finds it works for him getting the shots as people in the wedding or not posing and he still grabs the shots as they move and they are in focus.

Ryan Benizer: Can 5D III, 135mm f/2L, f/2, 1/160th, ISO 1250





Ryan Benizer: Can 5D III, 135mm f/2L, f/2, 1/160th, ISO 4000

I so appreciate Ryan allowing us to show his work here. Thanks so much!!

Asher

[Asher Kelman]

It's interesting that a Nikon photographer finds the 36MP size files of the D800 to much of an overhead in storage space for wedding photography where the tiny amount of extra resolution can't really be seen in the pictures that are needed for the job at hand!

Asher