Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital Camera Review

Kit Lens & Mount

The kit lens on the 5D Mark III is the same as on the Mark II: the Canon EOS 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. This lens is great to shoot with, providing a very useful wide to portrait telephoto focal length. It has the USM motor and is ultra-quiet when autofocusing, benefiting greatly from the improved 61-point AF system in the Mark III. It offers a continuous maximum aperture of f/4 all the way through the focal length range. That gives it more utility when used for portraits, landscapes, and other similar shots. Pairing the kit lens with Canon's EF 35mm f/2 for around $350 more is a great way to get the shallow depth of field effects without breaking the bank on top of an already pricey camera.

The 5D Mark III is a full-frame camera utilizing Canon's EF lenses. It cannot accommodate EF-S lenses, as those are designed to work with some smaller cameras such as Canon's Rebel series. Those upgrading to the Mark III will want to keep that in mind, as some of their smaller lenses may not work on the Mark III.

Sensor

The sensor on the Canon EOS 5D Mark III is a 22.1-megapixel full frame CMOS image sensor, with improved gapless microlens technology. The pixel size has shrunk somewhat from the 5D Mark II, but the improved processing and sensor construction should combat this. It features a fixed low pass filter along with a dust deletion and sensor cleaning functionality.

Convergence areas of different sensor sizes compared

Viewfinder

The viewfinder on the Canon EOS 5D Mark III has improved from the 98% coverage model on the Mark II to now provide 100% coverage of your scene. It has a 0.71x magnification, 21mm eyepoint, and a dioptric adjustment scale of -3.0 to +1.0m-1. The new viewfinder is a very welcome addition, especially with the new 61-point AF system. The viewfinder has the typical shooting information readout beneath the image, with an added warning symbol that will flash when user-designated features have been activated that might be destructive to your image. For example, if you switch between lighting conditions frequently and shooting in JPEG, you can set the warning indicator to display when white balance shift is activated. Similarly, if you alternate between monochrome and color shooting, you can tell the camera to warn you when monochrome is on, so you don't accidentally shoot a day's worth of shots in black and white.

Display(s)

The rear display is the same 3.2-inch, 1.04 million dot display found on the Canon 1D X. It's bright and very clear, with the ability to detect great image detail. It offers automatic and manual brightness adjustment, with an angle of view of approximately 170 degrees. The LCD uses the image sensor itself (with the mirror flipped up) to display images in live view, so it has full 100% coverage of your frame.

When using it for video you can get a nearly clean signal, though ISO speed does tend to stay on the screen. The 5D Mark III does allow you to use an external monitor for live HDMI out (including up to 10x digital zoom), as well. In this mode you can elect to see shooting information on top of your footage, nothing at all, or just your AF frame. When shooting with a "clean" signal output (no text or graphics overlaid) the frame is still slightly cropped to less than your display's size.

Flash

The Canon 5D Mark III does not include a built-in flash, unlike smaller DSLRs. The camera instead includes a full hot shoe, to which you can attach any number of Canon flashguns to complement your particular shooting setup. The lump you see on the top of the camera is there to accommodate the optical viewfinder's pentaprism.

Connectivity

The Canon 5D Mark III offers six input/output ports behind two separate rubber flaps on the left side of the camera. These ports include the standard USB 2.0, HDMI, mic input, flash sync (1/200th of a second flash sync speed), and remote terminal. The 5D Mark III also includes a headphone jack, a first for a Canon EOS DSLR. On top the Mark III also sports a typical hot shoe, with no built-in flash.