5D III Review.

TTuna Eye wrote in post #14165954
Here is another review of the 5DIII. http://www.digitalrev.​com …k-iii-hands/MTM4NDQ1OTM_A

Kai is a Nikon fan but he does this review like he does all of them, with a good deal of irreverence and fun.

Well, I hadn't planned to buy one, but if Lily Wong is impressed I'll go buy one right now.

For me, I see a 2-stop improvement in ISO performance.

This is why I feel this way:


1.) First off, noise is finer. Detail is higher at all upper-ISO levels. Seriously, ISO 25,600 looks excellent. I would try and avoid above ISO 6400 on the 5D2. The noise on the 5D2 above 6400 got blotchy and hard to clean up, even in LR4.

2.) Contrast and depth of the image at higher ISO is improved. No longer look so flat above ISO 6400 . The images look more pleasing (again, RAW as well... I have played used/edited them in CS5)

3.) The criss-cross banding you got at ISO 12,800 and 25,600 on the 5D2 is gone. It is extremely clean right up to 25,600 on the 5D3, where you may start to get some artifacts in some conditions but generally don't appear until 51,200.

4.) ISO 6400 was my comfortable limit with the 5D2... My comfortable limit with the 5D3 is ISO 25,600... Two stops.


So there is how I got my 2-stop improvement. There is more to it then just noise levels... The quality of the noise, contrast and color rendition of the image at such high ISO... For some it may only be 1-stop (or less), depending on their standards.

I can't wait to see what LR4 will be able to do with these RAW files... What is taking them so long!

I would say the higher you go on the ISO, the more difference you'll see. I think at ISO12800, it's still a 1/2 stop improvement. Definitely not seeing a 2 stop difference. At ISO25600, sure, maybe...b/c the 5D2 is not usable at that ISO level. Agreed about the 5D3 being "cleaner" as far as color blotches, pattern noise, etc...

My comfortable limit on the 5D3 is ISO6400, with ISO12800 being an as-needed ISO. ISO25600 is emergency situations for me.

Invertalon wrote in post #14166096
So I got my 2-stop improvement. There is more to it then just noise levels... The quality of the noise, contrast and color rendition of the image at such high ISO, banding, etc...

Yeah, there are unmeasurable aspects of IQ that are hard to quantify, but when taken as a whole can be used to determine the number of stops of improvement by comparing the highest "usable" ISO on the 5DIII with the highest usable ISO on the 5DII for one's needs. There's more noise at 25600 in the 5DIII than there is at 6400 on the 5DII, but if the banding is gone and you can actually use the 5DIII at 25600 whereas you stopped at 6400 on the 5DII then that's 2 stops improvement in highest usable ISO.

That's what makes it so hard to peg an absolute number. I'm fairly convinced the amount of noise has been improved less than 1 stop, but those other factors I'll probably not have a real opinion on until (or if) I own and use one. Regardless the camera is looking really, really good all around--apart from a few regrettable omissions and flaws it's looking like the camera I've been waiting for for a long time.

Yohan Pamudji wrote in post #14166199
Yeah, there are unmeasurable aspects of IQ that are hard to quantify, but when taken as a whole can be used to determine the number of stops of improvement by comparing the highest "usable" ISO on the 5DIII with the highest usable ISO on the 5DII for one's needs. There's more noise at 25600 in the 5DIII than there is at 6400 on the 5DII, but if the banding is gone and you can actually use the 5DIII at 25600 whereas you stopped at 6400 on the 5DII then that's 2 stops improvement in highest usable ISO.

That's what makes it so hard to peg an absolute number. I'm fairly convinced the amount of noise has been improved less than 1 stop, but those other factors I'll probably not have a real opinion on until (or if) I own and use one. Regardless the camera is looking really, really good all around--apart from a few regrettable omissions and flaws it's looking like the camera I've been waiting for for a long time.

Yes, it depends on your needs.
I wouldn't feel all that comfortable shooting the 5D3 at ISO25600 at weddings, for instance. Maybe a shot here or there if I need the shutter speed, but I intend to mentally cap the ISO at about 6400.

TTuna Eye wrote in post #14165954
...Kai is a Nikon fan but he does this review like he does all of them, with a good deal of irreverence and fun.

He's not fun; he's merely annoyingly impressed with himself. JMO.

RTPVid wrote in post #14166285
He's not fun; he's merely annoyingly impressed with himself. JMO.

Truth. After a first couple of videos it got old real quick