5DIII derby impressions:
1) Please put the playback zoom back where it belongs!
2) 5D3 AF lock on speed with the 70-200L is just a tad slower than the 1DIV and equal to the 7D/
3) AF tracking works really well. Best results with 4pt AF expansion. The acceleration setting is key. At the low setting, it won't lock and track skaters entering and leaving a turn consistently. At the high setting, it catches pumping arms and misses faces. Medium is just right. Tracking sensitivity works best at the lowest two settings and AF point switching....still trying to understand it's impact and need to play more with that.\
4) I really wish the center AF top most point was higher up in the viewfinder like the old 5D pattern.
5) With shutter release priority set to focus, the well focused shot keeper rate with same lenses was about 5% less than the 1DIV with the most AF failures coming while tracking skaters through a corner in a multishot sequence. On a straight at you shot, multi sequences were dead on all through the sequence whereas the 7D would typically miss focus into the string a couple of time. With the 1DIV, it just does not miss in sequences, corners or straights. When shooting close sitting right next to a straight and catching skaters moving by at 90 degrees to your position, the 1DIV is better with focus keepers. 5D3 about 1 in 6-8 misses . I think playing with the AF settings might improve this, the 1DMKIV gets that initial lock faster in the close in action which helps. Maybe it's that fatter battery driving the lens quicker?
6) In a dark venue, not having the AF point lit red on 5D3 unless you re-select it is a nit, hope they fix it in firmware. I missed several shots because I could not see my selected AF point.
7) When you get up into ISO6400, F4, Shutter 1/200 or light levels and darker, the 5D3 will lock initial focus on low contrast subjects at times where the 1DIv will not.
8) 1D4 has the edge in buffer size and speed, but 5D3 seems a tad slower than the 7D in speed for sequenced shots.
9) At first glance the ISO4000 raws which were much of my shots looked better than the 1DIV's, more saturation (same picture styles on both cams), less grain, equal detail. JPEGS out of Cam are very nice even at ISO 12800 and could be used for web with very minimal pp. I only took some samples at 12800 before the game and did not have to shoot that high during.
My first impression is that if you have a 1DMKIV already, you don't really gain much unless your desire is to get better performance in really poorly lit venues where the 5DIIIs AF has a slight edge, or your looking for a backup body that is cheaper and you get the benefit of full frame too. If you're looking to updagrade from a 7D/5D2 and you can do without the 1DMKIV's bulletproof build, the 5D3 is a less expensive option that performs to within 5% of the 1DMKIV up to ISO6400, and better than the 1DMKIV above ISO6400. If you want to see the nights results of shooting with both the 1D4 and 5D3, this set on Flickr has the shots with EXIF intact. http://www.flickr.com …o/sets/72157629876262213/
