Canon 5D MKIII official owners/users thread, anything related to the 5D MKIII

dave_bass5 said:
Nice report Andy. Thats a great shot, really captures the moment.
In just over a month ill be doing my first with a 5DMKIII, and my first ever lol.
Posts like yours are very encouraging.
Im hoping Canon get their finger out and get us the AF assist fix before the end of the month (as they have said they will).
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Thanks Dave.

Haha you're 1st wedding will be with a MK III? You lucky lucky bugger :LOL:

You've never had the joy of looking at a 7d's meter reading and realising that even at ISO 3200, ss 1/60 and F/2.8 you're 2 or 3 stops under exposed in a dark church... or even worse a 40d which only goes to ISO 1600 and that's noisey as hell!

It's like walking in to the Red Bull F1 team as your 1st drive instead of HRT and struggling to not get lapped 40 times a race (might not mean much if you don't like F1)

The red flash for focus doesn't make much difference in all fairness... there's a green light in the bottom right that flashes to say it's locked focus anyway, but tbh you select your focus point, you aim it at the desired spot, half depress the shutter and you can physically feel it lock focus... so seeing or not seeing a red flash isn't a big deal IMO.
 
Cheers Andy.
I've spent more on camera gear since being asked than my daughter has spent on the whole wedding lol.

For those wondering, I'm not giving her away, I'm her biological father and we all get on, but I'm not there as the father of the bride, so I will have more time to get the shots I need.

I play in a wedding band and have been to many, many wedding receptions over the past 10 years. Most seem to be shot with Canon and I try and have a chat with the photog's if I get the chance.
Most use a 5DMKII and/or 7D, although i noticed this was changing to MKIII's by the end of last year, and all tend to talk about the difficult lighting and focusing issues. Most also are using a 24-70 MKI (ive only met one with a MKII so far) as their main zoom lens, although all seem to have a L prime or two. I feel very, very luckily I'm going in to this (one off) wedding with gear that won't hold me back and make life a bit easier. It's down to me now to make sure I can think fast enough under preasure and don't cock too much up.

Oh, and I agree about the red flash. I don't find it a problem at all, I've got used to it now. I have my camera set so that it shows the AF point until its focused and then hides it. I like how that works as it means less distraction, so I'm not sure i want a red dot lighting up the VF all the time.
 
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dave_bass5 said:
Cheers Andy.
I've spent more on camera gear since being asked than my daughter has spent on the whole wedding lol.

For those wondering, I'm not giving her away, I'm her biological father and we all get on, but I'm not there as the father of the bride, so I will have more time to get the shots I need.

I play in a wedding band and have been to many, many wedding receptions over the past 10 years. Most seem to be shot with Canon and I try and have a chat with the photog's if I get the chance.
Most use a 5DMKII and/or 7D, although i noticed this was changing to MKIII's by the end of last year, and all tend to talk about the difficult lighting and focusing issues. Most also are using a 24-70 MKI (ive only met one with a MKII so far) as their main zoom lens, although all seem to have a L prime or two. I feel very, very luckily I'm going in to this (one off) wedding with gear that won't hold me back and make life a bit easier. It's down to me now to make sure I can think fast enough under preasure and don't cock too much up.

Oh, and I agree about the red flash. I don't find it a problem at all, I've got used to it now. I have my camera set so that it shows the AF point until its focused and then hides it. I like how that works as it means less distraction, so I'm not sure i want a red dot lighting up the VF all the time.
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Sounds like you are well prepared so I'm sure you'll do a good job :)

I use a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 as my main lens (the pic I posted was taken with that), and I have a canon 70-200mm f/2.8 on the 7D for candids... it seems to work well as a combo but I'm going to sell the 7D and get a 6D I think soon.

I also have 50mm f/1.4 but never use it other than when shooting a model... I've yet to see how it would work during a wedding but those more experienced than me may be quicker and able to think faster than me so don't need to rely on zooms? :shrug:

As for thinking under pressure... my main tips would be just to remember what's happening and when. The exchanging of rings and the 1st kiss being the 2 bits you want to be in a good position to capture. The rest I'd just move around a little to get different angles so it's not all shot from the same spot. Check the vicar / registrar is happy with this though as I have been told prior to a wedding before to 'stand there and do not move'.

One tip I'd give you is set your Auto ISO to 100 - 12800 and min shutter speed to 1/125. Stick the camera in auto ISO and AV mode and you'll not have to worry about exposure as the camera will do everything for you. That way you can concentrate more on composition and capturing the action rather than flapping around with exposure if things suddenly change and catch you off guard.

I'll add a disclaimer to the above that is it's too dark the camera WILL drop you shutter speed so just keep one eye on what settings it's selecting to ensure it doesn't do anything silly. It shouldn't but just keep an eye on it to be 100% certain.

Good luck! (y)
 
ajax_andy said:
Sounds like you are well prepared so I'm sure you'll do a good job :)

I use a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 as my main lens (the pic I posted was taken with that), and I have a canon 70-200mm f/2.8 on the 7D for candids... it seems to work well as a combo but I'm going to sell the 7D and get a 6D I think soon.

I also have 50mm f/1.4 but never use it other than when shooting a model... I've yet to see how it would work during a wedding but those more experienced than me may be quicker and able to think faster than me so don't need to rely on zooms? :shrug:

As for thinking under pressure... my main tips would be just to remember what's happening and when. The exchanging of rings and the 1st kiss being the 2 bits you want to be in a good position to capture. The rest I'd just move around a little to get different angles so it's not all shot from the same spot. Check the vicar / registrar is happy with this though as I have been told prior to a wedding before to 'stand there and do not move'.

One tip I'd give you is set your Auto ISO to 100 - 12800 and min shutter speed to 1/125. Stick the camera in auto ISO and AV mode and you'll not have to worry about exposure as the camera will do everything for you. That way you can concentrate more on composition and capturing the action rather than flapping around with exposure if things suddenly change and catch you off guard.

I'll add a disclaimer to the above that is it's too dark the camera WILL drop you shutter speed so just keep one eye on what settings it's selecting to ensure it doesn't do anything silly. It shouldn't but just keep an eye on it to be 100% certain.

Good luck! (y)
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Cheers again Andy.

After having two copies of the Tamron i gave up and got the Canon. I feel a lot better for it although i couldn't really fault the Tamron IQ.
Ive been trying to get in to using manual mode, and manual ISO recently but i feel for the wedding auto ISO and either manual or AV is the way to go. As you say, let the camera do most of the work.
Ive been reading up a lot on flash, thats my main weakens, but im getting there with that.
Hopefully there will be enough guests with cameras to make sure we get everything.
Ive got it all in my head, i just have to make sure i dont miss much on the day. I have a habit of not looking at the settings if im rushed.

Its ironic but the very next day im off up to Nuneaton to play a wedding. I could have done with it the other way around :-(
 
Was hoping the 5D3 and 7D were pretty similar, but I feel lost with the 5D3!!

Need to get up to speed ASAP!
 
PistolPeteUK said:
Was hoping the 5D3 and 7D were pretty similar, but I feel lost with the 5D3!!

Need to get up to speed ASAP!
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I think the layout is pretty similar coming from a 7D ie the M-Fn, Q and Live View buttons being much the same.

It's the zoom button whilst viewing the photos during playback that's still catching me out :(
 
ajax_andy said:
I shot my 1st wedding with the MK III just over a week ago... absolutely amazing!

I had to take photos in a really dark room for the bride getting ready pics (red walls and high ceiling so no flash bounce opportunity) which my 7D would have REALLY struggled with. Was shooting at about ISO 5000 most of the time and the pics came out looking really nice. Not as perfect as say ISO 100 obviously but for ISO 5000 they looked great. I'd say they look roughly what the 7D would look at around the ISO 1600 - 2400 mark.

I used auto ISO for the 1st time with AV (I usually shoot everything in full manual) and the ability to set a min shutter speed for AV and max ISO were a god send. It did choose some pretty odd and funky settings which would be my only gripe... i.e SS 1/200, ISO 5000. The min SS was set to 1/125 so why it didn't drop the SS and ISO like wise I don't know? :shrug: I asked someone more knowledgeable than me and he said the stop difference would have allowed roughly 1/125 & ISO 3200 which would have produced a cleaner image... so I've no idea what happened or how to prevent it in future.

Apart from that though the body performed amazingly! One of my main issues other than noisey high ISO's on the 7D was that the IQ dropped really badly above ISO 800 and especially above 1600. The colour rendition in particular annoyed the hell out of me. With the MKIII the IQ is excellent at high ISO's, noise level more than acceptable and colour rendition fantastic.

Here's one of the shots from the wedding... this was just an early edit and I've since lightened her face slightly and corrected a couple of other issues:

Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 70 mm
ISO Speed 2500

Now there's no way this image would have looked anything like this on my 7D at ISO 2500!!!

Only problem is now that I want a 2nd to stick my long zoom on for candids etc :LOL:
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What about running in manual with auto iso? That would give you the opportunity to catch small mistakes the camera makes. Just thinking out loud really. Lol
 
ajax_andy said:
The red flash for focus doesn't make much difference in all fairness... there's a green light in the bottom right that flashes to say it's locked focus anyway, but tbh you select your focus point, you aim it at the desired spot, half depress the shutter and you can physically feel it lock focus... so seeing or not seeing a red flash isn't a big deal IMO.
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It's knowing where the AF point is that annoys me. Shooting in the dark, the black points are hard to see. Obviously you know approximately where it is, but placing it accurately and quickly is easier with the old red boxes.
 
It doesn't feel like the jump from the 450D to the 7D where there was lots of new stuff to learn, it just that things are in just enough of a different place for it to feel not right and rather than bang bang bang and I've changed what I need I have to search for everything.

Also, I want to setup the 5D3 as similarly as the 7D so swapping between the two is easier.
 
PistolPeteUK said:
It doesn't feel like the jump from the 450D to the 7D where there was lots of new stuff to learn, it just that things are in just enough of a different place for it to feel not right and rather than bang bang bang and I've changed what I need I have to search for everything.

Also, I want to setup the 5D3 as similarly as the 7D so swapping between the two is easier.
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I made the same move last month, and after playing with the 5d3 every day since then, to learn it I can say its a world of difference to the 7D. For one thing I haven't missed focus yet on anything taken lol, and having taken a lot of indoor stuff it's turning out to be a superb piece of kit :).
I looked at all the reference books to see whether there was a good or bad one to choose, but ended up just reading the manual and playing with it!
 
sgott said:
I made the same move last month, and after playing with the 5d3 every day since then, to learn it I can say its a world of difference to the 7D. For one thing I haven't missed focus yet on anything taken lol, and having taken a lot of indoor stuff it's turning out to be a superb piece of kit :).
I looked at all the reference books to see whether there was a good or bad one to choose, but ended up just reading the manual and playing with it!
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The only thing which keeps catching me out is the change of location for the zoom in and out, from where it was on 7D, its driving me nuts!!
 
shaylou said:
What about running in manual with auto iso? That would give you the opportunity to catch small mistakes the camera makes. Just thinking out loud really. Lol
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It's a good idea, but you loose the ability to apply exposure compensation when using auto ISO in manual.

I'm experimenting with TV mode / auto ISO for my low light stuff. I control shutter speed, camera goes wide open most of the time and controls exposure with the ISO.
 
dave_bass5 said:
Cheers again Andy.

After having two copies of the Tamron i gave up and got the Canon. I feel a lot better for it although i couldn't really fault the Tamron IQ.
Ive been trying to get in to using manual mode, and manual ISO recently but i feel for the wedding auto ISO and either manual or AV is the way to go. As you say, let the camera do most of the work.
Ive been reading up a lot on flash, thats my main weakens, but im getting there with that.
Hopefully there will be enough guests with cameras to make sure we get everything.
Ive got it all in my head, i just have to make sure i dont miss much on the day. I have a habit of not looking at the settings if im rushed.

Its ironic but the very next day im off up to Nuneaton to play a wedding. I could have done with it the other way around :-(
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Stick the flash in TTL and point it at the ceiling. Just check the preview every now and then to make sure it's getting things right but you should be fine doing this. Think of where you're pointing it like a football hitting the underside of the bar... If you kicked a football straight up from directly under the bar it'll probably come down and hit you on the head. Take a few steps back and hit the underside of the bar it'll probably come back down at the same trajectory on the other side and in to the net. Your flash will do the same. So point it at the ceiling roughly half way between you and your intended target.

If you are exposing correctly for the scene things should be fairly straight forward with the flash useage... it only gets complicated when you're under exposing and the flash starts to become your key (i.e. main source) of light rather than the ambient being the key light and flash being fill light.

When I was shooting with the 7D I'd often be under exposing by 2 stops and using the flash to compensate... not ideal but if you know how to do it you can get away with it... with the 5D there's no need to underexpose at all as even at ISO 6400 you'll get some really decent shots. Just watch the shutter speed and make sure it doesn't drop too low if the lighting is dark in the reception. If you are noticing it is stick the camera in TV mode, set the SS to 1/125 and then the camera will have to up the ISO and drop the Aperture rather than dropping the SS.
 
shaylou said:
What about running in manual with auto iso? That would give you the opportunity to catch small mistakes the camera makes. Just thinking out loud really. Lol
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I could but TBH the slightly funky choices it made didn't matter too much and the ease of shooting in AV outweighed the stop or 2 higher ISO choices.

If it was getting it worng on a big scale I'd be more worried and use manual but for the ceremony and things like that AV worked well if a little quirky
 
James Thomas 75 said:
I think the layout is pretty similar coming from a 7D ie the M-Fn, Q and Live View buttons being much the same.

It's the zoom button whilst viewing the photos during playback that's still catching me out :(
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It did me too at first! :LOL:

The zoom is on the left side of the LCD as a magnifying glass icon. Press this button and it'll zoom in a bit, after that you need to use the right shoulder wheel to zoom in and out (I think turning it left zooms out and right in). To move around the image once zoomed in use the little joystick.

It's quite simple once you know how but I'll admit to tearing my hair out whilst trying to zoom in during my 1st shoot with the camera
 
ajax_andy said:
It did me too at first! :LOL:

The zoom is on the left side of the LCD as a magnifying glass icon. Press this button and it'll zoom in a bit, after that you need to use the right shoulder wheel to zoom in and out (I think turning it left zooms out and right in). To move around the image once zoomed in use the little joystick.

It's quite simple once you know how but I'll admit to tearing my hair out whilst trying to zoom in during my 1st shoot with the camera
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It's more remembering that I need to use the wheel rather than the 2 buttons now that catches me out :)

I'll get there though.
 
ajax_andy said:
Stick the flash in TTL and point it at the ceiling. Just check the preview every now and then to make sure it's getting things right but you should be fine doing this. Think of where you're pointing it like a football hitting the underside of the bar... If you kicked a football straight up from directly under the bar it'll probably come down and hit you on the head. Take a few steps back and hit the underside of the bar it'll probably come back down at the same trajectory on the other side and in to the net. Your flash will do the same. So point it at the ceiling roughly half way between you and your intended target.

If you are exposing correctly for the scene things should be fairly straight forward with the flash useage... it only gets complicated when you're under exposing and the flash starts to become your key (i.e. main source) of light rather than the ambient being the key light and flash being fill light.

When I was shooting with the 7D I'd often be under exposing by 2 stops and using the flash to compensate... not ideal but if you know how to do it you can get away with it... with the 5D there's no need to underexpose at all as even at ISO 6400 you'll get some really decent shots. Just watch the shutter speed and make sure it doesn't drop too low if the lighting is dark in the reception. If you are noticing it is stick the camera in TV mode, set the SS to 1/125 and then the camera will have to up the ISO and drop the Aperture rather than dropping the SS.
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Cheers again Andy.
I have always bounced flash, and until recently always up towards the subject as you suggested. Im ok with all that side of things but ive been reading a lot about bouncing off to the side or up and behind. When ive tried this ive got some good results, especially when bouncing off a side wall. I really prefer the look of these shots over the usual ceiling bounced shots.
My main issue has been with using direct flash, when bouncing isnt practical and for shooting outdoors. These are things ive never really tried in earnest before.
Since getting a copy of Neil van Niekerk van Niekerk's On-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait book its opened my eyes to how much can be achieved with just one flash.
Ill definitely be trying to balance ambient and flash lighting rather than shooting without flash or using flash as the main light source.
I do normally use manual with auto ISO a lot, as other than controlling the shutter speed i like to stop the lens from going wide open unless i need that. I find i can also work better with the flash using this method so ill expect to shoot most of the indoor shots like this.
At the moment manual flash is one more thing i dont want to think about so its ETTL all the way.
 
dave_bass5 said:
Cheers again Andy.
I have always bounced flash, and until recently always up towards the subject as you suggested. Im ok with all that side of things but ive been reading a lot about bouncing off to the side or up and behind. When ive tried this ive got some good results, especially when bouncing off a side wall. I really prefer the look of these shots over the usual ceiling bounced shots.
My main issue has been with using direct flash, when bouncing isnt practical and for shooting outdoors. These are things ive never really tried in earnest before.
Since getting a copy of Neil van Niekerk van Niekerk's On-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait book its opened my eyes to how much can be achieved with just one flash.
Ill definitely be trying to balance ambient and flash lighting rather than shooting without flash or using flash as the main light source.
I do normally use manual with auto ISO a lot, as other than controlling the shutter speed i like to stop the lens from going wide open unless i need that. I find i can also work better with the flash using this method so ill expect to shoot most of the indoor shots like this.
At the moment manual flash is one more thing i dont want to think about so its ETTL all the way.
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Yes bouncing off a wall sideways will always produce a nicer light, and also reduce the shadows under the eyes which are a problem with ceiling bounces. However just bare in mind that at a reception there are usually a lot of people and some will either be between you and the wall, or too far away to bounce off the wall as there's people between you and them. I usually ceiling bounce purely because in reception venues wall bouncing isn't practicle most of the time.

As for off camera flash my advice would be to get a 10 foot (or metre as can't remember which measurement they come in) TTL cable from amazon (about £40) a cheap light stand (about £15 - make sure it comes with an attachment where you put the flash) and a white shoot through umbrella (about £5).

Doing that will mean you don't have to worry about setting flash settings manually.

Place the stand about 45 degrees to the couple and if I remember correctly the bottom of the brolly should be level with their eyes (the flash therefore should be slightly higher than them and angled down to create a slight direction to the light)... and that's it. If you want to not blow the sky use an aperture of f/7 - f/11 depending on how bright the sun is.

Or find some shade to put them in without much sky and then you can open up the aperture more.
 
Good point about people being in the way of the walls, and one i had been thinking about. I cant imagine firing the flash right in to someone eyes, although i have seen it done at the weddings ive been to. Yes, up with a bounce card will probably the easiest option.
I have a set of triggers and a cheap light stand that didnt come with any head attachment. Ill be taking both but not sure yet how much ill use them. I dont have a brolly and wont get one now, as i wont have much of a chance to play with it (my triggers are on loan for the next few weeks).

Hopefully on Sat ill get an idea of the ceiling height, and i can ask about locations in and around the venue for the shots. Im sure they will be able to give me some ideas for the main shots.

Cheers again, much appreciated, and sorry to everyone else for derailing this thread.
 
dave_bass5 said:
Good point about people being in the way of the walls, and one i had been thinking about. I cant imagine firing the flash right in to someone eyes, although i have seen it done at the weddings ive been to. Yes, up with a bounce card will probably the easiest option.
I have a set of triggers and a cheap light stand that didnt come with any head attachment. Ill be taking both but not sure yet how much ill use them. I dont have a brolly and wont get one now, as i wont have much of a chance to play with it (my triggers are on loan for the next few weeks).

Hopefully on Sat ill get an idea of the ceiling height, and i can ask about locations in and around the venue for the shots. Im sure they will be able to give me some ideas for the main shots.

Cheers again, much appreciated, and sorry to everyone else for derailing this thread.
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No worries mate am glad I could help :) Make sure you send me a link to the pics even if it's just via PM if you don't want to post them on the site so I can see how you got on :)
 
ajax_andy said:
No worries mate am glad I could help :) Make sure you send me a link to the pics even if it's just via PM if you don't want to post them on the site so I can see how you got on :)
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Will do. Ill get some up on flickr and post the link.

I cant express just how confident having the 5D and 24-70MKII is making me feel, which is counteracting the nerves ill be suffering on the day when it comes to organising the group shots. (y)
 
dave_bass5 said:
Will do. Ill get some up on flickr and post the link.

I cant express just how confident having the 5D and 24-70MKII is making me feel, which is counteracting the nerves ill be suffering on the day when it comes to organising the group shots. (y)
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Haha yeah having the right tools certainly helps make you feel good doesn't it!

Well good luck with it and I hope it goes really great (y)
 
ajax_andy said:
Haha yeah having the right tools certainly helps make you feel good doesn't it!

Well good luck with it and I hope it goes really great (y)
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Yeah, i do feel slightly superior to those who have lesser camera lol.

Cheers, ill report back once that weekend is over. What with the wedding and the 3 1/2 journey up to Nuneaton the next day for a 3 hour long gig (pus 4 hours hanging around) i cant wait for it to be all over and i can get back to the real world.
 
Well


Upgraded from a 400D which has served me well since 2006

5D MK 3
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Canon ef 24-70mm f2.8c II USM

Came today!! :D

A lot to learn indeed but my god its QUICK!
 
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If anyone has good advice for AF points for portraits/weddings let me know! even reading the manual and looking at TY vids has killed me
 
Mp4 said:
If anyone has good advice for AF points for portraits/weddings let me know! even reading the manual and looking at TY vids has killed me
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For subject not moving... One shot, single point AF, move the AF point to where you want to focus. If you are using F2.8 lenses maybe set the camera just to display cross type AF points to help maintain accuracy.

Do you shoot moving subjects?
 
One thing I find amazingly useful is how you can set different AF points for different orientations.
I mostly use the centre AF point when in landscape mode but when I turn the camera 90 deg so its in portrait mode I have one of the upper AF points set. This causes the AF point to fall closer to the head rather than the chest.
I also sometimes set the secondary AF point (you can have two active at once, for each orientation) in landscape mode slightly higher in the centre. I then have a AF point over the head area when shooting groups, and this is triggered by the AF-On button, while the normal AF point is triggered by the shutter button.
 
RichardtheSane said:
For subject not moving... One shot, single point AF, move the AF point to where you want to focus. If you are using F2.8 lenses maybe set the camera just to display cross type AF points to help maintain accuracy.

Do you shoot moving subjects?
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Sometimes Richard, i'd say my niece zips around quite a lot typical 3yr :)
 
DBP_RhodriEmily_078.jpg


4th wedding with the Mk3 - love it so much :)
 
I must say, I'll be a very very happy bunny if they 'fix' the red illuminated focus point issue. It would be great if the point was continuously illuminated as it is easy to sometimes lose it and forget where you put it! Granted, a quick press of the af select button shows me, but it's not ideal.

Well, fingers crossed. I've got three weddings coming up...
 
Dervish99 said:
Probably really simple thing to fix, but have RTFM and cannot figure out how to get the camera to write to the CF card first before using the SD card, when set to fill one card first then the other, what am i missing?:thinking:
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Think it's called 'rec. separately' rather than multiple

Need to set write to both in another menu
 
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