LocalNavy433 Photography

Hello and how the hell are you?  If this is your first time here thanks for stopping by.  In this blog we are going to talk about the long term review of the Canon 5D3.  This has taken me so long to review because at its core the Camera to me just left me feeling a void.  The reason for the void was I was replacing the Canon 5D2 which had so much character to it.  The images that come out of the Canon 5D2 are not the best but they have a quality to them that sets it apart from all the other cameras that I have used. 

Now that I got my thoughts about the 5D2 out of the way here is the long term review of shooting with the Canon 5D Mark III (5D3).  To start this out right we need to talk about how it feels in the hand.  The ergonomics of the body are so good and every button has its place.  The layout of the buttons are so good that it is really effortless for you to know which one to press for certain ways of shooting.  The way that I really test the body and how good the ergonomics are going to be is simple.  

I will take the camera out to shoot a night sky image and if I can find my way around the body in the dark then it is good to go.  I have to admit that the only issue that I found with the 5D3 is the zoom button for review of your images after shooting them.  I know that this body came out in 2012 but what were they thinking on the placement of this one button.  Now that is the biggest issue that I have with this camera and it was the hardest issue to overcome.  

The grip of the 5D3 is so good that it just sits in my hand just right.  I have big hands so for all my fingers to fit on the grip totally make it a joy to use.  I cannot express with words just how comfortable the grip is to hold in your hands.  I just love holding the camera because of the grip.  This is the main test for me on which camera I am going to use all the time.  The grip is so good that it is the main reason that I have decided to make this my main shooter.  

When it comes to the weight of this camera you just have to know that it is heavy if you put the pro level lenses on the camera.  I personally found that it is too heavy when you put a 24-105 f4 lens on it.  The joy of shooting is just not there for me when that lens is on it.  I also love a film look to my images so I bought the perfect walk around lens for general photography on the 5D3.  The 24-85 f3.5-4.5 is the best light weight lens that is so sharp in my opinion is twice as sharp as the 24-105 f4.  With that being said it makes the camera come to life in my opinion.  

The one area that the 5D3 shines the most is the joystick on the back.  I mean for moving the focus point is a breeze with this little joystick.  This is the main reason that I love and I mean love shooting with the 5D line of bodies.  This one little tool/feature is what sets this line of cameras apart to me.  The darn this is so easy to get used to that when you are shooting with a camera that is lacking that little stick you feel like that camera is just not good enough.  There is something to be sad about a feature that makes that shooting experience easier and that little joystick is the one thing that makes shooting with this camera so much fun.  

The image quality of this camera is so good that it will teach you how to really edit your images.  I mean take this with a grain of salt and the reason that I say that is you cannot and I mean cannot push the shadows too much at all from a single image.  If you are bracketing the images then you are good it is like edits a 14 stop file from the newer cameras.  The bracketing options on the camera are only three stops but I rarely ever use all three stops.  I have mine set to two stops and three images so that way I get the most out of the files.  This means that the dynamic range on this for a single images is weak compared to today’s cameras. 

I have learned that you have to shoot this camera on the cooler side of the white balance scale to keep the whites white.  The reason for this is simply they for some reason decided that a warm and magenta tone was going to be baked into the files.  I found that shooting on the cooler side gives me a realistic look on the back of the camera.  This has taught me to really work on the white balance more in post.  The Canon 5D3 taught me to become a better natural editor on my images.  I love the natural look to the images when finished editing them.  

The las thing that I want to cover on this camera is the fact that with all the faults that I have given it the one thing that makes me want to shoot with this bad boy more and more is the AF system that it has. The 61 AF points cover the view finder just right and they are to me placed perfectly for shooting just about anything.  I personally love shooting with this camera for that point alone. It really makes this camera a joy to shoot and I hardly ever miss my shots.  In fact this is also why the Canon 5D3 is my everyday shooter.  The ease of use and the way the files render are so good that I will be replacing this with another 5D3 I love it that much.  

At the end of the day you have to find the one camera that fits all your needs.  I found that in the Canon 5D3 and the 24-85 setup.  This is the combo that I am shooting everyday and I love it. Yes they are not perfect but that lens gave the character to the camera that it was missing in my book.  The only reason that I will not use this camera is when I want too shoot more detailed images.  Enjoy from St Johns AZ y’all.  

Every image in this blog were taken with the Canon 5D3 with either the 24-85 or the 50mm f1.8