Street Photography Magazine

Camera Test | SLR and System Cameras

Full-frame, low-noise SLR with 22-megapixel
image sensor. Great handling and flexible user
interface. Full HD video.

Good:Full-frame CMOS sensor with moderate
resolution. Large, weatherproof magnesium
body with great handling. Various dedicated
controls, joystick-style multi-controller, two
main dials and ‘Quick Control’ button for making
settings directly. Typically clear EOS main menu
with scroll-free item lists. Clear, bright viewfinder
with 100-percent view. Sharp, high-resolution,
live view monitor with wide angle of view and
effective anti-glare coating. Backlit LCD info
panel on the top of the body. Very fast 61-area
phase-detection AF with cross and dual-cross
sensors, which is still very good in low light and
optional for live view focusing. Lens-dependent
MF override. Fast continuous shooting, fast
startup time and fast data saves. Useful ‘silent’
shooting mode. Dual CF/SD card slot. Powerful

battery with continuous charge status display.

Full HD video mode with many manual settings.

Microphone and headphone connectors.

Not so good:Fixed monitor with anti-glare

coating that tends to smear and is difficult to

clean. Slow contrast-based AF in live view mode.

No AF assist lamp. No built-in flash. Limited

self-timer functionality. Lockable mode dial

relatively small.

Test results:High maximum contrast up to ISO

3200 with best results at ISO 800. Results still

acceptable at ISO 12 800. Average ColorChecker

color rendition. Very high signal-to-noise ratio at

ISO 100, still good up to ISO 3200. Visual noise

low up to ISO 3200 and satisfactory up to ISO

12 800. Resolution balanced up to ISO 3200 and

still satisfactory up to 12 800. Fast ‘endless’ JPEG

continuous shooting. Fast startup and normal

AF. Live view AF very slow.

Image quality:Bright, neutral colors, very

slight green tint in daylight lab test. Good

sharpness and detail at small apertures.

Balanced exposure, although somewhat

contrasty. Slight banding on our line chart,

otherwise very few moirés and virtually no

fringing. Very clean images at ISO 100, and

virtually no change at ISO 200 and ISO 400.

Very slight edge fraying at ISO 800. Loss of

detail begins at ISO 1600. Obvious loss of edge

and texture detail at ISO 3200 (the practical

limit for effective 1:1 viewing). Texture and

detail obviously weaker, and some noise in

monotone areas above ISO 6400. ISO 12 800

limit for effective full-screen viewing.

Outdoor shots with neutral colors. Good

sharpness and detail rendition except at

extreme wide angles. Balanced exposure and

very good noise characteristics (see test shots

below and on this issue’s free DVD).

ISO 100 ISO 400 ISO 1600 ISO 6400

Canon EOS 5D Mark III