{"id":9133,"date":"2012-03-28T15:33:57","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T19:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=9133"},"modified":"2012-04-23T13:56:29","modified_gmt":"2012-04-23T17:56:29","slug":"the-canon-eos-5d-mark-iii-im-in-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2012\/03\/28\/the-canon-eos-5d-mark-iii-im-in-love\/","title":{"rendered":"The Canon EOS-5D Mark III: I’m In Love!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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This image was created with the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens<\/a> and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III<\/a>. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at +1 stop off the blue sky: 1\/2000 sec. at f\/5.6 in Manual mode. <\/p>\n

Central Sensor–Expand AF area\/Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. Click here<\/a> if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. <\/p>\n

Click on the image to enjoy a larger, more spectacular version. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

The Canon EOS-5D Mark III: I’m In Love!<\/h3>\n

I left my office home a bit late at 8:15am today to head down to the lake five minutes from my home. With all my lenses and my new Canon EOS-5D Mark III. I photographed a few Sandhill Cranes and was especially impressed with the rear LCD screen; the images looked better than many laptop monitors I have seen. Exposure seemed very similar to my Mark IV bodies. Then I noticed an Osprey flying around with a fish so I grabbed the lens, jumped out of the car, and began making images. I kept that up for a few minutes until my arm gave out and then ran back to the car to grab the 3530 LS tripod with the Mongoose M3.6 on it. Miraculously the bird was still flying around. I created the image above just as he landed on the wire below his nest. <\/p>\n

When I got home and viewed the series of flight images I realized that my 5D III AF predictions were true. Every image was sharp. Even when the bird flew behind a wire or the telephone pole. The files are luscious, incredibly detailed and sharp with natural color. Using this full frame camera with the 800 lens wide open at f\/5.6 I needed to eliminate the vignetting. I did that for the image above in Photoshop. On the flight image below I used the Lens Correction tab in ACR.<\/p>\n

BTW, thanks to Arash Harzeghi who pointed me here<\/a> download for the Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 6.7 Plug-In Release Candidate. I downloaded the Windows version, opened the ZIP file, and clicked on the install folder. In minutes I was able to convert my RAW files after hitting Control D in BreezeBrowser. <\/p>\n

I must tell you, I have never been so excited about a new camera before. <\/p>\n

I had headed out even without taking a look at the camera body manual. I had gone through all the Menus and I must say I was mega-confused…. As you can see that did not hurt my images though. As it turns out I was in Central Sensor Expand AF area. I plan on experimenting with all of the AF area selection modes. And I will of course be working hard on the BAA 5D Mark III User’s Guide. I have even figured out how to toggle between the various AF area selection modes. I could not do that this morning :). And it took me quite a while to figure out how to set up rear focus….<\/p>\n

One strange thing that I noted while hand holding the 800. While tracking the Osprey in flight I experienced what I can only describe as IS shimmer; the viewfinder image seemed to shimmer slightly as I panned. I was of course was in AI Servo AF with IS Mode 2 set and IS on of course. The good news is that all of the images were sharp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This image was created with the Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens<\/a> and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III<\/a>. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1\/3 stop: 1\/640 sec. at f\/8 in Manual mode. The lens was supported by a BLUBB<\/a> on the car window. <\/p>\n

Central Sensor–Expand AF area\/Rear Focus AF on the right-hand bird’s eye and recompose. Click here<\/a> if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

The image above was my first 5D Mark III keeper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This image was also created with the Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens<\/a> and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III<\/a>. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1\/3 stop: 1\/320 sec. at f\/13 in Manual mode. As above, the lens was supported by a BLUBB<\/a> on the car window. <\/p>\n

Central Sensor–Expand AF area\/Rear Focus AF on the right-hand bird’s eye and recompose. Click here<\/a> if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

As I was working at point blank range note that I stopped down to ensure that all of the feathers on the side of the bird were rendered as sharp as possible. Depth-of-field is at a minimum when you are working near the minimum focusing distance of the lens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This image was created with the hand held Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens<\/a> and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III<\/a>. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at +1 stop off the blue sky: 1\/2000 sec. at f\/5.6 in Manual mode. <\/p>\n

Central Sensor–Expand AF area\/Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. Click here<\/a> if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

I am not very skilled at hand holding big lenses but I was able to keep the bird in the frame for most of the flight images that I created.<\/p>\n

B&H Links of Note<\/h3>\n

You can pre-order your Canon EOS-5D Mark III here<\/a>. A second shipment is expected soon. <\/p>\n

Even better, you can have a 5D Mark III shipped today if you package it with my favorite B-roll lens, the 24-105mm IS L zoom lens. I try never to leave home without it. The package represents a savings of $350. Here<\/a> is the link for the 5D MIII\/24-105mm kit. <\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to learn more about the 24-105 and see the price of the lens alone…. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Contest Deadline…<\/h3>\n

The contest deadline–March 31, 2012 is fast approaching. Things are at a fever pitch here as as many as 30 folks have been signing up every day. Though several folks have purchased two or three entries the record is ten! We hope that your images make it in time for the judging. <\/p>\n

BTW, if you pay without registering you will not here from us. Best to register first and then pay or send your B&H receipt. If you are late to the party click here<\/a> for complete info on the BIRDS AS ART 1st International Bird Photography Competition. <\/p>\n

Earn Free Contest Entries and Support both the Bulletins and the Blog by making all your B & H purchases here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

More and more folks are earning multiple contest entries with their B & H purchases. See here<\/a> for details on that. Eleven great categories, 34 winning and honored images, and prize pools<\/a> valued in excess of $20,000. Click here<\/a> to visit the competition home page.<\/p>\n

Shopper’s Guide<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Below is a list of the gear used to create the images in today’s post. Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the Blog and in the Bulletins. Before you purchase anything be sure to check out the advice in our Shopper’s Guide<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens.<\/a> Right now this is my all time favorite super-telephoto lens.
\nCanon EOS-5D Mark III<\/a>. Man, I am in love with this camera body. Both the files and the AF system are superb. I cannot wait to get to Morro Bay. <\/p>\n

And from the BAA On-line Store:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

BLUBB<\/a>. The BLUBB (Big Lens Ultimate BeanBag) is the world’s finest big lens beanbag. There are knock-offs for half the price but you will be wasting your money….
\nLensCoats<\/a>. I have a LensCoat on each of my big lenses to protect them from nicks and thus increase their re-sales value. All my big lens LensCoat stuff is in Hardwood Snow pattern.
\nLegCoat Tripod Leg Covers.<\/a> I have four tripods active and each has a Hardwood Snow LegCoat on it to help prevent further damage to my tender shoulders \ud83d\ude42 And you will love them in mega-cold weather….
\nGitzo GT3530LS Tripod.<\/a> This one will last you a lifetime.
\nMongoose M3.6 Tripod Head.<\/a> Right now this is the best tripod head around for use with lenses that weigh less than 9 pounds. For heavier lenses, check out the Wimberley V2 head<\/a>.
\nCR-80 Replacement Foot for Canon 800<\/a>. When using the 800 on a Mongoose as I do, replacing the lens foot with this accessory lets the lens sit like a dog whether pointed up or down and prevents wind-blown spinning of your lens on breezy days by centering the lens directly over the tripod.
\n Double Bubble Level.<\/a> You will find one in my camera’s hot shoe whenever I am not using flash.
\nThe Lens Align Mark II.<\/a> I use the Lens Align Mark II pretty much religiously to micro-adjust all of my gear an average of once a month and always before a major trip. Enjoy our free comprehensive tutorial here.<\/a>
\nBreezeBrowser<\/a>. I do not see how any digital photographer can exist without this program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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This image was created with the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f\/5.6L IS lens and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at +1 stop off the blue sky: 1\/2000 sec. at f\/5.6 in Manual mode. <\/p>\n

Central Sensor–Expand AF area\/Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[147,148],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-147","category-5dmkiii","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}