Mainly this one:
Hey Norm....we are talking about a real issue for many working pros....this is not made up or user error....I have shot everything from leica m3's thru to current digital camerasI just tell it like it is....hopeful for a solution. Except for autofocus....the mk2 and 3 area joy to use.
I'm using the 5D3 with the 600 EX RT for indoor horse show action, in pitiful lighting conditions. I haven't had any issues with the speed of the autofocus, even with high speed subjects. I've been using the camera heavily since July.
I find the focus is fastest when the fps is set to the highest setting, and high speed continuous shooting is selected. Single shot has been amazing, even with black horses in bad light.
You can also customize the One Shot AF release priority in the AF3 menu. I have mine set to Focus Priority.
AGeoJO wrote:
But not as precise if you use a fast lens at a wide aperture, especially on tightly composed shots. The focus-and-recompose method may throw what you focus on just a little beyond or in the front of the critical focus plane.
Another alternative: if you can spare a few pixels just use the center AF point and crop in PP to compensate. Works for me and seems to be the fastest method when timing is critical. Fiddling when trying to get the right AF point on the subject may end up in a missed shot. At least that is my experience
Don Clary wrote:
Here's a handy feature of the 5D3 I haven't seen mentioned: it has an orientation sensor. Let's say you set the focus point at center for landscape group shot of people in a wedding. Then when you flip it to portrait orientation and set focus point at extreme top center for the eyes of a single person subject. The camera remembers each setting. So when you change from landscape to portrait, you don't have to change the focus point or recompose - its already there exactly where you want it.
Plus you can register two different points depending on which portrait orientation you are in (i.e. shutter button at top, shutter button underneath). Clever.
"I'm not trying to give anyone a hard time...but some of the comments about this camera being slow to AF in low light or with certain lenses (with or without focus assist lighting) just have me scratching my head as my experience has been just the opposite..."
That's what I was trying to find out in this thread and it seems as though some people have agendas and rather just argue, wish they would just be blocked out instead of the thread being locked.
The 24-105 is a slow lens, period. I've found the "notoriously slow focusing" 85/1.2 L II to acquire focus in low light very quickly on the mark iii, even without flash assist.
But I'm not sure why all the discussion. If the OP is a professional, he should already know whether or not the camera is performing better than the MkII for his needs, and if not, there are dozens of MkII's available at firesale prices he can pick up and get back his $1300.
He certainly wouldn't have paid retail for a camera he was dubious about and had never actually used in person...
John P Mulgrew wrote:
"I'm not trying to give anyone a hard time...but some of the comments about this camera being slow to AF in low light or with certain lenses (with or without focus assist lighting) just have me scratching my head as my experience has been just the opposite..."
That's what I was trying to find out in this thread and it seems as though some people have agendas and rather just argue, wish they would just be blocked out instead of the thread being locked.
Unfortunately that seems to be quite prevalent here in the gear forum which is why I find myself posting less these days.
The 'Hide Me' button definitely helps mitigate the problem...I have a growing list!
avuroski wrote:
But I'm not sure why all the discussion. If the OP is a professional, he should already know whether or not the camera is performing better than the MkII for his needs
There are "professionals" and then there are professionals.
I noticed that the focus was slow on the 5D3 in One Shot when I tried one out in a dark store with my 50mm 1.4. Slower than my 5Dc with the same lens, noticeably so. Centre point only of course. That said the same was true for my 1Ds3, that big fat centre focus point on the 5D is very very fast in low light, also faster than the Nikon's my friends tote. Only other camera I've used that can match it is the 1D3 which although it is the same focusing module as in the 1Ds3, due to the crop is bigger and as such locks on faster.
cineski wrote:
Yes, I can attest first hand the 5D3 focuses much slower in low light even compared to my 5D (although I'll be one to say the 5D2 also focused slower in low light than even the 5D). I believe the 5D3 is designed this way to achieve more accuracy with the focus shooting wide open with primes, but it did initially cause me to lose a lot of moments and I was becoming very frustrated while shooting my 5D3 at weddings. I will say, I've shot friend's 1D mark 2's at dark receptions and that thing is crazy slow to focus, too (the king of fast, accurate auto focus). ...Show more →
I know it's a little off the the point, but that reminds of my 1Ds2, which was also hailed in online forums and reviews as 'king of AF'. Using the centre point, the 5D and even the 350 lock on quicker in low light, significantly quicker. Of course treating the AF system as a whole, the 1 series is indeed better. Perhaps it's a similar story with the 5D3 and it goes to show that the general consensus online doesn't always cover what everyone is looking for.
Chuck Westfall on the old Rob Galbraith forums once explained in depth why the 5Dc would lock on faster with center point than the 1DsII. Basically the 1 series used another layer of calculations to recheck focus that the 5D didn't hence the speed difference, especially in tricky lighting. The 5D was faster at claiming that it had achieved focus but whether it had or not was not confirmed until you got back to the computer. The 1 series was slightly slower due to making sure but when it told you that it was in focus, you could really rely on it, whatever the lighting.
The 5D3 I was checking was slower, annoyingly slower, but heck if it didn't nail that focus perfectly in low light with every shot at f1.6 on the 50mm. My 5Dc can't do that. 2 out of 4 if I'm lucky.
If you arent interested in your 5D Mark III, would love to trade fora possible trade for a 5D Mark II, battery grip,Sigma 24 1.8, Canon 17-40 f4, Canon 100 f2 and Panasonic GH2.
senzazn12 wrote:
If you arent interested in your 5D Mark III, would love to trade fora possible trade for a 5D Mark II, battery grip,Sigma 24 1.8, Canon 17-40 f4, Canon 100 f2 and Panasonic GH2.
I will sell you mine...
If this thread is any indication I must not have an 'ordinary' 5D3...perhaps I got my hands on some advanced prototype that was inadvertently boxed-up and sold with retail stock...
...so I figure it's worth big bucks!
(sorry...there's gotta be a smartass in every crowd, right? )
Got curious... found my 420EX and my 5D3, turned off lights. Was so dark I could not see where I was aiming.
Using 24-70/2,8Mk2 I found that it was fast at 24 but often needed two red blinks to focus at 70mm. Swapped to my 70-200/2,8Mk2 and saw pretty much the same. Faster at wide and it was sending out up to 3 red strobes to focus at 200 mm. Still not too bad.
This *MAY* boil down to both what focal lenght of lens and what distance to object. I my case distance was only ~3 meter. Tried various focus point settings and no major difference here.
Having seen what Snapsy said, that the 5D3 seems to take a bit longer to focus vs. 5D2 as the focus fine tuning can take longer on the Mk3 in lowich light w/o flash (still enough light to see the object in view finder).
Anyway, I'm thinking maybe the poster just got a bad 5D III. It will be a learning curve if I move up to the 5D III. Want to take advantage of the autofocus.
I was one of early adopters of the 5D3, which has been superior for AF focus action shots
to the 5D2. Well worth the $3500 initial cost. Before the 5D3 I had to
use the 1D4 for action and comparably lightweight 5D2 for stationary objects.
Sold the 1D4 as it is too heavy for this sexagerian and is not full-frame.
For me the 5D3 replaced two cameras--5D2 and 1D4. A minor miracle.
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