I'm not saying that it can't be done but Canon probably figure why go to all the trouble when stills photographers just use the LCD for reviewing images & rarely use Live View for shooting photographs so an articulating screen isn't needed?
New 5D MarkIII, is this what we've been waiting for?
- Thread starter eco_bach
- Start date
gonzo_entertainment
Veteran
That's the issue, a swivel LCD is such a foreign feature to pro still photographers it risks being more of a turn off "what is that thing doing on here, that's just going to wind up breaking" than a feature they embrace.
Will Turner
Well-known member
I wouldn't want an articulating screen for that reason. It's just one more thing that can/will break.
vision_filmz
Carbonite Member
Break?
I can't count so many video cameras and dslrs where I have used an articulating screen, and I have never seen or broken one. Heck I film on My canon 60d almost everyday in the most wildest situations and I have never ever even been close to seeing it be damaged.....
The day you use an articulating screen you can never go back. So stop making excuses people.
Boncrek
Well-known member
Which raises and important point: The Sony A77 and the Panasonic GH2 are both arguably Video/Photo Hybrid cameras.
Their aim was to do both equally well.
The 5D MKIII doesn't seem to have that as its focus and will turn some away from it because of that.
With the age of mirrorless cameras that do both video and photo very well the age of the OVF only video camera may be at an end.
pulpfiction007
Veteran
Exactly....it isn't that it CAN'T be done. But WHY would Canon do it and risk alienating the 5D base, which is PHOTOGRAPHERS. Articulating screens, while I agree make shooting easier, are just not as solid "looking" as DSLRs with fixed screens. That alone could turn off some serious photographers and which is why No DSLR over 2 grand has an articulating screen
G
Guest
Guest
+1
It looks like Canon has further pushed the 5d into the 'pro' photographer category. Whereas the 5d2 was working it's way down, the 5d3 is working it's way up. I assume this is because of the overwhelming popularity of the camera, that they add a few extra features (to make it obviously worthy of even existing users to upgrade), and up the price a little. But definitely still a stills centric device. But the popularity of the camera is the reason for this move up. The desirability of the camera can earn a bigger price tag.
I know some 5d2 users were hoping for a similarly targeted product (low cost full frame), but got a newer fancier little brother with an MSRP increase. They wanted Zooey Deschanel, but got Katy Perry.
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I spent today taking stills and video with the GH2 - I can't imagine going back to a fixed screen and an OVF for either stills or video. Thanks, Boncrek, for reminding me that the A77 shows that it is possible to build a weathersealed camera with a robust articulating screen. I would pay $2000+ in a heartbeat for a weathersealed GH3 body with minimal moire, a headphone jack, a swivel screen and a ~million dot EVF.
If GH3 image quality is a letdown, I'll probably save up for the 5DMkIII (instead of a $3000 D800 and a $1000 Ninja). Sadly, the MkIII's still-mode-only OVF and fixed LCD would mean I'd have to buy a separate EVF and swiveling external monitor to fit my shooting style - about $745 on top of the $3400 for the camera body (+ lenses). Ouch.
Bill
If GH3 image quality is a letdown, I'll probably save up for the 5DMkIII (instead of a $3000 D800 and a $1000 Ninja). Sadly, the MkIII's still-mode-only OVF and fixed LCD would mean I'd have to buy a separate EVF and swiveling external monitor to fit my shooting style - about $745 on top of the $3400 for the camera body (+ lenses). Ouch.
Bill
ROCKMORE
Veteran
Have any side by side tests to back that up? Just sounds a little too good to be true.
G
Guest
Guest
...but you still have to watch out for your swivel lcd...
G
Guest
Guest
aliasing reduced, moire reduced ...is perhaps more accurate. That is what actual users are saying in interviews.
Samuel H
Major Contributor
"greatly reduced"
also, I have a feeling that the camera has been designed with both stills and video in mind
yes, there's been a lot of effort on areas that don't affect video shooters (AF system), but there are also signs that video was in mind all the time: the sensor resolution is exactly 1920x1280 times 3
if the all-I codec is 4:2:2 I think my only concern left will be the price (we don't know yet, and it could go both ways, though I admit we should have heard about it if it was 4:2:2... but it also seems it has some crop modes and they have said nothing explicit about them, so who knows) (well, I know who knows: those with a camera in their hands know!! why aren't they speaking about this things is another mystery to me)
also, I have a feeling that the camera has been designed with both stills and video in mind
yes, there's been a lot of effort on areas that don't affect video shooters (AF system), but there are also signs that video was in mind all the time: the sensor resolution is exactly 1920x1280 times 3
if the all-I codec is 4:2:2 I think my only concern left will be the price (we don't know yet, and it could go both ways, though I admit we should have heard about it if it was 4:2:2... but it also seems it has some crop modes and they have said nothing explicit about them, so who knows) (well, I know who knows: those with a camera in their hands know!! why aren't they speaking about this things is another mystery to me)
gonzo_entertainment
Veteran
You are going to have a VERY hard sell getting stills photographers to give up their mirror. NEVER happen for most over 40. You might over the course of a decade or so sell younger more open minded pros on it, but to even suggest such a thing to guys who learned to shoot on film would get you blank "WTF are you talking about!" stares from most working pro photographers.
G
Guest
Guest
Ah, true, but until we see more 1080p samples, that statement is not drastically different from what was said about the 5D2 with the extra AA filter installed.
We won't have to "sell" them. Time and the march of technology will take care of them.
When I was a boy in the 50s, my 'prosumer' Dad had a TLR - because that's what the magazines all said that the pros used. The pros wouldn't *think* of using one of those newfangled Japanese SLRs. I'll bet just about all of those pros are now dead.
I may be just young enough to see the day a few years (decades?) from now, when the pros who wouldn't give up their mirror boxes are either dead or retired, and no one in their right mind would pull their eye away from the viewfinder to switch from stills to video.
Is the age of the pentaprism mirror box over? Not quite yet - but the end is definitely in sight.
deltoidjohn
Veteran
Only thing I don't like about it is the price... $4200 estimated rrp in Australia. How is it that despite our dollar being stronger than the US, we still pay $700 more? Even taking into account our import taxes it's still out of line. It's not like they can use the "PAL cameras cost more to make because there are fewer produced" excuse anymore because this is a world-model. Of course, maybe these estimations are totally uninformed and the actual price will be much lower.
Other than that the 5dmkIII ticks all the boxes I would've hoped for. Improved aliasing, moire, and sharpness, longer record times (30 minutes is long enough for 95% of the wedding ceremonies I shoot), 720p50/60, headphone jack, audio meters and levels while recording, and of course, an even better stills camera than the mkII.
The people who are dissapointed are the ones who are gullible enough to have believed outrageous rumors and expected 4k, RAW video, etc. HDMI could've gone either way but I wouldn't use it anyway (and I bet most people complaining about it wouldn't either.) The fact is the codec as-is is good enough for the work I do (though I rarely do FX or compositing). If they've improved that even minorly with the new I-frame codec then that's good enough for me.
It's not mentioned, though I wonder if this camera has the live view histogram like the 60D does (ie you can see it while in standby, but as soon as you start recording it goes away.). The histogram is extremely useful and one of my favorite upgrades over the 550D (yes, I know about ML and use it ocasionally but it's nice not to have to rely on a hack). If the new 5dmkIII does have one, then it is a huge bonus - you now can properly measure exposure and audio on camera without the need for external monitors or recorders. Of course, those tools will still have thier purposes but for those times when it is not practical to have an audio recorder and be tethered to a monitor, it will really help.
Other than that the 5dmkIII ticks all the boxes I would've hoped for. Improved aliasing, moire, and sharpness, longer record times (30 minutes is long enough for 95% of the wedding ceremonies I shoot), 720p50/60, headphone jack, audio meters and levels while recording, and of course, an even better stills camera than the mkII.
The people who are dissapointed are the ones who are gullible enough to have believed outrageous rumors and expected 4k, RAW video, etc. HDMI could've gone either way but I wouldn't use it anyway (and I bet most people complaining about it wouldn't either.) The fact is the codec as-is is good enough for the work I do (though I rarely do FX or compositing). If they've improved that even minorly with the new I-frame codec then that's good enough for me.
It's not mentioned, though I wonder if this camera has the live view histogram like the 60D does (ie you can see it while in standby, but as soon as you start recording it goes away.). The histogram is extremely useful and one of my favorite upgrades over the 550D (yes, I know about ML and use it ocasionally but it's nice not to have to rely on a hack). If the new 5dmkIII does have one, then it is a huge bonus - you now can properly measure exposure and audio on camera without the need for external monitors or recorders. Of course, those tools will still have thier purposes but for those times when it is not practical to have an audio recorder and be tethered to a monitor, it will really help.
100% true. When Sony released the A77 they said the same things, they made us(me) think they were going to release a little fs100...go check how the footage look
gonzo_entertainment
Veteran
"right mind would pull their eye away from the viewfinder to switch from stills to video."
Why would studio photographers (the market for a camera like a 5D) be doing that? They are stills shooters. There is something about seeing "reality" of what you have in the lens vs a digital representation of reality that I think a lot of people aren't going let go of very easily.
Why would studio photographers (the market for a camera like a 5D) be doing that? They are stills shooters. There is something about seeing "reality" of what you have in the lens vs a digital representation of reality that I think a lot of people aren't going let go of very easily.
I agree. They won't have to let it go. Over the course of the next few decades, they will just disappear, like the plate film guys, the celluloid film guys, and the other photographic artisans of the past
Boncrek
Well-known member
Yeah I was disappointed with the A77 too.
Maybe the next iteration they will do it right? *fingers crossed*