Fans of high-end Canon D-SLR cameras have reason to be excited today; the company officially announced the new EOS 5D Mark III. The new camera is positioned between the EOS 5D Mark II and the top-of-the-line EOS-1D X. The new 5D Mark III has a 22.3-megapixel full frame Canon CMOS sensor and uses the DIGIC 5+ Imaging Processor.
The camera also uses a 61-point Hi Density Renticular Autofocus system and has the capability of shooting six frames per second continuously. The EOS 5D Mark III also has enhanced video features for the pros in film cinematography, television production, and documentary filmmaking. Improvements in the video processing include better noise reduction, longer recording times, and integrated headphone jack for audio monitoring.
"We are extremely excited to announce the highly anticipated follow-up to our EOS 5D Mark II, a camera which has been called a 'game-changer' in most professional photography and videography circles. The EOS 5D Mark III will carry on that tradition, delivering better and more advanced features, helping our customers achieve excellent image quality for stills and video," stated Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies and Communications Group, Canon U.S.A.
Canon has obviously spent a lot of time optimizing the video capabilities of the new camera giving it the ability to record full HD video at 24p or 30p in 1080p resolution. The camera also has the ability to record 720p content at 60 or 50 frames per second. The camera can also record standard definition programs at 30 and 25 frames per second for flexibility.
The CMOS sensor that the camera uses is newly developed and supports ISO ranges of 100 to 25,600. It also supports expanded ranges at the low end with ISO 50, and high settings of ISO 51,200 and 102,400. Other features include in camera raw processing, comparative playback function, intelligent auto mode scene selection, and dual forms for movie compression. The camera also supports UDMA 7 Compact Flash memory cards.
The Canon EOS 5D Mark III will be available at the end of March and will be sold at a body-only price of $3,499. Add in an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM zoom lens and the kit price is $4,299. A wireless file transmitter will launch at the end of April for the camera priced at $849.99 and the GPS module will sell for $390.
