Canon 5D Mark III without optical low pass filter - the verdict

[Andrew Reid]

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I’ve shot a comparison in Berlin today between my modified 5D Mark III and the standard 5D Mark III.

The modified 5D Mark III is similar to the Nikon D800E in that the anti-aliasing filter has been removed. (Which is why the modified 5D Mark III is dubbed 5D3E in the video).

But is it any good?

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[johnnymossville]

I'm not sure if it's just me, but the GH2 looks to have pulled out more shadow detail than the 5DMIII in your test (The Trees at 1:10 for example).  Was the color profile set as flat as it could be on the 5DMIII?  I'm going to have to start using 5DtoRGB it seems. 

Also, I'm not sure sharpening is the way to go after seeing your 400% blowup next to unsharped 5DMIII.

Nice test Andrew.

[HurtinMinorKey]

Don't worry, some upstart out their is going to force these fools to lower price eventually.

Either way, it's cool that you tried to find a workaround.  Keep it up.

[gene_can_sing]

Thanks for taking a hit on the camera for the rest of us. I know I wouldn't have to balls to do something like that.

It's disappointing for sure though, even more disappointing that people are resorting to drastic measures like this. It's so strange because if you bought a laptop, an iPhone or basically any other piece of technology from 2008 and compared it to what is out now, the latest version is leaps and bounds ahead of the 2008 version.

That's not true with Canon, and I think that's why we are all so upset. Everyone expected Canon to follow the tech curve and offer a decent advancement, but we are all just left with an incremental update. It's like Canon realized they made a mistake by giving the masses large sensor cameras for a low price. So now that everyone has had a taste of the good life, they want to make up for lost margins by taking you for every penny you have.

In the end, that greed is going to bite them in the ass.

[FilmMan]

Gene,

This will probably be the case.  Technology changes quickly.  Leaders can become followers and vice versa.  If you are a leader then sock it to your competitors before they gain the left hook. 

Canon 5d2 was the flagship.  Competitors are arriving on the scene with products that are trying to gain market share.  Once the beach head is established, then pushing them in the sea will become tougher. 

Canon could have stopped many people from venturing by giving the 5D3 a few more goodies.  Give true 1080p for a little more cost.  Canon could still have had their other higher end lines as the professional people would still venture.  The $3K to $5K market is for the masses.  Batteries, lenses, and other accessories brings in alot of money.  Black Magic is giving RAW/better codecs for $3k.  So why couldn't Canon?  I like Canon products by the way, however I was hoping for more.  Yea the 1DC is coming but...

[tehgeek]

Don't forget that this is and always will be a stills camera and that is how Canon sees and will continue to see it. There are some great improvements on the 5D3, the low light performance alone is fantastic. Why everyone expected such huge improvements to the video when Canon have brought us the C300 is beyond me. But keep crying about technology we would have KILLED for just 10 years ago.

[markm]

As for technology we would have killed for Don't forget we could have bought 2/3" chip cameras that do give some dof But they were PROFESSIONAL Often with a pricetag of about £10,000 So whats changed? Access still denied by crippled offerings and if you can afford the £12000 C300 then good luck. Canons promise of a revolution in film making made many indie film makers think the canon mark 2 was about to be expanded into a proper camera and made us wait until Nov 5th I waited for months only to be told the camera was 8 bit out and $20,000.

You could always have access to a larger frame if you had the right budget IE 35/16mm film OR 2/3.

What's changed? Apart from you have access as long as you dont mind the broken leg that goes with it.

[nightvision]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for your analytical und unbiased blog! I’m getting a lot out of it. I was happy to bring my Camera along to get this test done. Too bad the hack did not deliver the results we hoped for.
Dominique

[richg101]

Thanks for the detailed analysis.  Shame no gains were had and that it costed you money to put back to factory., but it could have been different.  If the quality of the in camera processing were to allow closer to 1080p then your modification might have yielded more positive results.  if people didnt do these tests we wouldnt ever develop.

[Andrew Reid]

[quote author=nightvision link=topic=847.msg6102#msg6102 date=1339747717]
Hi Andrew,

Thanks for your analytical und unbiased blog! I’m getting a lot out of it. I was happy to bring my Camera along to get this test done. Too bad the hack did not deliver the results we hoped for.
Dominique
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Thanks again. Really enjoyed the shoot

[Andrew Reid]

[quote author=richg101 link=topic=847.msg6103#msg6103 date=1339756881]
Thanks for the detailed analysis.  Shame no gains were had and that it costed you money to put back to factory., but it could have been different.  If the quality of the in camera processing were to allow closer to 1080p then your modification might have yielded more positive results.  if people didnt do these tests we wouldnt ever develop.
[/quote]

Actually was quite relieved there was no gain to be had, since the drawbacks were a real pain in my ass.

€170 seems like a reasonable price for some adventure in camera tech, hopefully Canon can release a mirrorless in September that doesn't need to be taken apart at all! That would be real progress.

[Sean Cunningham]

Standard sharpening routines tend to introduce as many artifacts as benefits (or more).  You might try, instead, using mild tone-mapping techniques on just the luminance channel of your footage and then re-combine a filtered chroma pass.  This offers a far superior end result (it also takes care of the moire inherent in Canon footage).

Breaking the image apart like this also allows for potentially deeper color grading of 8-bit, sub-sampled source footage, letting you push it a little bit further than you otherwise could treating the imagery as a whole.