The professional-grade Canon EOS 5D Mark III is a full-frame DSLR camera launched in 2012 as a successor to the EOS 5D Mark II. Introduced on Canon's 75th birthday, the Canon EOS 5D Mark III boasts a few significant upgrades over its predecessor. The camera resolution has been increased to a 22.3 effective megapixels full-frame CMOS sensor and the image processor has been upgraded to DIGIC 5+.

Target Audience

It is targeted at semi-professional and dedicated enthusiast photographers.

Display & Design

The camera boasts a larger 3.2 inch LCD with 3:2 aspect ratio and approx. 920,000 dots resolution. This allows for native still images to be displayed covering the entire screen edge to edge. In previous models, the pictures had a black border on the bottom of the screen. The eyecup has been upgraded to Eyecup Eg for blocking stray light from entering the viewfinder and for more comfortable viewing.

Performance

The shutter life of this camera is rated at 150,000 cycles. The image processor has been upgraded to DIGIC 5+ for an enhanced noise reduction and super fast speed. The maximum ISO speed is ISO 25600 (50, 51200, 102400 as optional expanded settings).

Autofocus System

The autofocus system in the Canon EOS 5D Mark III is a 41 to 61-point autofocus (AF) system with 41 cross-type AF points and five dual cross-type points. The camera comes integrated with an EOS iTR (Intelligent Tracking and Recognition) system.

Metering Zones

It receives an increase in the metering zones with 63 zones and also gets silent, low vibration TTL shooting modes.

Headphone Out

The previous iteration didn't have the option of attaching headphones to monitor audio but the Canon EOS 5D Mark III comes with a Headphone-out for the very purpose. 

Storage

It comes with dual card slots for CompactFlash (CF) with full UDMA support, and SD (including SDHC and SDXC cards).

Weather Sealing

Though the camera is not waterproof, it comes with an improved weather sealing that makes it resistant to water and dust. 

Known Defect

Along with all the important upgrades, the Canon EOS 5D Mark III came with a downside. While shooting, when the LCD panel on the camera gets illuminated in pitch dark surroundings, it may have an impact on the camera's light metering. Canon issued an advisory because of this defect that any camera bodies that were sold with the issue will be fixed free of charge by Canon. Camera bodies shipped after the first week of May 2012 had this defect already rectified by Canon.