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5D Mark III SD Card Speeds are Slower Than They Should Be

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5D Mark III w/ SD Card

Image Credit: Jeff Cable

Jeff Cable noted a curious fault of the Canon 5D Mark III and its rather sluggish SD card write speed.

. . . for some reason unbeknownst to me, Canon decided to build the 5D Mark III with one very fast CF slot which supports the newer UDMA7 protocol and a standard SD card slot which does NOT support the high speed standard (called UHS – for Ultra High Speed).

Jeff lays out the full details on his trials with the SD format over on his blog.  Note that Jeff works for Lexar and knows more details about memory card specifications than the average photographer.  Word from the horse’s mouth is also available on page 32 of the 5D3 manual with the express disclaimer that the camera does not support the UHS speed class standard.

I’m with Jeff on this one.  It’s a real head scratcher why Canon wouldn’t support UHS-I in its cutting edge 5D Mark III.  (The standard was announced way back in 2010 and has been pretty widely adopted thus far, including prosumer shooters like the Nikon D7000.)  While it’s not as big a deal as a crippled AF system (ahem, 5D Mark II), this certainly is annoying and makes the SD slot unusable for some shooters out there.

Of course, Canon updated the 5D Mark II to provide support for the CF card spec UDMA-7 over 2.5 years after the camera was released.  So, maybe we can hope a little bit that a similar firmware update would come to the 5D3 in order to put the SD card slot on nearly equal footing with the CF card slot.  However, Jeff says that this could be a hardware limitation and not possible to update.

Has anyone else been plagued by the sluggish SD card problem on the 5D Mark III?

More memory card geekery explanation on Demystifying SD Cards.

Canon 5D Mark III Firmware Update 1.1.3

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Canon 5D Mark III

Canon has issued a firmware update for the 5D Mark III.  Version 1.1.3 adds the following:

1. Supports the single focal length EF40mm f/2.8 STM lens that is to be released at the end of June, 2012.
2. Fixes a phenomenon in which an image may become underexposed when using the Auto Lighting Optimizer for continuous Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) shooting.
3. Fixes a phenomenon in which the backlight of the LCD monitor may not turn off depending on the camera settings and timing.
4. Fixes a phenomenon in which the camera’s power may not turn on when a super-telephoto lens*1) is mounted to the camera with an extender*2).
*1) EF 300mm F2.8L IS II USM / EF 400mm F2.8L IS II USM
*2) Extender EF 1.4X III / Extender EF 2X III
5. Corrects mistakes in the Dutch, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, and Swedish menu screens.

You can download the update from Canon’s website.

Satechi WTR-A Wireless Timer Remote

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Satechi WTR-A Wireless Timer Remote

The Satechi WTR-A Wireless Timer Remote this a third-party remote that is designed to work on most Canon DSLRs (including the 5D Mark III) in place of the RS-80N3.  It also offers intervalometer functions for timelapse photography.  The remote gives you wireless functionality up to 50-feet away.

Satechi WTR-A is now available on Amazon for $59.99.

More details in the press release below. [Read more…]

Epic Paintball Warfare Captured with 5D Mark III & Contour Cameras

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_z2CA-o13U&w=640&h=360]

What’s better than people shooting each other with paintballs?  How about people shooting each other while jumping in a vehicle over another vehicle?

This is some epic paintball warfare captured by Devin Graham with the Canon 5D Mark III and Contour cameras. [Read more…]