BATTLE OF THE TITANS
Canon EOS 5D Mark III Vs. Nikon D800
oth Canon and Nikon enjoy such a strong position in the D-SLR market that any new introduction from either of the mistaken very seriously by their respective fans. After a lull, both Canon and Nikon have announced semi-professional cameras with mouth watering specifications. Nikon launched the D800 as a follow up to the D700 and made a mammoth jump from 12 MP to 36MP. Until the launch of the D800 ,Canon’s legendary EOS5D MarkII had the semi-professional market pretty much to itself. Nikon’s launch of the D800 was quickly followed by Canon launching the EOS5D Mark III with 22MP. Both the cameras constitute premium offerings from both the brands at the semi-professionallevel. Readers keep on asking us which one is the better camera. This required a comprehensive test which is why it took us sometime to comeup with a professional review. This review seeks to answer which is the better camera and for what purpose. Read on... Individual review for both these cameras have already been done by Smart Photography ( May2012: Canon 5D Mark III; April2012: Nikon D800). Hence we shall try and avoid repeating the features and similarities etc. as much as possible. Comparing two ‘most-asked-for’ cameras is no easy task. This is further compounded by the fact that their sensors are not identical – the Canon is 22.3 megapixels, while the Nikon is 36.3, and hence their native image sizes are different. If the Canon images are interpolated to match the native image size of the Nikon, it is a disadvantage to the Canon because interpolation causes a drop in image quality. If the Nikon images are ‘down-sampled’ to the Canon resolution, it just doesn’t make sense having a high resolution camera and then checking its potential at a lower resolution. So then, how do we compare the image quality between the two? We decided that the best way is to check their image resolution from a minimum viewing distance – the minimum viewing distance being the diagonal of the image size. The 5D Mark III has a native image size of 19.2 x 12.8 inches at 300 ppi; the D800, 24.533 x 16.373 inches at 300 ppi. Simple calculation then tells us that, for the purpose of this test, the Canon images should be checked from a distance of 23 inches and the Nikon images from 29.5 inches ( rounded o ). To be fair and impartial to both the cameras, both were set as similar as possible in terms of image quality, image size ( JPEG), and autofocus operations. Raw files were set to 14bit Uncompressed. Canon’s Picture Style / Nikon’s Picture Control was set to ‘Standard’. At this point, by default, sharpness is automatically set to 3 levels for both cameras, but note that the 5D Mark III has 7 levels for sharpness while the D800 has 9 levels. It is impossible to say whether both the cameras apply the same level of sharpness at level 3! ( In-camera settings for Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation etc. apply only to JPEG captures). Contrast, Saturation, and Colour Tone (Canon) / Contrast, Brightness, Saturation and Hue ( Nikon) were set to 0 ( zero). Metering for the Canon was set to ‘Partial’ (6.2% of the viewfinder, at the centre), and for the Nikon, it was set to ‘Centre-weighted’ (8 mm diameter). We also shot with both the cameras in Evaluative/Matrix metering mode. Colour Space was set to Adobe RGB in both the cases; D- Lighting ( Nikon) / Auto Lighting Optimizer ( Canon) was set to: off; Vignette control: Normal; Auto Distortion Control: ‘On’; Long Exp. NR: ‘Off ’; High ISO NR: Normal. Both the cameras were reviewed using 50mm f/ 1.4 lenses ( Canon EF 50mm 1: 1.4; AF-S Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4G).
BUILD QUALITY
Both the cameras are built to very high standards and you cannot fault the construction. Both have lightweight magnesium alloy chassis and dust/ weather sealing at certain critical points. The Canon’s shutter is tested for 150,000 actuations whereas that of Nikon is tested for 200,000 actuations. The softer eye-cup on the Mark III feels more comfortable to eyeglass wearers and seems to better block the extraneous light from entering the eyepiece when viewing through it; the viewfinder eyepiece on the Nikon, though rubberised, does not feel that comfortable in comparison.
KEY FEATURES
As mentioned earlier, we shall try not to repeat all the features (since both the cameras have been already reviewed earlier), but mention only those that make a difference.