Canon 5D Mark III Rumors

Jumping on board the Canon 5D rumour mill again but this time with the Mark III.

Feature Rumors

First up via Canon Rumors with specifications from a Japanese to English translation.

28megapixel CMOS sensor. Achieved by introducing new technologies such as low-noise photodiode

Sensor Size 36.0 × 24.0mm 1.0x

Wide low-noise ISO sensitivity ISO100 ~ 12800 (extension L: 50, H1: 25600, H2: 51200, H3: 102400)

The six frames * Dual DIGIC4 / s provides continuous shooting

98 percent of the viewfinder field of view, magnification 0.71 times. With the electronic level

A high-speed AF system. Double Cross Centre, Cross assists 19 points – 26 points. 5 AF point selection mode, types of automatic. Advanced AI Servo AF

63-segment metering. 1920 × 1080 30/25/24 frame Video

Crop video feature. 10X SD, HD four times, three times in full HD.

According to Canon Rumors, the Canon 5D Mark II replacement is due for release sometime around Q1 or Q2 2011.  I must admit, I’ll be very surprised if it does come out around then. The Canon 5D Mark II is still a very capable and adapt camera that in my opinion only requires minor rather then significant changes. But that being said if the past life cycles of the Canon 5D and Mark II are anything to go by then it does seem likely to expect a release for sometime mid to late next year.

Feature Wishlist

Some of these aren’t likely but it’s nice to dream.

• Better weather sealing. I realise the current Canon 5D Mark II does handle itself quite well in weather conditions but it would be nice to have weather sealing to that similar of the 1D professional series. Whether Canon would bring this into it’s non professional bodies is questionable as it is an obvious selling point for the professional series.
• Built in intervalometer similar to that implemented in Nikon bodies.
• Built in GPS tracker After all, this camera is very popular with landscape photographers.
• Additional video features. I’ll admit I don’t play with the video mode all that often but it would be nice to have the ability to access higher FPS, in camera time lapse feature and also not being constrained to one video format.
• *Social media accessibility from your camera. I’m kidding.
• Less noise at higher ISO. Rather then adding ridiculous ISO capabilities (25,600), let’s just focus on perfecting what we already have.
• More auto focus (AF) points. I was quite disappointed with the AF point coverage of the Canon 5D Mark II and would love to see a lot more in a future release.
• *3D capabilities.
  
• Improvements to the screen. I’ll admit, the screen is quite amazing but further improving the quality and increasing the size of this would be a nice addition.
• Dual memory slots. With the increasing size of pictures and now videos, it’s time for dual memory slots similar to that seen in the 1D professional series bodies.

*Yes.. I’m being sarcastic about 3D capabilities and social media accessibility.

Will I be upgrading? Doubtful unless the changes are significant. For me upgrading from the Canon 350D to the Canon 5D Mark II was an easy choice but justifying upgrading from a Canon 5D Mark II to a III will be difficult. For this reason it wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t see a release until 2012. Are users really in a rush for a replacement of this body? I’m not.