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Camera deals of the week: 2.28.14
As winter begins to slowly depart here in the States, some of us here at Engadget are anxious to get outside and shoot some spring-like stills. What's that? Oh, you are too? Well, we've collected a handful of discounted camera options this time around that await on the other side of the jump. Per usual, there's a range of prices, so there should be something to suit most budgets. If there are other cameras, lenses and the like you have your eye on that we haven't included here -- join us and add them to your "Want" list. Every time there's a price cut in the future, you'll get an email alert!
The best camera deals of the week: 12.6.13
With Engadget's new tools, you can track price drops on thousands of devices every day, and once a week we feature some of the best deals right here. But act fast! Many of these are limited-time offers, and won't last long. The holiday season usually means an increase in family portraits -- whether we like it or not. There's also the excursions to visit Nana, selecting the perfect tree and those all-important New Year's celebrations. In today's smattering of deals, we focus our viewfinders on the digital camera deals of the week. Nab one of the gadgets we've selected on the other side of the break or use our product database to keep an eye on prices as they're sure to fluctuate. Join us and add the gadgets you're shopping for to your "Want" list; every time there's a price cut, you'll get an email alert!
Canon's upcoming 5D Mark III firmware update brings uncompressed HDMI output support, enhanced AF functionality
Proud owners of that sleek and relatively powerful Mark III will be happy to know Canon has just announced a firmware update for its flagship 5D model. The Japanese camera maker is touting this upcoming release as one that will bring clean HDMI-out support to the EOS shooter, which should be great for folks who would like to monitor their recordings in real time. Additionally, Canon's improved the Mark III's AF functionalities yet again; this time out by enabling the unit's auto focus system to adequately adjust to the type of lens that it is paired with. Unfortunately, it looks like users will have to wait a little while to install the new firmware, as the company won't be making it available until April of next year -- at which point it can be grabbed from the soon-to-be bookmarked source link below.
Engadget's back to school guide 2012: digital cameras
Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we've got our optical viewfinders set firmly on digital cameras -- and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Your smartphone can take pictures, you say? Well, sure it can, but try snapping away at a frat party -- you're likely to walk away with a blurry mess. Your Facebook friends and future employers deserve an accurate account of those glory days, and you'll need a proper snapper to get the job done. College is as good a time as any to learn responsibility, but don't expect to walk out of the experience with all your gear unscathed. To that end, freshmen should look long and hard at our point-and-shoot picks, which include models that you won't be afraid to toss around, or drop in the jungle juice. After that come the mirrorless ILCs, which should satisfy the more advanced photogs in the bunch, followed by our digital SLR picks, which, sadly, may be out of reach of all but photography majors and deep-pocketed private school types. Finally, you'll have yet another opportunity to enter our fantastic giveaway at the bottom of the page, just after the break.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III's light leak fix found to be black tape
When Canon promised a fix for the EOS 5D Mark III's preview LCD leaking light, photographers wondered just what the "countermeasures" would be to prevent the display from affecting exposure readouts. The remedy, it turns out, is a simple patch -- of the physical kind, not software. Roger Cicala at LensRentals was brave enough to tear down one of the DSLRs shipping with a fix already in place and found black electrical tape covering the LCD area that would otherwise spill light into the exposure meter. While basic, the solution does the trick, and will no doubt be a relief to shutterbugs who want to know exactly what exposure they'll get while snapping photos in the dark.
Canon 5D Mark III hits US retailers, available in stores today
Well, that didn't take long at all. Hours after our Canon 5D Mark III review went live, we've received word that the camera is already available for purchase, and if you happen to live in New York City and can make it to B&H before 7PM, you could even take one home today! A call to the retailer confirmed that there are just three kits available, each with a 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens in the box for $4,299. If you're looking for a body-only version, you'll need to hang tight, but if you don't mind splurging on the pricey duo, now would be the time to cancel those Thursday night dinner plans in favor of some low-light NYC shooting.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III field review
Shoot in the dark. That's essentially what you can do with the Canon 5D Mark III -- with a top sensitivity of ISO 102,400, what was once unfathomable could soon become an acceptable standard. While point-and-shoot manufacturers are adding WiFi and GPS, and tweaking algorithms in an effort to boost sensitivity beyond the 6400 mark, Canon and Nikon are making clear cases for a DSLR upgrade, by drastically improving image quality. The 5D Mark II had an excellent three-year run, but with its 22.3-megapixel sensor, 1.04M-dot 3.2-inch LCD, improved autofocus and high-performance video capabilities, Canon's latest full-frame DSLR is an entirely different beast, and a very compelling successor. We spent two glorious weeks with a pre-production 5D Mark III before reluctantly shipping it back to Canon. The biggest benefit (for us, at least) has been high-ISO shooting. While the former 5D could theoretically handle ISO 25,600 captures as well, its native range topped out at 6400 -- venturing beyond that territory meant taking a hit on image quality, making it a seldom-used feature that benefited the camera's spec sheet far more than our low-light snap collection. With this latest iteration, we were able to capture sharp images in environments where there was far too little light to make out details with the naked eye, just as we have with the larger (and pricier) Nikon D3S. Our resulting scenes look like they were lit with sophisticated rigs, or in an environment that allotted far more natural light than was actually available. Low-light shooting is but one benefit of the Mark III, however, so join us past the break for a closer look in our field review.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III high-ISO sample images (hands-on)
Canon unveiled its highly-anticipated EOS 5D Mark III just 10 days ago, but we already have a pre-production sample in-hand, and will be putting it through its paces over the next week. Today's installment focuses on high-sensitivity still image shooting, which we conducted at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea. We chose a dimly lit temple as our test subject, shooting a handful of images at ISO settings ranging from 800 to the camera's top native sensitivity of 25,600, and extended modes of ISO 51,200 and ISO 102,400. All images were captured at f/8 with a 24-105mm L lens.As expected, the camera offered excellent performance at all of the native settings -- as you can see from the image above, there's some noise noticeable when viewing an image at full size, though considering the camera's top resolution of 22.3 megapixels, we hardly see ISO 25,600 being an issue. Jumping beyond the top native range did yield significant noise, but assuming you're shooting for the web, even these settings are usable. Chances are, you won't often be examining images at a 1:1 pixel view, so jump past the break to see how each of the four frames represented above will look when scaled to a web-friendly 600-pixels-wide resolution, then hit up our source link to grab full-res JPEGs of each image captured during the shoot.
