Berkley White has posted some thoughts and demo video from early video testing of the Canon 5D Mark III in the cenotes of the Yucatan, Mexico. He was using a “hacked” housing which gave him limited access to controls, but found that the high ISO performance was far superior to that of the 5D Mark II in terms of noise. He debates the pros and cons of the new ALL-I video codec and finds that the 6fps frame rate and improved autofocus on the new camera rectify significant weaknesses in its predecessor. He concludes:

“And while it may be hard to distinguish between the 5D II clips and 5D III clips in the video above, you’ll be able to get the shot with the Mark III in conditions where you just simply couldn’t pull it off with the 5D Mark II.”

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Dpreview.com has just published a review of the Canon 5D Mark III. The comprehensive 30 page review contains many sample images and a specific review of the camera’s performance in video mode. The reviewers find that it is weak in JPEG mode, and the video mode is not significantly improved over that of the 5D Mark II. They do find that it is “an extremely versatile photographic tool that is capable of great results in many shooting situations” but also feel that for those buying in to a top end system, the Nikon D800 may be a viable alternative.

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Apple has released an update to its camera RAW compatibility. Version 3.13 adds support for RAW files from the following cameras: Canon EOS-1D X, Nikon D800E, Nikon D3200, Olympus OM-D E-M5, Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GF5 and Sony Alpha SLT-A57.

The update is free and available via Software Update or the Apple support site for users with OS Mac OS X 10.6.8 and OS X Lion 10.7 or later.

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Chris Parsons has posted the first underwater video shot with Canon 5D Mk III on the forums. The footage was shot around the Windjammer wreck in Bonaire, which lies in 210’ (65m) of water, just past the end of the reef on the northwest end of the island. Chris was using a Canon 8-15mm lens (at 14mm) with a 1.4 x teleconverter. Chris is uncertain of the exposure settings, but thinks it was mostly shot at 1/60 at around f/8 to f/13, ISO 800-1600. He also utilized the AF-On feature on the camera to pre-focus at around 2’ ( 0.6m).

In addition, he has also posted some macro footage from Bonaire onto Vimeo. This was shot using an 100mm lens and Atlantis Mk I lights.

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Wetpixel Editor Adam Hanlon reviews Brian Skerry’s recent book, Ocean Soul. Brian has also granted Wetpixel an exclusive interview about the book and his life as one of the world’s pre-eminent underwater photo journalists, conducted during one of his assignments “from the middle of the North Atlantic, where the weather is terrible and I have a few days to catch-up on work”. Adam finds that:

“Skerry’s story-telling in both images and words gives Ocean Soul an integrity that is lacking from “simple” picture books. The next time you are feeling jaded and are seeking inspiration for an imaging project, this will be a great resource to reach for.” (Image ©Mauricio Handler.)

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