5d mark III focusing slowly/etc. in low light wedding receptions

I've been using 5d2s for a long time because I am simply not rich enough (and I don't want the huge body either) to buy 1d-series cameras for work. I've shot about 20 weddings with the 5d3 since I bought it, and I finally sent it in to Canon the other day for an autofocus checkup.
My #1 issue is reception autofocus. My 5d2s beat my 5d3 at reception focusing (with 580EX AF assist always used). They are more reliable for AI servo and faster for one-shot.
My 5d3 struggles to acquire in one-shot, taking probably close to 2 real seconds (it feels like forever) to establish and confirm a lock on a static subject during wedding receptions with lenses like 24L II, 35L, 50L. In contrast, in the exact same lighting conditions and with the same lenses and flash AF assist, my 5d2s all snap right to focus and I click the shutter within about 1 second or less, getting an in-focus image about 90-95% of the time.
With AI servo, the 5d3 is just inferior to my 5d2s in low light. I was hoping, one day, to get a camera that would give me the ability to track subjects well during processionals/grand entrances/reception dances using the outer points, because I'm pretty tired of being stuck with center-point framing for these situations. I thought the 5d3 was supposed to solve that problem, but in fact it took a step backward in low light AI servo accuracy and locking. My 5d2s (center point) both acquire faster and track better in low light than my 5d3 (center point also).
After sending the 5d3 in to get it checked (and so they could charge me $175+), I got a nice copy of the page saying that the camera focus in low light is blah blah etc. etc. use AF assist (which I had noted I did) and the overall feeling was that they were very condescending and disregarding of my equipment issue. To me, a $3500 camera should perform better than a camera that is now worth ~$1300...and so the 5d3 performs arguably better in GOOD light, simply because it has more focus points to choose from which are generally pretty accurate - in GOOD light. However, it performs worse in reception light. Wedding photographers will understand what I mean by reception light.
My 5d2 AI servo is not useless during receptions, but my 5d3 AI servo struggles more in the same reception lighting. My 5d2 one-shot locks quickly and pretty accurately during receptions, while my 5d3 takes significantly longer in one-shot to lock, and sometimes it gives me pretty wild misses, during receptions. Always using AF assist with 580EX, and btw the 5d3 firmware is the latest version (1.2.3 at this time). The camera simply focuses slower during receptions than my 5d2s, and AI servo misses more. 
I also don't like that AF points don't light up before focusing, but this is less important to me than a fast, responsive AF system for wedding receptions. I have had to put away the 5d3 on multiple occasions and bring out a second 5d2 for wedding receptions just so I can get good dancing photos, good speech/toasting photos, etc., before all the key moments went by and ohhhh too late, my focus system didn't lock in time...
I have been having this issue with 5d3 performance since I bought it close to a year ago. I do wedding photography primarily, and I have quite a bit of experience shooting weddings and dealing with the various demands of weddings.
Most of my AF experience is with single point, with only a few experiences using the expansion settings.  I have never had trouble locking or tracking with single point with my 5d2s as long as there was enough light to do it, and being used to that I expected the 5d3 to be able to perform at LEAST comparably.  It does not.
At this point, this critical functional limitation of the 5d3 has left me very dissatisfied with the camera.  I thought upgrades were supposed to do everything just as well or better than the previous version, but this newest camera has shown me that more AF points definitely does NOT mean a better (or even comparable) AF system in every situation.  Clearly something was traded off when they added a ton of cross-type points, like low light acquisition speed and being able to see your AF points illuminate when you start AF.
I've been playing around with Nikon equipment for a while and am beginning to think that is my forced alternative.  I don't like the things I hear about Nikon customer support, and I don't really like the direction they are going with some of their releases or how they handled function issues (focus issues with off-center focus points, oil on sensors, etc.) but Canon isn't innocent of that stuff either.  And if I use an all-Nikon setup then I will have excellent dynamic range at low ISOs as well.  Too bad Nikon doesn't have the glass I like best (35L, 85L, etc.)...but compromises must be made in some direction, and I'm intensely frustrated with Canon's latest cameras' focusing systems in low light.
It's very specific, mind you: Low light performance is inferior to my 5d2s.  In good light, my 5d3 has better AF flexibility for tracking with outer points, and the one-shot focus acquisition is comparable to my 5d2s.

This singular issue of the 5d3 has ensured that I will never buy another one (unless they fix that, which they won't).  Unlike what I did with the 5d2 (upgraded to 5d2s towards the end of their product cycle), the 5d3 is too impaired for low light photography for me to be able to replace my 5d2s with 5d3s.  I can only hope the next generation will NOT have the same low light focus delays...otherwise I might have to buy a few 6Ds just to keep up with more current tech (since my 5d2s will wear out eventually).  I've heard they don't have the same doublechecking delay, but they also have other limits that I dislike (1/4000 ss, 1/180 flash sync, no pc sync port, SD memory only) and will have to work around.

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    mortontd wrote:
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  • 5d mark III front focus problem

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  • Back button focusing for 5d Mark III. How do I set it up?

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    Go to Solution.

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  • 5d Mark III - Metering Underexposed

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    rjs1981 wrote:
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  • 5D Mark 3 Low Light Images = really slow!!!

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    Solved!
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    I swore when I read this the second time I saw something about the screen flickering, not the read light.  Seems I'm losing it.
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    So, I need to make a correction on the Compact Flash Card.  The card I am using is a SanDisk Extreme PRO 32GB Compact Flash.
    I am wondering...I was shooting a wedding this past weekend when this was happening.  The card is rated at 32GB however, the formatted space shows approx 29GB.  The total space used for pictures was just over 27GB.  Wonder if it was stopping because the card was getting low on space?
    What lens were you using? My 70-200 f/2.8 has two modes. In one of them it focusses faster, but doesn't let you get as close to the subject as in the other mode. If you're in that first mode and you get too close to the subject, the resulting behavior is as you describe. I doubt that that's your problem, but thought it was at least worth mentioning.
    If the card were out of space, it would tell you. You wouldn't have to guess.
    Bob
    Boston, Massachusetts USA

  • 5D Mark III firmware suggestions

    Hello,
    Could Canon team give us their positions on these suggestions please ?
    1) The Auto ISO is far from being convenient.
    - Could we specify the min shutter speed instead of being limited to a restricted number of predefined values ?
    - When shutter speed is set to "auto", could we set a priority as regards the one-over-the-focal-length rule thanks to a slider ? This is exactly what is so WELL done for some autofocus settings, so why not extend it to the "auto" value ?
    2) When we switch the lens to manual focus, could you make the focus grid and red blinking vanish ?
    3) Could you display the focal length on the rear LCD when reviewing a picture ? Presently, only aperture/speed/ISO are displayed when you click on "Info". 
    4) This last one might sound like a gadget... Would it possible when pressing the M-Fn button (or other) to set the focus to the hyperfocal ? Nowadays, there are no more indications for this on the lens barrel. And it is so useful for street photography and landscape. The camera knows the focal length and the current aperture. There are tables that give the relation between aperture, focal length and hyperfocal (as simple as a rule of thumb). So this should work, no ?
    Maybe I am alone here to think that this would be welcome additions (#1 top priority) and will never be heard by Canon's dev team... But I would really appreciate having their answers written down here. Thanks for your consideration on this matter.
    Cheers,
    Yoms

    We agree with all of these suggestions.
    And we will also add the following suggestion than CAN be implemented via Firmware Update.
    PLEASE CANON consider these requests, and forward them to the right department:
    1- Could we enable AF points blinking in red even when the sccene is light?
    Currently they only blink red when the scene is dark, even if you set the View Finder to always be illuminated.
    This is VERY useful because in lot of situations the black overlay AF points is not very easy to see in light scenes.
    2- If possible: also make them more visible (blinking red) in AI Servo, because they're currently hard to follow in lot of situations.
    3- Could we assign different functions to the RATE button? It's currently almost a waste of button for only a couple of functions.
    4- Please implement a "Hot / Sutck Pixels" REMAPPING function to let the user tell the camera to hide these deffective pixels in stills and video mode.
    This is ESSENTIAL in digital cameras (every sensor has deffective pixels, most of them "mapped" in factory to be hidden, but not all). Digital sensors may even show more hot/stuck pixels over time. It could work in similar way than the "Dust delete data"
    5- We expect an Option for CLEAN 4:2:2 HDMI output as promised by Canon, besides the current Full HD HDMI output option with shooting information, which is essential for using external monitors.
    6- PLEASE, could Canon implement PEAKING in Video mode? The 5D Mark III is a $3,000+ camera.
    There are currently cameras by other manufacturers with Peaking, 1080p60 for less than $1,000...
    The 5D Mark III had strong advertised aimed towards the video market, yet it doesn't have this basic feature for filmmaking & video.
    7- Please, could Canon improve the ALL-I mode?
    It delivers poor quality (considering the BIG memory space required) when there are low motion scenes, showing more macro blocking than IPB and a noticeable "fizzy" noise, even at Low ISO.
    8- Please, improve the Sharpness algorithm in Video mode, to get SHARPER images when setting it higher than zero.
    Currently it produces noticeable halos, making it almost unusable for professional work.
    The list could be longer, but all these improvements are VERY important and CAN be made via firmare update and would make the 5D Mark III more competitive and a higher value.
    Thank you very much Canon!
    We really hope you listent to your customers.
    HD Cam Team
    Group of photographers and filmmakers using Canon cameras for serious purposes.
    www.hdcamteam.com | www.twitter.com/HDCamTeam | www.facebook.com/HDCamTeam

  • Best settings for Green Screen Video with Canon Mark iii

    HI
    What are the ideal camera settings for Green screen video.
    Iso?
    aperature?
    Depth of field settings (best to have the green screen a bit out of focus?)
    Any other camera settings would be helpful.
    Thanks
    Rowby

    Hi Rowby!
    Thanks so much for writing in about green screen shooting with the EOS 5D Mark III camera.  Green screen shooting can come down to some crucial elements and how well you handle the camera and the lighting.  
    Arguably the most important thing is to have excellent lighting on the screen.  Without this, the keys used to replace the green screen will not be accurate.  So hopefully you have a good set of lights you will be using to actually light the physical screen. 
    With regards to ISO, shoot as low as possible.  We suggest that you stick in the ISO 200-400 range where possible.  With good, high key, proper lighting on the screen this shouldn't be an issue. 
    Aperture should actually be in the higher end of the range, you would want to stick to apertures around f/8 and above.  Again, with adequate lighting this shouldn't be out of reach.  This is so the green screen is more in focus, versus having it out of focus, which would not yield successful results. 
    Use an appropriate lens to the subject, for example if you are doing wide shots- use only the focal length needed for the shoot and no wider.  For head shots, close ups- use a lens that will get you close. 
    Following these suggestions should give you some pretty good results.  Remember, if this is your first attempt don't be discouraged, green screen shooting can be difficult to accomplish. 
    We wish you the best of luck in your endeavor!
    Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

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