Welcome to Michael’s blog. Michael Andrew, (aka Michael The Maven) is a freelance
producer, photography instructor, tech innovator, and when needed, disaster aid
specialist. Disclaimer: Michael is a participant in Bhphoto & Amazon affiliate programs
that provides an advertising commission if you purchase through links on this website.
– All images are straight out of the camera, only resizing for web display and watermark.
– Nearly all of these images were taken at f1.4, between 1/100-1/200 and and ISO of 100-250
– I am noticing that the Auto White Balance is a little Jumpy on the 5Diii. Enjoy!
The Canon 5Diii has an in camera HDR feature which automatically merges 3 separate exposures together and then adds some light tone mapping to produce a 4th and separate file.
I initially brushed this off simply because there are many settings and tweaks typically required to get good HDR type shots and the 5Diii lacks these settings, but I decided to test it out anyway.
To get good HDR shots, it is well known that you should shoot subject matter that does not change (or move), and I decided to intentionally break this rule by shooting moving subjects.
To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised with the results.
I believe that this HDR feature is REALLY useful, for a couple reasons:
1. The 5Diii automatically lines up the shots, so you don’t necessarily have to have a tripod. (Though it helps)
2. Speed- It is super quick- No downloading images onto your computer.
3. This can almost be a quick and dirty way to “test HDR” a composition. If it is looking good, then you can set up and do it right if you feel the need.
Here are some of my test shots- First the controls (Unmerged images with corresponding exposure values)
This is the resulting HDR image. This is really an unfair test because the wind was blowing hard and the trees were really shaking in the wind. Still I was impressed with this and decided to try a little more….
Again, totally unfair subject matter. I would never attempt to do HDR in a windy situation such as this because of all the fringing that is inevitable…
But….I kept on testing…and some of the results were better….
….and even others were extremely good….wow!
After seeing the above image, I decided to give it the ultimate HDR test….Waves…with a sunset background. Each image would have a different set of waves to pull information from, I was expecting a blob, but not so. Aside from the fringing in the clouds and the over exposure in the waves, I thought it did extremely well (remember this is all handheld too).
Please note that this is all SOOC (no adjustments made besides resizing and labeling). 
The above shots were done with “Art Vivid” selection, which I believe is the most interesting.
These last 2 were done on Saturday with “Natural” selected. Still…not too bad for handheld on moving subjects. 
Hats off to Canon on this nice little feature. I really, REALLY like it and am looking forward to playing around with it more.
Spent most of my day working on this. I’m really trying to make small improvements in my videos, such as audio quality, as well as HD videos for Youtube. I really believe that in a few years, everything will be streaming and/or downloads, as well as pretty much all HD.
This is an introduction video to the Canon 5Diii. It will take you on a very detailed overview of every single button and port on the camera body. Ive found that most Canon shooters are interested in these videos whether or not they intend to own it, simply because it shows them what the new camera body is all about and what major new features there are. Most of you will notice the 7Ds live view switch as well as the MFn button (they work very similarly too). This is just one video from my Canon 5Diii Crash Course which is scheduled to be ready for download sometime next week.
Enjoy!
I hope you guys find this helpful- It was shot with the 5Diii. (I think the video quality and audio are a little better than the 5Dii) – Enjoy!
What a busy, busy, busy day. Woke up at 5:20am, and have worked straight till 10:30pm only taking time to eat. Had a very, very successful day, 4 hours of shooting in the morning (several 5Diii videos and tests, Ill be posting my quick review on the 5Diii later tonight before I crash) the rest of the day editing.
Im working like crazy this week to get as much of the Canon 5Diii Crash Course Tutorial video done, because I have other projects I need to start some time next week. Im not sure I will get it done by then, but it sure will be fun to try…!
After shooting our lessons, Adam and I went down to the beach and grabbed this shot for the cover. I take a lot of pride in getting the covers mostly right in camera.
We will have the downloads for sale immediately once its all wrapped up (I would estimate this to be 2-3 weeks) and another month after that for the DVD. I realize that most of the 5Diii users will be professionals, but I was bombarded for the last 3.5 years by pros and beginners a like for a DVD on the 5Diii. There are also many videographers who want to know how to use it better as a still camera, so I feel this is a good investment of time and energy to try to make happen.
I am LOVING the 5Diii, still learning tons about it, but my review video will cover the most important things. Lots of great info and images coming very soon.
