Canon 5D Mark III Image Quality

The 5D Mark III shows slightly improved contrast and certainly higher resolution than its predecessor. The mosaic crop is noticeably sharper, and the pink swatch has excellent detail, while the red leaf swatch is pretty respectable. Otherwise, it's not a huge change at ISO 100 from the 5D Mark II, though default sharpening is higher.

Very similar results here. The 5D Mark III's 22-megapixel sensor captures a touch more detail than the 6D's 20-megapixel imager, but it's extremely close. Some of the increased sharpness in the Mark III's shot is doubtless the result of its slightly stronger default sharpening. The 6D appears to resolve the threads in the pink fabric a touch better, though that may just be a slight difference in focus. Practically speaking, both cameras produce nearly identical output.

As expected, the Nikon D800's 36-megapixel sensor captures noticeably more detail at base ISO, resolving the thread pattern in the red leaf swatch which the Canon cannot. The Nikon also does a better job capturing the texture in the wall behind the bottles, while the Canon's noise reduction blurs much of it away. Nikon's approach to sharpening is more conservative, with less obvious sharpening halos. The D800's default contrast is also lower, and color warmer.

The differences between Canon and Nikon's approach to image processing continue here, but the 5D Mark III's 22-megapixel resolution is more closely matched to the 24-megapixel D600 this time. Bright sharpening halos are again immediately evident in the 5D Mark III's images when compared to the D600, and the D600 renders the red leaf swatch better, though it does generate some noticeable moiré. The Canon's higher default contrast and sharpening give its images a bit more "pop."

The Canon's higher contrast and stronger sharpening are again obvious here in the bottle crops, but both cameras capture similar levels of detail. The 24-megapixel Sony A99 renders the red leaf and pink swatches a little better, though.

Your eyes can see clearly the benefit of the 5D Mark III over the Mark II here, particularly in the mosaic image. There's more contrast and sharper detail. The exception is the red leaf swatch, which while somewhat cartoonish in the 5D Mark II's rendering, is softer in the 5D Mark III's version.

Results here are again very close, as you'd expect for siblings using similar sensors and image processors. Resolution and contrast are a touch higher from the 5D Mark III, but the two cameras' images are otherwise very similar.

The difference between Nikon and Canon in their approach to sharpening and noise suppression is rather stark in these crops. The Nikon D800 elects to do less sharpening and noise suppression, and apparently less processing in the red channel, resulting in more luminance noise in the bottle shoulder crop, a softer mosaic image and a sharper red leaf swatch, while the 5D Mark III does the opposite.

Nikon's more balanced approach to noise suppression is evident across all the image elements here, while Canon applies more noise suppression to some areas than others, and also sharpens more aggressively. Hence the sharp mosaic image and soft red leaf swatch from the 5D Mark III. Unfortunately, moiré is still visible in the Nikon D600's red leaf swatch.

The Canon 5D Mark III's images have less noise, as well as more aggressive sharpening and higher contrast, leaving the Sony A99 images looking a touch soft in comparison. While the Canon does a bit better here, both cameras perform very well indeed.

Here's a dramatic demonstration of the improvements both to the sensor and the noise suppression technology found in the 5D Mark III. The 5D Mark II's images look downright hazy by comparison.

Again, not a lot of difference between the two siblings here, so save some money and go with the Canon 6D if you don't need the extra speed and features the 5D Mark III offers.

At ISO 3,200, approaches continue to diverge. Luminance noise is even more obvious in the Nikon D800's shadows, and flecks of chroma noise also appear in the mosaic image, yet the red swatch still has thread detail, whereas the Canon 5D3's more aggressive noise suppression continues to blur the leaves. On the other hand, the 5D Mark III's rendering of the mosaic image looks like it would print very well, but keep in mind that the D800's resolution advantage allows for larger prints.

Nikon's approach is again more even than Canon's. The 5D Mark III images are cleaner and more contrasty, but contain less fine detail. The D600's images are noisier, but the camera is still resolving most of the "grout" lines in the mosaic while leaving some of the color left by the offset printing process. The red leaf swatch detail is noticeably better from the D600, though moiré is still visible.

The Canon 5D Mark III pulls ahead of the Sony A99 a bit more here, with noticeably cleaner, more contrasty images. Both struggle to maintain detail in the red leaf swatch, though.