Canon focuses on 25th birthday EOS DSLR

Canon will mark a quarter Century of its EOS single-lens reflex camera system with its latest DSLR, the EOS 5D Mark III.

The Mark III takes things up a notch from its highly-rated predecessor, pushing the sensor up a megapixel or so, and featuring the new 61-point AF system found in the recently launched EOS-1D X.

According to the company, it's one of the most advanced AFs to date, with 41 cross-type points and five dual cross-type points. Canon's metering system steps into the forefront here, with a 63-zone dual-layer sensor for each point of the AF system instead of the previous 35. It compares colour and luminance signals against the information gathered too.

Another aspect that has been brought over from the 1D X is Canon's Digic 5+ image processor, which replaces the Digic 4 found in the Mark II.

This powers the camera's 22.3Mp full-frame sensor, which rolls up with an increased eight-channel read-out, handling a full res speed of up to 6fps in bursts of 18 Raw images or 16,000 JPeg pics. There's also an ISO of 100-25600 which can be expanded to a whopping 102400 for extreme low light conditions.

HD video capabilities has been improved upon also, with the addition of 60fps slow-motion shooting albeit at 720p, as well as the ability to use an external mic for higher audio quality and a headphone jack for monitoring recording.

On the rear you'll find the same 3.2in LCD used by the 1D X too, which boasts 1040k pixels and protection from dust and scratches.

There is also dual memory card slots, with a UDMA 7-compatible CF card input and one for a regular SD. Both can be used simultaneously, switching automatically if one becomes too full.

The EOS 5D Mark III is instantly compatible with over 60 EF lenses from the EOS system. It'll be available from the end of March 2012 for £3000. ®