When comparing Canon EOS 5D Mark III vs Canon 5DS / R, the Slant community recommends Canon EOS 5D Mark III for most people. In the question“What are the best full frame DSLR cameras?” Canon EOS 5D Mark III is ranked 6th while Canon 5DS / R is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Canon EOS 5D Mark III is:
61-point autofocus system with 41 cross-type points that performs well in low light.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Good autofocus system
61-point autofocus system with 41 cross-type points that performs well in low light.
Pro Complete manual control for video
Shutter, aperture and ISO can be set manually for video.
Pro Excellent ergonomics
Pro Excellent build quality
Pro Flicker detection
The camera can detect flickering light sources and sync up with them to shoot at peak brightness in order to avoid underexposing the image by accident.
Pro Good autofocus system
61-point autofocus system with 41 cross-type points that performs well in low light. In addition, 5 central autofocus points turn into dual-cross-type points with fast (f/2.8 or faster) lenses increasing the precision even further.
Pro In-camera timelapse
Pro Excellent build quality
The 5DS/R has a magnesium alloy shell that makes it durable.
Pro Programmable Auto ISO
Pro Natural skintones
Pro High resolution
50.6 MP compared to 22.3 MP for the 5D Mark III.
Cons
Con The camera is showing its age
5D Mark III was released in 2012.
Con Dynamic range could be better
5D Mark III has 11.7 stops of dynamic range while competitors have around 14 stops. And shadow recovery is lacking as well limiting HDR photos further.
Con AF point coverage is restricting
Layout of AF points restricts to compose shots in a certain way.
Con Lacks continuous AF in movie mode
Con Lacks programmable Auto ISO
Con Can't set arbitrary exposure time
Con AF points don't illuminate in Servo mode
It can be difficult to see AF points in low light as they do not illuminate in Servo mode.
Con Autofocus subject tracking could be better
Con Limited video capabilities
No HDMI output, no headphone socket.
Con Dynamic range could be better
According to tests performed by DxOmark 5DS / R has 12.41 stops of dynamic range in print and 11.08 stops on screen for images taken at 100 ISO while cameras in this price range commonly push 14 in print and 13 on screen.
Con Low max ISO
The cameras go up to 6400 (or 12800 in extended) ISO.