Hassie Loc: Central Pennsylvania

Well, I did it.
Ordered a used 5DIII (with only 103 clicks) and a 24-70 F4L lens from Cameta on Friday.
To my surprise, the FedEx man dropped it off about 10:30 on Saturday.
Initial pictures of my dog and my wife are very good.
Looking forward to using it on a better weather day than what we have today. Rain and wind.
Waiting for the manual I ordered from another venue to start to learn to set it up.
Thanks for all the suggestions and comments received.
UHH people are very helpful.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You can download the PDF for free from the Canon website. You can download all the software too, including making sure the firmware is up to date, if needed.

Hassie Loc: Central Pennsylvania

I looked at the PDF but it is 404 pages. I would rather pay for a copy of the full manual that carry that much paper around.
I will try to get the software and the firmware thru the net.
Thanks for the comment.

cowboydid2 Loc: The highways and byways of America

I don't know if Canon has anything like this, but Nikon has a Manual Viewer app. I carry manuals for all my cameras and speed flashes on my phone and tablet. Instant access, no paper.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Yep. I have manuals for all my stuff in PDF format on my smart phone and laptop. Easy to access and searchable. You can even magnify the screen, a necessity for my tired old eyes on a tiny phone screen.

Andy

Hassie Loc: Central Pennsylvania

As both you and cowboydid2 noted, I will probably download the manual to my phone but I like to have it on paper to read when I am trying to set up the controls and find that something might go wrong, as it usually does.
My 72 year old eyes are not as good as they used to be.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

My close vision is pretty poor, even with an up to date 'scrip on my progressive bifocals. The printed manuals that come with most gear are so small that they're almost as bad as the smartphone screen. Plus, I don't really need the translations into French, Spanish, Japanese, Latin, and Urdu.

If I want to have a hard copy of any particular manual, I print it out on 8.5x11" paper and punch three holes in it, sizing the type accordingly. My wife keeps a few big three-ring binders that have the directions and manuals for all of our stuff, so I can pull it out and read it if necessary. I also use "Circa" notebooks for many applications, and have several dedicated to different hobbies and interests. You can get a punch at Levenger (and probably other places too) that punches out those T-shaped openings. The nice thing about the Circa format is that it's easier and faster to remove and/or rearrange pages.

Andy

Hassie Loc: Central Pennsylvania

Andy:
I also am planning to get a book on the 5dIII so I will have another reference to use.
Hope this will help me, too.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Andy

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

First, you have bought an excellent camera that will serve you well, especially in low light/high ISO situations - you’ll find that you can get very acceptable results all the way to ISO 12,800. A few suggestions:

Consider a Canon battery grip, not so much for the extra battery, but for the better grip/balance and when shooting with vertical orientation. I would suggest a genuine Canon grip.

Secondly, rather than plod through the manual, I would go through the menus, one at a time and customize the settings. Many are self explanatory, and for those that aren’t, then referring to the manual.

When trying to come to grips with all the settings, options and information, mentally divide them into settings and controls that affect AF, those that control exposure, and those general settings such as what format to record to each card,etc.

After you get really familiar with the body, Google “magic lantern” and see if the myriad features of this free FW that loads on power up (once you download it) are useful to you.

When you have soecific questions, just ask (and congratulations).

Cheers

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

The last time i had a new camera I sent the manual to my cell phone as that I could access it anytime.

SteveG Loc: Norh Carolina

You can link to a copy of your manual on a smartphone. It's right there at your fingertips! If you like

khorinek

Congratulation! I love the Mark III. I used one for several years and finally had a new shutter put in by Canon. It's a great camera you will be happy with it!

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

Try browsing for Abe books - might save loads.

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

Good Luck with the new camera & lens......Good for you !