Skip to main content

    Filmmaker removes 5D Mark III's low-pass filter for increased sharpness

    Filmmaker removes 5D Mark III's low-pass filter for increased sharpness

    /

    Freelance filmmaker James Miller could hardly spend a week with his shiny new Canon 5D Mark III before tearing it apart and removing one of the camera's low-pass filters to try and get all the sharpness he could get from its full-frame 22.3-megapixel sensor.

    Share this story

    Canon 5D Mark III teardown
    Canon 5D Mark III teardown

    Freelance filmmaker James Miller could hardly spend a week with his shiny new Canon 5D Mark III before tearing it apart and removing one of the camera's low-pass filters to try and get all the sharpness he could from its full-frame, 22.3-megapixel sensor. While the teardown photos are sure to terrify you, some of Miller's final results look promising. The comparison shots below (which were taken at two different times of day) clearly show more detail in the roof shingles. Low-pass filters sacrifice a bit of clarity to avoid moiré, but in the couple of samples provided by Miller it doesn't look to be a problem. While we'd hardly recommend anyone take a screwdriver to their 5D Mark III yet, it's worth noting that this isn't an unheard of modification — the experiment is quite a bit like the E variant of Nikon's competing D800, which is the same save for the fact that the antialiasing feature from the stock model is removed.

    5d-mark-iii-comparison