The Canon 5D Mark III Gets The Instagram Treatment

What happens when you combine the powers of two influential products from opposite ends of the photographic zeitgeist? Pretty much exactly what you'd expect.

The Canon 5D Mark III is one of the year's most popular cameras, coveted by pros, serious enthusiasts, and Kobe Bryant. It produces some of the truest-to-life colors we've ever seen from a digital camera.

Instagram is the most influential photography app ever, used by hipsters, celebrities, and Lebron James. It skews digital photos to look like old film snapshots.

Just because we can, we ran our most accurate 5D Mk. III color test photo (shot in Faithful color mode with a custom white balance) through a few Instagram filters, and re-measured the color accuracy.

Surprise surprise, they're all terrible scores. But does that really detract from how much you enjoy the colors? Maybe it's a good excuse to think about what accurate color really means, that perfection isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Or maybe it's another reason to scoff at Instagram for ruining photography. Whatever clicks your shutter, chief.

The Photos

Mode: Canon 5D Mark III, Faithful color profile, custom white balance
Minimum Color Error, Delta C uncorrected: 2.12
Saturation: 101.8%
Digital Camera Info Color Score: 18.6

Mode: Amaro
Minimum Color Error, Delta C uncorrected: 9.22
Saturation: 88.8%
Digital Camera Info Color Score: 3.45

Mode: Earlybird
Minimum Color Error, Delta C uncorrected: 10.9
Saturation: 84.9%
Digital Camera Info Color Score: 2.82

Mode: Hudson
Minimum Color Error, Delta C uncorrected: 6.66
Saturation: 104.5%
Digital Camera Info Color Score: 6.01

Mode: Nashville
Minimum Color Error, Delta C uncorrected: 7.59
Saturation: 101.2%
Digital Camera Info Color Score: 5.27

Mode: Rise
Minimum Color Error, Delta C uncorrected: 7.76
Saturation: 86.0%
Digital Camera Info Color Score: 4.29

Mode: X-Pro II
Minimum Color Error, Delta C uncorrected: 6.33
Saturation: 118.8%
Digital Camera Info Color Score: 5.13