1DMkIII vs 5DMkII vs 7D vs 1DSMkIII

[jhpeterson]

I have a chance to get a 1DMkIII, at what probably is a very decent price. I'm somewhat surprised how much they've depreciated compared to the 1DMkIV.
Admittedly, they had their issues when they first came out and they are only 10MP, but in terms of durability and when I don't need extremely large image sizes (that's why I have a 1DSMkIII), they more than hold their own.
I'm also told this is one of the later models that came out after the focusing problems were addressed.
I'm rather partial to the 1D series of cameras, as the nature of my work puts bodies to a pretty rigorous test. What I'm wondering is whether I should go for this rather than a 5DMkII or 7D I'm currently using as backup, or spend roughly twice as much for another 1DSMkIII?

I know, based on my experiences of the last few weeks, I really should upgrade and buy at least a couple 1DXs, a most awesome piece of equipment!

[timmy_650]

I have been looking at this too.
The biggest downside for me with going with older models is the the ISO range. The 1DMKIII is like 3200 which only bad if you are shooting at low lights. If your happy with your 1DSMKIII for that. I would go for it.

[bdunbar79]

If it were me, my thinking would be the 1D Mark III would be my last choice.  It's only 10 mp's and the IQ is less than that of the 1D Mark IV.  The 1Ds Mark III is good only to about ISO 640-800 and has a low frame rate, so I wouldn't be using that for sports much.  However, the 1Ds Mark III is so superior in IQ to the 1D Mark III, I think even with the extra reach of the APS-H sensor, it still couldn't match the IQ no matter how much cropping you did.  If it were me, as a backup for low ISO and high res, I'd get a 5D Mark II.  The 5D Mark II will not help much in sports, but it'll shoot similar IQ to your 1Ds3 but only it will surpass it in high ISO shooting.  That would make a great combo.  That's my opinion.

As for the 1DX, yes, it beats all 4 of those cameras in my opinion. 

[jhpeterson]

Thanks, privatebydesign, for your pictures and post about using the 1DSMkIII at higher ISOs. It's been my experience that the camera gets rather noisy at anything above 800 or so, but your suggest of shooting at 1600, then underexposing two stops and pulling the details out in post-processing is certainly worth another look.
Despite having the same sensor, I agree that the 5DMkII is better for these things, but I find the build quality far too fragile for the way I nearly always shoot. The 7D seems a bit better, but only just. That's why I was looking for another 1D series body for about what I'd pay for either one of these.
True, I can achieve better IQ by cropping a 1DSMkIII file, but, since many of my clients only need work for the web, sometimes I don't come even close to requiring all the resolution I have.