Canon 5D Mark 2 or 5D Mark 3??

[Policar]

I recently upgraded from the Mark III to the C100 (and had a t2i before that). I rarely recommending waiting on a product that likely won't be released, but see if Canon has a C50 up its sleeve at NAB before buying because the C100 is incredible.

(And buy a Mark III over the Mark II at this point, but wait for a good deal. It's not that much better, but if you're a professional you'd do better being able to avoid skew and noise at high ISOs.)

If you're a pro you can likely pay off a C100 in a few months, less at the frequency with which it sounds like you're working, but if the C50 comes out and has the same sensor but is cheaper... why not?

[RichM]

I sold my Mk2 this past week and purchased a Mk3.  While it has only been a few days, here are my far from scientific) observations so far:

• Significantly better high ISO performance with the Mk3 - I found 3200 about the limit of what was acceptable with the Mk2, and 6400 on the Mk3 better, with 12800 acceptable when absolutely necessary.
• Much better autofocus, with significantly more flexibility
• Better build quality
• Mk2 images seem slightly more "color rich", but not significantly

When I get a larger body of work to compare, I'll update.  But so far, I think I got exactly what I was hoping for in this body.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

So i've been shooting non-stop music video/commercial work on my canon t3i for the last year/half. I really feel like i've come close to using this camera to its full capacity & I'm getting ready to add a full frame camera to my bag..

Now I understand, obviously the Canon Mark 3 is the better camera but my main question would be..
Is the Canon Mark 3 worth the extra $1500 at this point in time for me? Right now the Mark 2 is going for around $2200 on Amazon (body only) which looks like a steal to me.. Is spending $3500 + for the newer model worth it at this point?

What would you do?

1. You don't need to pay $3500+ for the 5D3 these days! Heck, I got mine like a month after they came out and paid like $3200 for it and you can do a lot better than even that now.

2. If the moire/aliasing has ever bugged you then the 5D3 would fix that right up. (at least for music videos and planned productions you can do things to try to minimize it so maybe it's not quite the hideous problem it can be for others, perhaps; for me it makes a big difference though)

The 5D3 has nearly 2 stops better SNR for video since it uses the whole sensor to collect light for video instead of thin strips of it as on the 5D2. If you are shooting at ISO100 now it might not matter too much. If you are doing ISO800+ shooting it might matter a good deal.

It's not really any crisper though. And the DR didn't seem to take any much of a leap at lower ISO despite the two stops better middle gray SNR, for some reason.

(for stills the SNR is only a bit more than 1/2 stop better but for video it's like 2 stops better; although for very high iso and scenes with lots of near black it can seem more than 1/2-2/3rd of a stop better since it has less high iso banding in shadows for stills and even though the main noise looks only a bit better the fact that all the super dark part of the scene aren't junked up can sometimes let you get 1-2 stops out of the stills performance even though the SNR is only a little bit better)

[LetTheRightLensIn]

You guys do bring a really valid point.. Best but has them priced over 3500 and after tax were looking close to 4k. I could most def get a MK2 and another L lens w/ that. Is the ISO difference really that much between the mk2 and mo3?

Best But(t) huh.    Maybe you have been shooting too many music videos  . (OK, probably the QWERTY keyboard and it's t being dangerously close to y hah.)

Anyway don't get the 5D3 from Best Butt try one of the online cam shops (stick to reputable ones of course).

[LetTheRightLensIn]

The other option is the 6D, nobody seems to have mentioned it. I know it's video features aren't quite a good as the 5D3, but the IQ should be about the same (aside for possibly worse moire issues). If the video features of the 6D are adequate for your needs, then it may be worth looking at over the 5D3. It seems to me, many of the advantages the 5D3 offers over the 6D are more for photography rather than video (increased AF points, for instance). So you may be paying extra for features that are of little value to you.

6D has really been getting knocked for moire though

Since it has moire I wonder if it doesn't line skip too? Does it also give you a solid 1.5 stops better SNR than the 5D2 video like the 5D3 or not? I'd think not but then I saw a few vague hints that it does improve SNR over the 5D2 as well.