it is not some devious plan to make people buy more expensive glass.
Sure...that's just a happy accident for Canon. And it was a lone gunman, right?
a lone gunman WITH a magic bullet!

"They delete AF functionality at f8 in what I can only assume is an attempt to push people to buy new more expensive glass"
as i understand it they "sacrificed" AF capability at F8 for some lenses so that they could provide better AF capabilities for faster lenses in low light (ie F2.8 and F4). i could be wrong but i thought i read somewhere on these forums or some interview where that was the case.
it is not some devious plan to make people buy more expensive glass.
I find it hard to believe that they couldn't get f8 and the dual cross types to work acceptibly well in the same unit, and that they'd conclude that 2.8 wins a pure engineering trade the body aimed at people who are most likely to be using long lenses with extenders.
how is the mrk 3 the body aimed at people who are most likely to be using long lenses with extenders? that seems to be a very narrow cross section to target with the replacement body for the most widely used dslr that is the mrk 2. and i think therein lies the rub...
the 5D mrk 2 was a game changing camera for alot of people. a low cost, high performing FF camera that sold in record numbers across all genres of photography. considering all the posts i have read in the past few weeks (either pro or con) about the specs on the new 5D mrk 3 it has started to dawn on me that the issue stems from the mrk 2 essentially being a "jack-of-all-trades/master of none" camera. it is a great camera for alot of different photographers but i imagine it was never the PERFECT camera for any of those photographers. everyone had their specific wishlist for what they wanted to see in a replacement for their 5D mrk 2. not everyone got their wish unfortunately.
i dont expect we will ever see a 5D that fulfills the needs of every type of photographer out there...not at the price point that the mrk 2 set.
i apologize if my previous post seemed "snarky". i guess i am becoming a bit reactionary to the reactionary posts i keep reading. call it forum fatigue. i understand many people had high hopes for a replacement and were disappointed that their specific wishes were not addressed so venting of frustration is to be expected.
for me though, i am ready for the discussion to start focusing on what will be great about this camera. and its silly to deny that this camera won't be great at alot of things.