5D MKIII vs 1Ds MKIII

[tomscott]

So I have £3.5k to spend on upgrading to a new body.

Choice was originally to go straight for the 5D MKIII because I think it is pretty much the perfect camera they are currently selling for £3000 in the UK body only.

Question is a fairly low actuation second hand 1Ds MKIII is around £2500.

So what do you think the 1Ds with extra pro features (extra weather sealing etc) and 1 less FPS or the 5D MKIII.

Or save £500 and get some more glass. (been after an 85mm)

Currently shoot on a 40D because I haven't seen a massive improvement to upgrade it to any of the newer bodies and don't need to print bigger than A3 and most of my stuff is for newspapers so the res has been fine. 50D wasn't a good upgrade. I was keen on the 7D but I have mastered the shortcomings of the 40Ds AF and IQ in the 7D didn't seem much better apart from the much much better high ISO quality and the AF was amazing but like I said i get the shots I need and didn't get many more keepers from the 7D. I also felt that the 7D was slightly noisier at ISO100-200 and shoot a lot in this range. But didn't feel the need to spend £1500 on the upgrade when I didn't feel it added much to my 40D. I also wanted the 5D MKII but again the AF put me off having the same as the 40D although the IQ is amazing the other shortcomings didn't fit my need I need an all-round fairly quick camera. Again wasn't worth the £2500 upgrade and if it had the benefit of the better AF I would take it. The 60D is a massive disappointment so not even a choice.

So basically been waiting for the perfect affordable camera which has arrived.

I want to upgrade to FF and the 1Ds was out of my budget until recently, and now the 5D MKIII has been supercharged and is basically a full frame 40D with much better AF, ISO and IQ in my budget I was like perfect. Until I was looking around and saw the 1Ds at this price point.

My 40D is seriously ready for retirement it needs a big service and replacement shutter as it is about 140,000 actuations. Don't really want to spend any money on it.

In relation to what I shoot. A bit of everything professionally - Weddings, motorsport, automotive and advertising photography mainly. But also shoot a fair amount of fine art photography.

But for personal usage I shoot pretty much everything so looking for an all round camera. I shoot with a grip atm but like taking it off for street photography and generally chuck it in the bag less weight etc.

Lenses -
EFs 17-55mm 2.8 IS
EFs 10-22mm
EF 70-200mm 2.8 IS
EF 50mm 1.4
EF 100mm 2.8 Macro
EF 2x extender MKII

Will be selling the 17-55 and the 10-22 for FF equivalents. If i got the 5D I would buy the lens kit with the 24-105mm for the saving.

So what you guys think!??

Thanks for the help in advance

Heres a few shots.


Royal Opera House, London by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Women, St. Pauls, Millennium bridge, London by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Couple, Covent Garden by tom_scott88, on Flickr


Conison Water Feb 2011 by tom_scott88, on Flickr


BMW Z4M Coupe by tom_scott88, on Flickr


IMG_5504colour by tom_scott88, on Flickr


IMG_9407 by tom_scott88, on Flickr


320si BTCC by tom_scott88, on Flickr


M3 by tom_scott88, on Flickr

[danski0224]

The low light performance of the 5DIII appears to far exceed the 1DSIII.

Given a choice between those two, I'd get the 5DIII unless you need something that the 1D model offers.

[wickidwombat]

great shots mate!

I really like the second one, was this set up or a candid street shot?
also the BMW shot looks like a sale brochure promo

nice work

but to answer your question
wait a while and keep th money in your pocket until the issues get sorted out
1Ds3 prices are only going to go down
and better off seeing how these 5Dmk3 issues shake out

you can clearly produce great work with what you have so just chill out
grab some pop corn and see how it all shakes out over the next few weeks

[tomscott]

Cheers for the replies!

Thanks very much! All those images were candid street photos I shot recently in London with a 50mm 1.4. Love street photography and around covent garden and the millennium bridge gives some nice backdrops and some interesting people!

The BMW Z4Mc was a rig shot, I do a lot of work for clients who are interested in automotive and/or like to have some pics of their cars. The Z4Mc is a really nice car to shoot because they are very rare and have some great lines.
 
Ye well I have been waiting for a long time had the 40D since release so its been around 5 years and the camera is about to keel over lol. Im sure the 5D MKIII will be a big upgrade for me anyway, the IQ argument with the 5D MKII and MKIII seems a bit futile because even if it is slightly softer adding sharpening in PP surely will solve this I always PP so straight out the camera can be improved shooting raw? and from a 10mp digit 3 to a 22mp digic 5+ I'm sure I will be blown away! Theres always some teething problems, but it would be nice to see a small decrease in price maybe £2800 or somewhere around there.

I might rent one and see how I get on with it. Hopefully your right about the prices of the 1Ds its just finding ones that haven't been hammered by pros, I like to keep my gear so it kind of maximises profit. Always a believer that a poor craftsman blames his tools but I do feel like I have hit the wall with what the 40D can do.

[tomscott]

Bump

[PhilDrinkwater]

Hmm.. toughie. Generally I consider the body to be less important than lenses so I'd probably get the 1ds3 unless you need to use ISO3200 regularly.

You'd also need to look at the grip situation - if you want a grip you'll need to add £300 onto the 5d3 price for that.

[briansquibb]

As a 1Ds3 owner (and happy one at that) I would recommend the 5DIII as being the better all round package. The 1Ds3 has too many limitations in comparison

I would have moved had I not got the 1D4 as well

[expo01]

Hi Tom

The 5D3 is about 4 years newer than the 1Ds3. That said, there better be some super feature upgrades (that you should be able to see in pictures) in the newer one.

I have had a 1Ds3 since late 2007 and i'm still using it as my go to image quality camera. The 1Ds-series just doesn't let you down, regardless of what harsh environments you throw at it. Two or three years ago i was photographing at the Zürich Streetparade. One whole day in a massive rainshower. I was literally wet to the bones, yet I didn't fear for one second for my camera. I've also never emptied a battery in one day. The stamina of the LP-E4's in combination with the 1Ds is just amazing.

What the new 5D is like. I, honestly, have no idea.

You said you would be getting rid of some lenses. One adjustment I would strongly suggest is trading in the 70-200 2.8 IS for the version II.

Those just my experiences with the above gear.

@briansquibb: Do you concur with my experiences? Another question in your direction. How satisfied are you with your 1D4? I have upgraded from the 1D3 to the 1D4 using it next to my 1Ds and I am not very happy. While the AF is pretty damn good, the overall image quality is far below the 1Ds. For critical work, I'd never pull out the 1D4. I'm using the 1D4 for sports though, national league hockey and national league and UEFA football.

[7enderbender]

Good question. I'm not in the market at this point for any upgrade from my 5DII but for the same kind of money I'd always prefer the 1DsIII. It depends on what your priorities are. I don't care about video, I like the vertical grip, high ISO is not important to me. So the 1DsIII would be the ideal EOS camera for me and I'd prefer if over the 5DII or III and even the 1Dx.

[briansquibb]

@briansquibb: Do you concur with my experiences? Another question in your direction. How satisfied are you with your 1D4? I have upgraded from the 1D3 to the 1D4 using it next to my 1Ds and I am not very happy. While the AF is pretty damn good, the overall image quality is far below the 1Ds. For critical work, I'd never pull out the 1D4. I'm using the 1D4 for sports though, national league hockey and national league and UEFA football.

I had the pleasure of using the 5DIII(not mine) on set and the IQ from it is excellent - pretty much the same as the 1Ds3. As an all round camera now I would choose the 5DIII as there is more functionality and no less in picture IQ

As for the 1D4 I use it for faster moving shots and as such it is very good. I feel the 1Ds3 has the edge but not by much when using iso 100/200 but after that the 1D4 soon catches up. I upgraded from the 7D to the 1D4 and that was a major upgrade in functionality and IQ - as you say the weatherproofing is very reasuring.

I use both the 1D4 and 1Ds3 for sports and perform well. Likewise I sometimes use the 1D4 for worse light such as theatre. I am considering buying a second 1D4.

Here is a method that I use to keep the iso down on the 1D4 - quite key for best IQ

Objective: Set set a minimum and maximum shutter speed. In Av mode if the shutter speed dropped below the mimimum then the ISO would be bumped up so that the minimum was reached again.

Method:

- enable safety shift (iso speed) C.Fn 1 - 8
- set shutter speed range C.fn 1 - 12 (  set the minimum shutter speed )

In the field:

- set the Av value
- set the base iso value (can be L so then it acts as auto iso)
- set exp comp as needed (yes we get exp comp and auto iso this way)

I have photographed karts so I set the minimum Tv to 1/500, Av at f/4 and iso100 which was about the critical point. ISO went up and down as expected, Tv went above 500 when the cloud lifted

So there you are - how to get auto iso with iso and Av limits set.

This applies to the Series 1 only

[tomscott]

Thanks for all the really helpful information.

I suppose the thing with the 1Ds is that it is massive and quite intrusive. Thats the nice thing about the 5D MKIII it is still a small format camera and you have the option of adding the grip.

I would like the 70-200mm IS II but the extra £500 at the moment will go on a wide angle lens like the 17-40 mm to replace my 10-22. In time I hope to, but I want to re-complete my kit before upgrading my lenses.

The 17-40 like the 10-22 will be really helpful in the pit lane.

ATM I am thinking the 5D MKIII but im pretty sure the 1Ds MKII will still be a huge upgrade form my 40D but I think maybe the best thing to do is wait until the fire dies down on the 5D and we get some proper reviews of the camera and comparisons between the two. TBH I would prefer to have th newer tech because I will use this nxt body for 5 years or so similar to my 40D.

[briansquibb]

The 1Ds3 is about the same size as the 5D33 + grip

I wouldn't say it is intrusive though

[helpful]

tom, I think you should get the 5D3. The other camera you mention was good for its time period. But it's like a Pentium 4 computer vs. a Sandy Bridge computer. I don't know if this analogy rings any bells, but I'm trying to say that the 5D3 is a revolutionary improvement compared to the  1Ds MKIII.

If you were comparing the EOS-1D Mark IV vs. the 5D3, then I would say it is more of a wash, although the 5D3 sensor is twice as good even compared to the EOS-1D Mark IV.

All these people talking about "barely a few stops better" need to realize that even one stop is twice as good, i.e., 100% better. After a week with the 5D3, I would rather have it than any three camera bodies prior to the EOS-1D Mark IV, and it is also easily worth more than the $5,000 EOS-1D Mark IV.

So even for $3,500 (or whatever the price is in your country), the 5D3 is the only choice that I would consider if I were in your situation.

[tomscott]

I mean intrusive as in it is a big camera, people see it and instantly feel like ooo whats he doing. Especially with street photography, those candid ones slightly less likely. Also I like the understatement of the smaller bodies.

A grip will be a definite purchase. I find them very useful to balance the camera with heavier lenses, but also because I like to use it without too with primes like a nifty 50 shooting some street photography. Best of both worlds.

I agree with you on the age and the performance, although like I said both will be a huge upgrade in IQ compared to the 40D im used to. I think the best thing to do is to get hold of a 5D and put it though its paces and see how I like it.

[zhap03]

I have both the 1Ds3 and the 5d3.  I highly recommend getting the 5d3 over the 1ds3.  It's just more responsive and the IQ is better.  If you are used to shooting the 40d without the battery grip, you may appreciate the form factor of the 5d3 over the 1ds3 as well.  Higher fps, better sensor, better AF, better ergonomics in my opinion.  As for battery life... yes the lp-e4 charge lasts longer than the lp-e6.  Just carry an extra lp-e6.  Unless you need extreme weather sealing and ruggedness, skip the 1ds3 and get the 5d3.  And don't underestimate the value of the Silent Shooting mode of the 5d3, it really is super quiet.  I'm sure I don't have to elaborate on the many applications of the silent mode.