T3i (or T2i) to 5D Mark III

[libertyranger]

Anyone here upgrade from a T3i (or T2i) to a 5D Mark III?  I currently own a T3i and am wondering what the differences would be.  I don't like shotting above ISO 800 (and oftentimes above 400) in RAW and am curious as to what the equivilent roughly in the 5DIII.  I went to a local photo shop and took some test shots comparing the two and from my rough unscientific test, I felt that the 5D's lower ISO's were much better, but 1600 was roughly the same as my 800.  Anything below 800 on the 5DIII was much better than my T3i.  So I know this may seem like a noobish question, but...

What other benefits are you guys noticing over your old crop bodies when upgrading to the 5DIII?  Is the general IQ much better at low ISO's comapred to your old crop bodies with the same lenses?

[akiskev]

Is the general IQ much better at low ISO's comapred to your old crop bodies with the same lenses?
Yes it IS that much better (I compared a rebel xti with 5d2 with the same lenses. 17-40 and 24-70).

[mclaren777]

The 5D3 is more impressive than you realize.

[facedodge]

I went from t3i to 5d3 and it is night and day. The AF, build quality, LCD, viewfinder, high ISO, button customization, wider FF shots, 1/8000 sec shutter speed, 6 fps, 23MP, HDR.... list goes on.

I do miss my swivel screen and pop-up sometimes though. Had to buy calumet wireless transmitter.
http://www.calumetphoto.com/eng/product/calumet_pro_series_2_4ghz_4_channel_wireless_trigger_kit_optimized_for_nikon_flash_systems/cf0094

There are things no one is discussing. The viewfinder is 1.6x bigger and brighter. The button customization is amazing. Now I can change ISO, aperture, & shutter speed so much more easily. It makes manual mode much easier to use. T3i is max 1/4000th second. So on bright days, you might not be able to open up to f/1.2 on your 50L.

ISO 800 on the t3i is like 25000 on 5d3

[libertyranger]

The 5D3 is more impressive than you realize.

Is this RAW or JPEG?  I know JPEG performance is better for sure, but I mainly shot RAW for it's post processing abilities.

I went from t3i to 5d3 and it is night and day. The AF, build quality, LCD, viewfinder, high ISO, button customization, wider FF shots, 1/8000 sec shutter speed, 6 fps, 23MP, HDR.... list goes on.

I do miss my swivel screen and pop-up sometimes though. Had to buy calumet wireless transmitter.
http://www.calumetphoto.com/eng/product/calumet_pro_series_2_4ghz_4_channel_wireless_trigger_kit_optimized_for_nikon_flash_systems/cf0094

There are things no one is discussing. The viewfinder is 1.6x bigger and brighter. The button customization is amazing. Now I can change ISO, aperture, & shutter speed so much more easily. It makes manual mode much easier to use. T3i is max 1/4000th second. So on bright days, you might not be able to open up to f/1.2 on your 50L.

ISO 800 on the t3i is like 25000 on 5d3

I can literally hear your excitement as you describe your new camera!!  It is making me want to upgrade even more from my T3i.  I do have one question for you.  Are you saying the ISO 800 is about the same as 25000 in JPEG or RAW?

[ThuiQuaDayNe]

The 5D3 is more impressive than you realize.

Dont' know about the rest of you, but the t2i is cleaner and more detailed from the pics, perhaps the focus points are different but t2i contains more detailed from the cloth background pallets than in 5DM3.  5Dm3 is a tad washed out.. perhaps due to noise level.  Nevertheless, the 6400 ISO is impressive.

[kevl]

I can literally hear your excitement as you describe your new camera!!  It is making me want to upgrade even more from my T3i.  I do have one question for you.  Are you saying the ISO 800 is about the same as 25000 in JPEG or RAW?

I too am about to upgrade to the 5D3 and considering the price. The photos posted above look impressive. The 5D3 at 6400 seems to have slightly more noise than the T3i at 1600. The various tests I've seen seem to indicate that the 5D3 has 1.5 stops of improved noise performance. The noise performance is the same at 1.5 stops increased brightness via ISO increase.

What is harder for me to tell is how this will translate to real world performance. Since beyond just noise, the overall IQ of the image produced is supposed to be far superior. So a bit more noise on a much clearer image may well look MUCH better in real world shots... or not. I do not ever shoot in jpeg so the noise reduction that the 5D3 does in jpeg mode is irrelevant to me.

I'd be interested in the answer to LibertyRanger's question. In RAW, in real world scenarios, what is the equivalent quality wise on the 5D3 to the T3i at ISO 800 & 1600.

Thanks all!! This will be very helpful to me in making my final purchase decision. The price of the camera is significantly outside of my comfort zone but I need a pro body in order to get the work I want to do.

Thanks!
Kev

[Axilrod]

Man it's a massive difference, I won't shoot over ISO800 with a T2i and with the MarkIII 3200 is not a problem and 6400 is usable.  Plus you get a totally different FOV with a FF sensor, much more shallow DOF, autofocus system that's worlds ahead of the T2i/T3i, build quality is better, pretty much everything is far superior.  There is a reason one costs 5-6x more than the other. 

Don't worry about the haters, 5DII users were disappointed with the specs initially but lots of them have changed their tune after actually using the camera.  Anyone that still hates it after using it just has unreasonable expectations.

[kevl]

Thanks Axilrod! Do you shoot RAW or jpeg?