After DPREVIEW of D800 would you still get the Canon 5d mark iii?

[llcanon]

I used to make purchase decisions based on these academic type reviews or comparisons, but not any more. Just look at the photos we took and honestly tell ourselves how many pictures were bad due to lack of skills vs not using the top-of-the-line equipment: out of focus, poor lighting, bad composition, camera shake, lack of content, etc. you can have the world's best sensor and best lens, but you are not the best photographer because of these but because your images have captured others' heart and mind. Please don't be agonized by these comparisons. Spend more time using what you have. If you really feel being a D800 shooter can make you a better photographer than being a 5D3 shooter, then by all means, get the D800.

[Radiating]

I purchased the 5d3 a month ago and love it but sometimes the images can be soft and the focus system tricky. I was curious how dpreview can still say that the noise is even better controlled than the 5d3. Basically they do not say in anyway the 5d3 is better except the focus system and fps but really thats not much. Any thoughts?

The images are absolutaly not soft in any way shape or form. The 5D3 is sharper than the 5D2 due to a better AA filter. This info has been confirmed by Canon.

Here's a comparison between the 5D3 and 5D2, the 5D3 is clearly sharper (5D2 on botton).





The noise of the D800, at least at high ISO is not better than the 5D3. Here is a comparison between the 5D3 and D800 both at camera 6400 ISO, but at difference shutter speeds to acheive the same exposure (due to an error in the third party lens reporting the wrong aperture the D800 is shot at less then f/5.6 while the 5D3 at f/8.0, also there is an iso sensetivity difference that I'll cover later) when both are adjusted to the same percentage of noise and rendered at 36 megapixels .




(click link to view full size)

http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/7911181/img/Picture-Box/6400-ISO-crops.jpg

The 5D3 is on top, it clearly shows more detail.

Here is what the 18% gray card looks like (same image sharpened 500% to show detail):



The 5D3 has a finer more uniform grain of noise than the D800, which as a result means the 5D3 responds better to noise reduction, this finer more uniform grain noise has been confirmed as an intentional design decision by Canon reps, which along with an upgraded jpg processing engine deliver the cleanest possible out of camera images you'll find.

On top of all this the 5D3's ISO is actually under rated by an very substantial  margin compared to the D800. At ISO 6400 the D800 is actually at ISO 4200 while the 5D3 is actually at ISO 5200. That's a 24% difference which is extreme to say the least. This is why the review is saying that the noise is less well controlled, because because before noise reduction the cameras perform similarly, yet have ISO rated differently.

Hopefully that helps clear things up.

[wickidwombat]

I disagree, when i tested the mk3 and mk2 side by side at ISO 100 the 5Dmk2 was ever so slightly sharper than the 5dmk3 and the mk3 clearly had a little less moire. however that said this was only really noticable at 200% crop anyway so for all intents and purposes they are near enough to being equal in real world use

[stevenrrmanir]

Radiating - the fanboyism and ignorance you illustrate is beyond sad. No matter how much you want to convince yourself that MKIII is worth the money... it is NOT!

[revup67]

All in all, no matter ..it still sounds more proper to tell people you "shoot out of a Canon".  Whoever heard of shooting out of a Nikon..what's that anyway??  sounds like a pea shooter.

[PhilDrinkwater]

Radiating - the fanboyism and ignorance you illustrate is beyond sad. No matter how much you want to convince yourself that MKIII is worth the money... it is NOT!

It may not be for you but you can't tell someone else that it's not for them.

Value for money is subjective. I wouldn't expect everyone to see the value in a $100 meal compared to a $5 one. That's because it is personal.

I consider the 5d3 to have been good value for money. It solves nearly all of my problems. It could be £200-£300 cheaper maybe but at that level I don't care. That is my personal view. I respect that your personal view is different.

[DavidRiesenberg]

No matter how much you want to convince yourself that MKIII is worth the money... it is NOT!

Maybe not YOUR money.

[briansquibb]

I believe 95% of people will be happy

Of the remaining 5% 95% will be unhappy because of the misinformation clouding their judgement - and they would not be able to distinguish between d800 and 5DIII pictures

The IQ of modern cameras is getting so good that it is getting to the point where the human eye can't note significant differences in the final images

It is getting harder and harder for the manufacturers to produce new products with significant improvements so that even minimal improvements such as on board HDR will cost more and more

[kraats]

Yes i have ordered the 5d III because there is not a single thing the d800 is better at. At least not a visible thing. The 5dIII is by far the more versatile camera.

[weixing]

Hi,
   IMHO, Nikon D800 and Canon 5DIII are design for different usage... Nikon D800 sacrifice high iso performance for high resolution while Canon 5DIII sacrifice resolution for high iso performance.

  So, what is your most importance requirement? If the answer is high resolution, go for Nikon D800. If the answer is good high iso performance, go for Canon 5DMIII. If you need both, wait or may be you can check with the military equipment supplier... ha ha ha

   For me, I'll wait for 7DII, 70D or whatever it's called. If that model doesn't meet my expectation, I'll save the money and get the EF 300mm F2.8L IS II USM.

  Have a nice day.

[WarStreet]

If I would buy it again ? YES !!  First of all, I have bought a 5D III due to it's strong points and has nothing to do with the D800. It was from day one that I knew that the D800 is a fantastic camera, but comparing strong and weak points overall they are really on the same level, but the 5DIII strong points are much more important to me. Dpreview shows that the 5DIII is even better than I thought compared to the D800.

After reading the comparisons with the 5DIII and comparing the graphs which already include the 5DIII measurements, confirms that the D800 is a great camera, but the review also shows how impressive the 5DIII is. It will be interesting to read the 5DIII review when ready. 

Two days ago I was processing with ACR 7.1 a 5DIII ISO 25600 image of an Aztec statue in a low lit museum handheld, and was really impressed at how easy it was to clean up the image without much detail loss. Yes, the detail starting point of the image was lower compared to an ISO 100, but the noise reduction managed to remove the noise easily without any extra detail sacrifice.

This made me think, the DXO measurements of RAW data shows that the 5DIII, D800 and D4 have similar noise capability, with a near negligible edge for the D4 at some ISO's. When we look camera JPG images, the 5DIII shows that it manage to perform even better compared to the competition and we always used to think that Canon JPG engine is just better. I was going to open a new thread about this, but after seeing Radiating post, I think it is good to mention it here because it is exactly what I was thinking about. Is it really the characteristics of the noise of the 5DIII which makes it easier to clean it up that well with software, rather than just the Canon JPG engine being good ?

In short, I am really impressed with this camera and I am still at early stages with it. It is true that there are some stupid omissions, of which I hope some will be fixed with a firmware update. Also, I think that the 5DIII should be priced similar as the D800.   

[docsmith]

How has no one pointed out that the 7D scored an 84% and the D800 scored an 82%.  The 7D wins!!!!  It must be the best camera.

Oh wait, you mean total scores are oversimplifications.....and I should look at the feature set of a camera against my intended use and then use the review to see how well the camera does what I need it to do?   

Oops...my bad...

I've been couped up due to bad weather reading a lot of threads beginning to get worked up about the "best" camera and even thinking about switches brands....then, I went outside and took a few pictures. 

I feel much better now. 

[vbi]

Yes. I have Canon lenses, flashes and PW radio triggers that all together cost way more than a new body. No way I can dump that investment.

On top of that I see no compelling reason to upgrade my 5D2 to either the D800 or the 5D3.

[UrbanVoyeur]

How has no one pointed out that the 7D scored an 84% and the D800 scored an 82%.  The 7D wins!!!!  It must be the best camera.

Yeah, there is something strange going on with their scores. I wonder if the bar keeps moving higher - if the 7D would score a 65% if reviewed today vs  the 2012 cameras.

[caMARYnon]

Yes. I have Canon lenses, flashes and PW radio triggers that all together cost way more than a new body. No way I can dump that investment.

On top of that I see no compelling reason to upgrade my 5D2 to either the D800 or the 5D3.

Agreed