Need Help, 1 DsIII vs 5d mark III

[infilm]

I understand that my post here is off topic, but I'll hope that all here forgive my poor posting manners. I have to say that I'm really happy that I stumbled upon this post, as it helped me make a camera body decision that I have been struggling with. I am a happy owner of both a 7D and more recently at 5D2. I had an old 30D and shot tons of images with it, and it was really what enabled me to fully embraced the digital world, (yes, I was one of those guys that was holding onto the dream of film...)So I got the 7D and was wildly impressed with it, even with the noisy nature of the images that it produced. Super AF, great metering, and 8FPS. Really, a great camera. But I missed the FF of 35mm film. So I found a 5D2 and was wowed at the IQ but the meter was just okay, and the AF sucked... Especially with my longer primes. My struggle has been sell both bodies and go where? Go backwards and grab a 1DsIII or go for the 5D3. After reading the posts here, the 5D3 is the perfect animal for the type of photos I tend to go for.. Thanks

[briansquibb]

I understand that my post here is off topic, but I'll hope that all here forgive my poor posting manners. I have to say that I'm really happy that I stumbled upon this post, as it helped me make a camera body decision that I have been struggling with. I am a happy owner of both a 7D and more recently at 5D2. I had an old 30D and shot tons of images with it, and it was really what enabled me to fully embraced the digital world, (yes, I was one of those guys that was holding onto the dream of film...)So I got the 7D and was wildly impressed with it, even with the noisy nature of the images that it produced. Super AF, great metering, and 8FPS. Really, a great camera. But I missed the FF of 35mm film. So I found a 5D2 and was wowed at the IQ but the meter was just okay, and the AF sucked... Especially with my longer primes. My struggle has been sell both bodies and go where? Go backwards and grab a 1DsIII or go for the 5D3. After reading the posts here, the 5D3 is the perfect animal for the type of photos I tend to go for.. Thanks

If you only plan on one body then I would recommend the 5DIII over the 1DS3

The 1DS3 is brilliant at low iso and portraits, the AF is very good - at least as good as the 7D, plus the AF metering

If you want a 'standard' body with an all-round camera the 5DIII is a better package.

[RLPhoto]

5D3 > 1DS3

[smithy]

I went through the pain of making the 1DS3 vs 5D3 decision too, which was made harder by the fact that a used 1DS was A LOT cheaper than the 5D3.  But I went for the 5D3, and am happy overall with it.  I *do* long for AF point-linked metering though.  It's a pain having to meter at the centre of the frame, then AE lock (*) and then compose and shoot using the outside AF points.  It almost makes it worth going back to the good old centre AF point>focus>recompose method, which I've used on SLRs for the past 16 years... until now...

[bdunbar79]

I went through the pain of making the 1DS3 vs 5D3 decision too, which was made harder by the fact that a used 1DS was A LOT cheaper than the 5D3.  But I went for the 5D3, and am happy overall with it.  I *do* long for AF point-linked metering though.  It's a pain having to meter at the centre of the frame, then AE lock (*) and then compose and shoot using the outside AF points.  It almost makes it worth going back to the good old centre AF point>focus>recompose method, which I've used on SLRs for the past 16 years... until now...

Don't worry about the non-AF linked spot metering.  Just set your shutter speed and aperture to what you want, then use auto ISO.  The metering you speak of is only for spot metering.  The others won't be much different if any from your active AF vs. center.

[Bosman]

bdunbar79 has some good experience and insight to the question. Both would be good for what you want other than the tungsten issue he mentions, so it comes down to cost and features.
What are the prices of a 1dsm3 Vs 5dm3?
Do you need bullet proof build?
As far as portraits and landscapes the edge may go to the 1dm3
Do you need new features of the 5dm3?
Is weight an issue?
Given what you want it for high iso isn't needed.
Both have good focus but the edge would go to 5dm3 and its spot focus as well as live view focus for portraits that allow you to see extremely zoomed in on the 5dm3.
You just need to do a checklist of wants and see where things end up.

[bdunbar79]

bdunbar79 has some good experience and insight to the question. Both would be good for what you want other than the tungsten issue he mentions, so it comes down to cost and features.
What are the prices of a 1dm3 Vs 5dm3?
Do you need bullet proof build?
As far as portraits and landscapes the edge may go to the 1dm3
Do you need new features of the 5dm3?
Is weight an issue?
Given what you want it for high iso isn't needed.
Both have good focus but the edge would go to 5dm3 and its spot focus as well as live view focus for portraits that allow you to see extremely zoomed in on the 5dm3.
You just need to do a checklist of wants and see where things end up.

Hey Bosman,

Yeah you're absolutely right.  For me, it came down to selling the 1Ds3 or 5D3.  (I had 2 x 5D3 and 1Ds3).  I automatically selected the 1Ds3 as first to sell.  I could have sold both 5D3's and kept 1DX/1Ds3 but I instead chose to go 1DX/5D3 combo.  The 5D3 overall is just better.  I'm sure you know this as you shoot quite a bit with the 5D3 too.  The sale was just an automatic and obvious choice in my head right away for some reason.  1Ds3 images can get ugly above ISO 800 and 1600 and let's be honest, to most people the 5D3 and 1Ds3 images look about the same from ISO 50-400.  Only us pixel-peepers can see the difference in color rendition.  Landscape shots do look a bit better if examining very closely.  But yes, overall the 5D3 wins.

[briansquibb]

bdunbar79 has some good experience and insight to the question. Both would be good for what you want other than the tungsten issue he mentions, so it comes down to cost and features.
What are the prices of a 1dm3 Vs 5dm3?
Do you need bullet proof build?
As far as portraits and landscapes the edge may go to the 1dm3
Do you need new features of the 5dm3?
Is weight an issue?
Given what you want it for high iso isn't needed.
Both have good focus but the edge would go to 5dm3 and its spot focus as well as live view focus for portraits that allow you to see extremely zoomed in on the 5dm3.
You just need to do a checklist of wants and see where things end up.

Hey Bosman,

Yeah you're absolutely right.  For me, it came down to selling the 1Ds3 or 5D3.  (I had 2 x 5D3 and 1Ds3).  I automatically selected the 1Ds3 as first to sell.  I could have sold both 5D3's and kept 1DX/1Ds3 but I instead chose to go 1DX/5D3 combo.  The 5D3 overall is just better.  I'm sure you know this as you shoot quite a bit with the 5D3 too.  The sale was just an automatic and obvious choice in my head right away for some reason.  1Ds3 images can get ugly above ISO 800 and 1600 and let's be honest, to most people the 5D3 and 1Ds3 images look about the same from ISO 50-400.  Only us pixel-peepers can see the difference in color rendition.  Landscape shots do look a bit better if examining very closely.  But yes, overall the 5D3 wins.

Even though I love the 1DsIII the 5DIII has to be the better all rounder camera - in my experience th 5D2 was better all round, but the IQ of the 1DsIII at 50-400 is something else. As I have other bodies I can afford to keep the 1DsIII for those moments - especially now it has a new shutter and is pretty much mint.

My 1DX comes next week so it will be interesting to see if it meets up with the Canon claims of 1D4/1DsIII merging.

[bdunbar79]

Brian,

I think you'll find the 1DX will come up short vs. the 1Ds3 at low ISO's, just like the 5D3 did.

[cpsico]

I found and purchased a perfect condition 1ds mark III for 2000 dollars from a really nice guy that was simply retiring. He gave me pelican 1620 case and many extras. I couldn't be happier with the camera. If decided to get a 5 d mark III iy will have to drop a lot in price at this point.
Thanks to every one who responded

[smithy]

I found and purchased a perfect condition 1ds mark III for 2000 dollars from a really nice guy that was simply retiring. He gave me pelican 1620 case and many extras. I couldn't be happier with the camera. If decided to get a 5 d mark III iy will have to drop a lot in price at this point.
Thanks to every one who responded

That's a great result!  Enjoy your camera and its superior ergonomics. 

I like my 5D3, but it's not as comfortable to use when gripped compared with the 1-series bodies.

[bdunbar79]

I'm still struggling with this myself.  I own both and am going to sell one.  I can see the advantages and disadvantages of both, in real life.  The 5D3 can shoot relatively well at all ISO's in it's reasonable range.  The 1Ds3 cannot.  I'd argue it's useless above 800 or 1000.  The 5D3 can shoot well into 6400-8000 and look just fine.  However, the 1Ds3 is the ultimate landscape camera.  You will not get the IQ on landscape shots with a 5D3 that you will with a 1Ds3.  I don't know why this is, but it is.  The distant background with the 5D3 gets fuzzy/meshy whereas the 1Ds3 is still so clear all the way to the back of the scene, even at f/22. 

1dsmk3 is  better  camera at  base iso  ​​than 5dmk2 / 3  .   1dsmk3 is  cleaner from electronic  noise . 1dsmk3 has  also a  thicker  and steeper color filter. Reproduction of midtones  is higher.  In 5dmk2 and 5dmk3  Canon has increased light permeability and made the  color filter thinner  to gain light and make the sensor more sensitive = improve high iso  but Canon  has has also reduced the  color accuracy in  daylight 4000-6600K compared to 1dsmk3

I can agree with that.

[7enderbender]

Some really great condition 1ds III's are coming out for sale about the same price of a new 5 dIII and I wanted some advice on weather its better to get the older pro camera or the newer mid range camera. Does anyone have some good advice?

A brand-new 1DsIII would still be my dream camera is all I can say. Can't afford it though. In your case especially if the 1D is really in great shape and has a low(ish) shutter count I can see how that is a more attractive offer than the 5D. Depends on intended use and few other things obviously. Certainly saves you buying the expensive grip on top of everything else.
The best argument against it I can think of is if you can utilize the new wireless flash system that won't be 100% compatible with the older cameras.

[bbasiaga]

I looked at this same decsion just a month ago.  I passed on the 1DsIII because of the high iso limitations.  The 5D MKIII has since proven to have great IQ at all ends.  I'll probably never have a 1series body now, but that's OK as the MKIII rocks.

-Brian

[Cannon Man]

I would personally go with the 1Ds III. I am simply addicted to 1D bodies and for landscape and studio shoots i would choose it every time.

And the chances are you still get a longer shutter life with the 1Ds.

1D bodies are like tall supermodels with the complete package. 5D bodies are girls with pretty faces but the rest is questionable. (Nobody get offended by that) (i mean it)