5D Mark II or 1D Mark III

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So I was in the local store today and was contemplating spending some money!
Am planning a trip through Yellowstone and Colorado by motorcycle this summer and was thinking that I'm missing an ultra-wide angle lens. Was thinking about either the Canon 10-22 or the Tokina 11-16. Then I got "squirrelled" by cameras. My simple logic was: spend money on a lens, but still have the 'old' camera, or buy a new camera that would allow my current glass to provide me the ultra-wide range. So looked at the new 5D mark ii and also a used 1D mark iii.
Any suggestions or advice?

Currently: 30D; 17-40L; 70-200L f4
 
G

GoldenEagle

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First of all, your current gear will work pretty well for outdoor photos.
If you are intent on parting with some $$$, then I'm not sure the 10-22 or Tokina will get you the image quality you may want, if you're used to L lenses.
The 1D Mark iii offers weatherproofing but other than that isn't a perfect fit for your outdoor needs - you would be wasting the high shutter speed and focus points.
The 5D Mark ii would be an excellent choice, and the Full Frame with your existing 17-40 would be as wide as you'd ever need.
If storage space in the cycle is an issue, another route would be to go with a 7D + 18-200 zoom only, a great pair for travel/one lens configuration.
My 2 cents.
 
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Mar 27, 2011
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I would really ask yourself what is it you really need from a camera. The 1d has great battery life, two memory slots, weather sealing,multi spot metering , heck way better over all metering than the 5d mkII. Now the 5d the center point focus point is golden, has great resolution and color, high ISO beats the1d by a stop. If you know how to use a histogram you can easily over come the 5 d's metering btw. The 5d has a far superior LCD , the mkIII's doesn't come close.
I find myself carrying my 5 dII the most, but when the shooting pace is fast with little time for adjustments I like my mk III better.
It's all about your shooting needs
 
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Mar 27, 2011
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briansquibb said:
I would choose the 5DII as the single camera even though I have a 1D4.

I dont understand the mentioned metering problem - doesn't happen with mine, I do use AE lock (grass is a good reference point)
It has a tendency to over expose out doors, using AE lock works great but requires you to understand exposure and mid tones. It is a fantastic camera, just auto metering requires some adjustments in some circumstances. When canon starts using metering systems that see color it will be a non issue.
 
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JR

Sep 22, 2011
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briansquibb said:
I would choose the 5DII as the single camera even though I have a 1D4.

I dont understand the mentioned metering problem - doesn't happen with mine, I do use AE lock (grass is a good reference point)

Interestingly when I first red this post I thought the question was comparing the 1Ds mkIII and not the 1D mkIII. Brian I beleive you now have both the 5D mkII and the 1Ds mkIII correct? I would be curious to know which of these two machine you would pick if you could only choose one? I know the 1Ds is a bit older but you posted a few pictures that seem to suggest it beats the 5DmkII for ISO below 1600?

Really curious to know this one! Thanks in advance!

Jacques
 
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The metering on mine 5d2, and three friends of mine, always underexpose by a full stop. Really annoying. You have to constantly take one image and check and adjust. But I have come to the conclusion that a FullFrame camera is the only SLR worth owning, yes and I am serious. My 24 L II, 50 L and 85 L have been 60% wasted on the mk4 compared when used on the 5d2, my god those lenses are so much better on fullframe.....
 
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briansquibb

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I have the 1d4, 1ds3 and a 5dII

The 1d4 (1.3 crop) is the best all round by a long way, particularly for fps, AF and high iso

The 1ds3 (ff) is the best for lower iso, more static items - but has good AF (about the same as the 7D). Gives better IQ and lower noise than the 5DII

The 5D2 is the best all round for landscapes and portraits

I bought the 1ds3 as a poor mans 1dx which I am glad it is doing at them moment

With the OP's requirements I would choose the 5DII which I find a good all rounder for me as I seem to be OK with the limitations of the AF
 
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JR

Sep 22, 2011
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briansquibb said:
I have the 1d4, 1ds3 and a 5dII

The 1d4 (1.3 crop) is the best all round by a long way, particularly for fps, AF and high iso

The 1ds3 (ff) is the best for lower iso, more static items - but has good AF (about the same as the 7D). Gives better IQ and lower noise than the 5DII

The 5D2 is the best all round for landscapes and portraits

I bought the 1ds3 as a poor mans 1dx which I am glad it is doing at them moment

With the OP's requirements I would choose the 5DII which I find a good all rounder for me as I seem to be OK with the limitations of the AF

So would you say the 1Ds mkIII is better then the 5D mkII for ISO below 1600?
 
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Viggo said:
The metering on mine 5d2, and three friends of mine, always underexpose by a full stop. Really annoying. You have to constantly take one image and check and adjust. But I have come to the conclusion that a FullFrame camera is the only SLR worth owning, yes and I am serious. My 24 L II, 50 L and 85 L have been 60% wasted on the mk4 compared when used on the 5d2, my god those lenses are so much better on fullframe.....
It's funny outdoors the 5dII is over exposed by 2/3 of a stop, and high ISO (3200 and up') it is indeed about one stop under in dim lit conditions. Would it be fair to say its a superb sensor wrapped in a mediocre shell? Metering is a weak point of the camera but the LCD and histogram do let you know you are off on exposure. The LCD on this camera is wonderful compareded to older models(I have never used a mark IV) I could never use my LCD on my mark III for much other than composition. I think the 5d II is a wonderful camera for landscapes and slow to non moving subjects, after all it's really designed as a studio/ landscape camera. Btw it is fantastic in regards to image quality. One thing no one has mentioned is the 5 d has auto iso, thats a great feature worth mentioning.
 
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tron

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Nov 8, 2011
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Although the Canon 10-22 is an excellent lens I would suggest to invest on a 5DII instead.
As you have 17-40L you will not need a wider lens. The real cost will be the cost of the 5DII minus the
cost of the UW zoom you would buy instead. If you buy the UW zoom now and wish to upgrade to full frame later you will have paid more in the long term and you will have missed the full frame pictures too. Also you can sell your 30D and get some money back.
 
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dtaylor

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GoldenEagle said:
If you are intent on parting with some $$$, then I'm not sure the 10-22 or Tokina will get you the image quality you may want, if you're used to L lenses.

The 10-22 is at least as good as the 17-40L. The Tokina 11-16 is better, the crop equivalent of the 16-35L II in terms of IQ.

The 5D Mark ii would be an excellent choice, and the Full Frame with your existing 17-40 would be as wide as you'd ever need.

The 5D2 is a great camera. However, a 60D or 7D + Tokina 11-16 will out perform the 5D2 + 17-40L at low to mid ISO. I have both those lenses and have done this comparison. On FF the 17-40L doesn't have the edge to edge sharpness / fine detail of the Tokina on crop.

That said, this is almost splitting hairs. You can make good large prints with either combo. But the 60D + Tokina is cheaper than the 5D2 by itself, yet will actually edge it out in landscapes given the 17-40L on FF.
 
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I would not dream of comparing the 5D mk2 with the ID, they are too different. Now ask about how the 5D mk2 compares with the 1Ds3 and we might be able to have a conversation.

The 5D2 as a number of strengths and weaknesses and these mainly revolve around whether its used in a photojournalists/sports tog role or in a studio/landscapist/fine art role. For the second it is a natural born winner, but it does struggle in the former role. Depends on the individuals style of photography mainly, or so it seems.

Given a well cared for used 1Ds3, then thats what I would personally choose, but I was very recently offered a "well-worn" example and decided to buy a new 5D2 instead. Financially they were about the same.
 
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jwong

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erda said:
So I was in the local store today and was contemplating spending some money!
Am planning a trip through Yellowstone and Colorado by motorcycle this summer and was thinking that I'm missing an ultra-wide angle lens. Was thinking about either the Canon 10-22 or the Tokina 11-16. Then I got "squirrelled" by cameras. My simple logic was: spend money on a lens, but still have the 'old' camera, or buy a new camera that would allow my current glass to provide me the ultra-wide range. So looked at the new 5D mark ii and also a used 1D mark iii.
Any suggestions or advice?

Currently: 30D; 17-40L; 70-200L f4

I'd suggest holding off on a new body and buying a used 10-22 or the 11-16. I have a 20D, and I'm waiting to move to the 5DIII when it comes out. There were some great deals on the 5DII during the holiday season, but I decided to get lenses first. I picked up the 10-22 when Canon had a sale on refurbished lenses, and I plan on selling it when I upgrade FF. I see the 10-22 going for about 600 on Ebay, and if you sell it, you might lose 100 max based on sales fees etc, and then buy the body that you want for the next few years. That will be $100 "rental" to preserve your shooting range. If you tend to use 200mm with the 30D a lot, then you'd have to consider getting a $400+ 1.4x extender.

The 10-22 loses a little corner sharpness to the 16-35L II, but the difference is not worth the 800 in price. The 10-22 should also provide better performance on a ASP-C than the 17-40 does on a FF.

I've been waiting for the 5DII to come out for months, but now with the 10-22 at a good price, I have the entire range I need covered. It makes waiting to upgrade FF much easier.
 
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I have a 5D (original version) and a 1Dm3, these two cameras are pretty close in IQ. The 5Dm2 would probably be significantly better IQ I presume, but I've never had one. I've heard others say they still liked the old version, though, I would guess this would be more for lower ISO usage though, as the new version certainly must have better high ISO performance by all accounts.

I also have a Tokina 10-17, not sure how much it's like the 11-16, but what I find with this lens is it's very sharp but has a lot of CA. I do wedding photographer mainly, where this isn't such a problem, but for landscapes I would be much more bothered by it.

I guess I would suggest getting the 5Dm2, as it would probably give you the most quality for landscapes in the smallest package. The 1Dm3 is very heavy, wouldn't give you as much focal range for landscapes (the 17-40 would be 22mm on the wide end, although I love using this lens on the 1Dm3). The image quality for landscapes wouldn't be as great an increase from the 30D to the 1Dm3 as it would be to the 5D2 (although the 1Dm3 does give amazing quality for a 10mp file, on a per pixel basis it's one of the best ever).
 
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Here are a few examples of pictures taken with a 1D mark III if that helps. I took these pictures with L lenses and I think it is a wonderful camera still to this day for image quality and durability.
Picture 1 is an in camera jpg, I used multi spot metering
picture 2 a converted raw again using multi spot metering
picture 3 used a 580 ex II flash manual settings and a tiffen enhancing filter.
 

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