Advice: On buying 5D3.

[Northstar]

Hey NJ Kita...notice most here ignored my post, it tells you that it's truthful/accurate...the d800 is a slightly better camera...ouch, it hurts a little to those of us that bought the 5d3 and have significant glass(like u and I)

At the end of the day, you will notice a slight improvement over the 7d...and mostly in low light situations...the improvement you will notice with the 5d3 vs 7d in good lighting is slight....don't expect a magical improvement..the 7d is already a very good cam.

Nobody could fathom that Nikon would make a 36mp cam with very good low light and great color/d range..but they did...everyone deal with it.

Hopefully canon will make the next leap, but this time Nikon won...that's the truth.

Bottom line, it's not enough to ditch a system, but it's clear to me that if I was advising a friend on buying their first good dslr, I would point them to the nikon d800 over then canon..all things else being equal....Especially since they could buy a d800 and a very good 50 or 85 for the same price as the 5d3 alone.

 

[Razor2012]

That really depends on who you talk to. Some say the 800, some will say the MKIII. I still hear more that the 5DIII is a better 'all around' camera. I have a choice also and at this point in time it's the MKIII.

 

[newjerseykita]

Secondly, i NEED the AF, i'll be doing sports photography here at school for at least 3 years, if i'm going to come back needing to shoot sports i'm going to get a camera that can keep up with my subjects.

I WILL BE GETTING THE 5D3, however this thread is INVALUABLE to people who want to jump into the Full Frame as an amateur doing it as a hobby. I get paid for my shots that's how i can justify the price now.

Hey NJ Kita...notice most here ignored my post, it tells you that it's truthful/accurate...the d800 is a slightly better camera...ouch, it hurts a little to those of us that bought the 5d3 and have significant glass(like u and I)

At the end of the day, you will notice a slight improvement over the 7d...and mostly in low light situations...the improvement you will notice with the 5d3 vs 7d in good lighting is slight....don't expect a magical improvement..the 7d is already a very good cam.

Nobody could fathom that Nikon would make a 36mp cam with very good low light and great color/d range..but they did...everyone deal with it.

Hopefully canon will make the next leap, but this time Nikon won...that's the truth.

Bottom line, it's not enough to ditch a system, but it's clear to me that if I was advising a friend on buying their first good dslr, I would point them to the nikon d800 over then canon..all things else being equal....Especially since they could buy a d800 and a very good 50 or 85 for the same price as the 5d3 alone.

I don't disagree at all Nikon right now has a better camera, however. Canon is a boss and i will stick with them, i'm not scared. The 800 is only slightly better that's why i'm not sweating it at all. I've got good gear to throw on a 5D3 i'm set up and i can't wait to shoot with it. FACT OF THE MATTER IS: I have to finish out this week of college first. i've got 15 pages of papers to write still. I shall be having no fun with it until at least. May 4th D':

 

[Sony]

Hey NJ Kita...notice most here ignored my post, it tells you that it's truthful/accurate...the d800 is a slightly better camera...ouch, it hurts a little to those of us that bought the 5d3 and have significant glass(like u and I)

At the end of the day, you will notice a slight improvement over the 7d...and mostly in low light situations...the improvement you will notice with the 5d3 vs 7d in good lighting is slight....don't expect a magical improvement..the 7d is already a very good cam.

Nobody could fathom that Nikon would make a 36mp cam with very good low light and great color/d range..but they did...everyone deal with it.

Hopefully canon will make the next leap, but this time Nikon won...that's the truth.

Bottom line, it's not enough to ditch a system, but it's clear to me that if I was advising a friend on buying their first good dslr, I would point them to the nikon d800 over then canon..all things else being equal....Especially since they could buy a d800 and a very good 50 or 85 for the same price as the 5d3 alone.

What you said just the dog- cat on website. Photography is real life, real life needs conveniences, and 5diii gives those to pic shooters. 36mp or 23 or 21 dont matter in real life with prints enlarged from 4x6'' to 12x18'', and spend more some cents a day doesnt matter either. So, continue dog-cat for fun and buy 5diii for convenience in real life. Cheers.

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Background: 19 Y/O, Own: 7D, 50mm 1.4, 24-70mm L. 70-200mm L 2.8 Mark II, Sigma 10mm Fisheye (ONLY COMPATIBLE WITH 1.6 sensors.), and the 530EXII. Plan on getting internship to shoot weddings to build up my portfolio this summer. This camera seems like THE WEDDING CAMERA.

In low ISO D800, 5Dii, 5Diii are neck by neck. The difference is not much so is not a big deal to be worried. In high ISO 5Diii takes the lead equivalent to 2 f/stop.

honestly you got that wrong at low ISO the D800 is way ahead but at high iso they are all neck and neck but with the 5D2 somewhat trailing

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Well I read the whole thing and I'm impressed by your hard work, initiative, and attitude.

You clearly have a passion for photography, and as long as it's something you enjoy doing, you should pursue it. The dream of most people is to have a career doing something that they love. Most don't get to have this, because they wait too long to figure out what they like, and by that time they've already got mortgages or families or debts, and they're forced to do any kind of job to pay the bills.

You're already on the right track for success.

My nephew is also 19, and obsessed by cars, and he's doing a mechanics' apprenticeship... he can't believe he's being paid to do something he enjoys so much.

Well it appears that you are building a strong foundation with great gear, finances, at least for the interim under control and got your ducks lined up in a row... When I went to school for photography, i got a 10D (brand new release at the time, woo hoo) and got crappy lenses to shoot with... Then spent the last decade upgrading bodies/lenses/knowledge to keep up with the market. Keep working hard and dont get discouraged when things get tough. A lot of upcoming pros wash out because they get discouraged, run out of money, and dont see it through. Learn your basics, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, take business classes and finance classes... As well as marketing and the like. They will help you keep your photography business from turning into a photography non profit. A lot of "photography" fine arts schools and even Fine Arts majors do not require a heavy allotment of business classes to graduate, but you need those to keep you afloat once you start to take off. You need to have the skills and gear but you also need business savvy to keep you viable and in the black. Good luck and stick with the 5d3, as a body system as a whole, it's miles ahead of the 5d2, even though the sensor size is similar.

P.S., if you like Top Gun, Top Gun 2 is in the works and Tom Cruise is back as maverick.

The biggest thing i have to work on is staying motivated. It's so easily to get discouraged! I started off with 2 other guys who shot Canon with me, they're now switching to Nikon because they work exclusively with a man who does big wedding events, indian weddings, on Nikon format. So i got kinda left in the dust in regards to a team :'(

In regards to going to school for photography, i'm attending college for a public relation degree, the photography jobs are just something that i do because
1) I love shooting, and i love getting paid to shoot
2) Do i really need more than that?

Photography is sort of crutch, i've talked to many professionals about going to school for photography and they said at this point in the digital era it's not worth it. If you have a good portfolio that's really all people need to know. If you can get the same types of shots from someone who does have a degree what does the degree matter?

I hope to go in to Public Relations for Live Events for Red Bull. I could plan the events, have an assistant or my team run it, while i shoot it. Get paid for two jobs? Ideally. But i hope i can make it work!

It's Either that, or i'd probably like to do Public Relations for a up and coming nuclear power. A Company that focuses on Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors is a company i want to work for. I've put a lot of research into this technology and it's just insane how amazing it is. A Million Times more powerful than fossil fuels, ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS, and we can burn up nuclear waste in the reactors Molten salt core. So the uranium 235 that were waiting 24,000 years to decay into something safe... we could use that to power this reactor.

Anyways, as you can see, i roll with the punches. 8) Such a boss? Yeah i know.

Yeah I don't think you really need a degree in it and the PJ world is a somewhat fading business. Salaries can be lower than grad students get paid! It just seems every time you ask someone they sound so doom and gloom about it and recommend to stick with your main or alternate career goals and just do photo for fun on the side. That said, with talent, tons of work and lots of persistence and a good dose of luck it is still possible to make it with the photo the primary thing, but it has gotten a lot tougher if you intend to stick to PJ-type work.

If your school has a really good student paper that can help. Hopefully your school does have a good journalism program. Then join the paper and get your experience and portfolio that way.

(You might kicked to the side a bit if they are too clique-ish or worse when it comes down to major positions or shoots with excuses about sharing (well among insiders )and not talent or work counting and all sorts of made up excuses just to keep it in the fold, but all the same you should be able to get out of it what you need if you just accept that it might be unfair at times to outsiders (but you may be lucky and not even have that issue, especially since you are in school in Jersey where that sort of stuff may not be as likely to fly).)

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Gentlemen, you are forgetting that, i have saved up for this camera and i can afford it, i was just looking in terms of the reviews that it got from DxO that the some how rated it so poorly (in regards on not being able to justify spending 3.5K), but after i compared the cameras side by side and looked at all the graphs the D800 has a slight edge over the 5D3 but not 14 points over it.

Secondly, i NEED the AF, i'll be doing sports photography here at school for at least 3 years, if i'm going to come back needing to shoot sports i'm going to get a camera that can keep up with my subjects.

I WILL BE GETTING THE 5D3, however this thread is INVALUABLE to people who want to jump into the Full Frame as an amateur doing it as a hobby. I get paid for my shots that's how i can justify the price now.

Third, it meets all the requirements that i plan to be using it for, it is the perfect wedding/low light camera, and boy that feature will be abused in my hands.

Just a little input from the Original Poster to keep this thread interesting. I've made my decision, you guys have all helped immensely. But my favorite addition was bringing up the 5Dc great topic, and seemingly great camera, if i didn't shoot what i shoot. That's most likely what i would've picked up as well as a couple L lenses.

For indoor sports like basketball, volleyball, gymnastics the 5D3 should be much better since you can get close enough to not need to crop and then you get 6fps at FF which means a lot less noise than 6fps at DX on the D800. So the image quality should be an easy win for 5D3 there. (well unless you shoot strobed basketball in which case the fps and all that don't matter much, but you might likely not have permission for that)

For landscapes I'd say the D800 is better for sure though, way more dynamic range and more MP never hurts.
For wildlife D800 too since the sensor is more dense and has more reach and it's often hard to get close enough to frame at FF FOV anyway.

 

[newjerseykita]

DEAR EVERYONE WHO POSTED ON HERE, I FINALLY BOUGHT MY 5D MARK 3.

Thank you for all of your help, got a brand new one, light leak issue fixed. With that said, here is my first image out of the camera that i deemed somewhat portfolio quality made the border myself with brushes, and secondly a picture of my family

Anyways, i'd love to shoot weddings with someone in the central nj area? Can anyone help me out here, put me in contact or recommend me to a photographer that'd be awesome!

Thanks for all he help guys much love!