Canon 5D Mark III: Some perspectives/concerns

[Eagle Eye]

Just my opinion, but all this banter about which camera is better, is the price point justified, et cetera, is all baseless until we see side by side comparisons of the photographs. After all, the camera is a means to an end, right? The 5D Mark III has all the right ingredients to make me think it's going to be a beast at producing results. The autofocus helps you get a perfectly focused print, the 100% coverage helps you properly compose, and the three years of technological advances applied to roughly the same megapixels should really enhance the quality of the image output.

The whole "jumping ship" thing gets thrown around every time a new camera comes out, including Rebels. Seriously. Will there be some people who will sell all their Canon gear and buy Nikon stuff, requiring them to relearn controls and muscle memory and basically flush thousands of dollars? Sure, but they'll be few and far between and dopes. Will there be Nikon users who jump ship if the Mark III outperforms the D800 by two stops in low light image quality (for most photographers, a COLOSSAL advantage)? Sure, but they'll be few and far between and also dopes.

Look, if the 5D Mark III is too much for what you're getting in your opinion (i.e. the enhancements don't really do a lot for your finished product), take a look at the Mark II. The results from its sensor are absolutely awesome and at $2,100, it's a steal.

 

[XanuFoto]

There were a total of 12 5D Mk II' s and 6 5D's listed on the Washington DC craigslist TODAY. Apparently, there are a lot of people upgrading...

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/search/pho?query=5d&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk=

Two weeks ago I offered 1800 to a guy on Toronto Craigslist. He send me insulting e-mails back. Today the prices range between 1500-1700 and you get 3 to 4 posted daily.

 

[Tuggem]

My concern with the 5D3 is not really the aboslute improvement compared to my 5D2 or how good it is. Most things except resolutions seems better than 5D2. However I compare it to the competition in feature, IQ and price where IQ is most important.
So what does it have over the D800.
6 FPS vs 5 FPS, probably with slightly better IQ at high ISO and slightly worse IQ at low ISO. This since D800 shoot 5 FPS in 1.2 crop mode. D800 does 6 FPS with grip and further decreased IQ but I can live with that.
5D3 has multi exposure that D800 doesnt have.
D800 has higher low ISO Dynamic Range.
Indications so far says tha D800 has lower high ISO noise. This is still preliminary though and may still show out to be incorrect.
D800 has higher resolution.
Perhaps someone care about video. I don't and have no idea which is better.

Basically, as it seems right now, D800 has better IQ over the whole ISO range and all 5D3 has is 1 additional FPS that you can get from D800 also with grip and decreased IQ.
I dont get it. As far as we know right now the D800 is the better and more all arround camera. That to a lower price.

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

My concern with the 5D3 is not really the aboslute improvement compared to my 5D2 or how good it is. Most things except resolutions seems better than 5D2. However I compare it to the competition in feature, IQ and price where IQ is most important.
So what does it have over the D800.
6 FPS vs 5 FPS, probably with slightly better IQ at high ISO and slightly worse IQ at low ISO. This since D800 shoot 5 FPS in 1.2 crop mode. D800 does 6 FPS with grip and further decreased IQ but I can live with that.
5D3 has multi exposure that D800 doesnt have.
D800 has higher low ISO Dynamic Range.
Indications so far says tha D800 has lower high ISO noise. This is still preliminary though and may still show out to be incorrect.
D800 has higher resolution.
Perhaps someone care about video. I don't and have no idea which is better.

Basically, as it seems right now, D800 has better IQ over the whole ISO range and all 5D3 has is 1 additional FPS that you can get from D800 also with grip and decreased IQ.
I dont get it. As far as we know right now the D800 is the better and more all arround camera. That to a lower price.

Some early RAW tests and examinations are hinting at as much as 3 stops more usable DR for the D800. I really expected better from Canon if they were going to stick with 22MP and raise the praise.

At high ISO it is hard to say but it seems like the 5D3 might not do any better than the D800, if even.

Hopefully it won't bare out but.... darn the early numbers are looking to be not really what we hoped.

It also may end up demonstrating that the more MP means worse IQ claims by many are not a given.