Canon 5D Mark III vs Nikon D800

[Canon Rumors]

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<strong>Another ISO comparison


</strong>The 5D Mark III and Nikon D800 has brought about a ton of discussion in regards to the philosophies of both Canon and Nikon. I’m not sure the cameras can be compared head to head fairly. I have shot with the 5D Mark III and I’m working on my impressions of it, I have yet to get my hands on a Nikon D800 for any length of time. Though I do plan to spend the weekend with a Nikon D4 that was recently acquired and I will compare it to the 5D Mark III, since they’re in the same megapixel range. What’s a guy to do while he waits for a 1D X?</p>
<p><strong>Camera Labs Test </strong>


Gordon Laing from CameraLabs has continued his extensive testing of the 5D Mark III, and has provided a good ISO comparison between it and the Nikon D800. As far as ISO goes, it’s not even close, the Nikon D800 starts to fall apart at about ISO 800. A lot has been said about the 5D Mark III and how much of an improvement it is over the 5D Mark II in the ISO department, and I think it’s clear the 5D Mark III starts to separate around ISO 1600.</p>
<p>Be sure to check out the results at Camera Labs.</p>
<p><strong>ISO Comparison: <a href="http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_EOS_5D_Mark_III/high_ISO_noise.shtml" target="_blank">5D Mark III vs 5D Mark II</a> | <a href="http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_EOS_5D_Mark_III/Canon_5D3_vs_Nikon_D800_noise.shtml" target="_blank">5D Mark III vs Nikon D800</a></strong></p>
<p>I’m waiting to see some good visual tests in dynamic range between the 5D Mark III and D800.</p>
<p><strong>5D Mark III Stock


</strong>From what I have seen, Amazon & B&H seem to have had the most stock of the 5D Mark III. B&H and Adorama will be observing Passover between April 6 – April 15, so nothing will be shipping. Amazon is expecting new stock on April 7, 2012.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007FGYZFI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=canorumo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007FGYZFI" target="_blank">5D Mark III at Amazon for $3499</a> also <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/847545-REG/Canon_5260A002_EOS_5D_Mark_III.html/BI/2466/KBID/3296" target="_blank">B&H</a> and <a href="http://www.adorama.com/ICA5DM3.html?kbid=64393" target="_blank">Adorama</a>.</strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

 

[psolberg]

Gordon Laing from CameraLabs has continued his extensive testing of the 5D Mark III, and has provided a good ISO comparison between it and the Nikon D800. As far as ISO goes, it’s not even close, the Nikon D800 starts to fall apart at about ISO 800. A lot has been said about the 5D Mark III and how much of an improvement it is over the 5D Mark II in the ISO department, and I think it’s clear the 5D Mark III starts to separate around ISO 1600.

sorry but that's not what I'm seeing in dp review. sure the mkIII is better but the D800 is not just close, but when resampled to 22MP is downright identical (if not better).
another interesting comparison against a LOT of other cameras including the mkII and III.
http://mansurovs.com/nikon-d800-review#iso_performance
(hit next at the bottom of the page to see more bodies)

true they are totally different bodies but for 36MP, I have to admit that D800 performs admirably at high ISOs even if it is not really the kind of tool for big ISO/fast shooting.

 

[friedmud]

Gordon Laing from CameraLabs has continued his extensive testing of the 5D Mark III, and has provided a good ISO comparison between it and the Nikon D800. As far as ISO goes, it’s not even close, the Nikon D800 starts to fall apart at about ISO 800. A lot has been said about the 5D Mark III and how much of an improvement it is over the 5D Mark II in the ISO department, and I think it’s clear the 5D Mark III starts to separate around ISO 1600.

sorry but that's not what I'm seeing in dp review. sure the mkIII is better but the D800 is not just close, but when resampled to 22MP is downright identical (if not better).
another interesting comparison against a LOT of other cameras including the mkII and III.
http://mansurovs.com/nikon-d800-review#iso_performance
(hit next at the bottom of the page to see more bodies)

true they are totally different bodies but for 36MP, I have to admit that D800 performs admirably at high ISOs even if it is not really the kind of tool for big ISO/fast shooting.

Did you click the link? I think the description given here on CR is pretty spot on... and they are not

Now - that is just one result, but it definitely starts to show the ISO limitations of the D800.

That said - The ISO 50 result is _beautiful_ and as a primarily landscape photographer it is VERY tempting ;-)

 

[lensla]

Well there's a couple things here that you have to realize. First of all, like mentioned before, you can down sample the 36MP of the D800 to 22MP and get close to the Canon 5D3 in terms of ISO performance. Roughly, it looks like a half stop difference or so, if that.

Next, these are JPEGs. Nikon has notoriously bad in-camera JPEG rendering. There are numerous Nikon NEF (RAW) samples out there that you can download and load straight into Photoshop/Lightroom and check it out for yourself. At 36MP, you can apply so much noise reduction before downsampling, the real-world, functional difference between the 5D3 and the D800's low light performance is negligible. The D800 JPEG files (when made through proper RAW->down sampled-to-22MP JPEG workflow) rival the 5D3's.

I would say the more dynamic AF and the faster FPS of the 5D3 are its only real advantages here.

 

[adamkozlowski]

In which universe is 5D3 better in terms of ISO than D800? Sorry. We've done very extensive tests here and we sold all our Canon gear to get into a Nikon system based on D800. That's how much better the files are. At pixel-level the noise is almost the same (indiscernible for me), but at print-size the D800 crushes 5D3 badly. What's more - the D800 files have much better dynamic range and withstand even the harshest postprocessing, while the 5D3 files disintegrate totally. The ugly vertical banding was the deal-breaker for us. If you can read Polish or you can use Google translate - try my friends review with samples http://www.fatman73.fotolog.pl/canon-5d-mk-iii-vs-nikon-d800-vs-panasonic-gh2,2303580,link.html

But 5D3 is obviously a great camera, with much much MUCH better AF than 5D2. I can't even express how much better and how essential this is. Too bad Canon cheaped out on metering - it's still not RGB metering (reserved to 1DX). Anyway - it's a great improvement over 5D2 in handling, not so much in IQ. And thanks to that rendering engine it's unbelievably good for movies. Sure, D800 has more details, but has moire and aliasing artifacts and has worse noise reduction and a worse codec. So really 5D3 is a video winner (no matter how much ppl whine about it not being detailed).

 

[SandyP]

Yawn.


I appreciate the comparisons, especially more balanced ones, but it's starting to wear very thin... both cameras are amazing, both are top class, both are more than enough for 90% of the people who will own them. No one has excuses anymore. I'm going to be very happy in a few months after the newness of this all has worn off and we can just get back to actually taking photos in the real world, as real photographers.

My favorite portrait camera right now for natural light, which is half of what I do.... my Mamiya 645 Pro TL film camera. Manual focus, film, heavy, clunky, only goes up to 1/1000 and only syncs at 1/60, but the way it handles, the way it feels, the amazing lenses. It's glorious. Somewhere, there is a lesson in there.

I find it funny that people switched over any of this, from Canon or TO Canon. People did. The wedding photographers over on Flickr have quite a few that jumped ship.

In any case, everyone that switched is going to find it pretty glaringly obvious when they realize that their photography hasn't gotten any better because of a switch. Vision, creativity and skill have nothing to do with the camera, especially when you're at this level of body.

Your photos are still gonna be your photos.


Vision>Lighting>Lenses>Camera

 

[adamkozlowski]

I disagree Sandy. If you have a camera that makes you feel confident, you can focus on the job more easily than with a dud. And honestly, the 5D2 and 7D has failed us more times than i care to count (poor AF, poor metering, banding in 5D2) and we almost jumped ship last year but I held my breath until the D800 came out.

When i look back at my photos from all the ten years I think the best ones i took were shot with 1-series Canon bodies, especially 1Ds and 1Ds2. These were probably the last true photographic digital cameras, without any bells & whistles. The confidence it gave us was amazing, the handling was superb. The "1" series cameras have that little genie inside that tells you - "relax, trust me, i'll do everything you tell me, in any conditions".

So having the D800 now gives me similar confidence. I've done two studio sessions with that camera now and the files are just mindblowingly good and withstand all sorts of processing which would make files from 5D2 and even 5D3 disintegrate completely. In high ISO situations it's also just great. In a way it reminds me of 1Ds2 files. I've been a fool to sell that camera in order to get into the HD-DSLR video hype. I would still buy it today, out of sentiment.

 

[thefixisin]

...and withstand all sorts of processing which would make files from 5D2 and even 5D3 disintegrate completely.

Easy on the hyperbole friend. You are aware there is a nikon rumors website too right?

 

[DavidRiesenberg]

I disagree Sandy. If you have a camera that makes you feel confident, you can focus on the job more easily than with a dud. And honestly, the 5D2 and 7D has failed us more times than i care to count (poor AF, poor metering, banding in 5D2) and we almost jumped ship last year but I held my breath until the D800 came out.

When i look back at my photos from all the ten years I think the best ones i took were shot with 1-series Canon bodies, especially 1Ds and 1Ds2. These were probably the last true photographic digital cameras, without any bells & whistles. The confidence it gave us was amazing, the handling was superb. The "1" series cameras have that little genie inside that tells you - "relax, trust me, i'll do everything you tell me, in any conditions".

So having the D800 now gives me similar confidence. I've done two studio sessions with that camera now and the files are just mindblowingly good and withstand all sorts of processing which would make files from 5D2 and even 5D3 disintegrate completely. In high ISO situations it's also just great. In a way it reminds me of 1Ds2 files. I've been a fool to sell that camera in order to get into the HD-DSLR video hype. I would still buy it today, out of sentiment.

Wow, I'm happy that you're happy with the D800, but calling the 5D3 or 5D2 a dud? Really? And only because it doesn't have 36 MPs? And when Canon releases a 45MPs camera, what will you do with your dud of D800?

 

[Alker]

I disagree Sandy. If you have a camera that makes you feel confident, you can focus on the job more easily than with a dud. And honestly, the 5D2 and 7D has failed us more times than i care to count (poor AF, poor metering, banding in 5D2) and we almost jumped ship last year but I held my breath until the D800 came out.

When i look back at my photos from all the ten years I think the best ones i took were shot with 1-series Canon bodies, especially 1Ds and 1Ds2. These were probably the last true photographic digital cameras, without any bells & whistles. The confidence it gave us was amazing, the handling was superb. The "1" series cameras have that little genie inside that tells you - "relax, trust me, i'll do everything you tell me, in any conditions".

So having the D800 now gives me similar confidence. I've done two studio sessions with that camera now and the files are just mindblowingly good and withstand all sorts of processing which would make files from 5D2 and even 5D3 disintegrate completely. In high ISO situations it's also just great. In a way it reminds me of 1Ds2 files. I've been a fool to sell that camera in order to get into the HD-DSLR video hype. I would still buy it today, out of sentiment.

It's all in the mind.
Banding or no banding.

Many top pro photographers used their 5d mark II without any issues.
There results were mind blowing.
It's a tool together with skills which will give you the result.
Skills is more important then the tool.

Jumping ship is really really the new word.
There is NO limitation when you use Canon.
If you say there is then it's the lack of your skills.

Both Canon and Nikon equipment can do the job.
This jumping ship is really a new hype.

No other brand is going to save you.
This jumping ship is BS.

When you have invested in Nikon stay with Nikon.
When you have invested in Canon stay with canon.

The switch is not going to give you better results.
Both superb.

 

[CanonHK]

Is there any truth to the old adage, "A bad artist blames his brushes"?
I on the other hand switched from Nikon to Canon in the early days of digital photography because I found that I could handle the digical cameras from Canon so much better than Nikon's early efforts. I think they are mroe or less head to head now, but I still prefer the selection of prime lenses that Canon has.
I have the Canon 5D MKIII and love it. And will respect the Nikon D800 until I get my hands on one, and then perhaps I too might call it a dud. Ok I'm kidding. I would never do that. ;-) Almost never.

 

[briansquibb]

When i look back at my photos from all the ten years I think the best ones i took were shot with 1-series Canon bodies, especially 1Ds and 1Ds2. These were probably the last true photographic digital cameras, without any bells & whistles. The confidence it gave us was amazing, the handling was superb. The "1" series cameras have that little genie inside that tells you - "relax, trust me, i'll do everything you tell me, in any conditions".

Just a small point - the 1Ds3 continued the no bells and whistles approach - so I would put it forward as the last.

And it still produces first class images.

I hear about metering and dr and print from the D800 fanboys - but I defy any of them to be able to distinguish between the 21/22mp Canons and the D800 prints up to 20 x 16.

 

[Alker]

Is there any truth to the old adage, "A bad artist blames his brushes"?
I on the other hand switched from Nikon to Canon in the early days of digital photography because I found that I could handle the digical cameras from Canon so much better than Nikon's early efforts. I think they are mroe or less head to head now, but I still prefer the selection of prime lenses that Canon has.
I have the Canon 5D MKIII and love it. And will respect the Nikon D800 until I get my hands on one, and then perhaps I too might call it a dud. Ok I'm kidding. I would never do that. ;-) Almost never.

What triggered me the most was his sentence "held my breath until the D800 came out" !!
Like in the meantime Canon equipment was not good enough , SURE !!!

 

[Stuart]

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_EOS_5D_Mark_III/Canon_5D3_vs_Nikon_D800_noise.shtml
I'm not saying the mk3 is not better than the 800 on noise etc. but the crop on the 800 is noticably tighter and this will make the noise look worse.
I'm a canon shooter with a 60D, and not looking to move to nikon. but if i was a big scene shooter the D800 would be a contender - LOL funds permitting.

 

[SandyP]

I disagree Sandy. If you have a camera that makes you feel confident, you can focus on the job more easily than with a dud. And honestly, the 5D2 and 7D has failed us more times than i care to count (poor AF, poor metering, banding in 5D2) and we almost jumped ship last year but I held my breath until the D800 came out.

When i look back at my photos from all the ten years I think the best ones i took were shot with 1-series Canon bodies, especially 1Ds and 1Ds2. These were probably the last true photographic digital cameras, without any bells & whistles. The confidence it gave us was amazing, the handling was superb. The "1" series cameras have that little genie inside that tells you - "relax, trust me, i'll do everything you tell me, in any conditions".

So having the D800 now gives me similar confidence. I've done two studio sessions with that camera now and the files are just mindblowingly good and withstand all sorts of processing which would make files from 5D2 and even 5D3 disintegrate completely. In high ISO situations it's also just great. In a way it reminds me of 1Ds2 files. I've been a fool to sell that camera in order to get into the HD-DSLR video hype. I would still buy it today, out of sentiment.

That's ridiculous, haha. If you really believe that a different piece of plastic and metal in your hands is going to make your photos more creative, make your vision come to life most vibrantly, then you're only joking yourself.

Calling a camera like the 5D3 a "dud", is non-sense. I shot weddings, with my 5D2, sure it was struggling in some areas with AF, I manually focused. I wasn't happy about it, but I did it. But I loved my Canon lenses, and didn't feel like switching would ultimately make my photos better, because photography isn't about all that extra stuff, it really isn't. Now that the 5D3 is out, I feel like the tool I have to shoot with is indeed improved, but even I do not kid myself; the photos I take, my vision, my creativity, will not improve.

Just because I love my Mamiya cameras, because I love the images, doesn't mean they're better than my Canon ones. What's in your head is in your head, and sure it's important, but the rest, what bleeds into the imagery, is all that truly matters in the end.

Your photos are not going to be more creative, they're not going to be more visionary or complete as an artistic expression. They're going to be the same photos you took before, with a different camera. Technically speaking, they'll have a bit extra of this, and a bit less of that, but they're still going to be coming from you.

You're a shining example of someone who blames the tools they use for their lack of whatever. I chose to do the opposite.

I don't care if I was shooting a damn Pentax, hell, there are some folks getting world wide attention over the past few years, getting spreads in major magazines, shooting action, fashion, portraits, photojouranlism, fine art, abstract, whatever.... AND USING 400Ds from 2003, using 50mm f/1.8 lenses.

And yet, here we have people complaining about the 5D3 vs. the D800, trying to make themselves believe that by switching to Canon, or to Nikon, that their photos are going to get better.


Good luck with that!

 

[pepazz]

LOL, comparing iso performance of a jpeg proves nothing about sensor noise ability, good jpeg processing without a question, but who buys 3,500$ camera to shoot jpeg??

i find this veri interesting, raw at iso 100
5D 3
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/2598/filllight5d3crop1.jpg
Nikon 800
http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/2416/filllightd3crop1.jpg

 

[Alker]

LOL, comparing iso performance of a jpeg proves nothing about sensor noise ability, good jpeg processing without a question, but who buys 3,500$ camera to shoot jpeg??

i find this veri interesting, raw at iso 100
5D 3
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/2598/filllight5d3crop1.jpg
Nikon 800
http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/2416/filllightd3crop1.jpg

OH NO !!
Another fill light post.

Come on don't start this again.
Until now I have never needed such a fill light correction.

Gearheads vs Real World !!

 

[DavidRiesenberg]

In which universe is 5D3 better in terms of ISO than D800?

In that universe that you don't adjust the results in such a way to justify your preference.
I'm sorry, but I still haven't seen an example of what the D800 can do that the 5D3 cannot in a real life example (as in NOT black frames with the lens cap on).

 

[KeithR]

7D has failed us more times than i care to count (poor AF, poor metering...)

That right there is a bad workman blaming his tools: both the AF and the metering on the 7D are impeccable.

 

[KeithR]

In that universe that you don't adjust the results in such a way to justify your preference.

True enough - in reality the supposed "pliability" of recent Nikon cameras' files only has value as an excuse to shoot badly and fix everything in post.