Canon 5D MkIII versus Sony A7RII (rumor to be released)

Takingshots

Eos R
Feb 6, 2015
80
2
5,131
I'm just a enthusiast and I'm on sitting on a fence for a long while debating if I should get Canon 5D mark iii or wait for Sony A7Rii to be released soon using metabones adapter w/ my Canon L lens. Anyone with similar interest/question perhaps could enlighten on this choice. Canon5D iii (older, but all rounded capability) VS Sony A7RII with great sensor, and stability axis.
 
Maybe you'll tell us a little bit more about you and what kind of pictures you want to take.

OTOH you could reduce this task to two questions:
1. Do you want/need it now or do you want to wait (maybe until the 5DIV is released)?
2. Do you want just the best IQ or the best over all system performance?
 
Upvote 0
Takingshots said:
I'm just a enthusiast and I'm on sitting on a fence for a long while debating if I should get Canon 5D mark iii or wait for Sony A7Rii to be released soon using metabones adapter w/ my Canon L lens. Anyone with similar interest/question perhaps could enlighten on this choice. Canon5D iii (older, but all rounded capability) VS Sony A7RII with great sensor, and stability axis.
Curious, people don't normally acquire lenses before a body...
 
Upvote 0
Thanks all for the questions. I mostly shoot landscapes w/ my Canon 60D. Sold off the kit lens and have acquired couple of L lenses with the hope of moving in FF. I have enough dough to splurge on one FF camera to go on a trip this fall. I'm not impressed with their 5Ds and kinda of weary to Canon's timeline with their 5D mark iv releases. Sony seems to have grt review except for eg. the shutter noise. Maybe this new A7RII will address that. They seem to release their (body) developments quite speedily within these 2 years. Canon got to listen up to what the folks want and do it quickly...
 
Upvote 0
The only person who can answer this question is you. If you can rent, or borrow, or buy (from a place that you can return the camera) a Sony a7 II, that will give you some idea if you like the camera or not. Or just wait until the Sony a7R II is released. If you are used to Canon and an optical viewfinder, then until you try the Sony you won't know if you will like their EVF. I just bought the Sony A7 II a couple weeks ago to compare it with my Canon 6D. In my case, I bought the kit lens (28-70mm) and did not use an adapter for my Canon lenses. I found the kit lens to be sub-par. I found the EVF to be slightly, and distractingly too dark in daylight. This was partially because I realized later that the Sony underexposes most shots by a full stop or so. In daylight conditions, there was not much difference in pics taken with the Sony and my 6D. I did not try any shots with difficult light conditions. Based on the EVF and the lens issue, I returned the camera after a few days for a refund. In the end, the biggest plus for the Sony was not the sensor (yes, the IQ is very good) but the small size. I do not like carrying the 6D with the 24-105mm lens and would prefer a smaller lighter camera. The Sony is that, for sure!

Keep in mind that if you want to use your Canon lenses with a higher-end adapter that you may have no - or slow - AF. Another consideration.
 
Upvote 0
dak723 said:
The only person who can answer this question is you. If you can rent, or borrow, or buy (from a place that you can return the camera) a Sony a7 II, that will give you some idea if you like the camera or not. Or just wait until the Sony a7R II is released. If you are used to Canon and an optical viewfinder, then until you try the Sony you won't know if you will like their EVF. I just bought the Sony A7 II a couple weeks ago to compare it with my Canon 6D. In my case, I bought the kit lens (28-70mm) and did not use an adapter for my Canon lenses. I found the kit lens to be sub-par. I found the EVF to be slightly, and distractingly too dark in daylight. This was partially because I realized later that the Sony underexposes most shots by a full stop or so. In daylight conditions, there was not much difference in pics taken with the Sony and my 6D. I did not try any shots with difficult light conditions. Based on the EVF and the lens issue, I returned the camera after a few days for a refund. In the end, the biggest plus for the Sony was not the sensor (yes, the IQ is very good) but the small size. I do not like carrying the 6D with the 24-105mm lens and would prefer a smaller lighter camera. The Sony is that, for sure!

Keep in mind that if you want to use your Canon lenses with a higher-end adapter that you may have no - or slow - AF. Another consideration.
Wow. Thx Dak723 for the insightful experience.
 
Upvote 0
Takingshots said:
Thanks all for the questions. I mostly shoot landscapes w/ my Canon 60D. Sold off the kit lens and have acquired couple of L lenses with the hope of moving in FF. I have enough dough to splurge on one FF camera to go on a trip this fall. I'm not impressed with their 5Ds and kinda of weary to Canon's timeline with their 5D mark iv releases. Sony seems to have grt review except for eg. the shutter noise. Maybe this new A7RII will address that. They seem to release their (body) developments quite speedily within these 2 years. Canon got to listen up to what the folks want and do it quickly...
Thank you, Takingshots, for giving us more information.
As you refer to landscape (supposingly with tripod, remote control, etc.) the Sony sensor surely will deliver the better IQ than 5DIII and 5DIV. If you do shots handheld, you'll wont get the IQ performance.

I think dak723 is right, that you should lend a Sony a7 II and look if you like the user interface and the system performance.

Tell us about your experience and how you decided.
 
Upvote 0
I have the current A7R and the Canon 5d III, definitely two different tools. A7R is very good at what it does well :) This camera has slowed down my photography considerably (Possibly in a good way). EVF is very good for focus peaking, seeing what the camera will produce before taking the shot, and of course getting fantastic detail. It is not good for quickly getting focus (auto) , especially in low light. If you were thinking of getting any Sony landscape lenses built for it, the 16-35f4 is very good. I use a combo of Sony and Canon lenses but I am slowly getting what I like in Sony (16-35, 24-70, 70-200....and something bigger if they ever make one) that I share with the A6000.

Canon 5d III is probably still the best camera if you do more than one type of shooting. Great autofocus (feels as good as my 1D IV), very solid, dual cards for those of us who have had an SD card die in the rainforest, and I can't complain about the image quality or shooting speed for nature shots....1D IV is faster but I rarely shoot more than 3 shot bursts.

Size - this is the big reason that I have been trying "mirrorless". I loved the panasonic m4/3 cameras but wanted more. Sony gives me both the capability to go small when I want to but still can use the big lenses when they are necessary and get great detail. My travel kit (for everything but birding) is now able to be carried in a small pack on any plane and my back doesn't hurt at the end of the day. Still have to carry big lenses for birding so I will likely keep upgrading both kits indefinitely.

Do what the others have suggested, try each out by renting if you can. I am now used to both interfaces, but that can take a while...especially since Canon's is very good, Sony is catching up slowly. As always, my personal reasons for choosing to use any of these cameras is based on what I "need"/want to do with them. Great tools, general or specific usage. Go have fun.
 
Upvote 0