strangelove said:
My wife commented, before she asked me why I was having such a tough time choosing a camera.
You see, I was a Nikon shooter for several years, and owned everything from a D70, all the way through to a d700. I finally jumped ship a couple of years ago and got a 5D mark III.
I'm certainly not a pro, well I am, a pro high school teacher, but not a pro photographer. I used to shoot 10,000-15,000 shots a year for the district. Sports, events, portraits, you name it. Funds were short a few months ago and I had to sell my 5d, with the understanding that I'd replace it when we had the money. Now we have the money.
These days I run a program, and my shooting needs have gone way down. I do however have an 8 month old that refuses to sit still and an apartment with no overheads that seems to be dim and dingy no matter how many lamps I add.
So, here's the actual question part:
As a Nikon shooter, I never even questioned that I'd have a few cross type points to be able to use to accurately compose a shot as I saw it in my mind. Now, I no longer really need the bad-ass 5d3 61 spread AF system. But I rented a 6d and, well, frankly, it blows.
No offense to anyone, if I shot landscapes, I'd love it. But I can't quite believe that I can't compose a shot unless I use the center point. I have to shoot at mainly f1.4-f2 in my apartment, and with that sort of thin DOF, focus and recompose just isn't going to cut it with a moving kid.
So, in short-- I guess I can't quite believe that to get a FF camera with more than 1 cross-type point, I have to spend $3300.
I think a lot of Canon users are ok with it because, prior to the 7d certainly, it was sort of the norm for Canon AF. In fact it still is for the rebel crowd.
Coming from Nikon however, it's like asking a surgeon to perform a transplant with a butter knife.
My wife has a 70d for video of the kid, and we have a 24-105 and a 40mm 2.8. No other investment in Canon glass.
I guess my options are:
1. Suck it up and drop $3300 on a semi-pro 5d, just to get say 5 or 6 more accurate cross-type points across the frame.
2. Stop being an AF namby pamby, and just man up, get a 6d, because "real men do it by hand anyway"!
3. Grab one of those mighty tempting D700's on CL that go for around $1100 (in which the sensor still out performs anything from Canon) grab a couple of primes and go on my way, using the 70 as my video cam.
4. Do something really cool that I never thought of that you all are about to suggest to me.
I'd appreciate any input you guys might have...
Hi Strange,
Based on the little narrative about low light in the areas you shoot...I honestly don't think you could be served better by anything other than a 5D III, and even a 6D. A few reasons for that:
1. You mention you need to use ultra wide apertures with narrow DOF that is difficult to get your subjects in focus with. With both the 5D III and 6D, you don't need fast lenses. You can just jack up the ISO. The high ISO performance on both cameras is excellent, you could be living happy at ISO 1600 - ISO 6400 and not have any issues (especially on the 6D.)
2. The 5D III, even though it is a pricey $3300 (list, you can find it cheaper on sale), it has more than 5 or 6 extra cross-type points. It has five double precision double cross type points in the center column, but it has 41 cross type points in total! Now depending on which lenses you use, the actual number of cross type points available changes. So long as you use fast lenses (f/2.8 and faster), even if you stop down, you will have all 41 points at your disposal.
That is a difference of 40 cross type points in relation to the 6D.
If AF is important to you, and you feel that the 6D "sucked" for your personal needs, then the 5D III is WAY better than the 6D, hands down, no contest. It is also way better than any offering from Nikon. Nikon does have the 31pt and 51pt AF systems, but the AF points are tightly clustered in the center of the frame. The 5D III 61pt AF system has the widest AF point spread of any system on the market, which makes it a lot more effective.
3. Magic Lantern. With a 5D III, you have the option of installing ML and gaining even MORE performance at high ISO. Recently, Magic Lantern managed to extract another 1/2 stop high ISO improvement out of the 5D III. That makes ISO 6400 eminently usable, with over 9 stops of dynamic range. That puts it in a whole 'nother class when it comes to low light photography (and it seems clear, you do low light photography). With over 9 stops of DR, the 5D III + ML is in the same range as the 1D X, D4, D3s, etc. Cameras that cost thousands of dollars more.
Given your circumstances with low light, given that you usually use fast lenses, but could really stand to stop down a bit, given your AF needs, and given your prior experience with the 5D III, you really can't do better than getting another 5D III. You might be able to find a lightly used one for under the $3000 price point. Even if you don't go with Magic Lantern, the high ISO performance of the 5D III is so good, you will be able to live at ISO 1600-3200 with ease, which will solve your narrow DOF problem, and the 41 cross type points will certainly not cause you any compositional issues.
Now, if you just can't bring yourself to buy the 5D III again, get a 6D. The 6D may "only" have "just one" cross type point in the center. That does not mean all the other 10 points are unusable. Cross type points are more precise, but single line points are still functional and can be quite effective. You will probably have to suffer slower AF performance...but it wouldn't be immensely slower, especially if you are using fast lenses with max apertures f/2.8 and wider. The 6D also offers even better native high ISO performance than the 5D III (it is almost as good as a 1D X or D4 strait out of the box), and better yet, ML's high ISO DR improvement will eventually come to the 6D as well. That means the 6D at ISO 6400 would offer over TEN STOPS OF DR! That puts it in an entirely new class of it's own for high ISO performance. With your low light issues, the 6D + ML (when it comes out) would be a POWERHOUSE, despite the less capable AF system.
... maybe he/she thinks you traveled back in time and edited it ;D
