Wait for the Canon 5D Mark IV or get the Mark III?

[photo212]

If you play the waiting game, you only hurt yourself. If you like the 5DMkIII, get it now. It might be next year the Mark IV comes out, or it might be years from now, if ever.

 

[alexanderferdinand]

Buy a 5D3 now.

 

[CarlTN]

My cousin just sold his 5D3 to adorama, he couldn't be bothered trying to sell it on his own. A shame, he could have gotten more selling on his own.

 

[Marsu42]

If you play the waiting game, you only hurt yourself. If you like the 5DMkIII, get it now.

I don't necessarily agree here because it depends if the person in question already has got another camera and the money saved could be invested in a stellar lens ...

... also with the (underwhelming) 6d available @1500€ the 6d/5d3 price difference could be considered lost if you don't need the fps or af performance. So buying a 6d and then waiting for a 5d4 might also be a sound decision as camera bodies lose their value fastest.

 

[CarlTN]

If you play the waiting game, you only hurt yourself. If you like the 5DMkIII, get it now.

I don't necessarily agree here because it depends if the person in question already has got another camera and the money saved could be invested in a stellar lens ...

... also with the (underwhelming) 6d available @1500€ the 6d/5d3 price difference could be considered lost if you don't need the fps or af performance. So buying a 6d and then waiting for a 5d4 might also be a sound decision as camera bodies lose their value fastest.

That's kind of what I did. It's working fine for me. I'm waiting on a 1DX mark ii n...s...that can AF with the central group of points at -6 EV, in order to servo track owls by moonlight.

 

[M.ST]

Wait for the 5D Mark IV or a higher body.

 

[Niki]

will a new camera body be able to run magic lantern

 

[Faaier]

Evolution of camera descision making :

1. Fantastic but too expensive
2. Still fantastic but still too expensive
3. Great but still a bit expensive
4. Nice (but I would like the latest feature of xyz) and affordable
5. Still nice (but I would like many features of xyz and omega) and - by now - reasonable
6. Reasonable but do I really want an 3 year old camera (and the rumor of a new camera)
7. Reasonable but do I really want a 4 year old camera (and the announcement of new camera)
8. Yes, the new one IS FANTASTIC but too expensive...

I would say, 5D mark iii remains VERY reasonable. Once you bought it, keep remembering that you didn't buy the camera as the latest gadget but to take pictures. And like myself, you will probably keep the camera for a few generations of new cameras before taking the next big step.

And of course, money isn't the only reason why you would wait!

 

[iron-t]

With the 5D3, the bottleneck preventing production of excellent images is external to the camera. Generally it resides somewhere between the ears of the user.

 

[Marsu42]

With the 5D3, the bottleneck preventing production of excellent images is external to the camera. Generally it resides somewhere between the ears of the user.

That is also valid for all other current dslrs - and for situations where you really have to rely on the camera, i.e. action shooting, the 5d3 vs 1d(x/4) still misses some things that are actually useful such as spot metering linked to af point - that's why I'm not that sad that I mostly use my 60d/6d's center point.

Also Canon doesn't seem to be able or willing to enable the af lights while tracking as they did with the 1dx - so there's plenty of room for improvement on a 5d4, I also expect rgb metering to be included.

 

[CarlTN]

With the 5D3, the bottleneck preventing production of excellent images is external to the camera. Generally it resides somewhere between the ears of the user.

That is also valid for all other current dslrs - and for situations where you really have to rely on the camera, i.e. action shooting, the 5d3 vs 1d(x/4) still misses some things that are actually useful such as spot metering linked to af point - that's why I'm not that sad that I mostly use my 60d/6d's center point.

Also Canon doesn't seem to be able or willing to enable the af lights while tracking as they did with the 1dx - so there's plenty of room for improvement on a 5d4, I also expect rgb metering to be included.

The main thing that could be improved is the sensor. But a 5D4 is 2 years or more off, is it not? Perhaps a development announcement about this time in fall 2014, but with actual cameras to buy in the spring or summer of 2015? Or could it be a year later for all of that, 2016? Maybe it depends on whether the camera gets a minor revision or a major one...besides whatever Nikon decides to do?

 

[EchoLocation]

i talked to my local rep and heard the IV was going to be rather underwhelming.
i'd wait for the V.

 

[CarlTN]

i talked to my local rep and heard the IV was going to be rather underwhelming.
i'd wait for the V.

You're being sarcastic, right? The "V" would be a 2019 or 2020 camera, assuming the world economy doesn't completely collapse before then. To speak about a camera two generations off, is rather absurd isn't it?

 

[danski0224]

You're being sarcastic, right? The "V" would be a 2019 or 2020 camera, assuming the world economy doesn't completely collapse before then. To speak about a camera two generations off, is rather absurd isn't it?

My sources tell me that the VI model will finally correct the problems in the III model.

;D

 

[Marsu42]

My sources tell me that the VI model will finally correct the problems in the III model.

While introducing new problems that'll leave you withing for either the 5d5 or 1dx2

 

[danski0224]

While introducing new problems that'll leave you withing for either the 5d5 or 1dx2

Well, duh.

I hope the 1DX III or 1DXs II is out by then.

 

[noel]

Hi - Just discovered this forum. Thank goodness!

I was all prepared to buy the 5dmiii yesterday at a camera show (good price, though still very $$), but got cold feet. I mostly shoot stills (photojournalism), and increasing doing so for work. But really like the idea of using video in the same camera (am formerly a doc. filmmaker, so video is important).

I'm just not sure it's worth it to me to buy the 5dmiii w/ out a good video autofocus.

The show is over tomorrow and I'm in a quandary.

Do I wait for 5dmv or drop down to the 6D (good $1500 less) for now and wait it out?

Any thoughts on how resell-able the 6D will be in a year or two? Alternatively, if I had to, I could buy a much cheaper compromised alternative like the Rebel T5i and wait for the 5dMarkV but can't wait longer then a year I suspect.

Won't buy the 70 as I really want a full frame sensor and if I can't get it, I might as well just buy something for much less money, and wait for better features on the 5dMarkv.

Any thoughts would be REALLY helpful! Thank you.

 

[Marsu42]

But really like the idea of using video in the same camera (am formerly a doc. filmmaker, so video is important). [...] Do I wait for 5dmv or drop down to the 6D (good $1500 less) for now and wait it out?

Welcome to the forum - there are lots of good threads about 5d3 vs 6d vs (use search ), but here's the gist: For video get the 5d3, as Canon intended it beats the 6d hands down for to reasons: a) no moiré, a serious issue with the 6d sensor, b) with the Magic Lantern firmware add-on 14bit *raw* _1080p_ shooting with the 5d3, the 6d is limited to 720p raw due to slow sd card speed.

 

[noel]

Hello Marsu42,

I apologize. I might not have made myself clear. I do understand the differences between the 6d and 5dmiii. I planned on buying the 5dmarkiii, yesterday. It's just that for all that money, when I really think about it, I'd rather wait for a 5dmarkv which, hopefully has autofocus on the video. Until then, I might as well use my Canon video camera for vid. The issue is stills and the timing of a 5dm4 release (See original post). Thanks.

Noel

 

[Loswr]

I planned on buying the 5dmarkiii, yesterday. It's just that for all that money, when I really think about it, I'd rather wait for a 5dmarkv which, hopefully has autofocus on the video. Until then, I might as well use my Canon video camera for vid.

There will be a 5DIV. I doubt it will be soon. I also highly doubt it'll have AF during video - that is a feature targeted at consumer-level bodies, not pro-level bodies. Cinema lenses are manual focus. Video AF actually might end up in a 6D II, I suppose, but the overall performance (stills AF, frame rate, etc.) will remain better in the 5-series.

If you need a top-notch camera, the 5DIII is a great choice.