5D MkIII Price

[mike_gendimenico]

<p>I've been debating about upgrading to a 5D MkIII and was looking at pricing the last few days. Looks like the pricing has dropped some and was able to get brand new one on Amazon for $2,975 (from Amazon directly, not a third party). I also saw in my searches that Walmart had them for the same price. <br>

I know there is a Canon factory promo on the 5D MkII currently but figured I would drop an FYI here... :)</p>

 

[peter_j2]

<p>It appears you are pulled by two forces: the 5D2 and 5D3. What are you upgrading from? Why would you even consider a 5D3 if the 5D2 is cheaper? What attracts you to the 5D3?</p>

[colin carron]

<p>I sold my trusty Canon 5D and bought a Canon 5DII as the improvements in the 5DIII didn't seem to be worth the extra cash. But that was my assessment based on the sort of photography I do. <br /> So I suggest you look at the differences between the 5DII and 5DIII and ask yourself whether these differences are worth the extra cost.<br /> You do not mention which camera you have at the moment but if you have a 1.6 crop factor camera then you may need to look at the extra cost of lenses for full frame.</p>

[tom_burke3]

<p>I read the OP's posting as telling us that he'd bought one from Amazon, and was letting the forum know about the Amazon & Walmart prices.....</p>

[peter_j2]

<p>You are correct Tom Burke. Thanks.</p>

[don_pugh]

<p>Here is a very good YouTube video by Tony Northrup comparing image quality and autofocus performance of the Mark II to the Mark III used in a bunch of different types of photography.<br>

His conclusions are that there is very little difference in image quality between the 2 cameras, even at higher ISOs where the Mark III is supposed to be much better. However, the percentage of shots he gets in perfect focus shooting a moving person, a running dog and birds in flight is much higher with the Mark III than with the Mark II. And the Mark III shoots 6 frames per second versus 3.9 for the Mark II which is significant when you're shooting birds and wildlife. He also says with the Mark II he has always had to use the center focus point to get decent results but with the Mark III he can use off center focus points and track a moving subject.<br>

So his recommendation is that if you shoot primarily landscapes and studio work you'd be better off buying the Mark II and putting the $1300 difference towards other equipment. But if you like to shoot birds, wildlife, moving pets and kids and weddings (where people are moving), the vastly superior autofocusing system of the Mark III is worth the price differential.<br>

He also notes that Live View and the focusing capability of the Mark III are vastly superior to the Mark II for night photography.</p>

[mike_gendimenico]

<p>I've owned a 5D MkII for a little over two years and still have an original 5D that I kept for backup. I do mostly event photography and the one thing I just haven't been satisfied with on the MkII is the focusing & metering system. I also tend to shoot at higher ISOs and mostly use all f2.8 L lenses. From the research I've done, the MKIII excels over the MkII in those two areas. If I was doing studio, product, landscapes, etc, I probably would not do the upgrade. Also, this may be subjective (and I haven't used my 5D MKI in quite a while), but seems like the color reproduction on my MkI photos are somewhat better than the MkII. I still think the MkII is a great camera and will use that as my secondary now. <br>

Fortunately, I recently did a job that paid very well and had some Amazon gift cards stacked up, so with the price drop, I figured it was time to pull the trigger. I will also now sell my original 5D and a couple of lenses I no longer use. </p>

[don_pugh]

<p>Mike, about 3 weeks ago I had a Mark II on order from B&H for $1799 after a $400 rebate. About the same time I bought a 70-200L f/4 IS lens used from a long time pro photographer who has won a lot of awards, does workshops, etc. She asked me via email what kind of camera I would use it with and I told her I had the Mark II on order. She strongly encouraged me to look at the Mark III versus the Mark II more closely, primarily because the autofocusing system was a huge upgrade. She has used both cameras extensively and said the Mark III focusing and metering was in a different league, that the LCD display was much better and in her opinion it was worth the price differential. I had previously dismissed the Mark III largely because of the price point, but after talking with her I did more research and decided to send the Mark II package back unopened and order the Mark III for $2975 from B&H.<br /> I took the Mark III out last weekend with the 70-200 IS and got about 90 shots of my 18 month old golden retriever running around in an off leash dog park on an overcast day with no sun. I shot wide open in aperture priority at f/4 and ISO 100, mostly in the 120mm to 200mm focal range and would estimate that 80% of the shots of my dog (who was running all over the place) were tack sharp. I'm looking forward to shooting some birds and wildlife. I'll attach one of the dog in motion pictures taken with the Mark III later if I can figure out how to do it.</p>

<p>I was able to attach a picture. It was taken at the full 200mm focal length, no crop, f/4, ISO 100 and 1/640 in RAW, minor processing in Lightroom. My dog wasn't moving real fast when this one was taken but I have a bunch of him on the run with paws in air, ears flying that are razor sharp.</p><div></div>

[mike_gendimenico]

<p>Don - didn't see your post until after I posted, but yes, I'm basically looking for better results on moving subjects especially under lower light conditions. Since I also switch between portrait and landscape often when doing this, I'm also looking forward to trying out the Orientation Linked AF.<br>

I do a lot of music related events as well as some unit photography so hoping to have far less throwaways because of focus issues. I <br>

And, thanks for the info!</p>

[j._mark_springer]

<p>I upgraded from a 7D to a 5D2. Because I had experieced the focusing system of the 7D, I was never happy with the focusing system of the 5D2. It was like going backwards to the 40D I had before the 7D. I loved the 40D until I experienced the 7D. I ultimately sold the 5D2 after about 8 months when a very good deal came along to buy the 5D3. I have no regrets. The 5D3 is the camera I had been waiting for and I'm still discovering its capabilities. Enjoy the 5D3. I sure am!</p>