Canon 5D Mark iii

[OGroteKoning]

Years ago I got my wife an entry level SLR to see if she will take to photography... and she did. I want to get her an upgrade and thought to get her something really proper. I heard this baby is an awesome camera, but holy smoke Batman! It is pricey! R30k is quite a bit more than I intended spending. In sure getting one 2nd hand will be less, but it seems risky. What is your comment? Also, if not the 5D Mark iii, what would you suggest? It has to be a Canon.

 

[P924]

5d mark 2 is R16000 at Dion wired, but I don't think they have any stock left, though.

 

[RanzB]

Years ago I got my wife an entry level SLR to see if she will take to photography... and she did. I want to get her an upgrade and thought to get her something really proper. I heard this baby is an awesome camera, but holy smoke Batman! It is pricey! R30k is quite a bit more than I intended spending. In sure getting one 2nd hand will be less, but it seems risky. What is your comment? Also, if not the 5D Mark iii, what would you suggest? It has to be a Canon.

What does she have now and what's your budget?

 

[bwana]

What types of photography is she interested in? The 6D doesn't have the same AF as the 5Dmk3 but apart from that it's supposed to be a great camera. Ideal for studio or landscape work on a smaller budget.

Or if she's into more general stuff or wildlife or action photography there is the 7D. It's not a full frame like the 5D/6D but it's got great AF and a respectable FPS rate.

Thing to note is that if she had any EF-S lenses then she can only continue to use them if she gets an APS-C type body like the 60D/7D.

 

[OGroteKoning]

What does she have now and what's your budget?

1000D
Approx R15k give ot take a couple of k's

What types of photography is she interested in? The 6D doesn't have the same AF as the 5Dmk3 but apart from that it's supposed to be a great camera. Ideal for studio or landscape work on a smaller budget.

Or if she's into wildlife or action photography there is the 7D. It's not a full frame like the 5D/6D but it's got great AF and a respectable FPS rate.

Thing to note is that if she had any EF-S lenses then she can only continue to use them if she gets an APS-C type body like the 60D/7D.

Her primary interest is macro photography, but it must be versatile enough for decent stills and wildlife at low light.

I don't understand all you said so I need to do some research first. I will also have a look at the lenses for the markings you mentioned. Thanks

 

[Corelli]

the 5d mk2 is old

Years ago I got my wife an entry level SLR to see if she will take to photography... and she did. I want to get her an upgrade and thought to get her something really proper. I heard this baby is an awesome camera, but holy smoke Batman! It is pricey! R30k is quite a bit more than I intended spending. In sure getting one 2nd hand will be less, but it seems risky. What is your comment? Also, if not the 5D Mark iii, what would you suggest? It has to be a Canon.

The 6d very slow. But u can get a remote app for iphone to take pics with it.

Unless u go the 5d mk3 at about 27999 at mycamera i wouldnt bother with the mk2. What camera does she have now. The 7d might be a more affordable option and its fast 8fps. The 6d i think only 4fps.

if budget is tighter get a 60d. They are very good cameras.

if 60d or 7d get the 15-85 lens, the 70-300 and the 50mm f1.4,

The 5d mk3 will set u back an extra 12k for the 24-70 lens.

 

[OGroteKoning]

@ Corelli
See post above yours

 

[Edduck]

The 6d very slow. But u can get a remote app for iphone to take pics with it.

Unless u go the 5d mk3 at about 27999 at mycamera i wouldnt bother with the mk2. What camera does she have now. The 7d might be a more affordable option and its fast 8fps. The 6d i think only 4fps.

if budget is tighter get a 60d. They are very good cameras.

if 60d or 7d get the 15-85 lens, the 70-300 and the 50mm f1.4,

Remember the 5D and 6D only accept fullframe lenses and thus you have to budget R30k+ for basic camera kit (Canon 24-105mm f4 IS or Sigma 24-70 f2.8). I use the 6D extensively at work and absolute love the camera. Excellent AF for studio/portrait/fashion/street and amazing dynamic range for landscapes.

A 7D is already a massive upgrade from a 1000D i.t.o operation, build quality, understanding the AF, 8fps and how the camera works. I would recommend that, Canon 15-85mm (or the 2013 Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-f4) plus a Canon 70-200 f4 IS or a 70-200 f2.8 non-IS. And please don't discount Sigma, they make amazing pro lenses, you just have to know what to buy, and only look at their recent lenses i.t.o quality. Only downside to the 7D is having to purchase CF cards which are slowly being phased out as SD are now almost fast/tough enough to replace them (with xqD cards also on the horison).

The 5d mk3 will set u back an extra 12k for the 24-70 lens.

Not sure what you mean here. The canon 24-70mm II f2.8 alone is ~R24600... 5Dmk3 body is R29500...

 

[koffiejunkie]

1000D
Approx R15k give ot take a couple of k's


Her primary interest is macro photography, but it must be versatile enough for decent stills and wildlife at low light.

I guess the obvious question is, what about the 1000D is she finding limiting?

Any of the current 18MP models (650D, 60D, 7D) will offer better low-light performance than the 1000D, but other than that, and a bit more resolution, you're not buying much different, given the listed applications.

 

[OGroteKoning]

Okay I did some homework .....

The 1000D uses EF/EF-S mount. The 6D has some of the best low light capability it would seem (on DPReview) and sports EF mount. So if EF and EF-S mounts are the same, I guess the 6D is what I would lean to. The FPS is 4.5, but I honestly do not know what impact this will have. How important is it to you guys?

Regarding fullframe lenses - how will I know if the lenses we bought over time (Canon, Tamron and Sigma) are fullframe? And if it is not, would the not work at all on a camera that is fullframe?

I guess the obvious question is, what about the 1000D is she finding limiting?
/snip

I guess this is the $100mil question ... I don't think she finds anything limiting. This could be perhaps because she (and me) are not aware of what a better body can deliver. The 1000D has served her/us well, but that low light quality pics are kinda crap (or we are just crap at taking low light pics)

 

[bwana]

Okay I did some homework .....

The 1000D uses EF/EF-S mount. The 6D has some of the best low light capability it would seem (on DPReview) and sports EF mount. So if EF and EF-S mounts are the same, I guess the 6D is what I would lean to. The FPS is 4.5, but I honestly do not know what impact this will have. How important is it to you guys?

They're not. EF-s lenses will not fit on the 6D/5D/1D. What lenses does she currently have? A high FPS is critical to me but maybe not so much for others.

Regarding fullframe lenses - how will I know if the lenses we bought over time (Canon, Tamron and Sigma) are fullframe? And if it is not, would the not work at all on a camera that is fullframe?

EF lenses, those designed for full frame cameras like the 6D/5D/1D will work on all canon bodies. EF-s lenses won't even fit on these bodies. Third party lenses are also designed with sensor size in mind.

 

[Quantum Theory]

EF lenses work on EF-S mounts, but EF-S lenses do NOT work on EF mounts...

 

[OGroteKoning]

They're not. EF-s lenses will not fit on the 6D/5D/1D. What lenses does she currently have? A high FPS is critical to me but maybe not so much for others.
EF lenses, those designed for full frame cameras like the 6D/5D/1D will work on all canon bodies. EF-s lenses won't even fit on these bodies. Third party lenses are also designed with sensor size in mind.

I will have to look when I get back home (Friday) what lenses she has.

Why is high FPS important to you? (Sorry for the noob questions - I appreciate the info!)

 

[Polymathic]

Is the 7D full framed? If not I would go for the .. full frame is full frame

 

[bwana]

I will have to look when I get back home (Friday) what lenses she has.

Why is high FPS important to you? (Sorry for the noob questions - I appreciate the info!)

If she doesn't already have a large selection of lenses and/or flashes then you could look at other brands. Although she's probably comfortable with Canon by now.

I enjoy action photography so the higher FPS rate helps capture what I need.

Is the 7D full framed? If not I would go for the .. full frame is full frame

No, it's a [very capable] aps-c (crop sensor) body.

 

[OGroteKoning]

bwana, we have already invested enough on her kit to stick to Canon.

 

[bwana]

bwana, we have already invested enough on her kit to stick to Canon.

Fair enough. I was just thinking if she does have all EF-s lenses at this stage, which you would have to replace if you were going to switch to full frame anyway… well in that case it might not be a bad time to switch if there was any desire to do so.

 

[fvdbergh]

Seems I am a bit late to the party, but it is critical at this stage that you provide us a full list of the lenses you currently have.

For example, you state that low-light photos are not satisfactory. If you do not currently own any fast prime lenses (lenses that can go down to f/1.8 or f/1.4 --- lower numbers are better), then some new lenses will be a better investment. To put things in perspective: Going from a 1000D to a 60D will only give you roughly half a stop of improvement in noise performance at ISO 1600, whereas going from an f/4 to an f/2.8 lens will give you a full stop of improvement in noise performance. Just for comparison, the 6D will give you roughly 2 stops of noise performance at ISO 1600 over the 1000D, but that is a lot of money if you factor in lenses too. In contrast, you can buy a fast prime for roughly R1k new (the 50 mm f/1.8). Other fast lenses will be more expensive, but you can buy many lenses for the R22k that the 6D will set you back.

If you already have fast prime lenses, you could look into buying a flash (speedlight), but not everyone likes flash photography (also depends on your subjects). Keep in mind that you can trigger the flash(es) remotely, so when I say flash photography, I am not talking about the deer-in-the-headlights-compact-camera-flash look. You mentioned macro photography --- adding a remote-triggered flash can do wonders for your macro photos.

Lastly, does she currently own a decent tripod? Could you please provide more info on the type of low-light photos that are not satisfactory, i.e., are they of stationary subjects, or moving subjects?

In my opinion, Canon does not currently offer any crop-sensor (i.e., 700D, 60D, 7D) bodies that are a huge improvement in low-light performance over the 1000D. There are many other good reasons for upgrading to one of those, but Canon has been using the same sensor technology (in crop-sensor bodies) now for about 4 years, which explains why there are not any huge gains in low-light performance going up in the crop-sensor body range. The 6D will give you that instant improvement in low-light performance that you are looking for, but as already mentioned, that is a very expensive option.

Anyhow, if you can provide some answers to my questions above, we can give you some additional options (which lenses, tripods, or flash units) to include in your list of potential upgrades.

 

[bwana]

In my opinion, Canon does not currently offer any crop-sensor (i.e., 700D, 60D, 7D) bodies that are a huge improvement in low-light performance over the 1000D. There are many other good reasons for upgrading to one of those, but Canon has been using the same sensor technology (in crop-sensor bodies) now for about 4 years, which explains why there are not any huge gains in low-light performance going up in the crop-sensor body range. The 6D will give you that instant improvement in low-light performance that you are looking for, but as already mentioned, that is a very expensive option.

While I cannot comment on the 1000D I do have both the 400D, which is almost identical to the 1000D when it comes to ISO, and the 7D and the difference between the two is staggering. First off the 1000D/400D has a max ISO of 1600 where as the 7D goes to 12800. In real terms there is at least a two stop improvement, if not more, when it comes to using that higher ISO.

The 60D/7D also uses the newer Digic IV processor (dual processors in the 7D) as compared to the 1000D's Digic III.

Recommending fast glass is great but shooting wide open because you have to is not the same as doing it because you want to. A razor thin DOF should be an artistic choice, not an necessity. That's where the improved high ISO of the newer bodies comes into play

 

[koffiejunkie]

No, it's a [very capable] aps-c (crop sensor) body.

I'll echo this. I had one for two years and I can highly recommend it.


I'll also agree with what fvdbergh said about noise performance. The difference is slight. I don't find the level of noise present to be much different between the 7D and 5DmkIII (there is at least 3 years between those two cameras). BUT one thing that is different is the colour retention/reproduction. That's very different.

Similarly, the 7D wipes the floor with everything that came before it when it comes to the colour it retains when shooting at, say 3200 ISO. Even the 50D doesn't measure up to it (I had that one too).

Don't confuse noise with image quality. Noise can be dealt with, lack of image cannot.