MKIV or 5D3

Thinking of selling my MKIV for a 5D3 and 5D2 combo.

Opinions

Do you like the built in grip, the extra 1.3x "reach" and the 10fps on your 1D? That would be the main reason to stick with the 1D4. Also, consider that the 1.3x crop factor kinda doubles your lineup, i.e. 24L is also a 32L on 1.3x, 70-200 is also 90-260, etc.

tkbslc wrote in post #14021206
Do you like the built in grip, the extra 1.3x "reach" and the 10fps on your 1D? That would be the main reason to stick with the 1D4

That and the ISO performance as well. Schools out but i doubt its gonna beat the MKIV. I sure glad i bought one. The files look awesome from 100-8000 ISO.

I love the 1DIV but I shoot weddings and seniors for a living so having a sports cam makes no sense but if I want to shoot action at all I can. I love the 1D feel though.

So if the 5D3 AF is like the 1DX at all then it should be a good all around full frame cam.

Jonesy22 wrote in post #14021248
I love the 1DIV but I shoot weddings and seniors for a living so having a sports cam makes no sense but if I want to shoot action at all I can. I love the 1D feel though.

So if the 5D3 AF is like the 1DX at all then it should be a good all around full frame cam.

I shoot wedding and seniors for a living as well. I really don't think of it as a sports camera. I like the extra reach. I bought it for iso capabilities and to be perfectly honest, it is unbelievable in the studio at lower settings as well. Its the best camera i have used and it blows the 5D2 out of the water everyplace i could think of. I think its a better option than the new 5D3 and its only drawback would be width and i have a Tokina 11-16 that solved that problem.

I though the 5D2 grabbed focus better in low light receptions.

Jonesy22 wrote in post #14021867
I though the 5D2 grabbed focus better in low light receptions.

Not True

There has been some people that were upset that it was slow or would not grab in servo but one shot has never been an issue. The servo issues were in poor lighting conditions. I have not experienced it but ive only had my camera at 2 weddings since i purchased it.

Will test further this year.

For what you're doing, 5d3 and 5d2 might be a better fit. I'd wait a bit til the 5d3 is in the hands of real people to determine if the AF is up to what you want.

From my personal experience my 5D2 grabbed focus better at low light reception. Not really sure why but t's one reason why I always reached for the 5D2.

Jonesy22 wrote in post #14022067
From my personal experience my 5D2 grabbed focus better at low light reception. Not really sure why but t's one reason why I always reached for the 5D2.

Same for me. AI Servo center point on the 5D2 was more sensitive and locked focus in low light low contrast situations where the 1D4 hunted. To me that is the ONLY advantage the 5D2 had over the 1D4. But as Mike mentioned, once switched to One Shot, the 1D4 would grab just fine. Just depends on how often you find yourself needing low light low contrast shooting situations needed AI Servo.

jase1125 wrote in post #14022088
Same for me. AI Servo center point on the 5D2 was more sensitive and locked focus in low light low contrast situations where the 1D4 hunted. To me that is the ONLY advantage the 5D2 had over the 1D4. But as Mike mentioned, once switched to One Shot, the 1D4 would grab just fine. Just depends on how often you find yourself needing low light low contrast shooting situations needed AI Servo.

Well. I don't see any improvement with the 5D2 in servo either but I have not used the MKIV enough to make a fair comparison. I hit the processionals with a flash and I catch them coming out with a flash so I rarely have a need for servo in low light.

I use one shot most of the ime. I have tried the 1DIv in servo and one shot in low light and the 5D2 still beat it

I just recently bought my 1D mark IV new and wouldn't even consider replacing it with the 5D mark III.

Ok I thought I would add my two cents to this . I spent a considerable amount of time playing with a 5d3 yesterday. I shoot sports and I was planning to replace my ageing 1diin with the 5d3 to sidekick my 1d4. I hoped that I could mix its video capabilities with the full frame and use it for wide angle pit box work where speed and distance are not of importance. This would mean I had best of both worlds. Long range out track side using the mk4 and wide angle in the pits. Well a couple of things and (and this was after nearly an hour with the camera) the ergonomics drove crazy. There wasn't a carry over of menus nor was the buttons in the same or similar locations to the 1 series that I had become used to. Further more the canon rep was agreeing and hinting (amongst a group of 5d2 owners) that I look at the 1dx as he knew it would not satisfy a "pro body" user. So after considering it I put down the 5d3 and picked up the 1dx. Now that is a very nice camera and so familiar when coming from a mk4. The speed the build the weather sealing is all there (the rep told me the 5d3 is nowhere near as weather sealed as the 1d series and is equivalent to a 1n series. I actually thought he meant a 1diin but he corrected me).
But (and it's a huge but) despite having the budget the 1dx is 5.2k sterling. And will come down in price. So I went for a stroll round the show I was in. Whilst browsing and slightly dissapointed that the 5 won't work for me I was kinda excited about the 1dx. Until I came across a reseller offering me £400 off the current uk price for a1d4. This would not only solve me problems with ergonomics weather sealing and it does video (just like my other mk4 - albeit not full frame) but logistically it worked too as batteries chargers the lot were all interchangeable and it would mean I could have no preference in using one body over the other. Adding to the fact that it was the same price as the new 5d3 and nearly half the uk price of the 1dx I found myself buying yet another mk4. Am I happy? Ecstatic despite it bring exactly the same as what I have already. Would I have a 5 over one? No. They're just not the same as a "proper bit of kit". And I think canon knows that. I think you will find that the fact that the menus and the button layout is more complex than the 4 will drive you crazy. Plus I would never go back to that god awful dial system. It's terrible and I hate the lock that's on it. The 5dii seems to be hanging round for now and it might make a good cheap buy. But for £3k the 5d3 just isnt work it.
Hope it helps. Stick with the 4 as I think you will miss its simplicity.

Coops wrote in post #14023749
Ok I thought I would add my two cents to this . I spent a considerable amount of time playing with a 5d3 yesterday. I shoot sports and I was planning to replace my ageing 1diin with the 5d3 to sidekick my 1d4. I hoped that I could mix its video capabilities with the full frame and use it for wide angle pit box work where speed and distance are not of importance. This would mean I had best of both worlds. Long range out track side using the mk4 and wide angle in the pits. Well a couple of things and (and this was after nearly an hour with the camera) the ergonomics drove crazy. There wasn't a carry over of menus nor was the buttons in the same or similar locations to the 1 series that I had become used to. Further more the canon rep was agreeing and hinting (amongst a group of 5d2 owners) that I look at the 1dx as he knew it would not satisfy a "pro body" user. So after considering it I put down the 5d3 and picked up the 1dx. Now that is a very nice camera and so familiar when coming from a mk4. The speed the build the weather sealing is all there (the rep told me the 5d3 is nowhere near as weather sealed as the 1d series and is equivalent to a 1n series. I actually thought he meant a 1diin but he corrected me).
But (and it's a huge but) despite having the budget the 1dx is 5.2k sterling. And will come down in price. So I went for a stroll round the show I was in. Whilst browsing and slightly dissapointed that the 5 won't work for me I was kinda excited about the 1dx. Until I came across a reseller offering me £400 off the current uk price for a1d4. This would not only solve me problems with ergonomics weather sealing and it does video (just like my other mk4 - albeit not full frame) but logistically it worked too as batteries chargers the lot were all interchangeable and it would mean I could have no preference in using one body over the other. Adding to the fact that it was the same price as the new 5d3 and nearly half the uk price of the 1dx I found myself buying yet another mk4. Am I happy? Ecstatic despite it bring exactly the same as what I have already. Would I have a 5 over one? No. They're just not the same as a "proper bit of kit". And I think canon knows that. I think you will find that the fact that the menus and the button layout is more complex than the 4 will drive you crazy. Plus I would never go back to that god awful dial system. It's terrible and I hate the lock that's on it. The 5dii seems to be hanging round for now and it might make a good cheap buy. But for £3k the 5d3 just isnt work it.
Hope it helps. Stick with the 4 as I think you will miss its simplicity.

Thanks for the great write up, I'm struggling with this decision as well. Did you personally see any high ISO samples from the 5D3? I'm really curious about how it compares with the 1D4 in low light.