5D mark iii dilemma! What would you do?

I never said I can't focus, I said I hate the af system for action. I can use the 60d just fine but it is indeed a simple focus system. Every statement I've read say the af is a joy to use and keeper rates are up on the mkiii.

I don't like my wife's Hyundai either but I can drive it like a race car

I do understand where you are coming from and your bird shots are fantastic. I must say I can't tell what you were focusing on in the organ player shot, it honestly looks like missed focus.

I want full frame, and I have the cash so yes I want the camera and will buy it as stated in the initial post. I was just looking for suggestions on a proper setup for what I plan to shoot from people with more experience.

Save your money and get the 5D2. You'll get the same IQ anyway, minus improved AF and a few gimmicks like in camera HDR and rate button.

That is what I would do if I were you.

Hehe, I've been saving man, 5diii is non-negotiable and will be with me for years, it has everything I want in a camera (excellent af/iso performance). I am surprised yours is the first mkii comment, thought I would get that more I am a tonyz fan though and appreciate your input/work but am sticking to my listed options.

The 5DIII and the 70-200 2.8 IS are some pretty awesome kit. Personally that would be my choice. YMMV. Good Luck!

option 1. worry about the lacking in short end later.

i prefer to secure the body that i want first. then worry about the lenses as the funds are up again.

I'd go with the 5Dmk2 unless you really, really, really need the ISO performance. Use the savings to invest in some L glass.

rick_reno wrote in post #14206823
5d3 and the 70-200 II would be an awesome pair to pick up. I think it's what you really want, go get it.

+1 for this. I've just got my 5D3 and it's awesome and I've already got a 70-200 2.8 IS L mki (can't afford the mkII) and it's an amazing combination. Get the body and lens, and then you can work on your lenses when you work out what your shooting all the time.

Captain, you know you want option one, and maybe you want us to twist your willing arm so you are forced to do it, so that's what you should do. For the next six months you will do every imaginable contortion to use only that combo because it will be so satisfying, so reliable, so outstanding that you will have difficulty coming off the high to use anything less. If, by the end of six months, you can then add another piece of star glass to your party, the high will keep on going, and adding star glass as you go will heighten your results while raising your clientele and income.

Look at it that way and drop the pauper's image.

Get the 5d3 and the 70-200 2.8 IS. They make a great pair.

ok, let me get this straight. You have a 60D and want to upgrade it to a 5diii. You also have a 18-135 and want to upgrade it to a 70-200 2.8L IS II... Methinks you're reading too much on the forum and not shooting enough.

what do you shoot that pays? for concerts in small clubs, I don't think I'd really want to bring in a 5Dii w/70-200II combo. That's a lot of $ someone could drop a drink on. And I'm assuming your current kit is insured, I still wouldn't do it.

Also, consider this. Why do you want the 70-200II? Yeah, it's a great lens, but it's stupid expensive. A 135L, 85 1.8, 50 1.4 and 28 1.8 COMBINED cost less. That would give you a much better portrait setup and a smaller setup for going into clubs. I'd bet you could add the 70-200 f/4 in there as well and still be under your budget.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but you have 2 of the most expensive lust items on your list, and you're coming from a vanilla kit setup. I think you need to really assess what you want to shoot and how your current kit is keeping you from doing it. Then upgrade it over time. Especially because this isn't even YOUR kit, it's your wives...

jacobsen1 wrote in post #14207587
ok, let me get this straight. You have a 60D and want to upgrade it to a 5diii. You also have a 18-135 and want to upgrade it to a 70-200 2.8L IS II... Methinks you're reading too much on the forum and not shooting enough.

what do you shoot that pays? for concerts in small clubs, I don't think I'd really want to bring in a 5Dii w/70-200II combo. That's a lot of $ someone could drop a drink on. And I'm assuming your current kit is insured, I still wouldn't do it.

Also, consider this. Why do you want the 70-200II? Yeah, it's a great lens, but it's stupid expensive. A 135L, 85 1.8, 50 1.4 and 28 1.8 COMBINED cost less. That would give you a much better portrait setup and a smaller setup for going into clubs. I'd bet you could add the 70-200 f/4 in there as well and still be under your budget.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but you have 2 of the most expensive lust items on your list, and you're coming from a vanilla kit setup. I think you need to really assess what you want to shoot and how your current kit is keeping you from doing it. Then upgrade it over time. Especially because this isn't even YOUR kit, it's your wives...

Of course care should be paid to not put yourself next to drunken idiots but I take my bodies and L lens into small clubs all the time. Thats actually exactly the kind of situation they shine... there is no point in even having hi-performance equipment if you leave them at home to use less capable bodies and lens when you actually need them the most.

Get the mk3 and 70-2mk2 if you can afford it. You we be glad you did... eat ramen for a month if you have to. You only live once... have fun (as long as the rest of your finances are in order).

see also my suggestion about smaller faster lenses. It's the length of the 70-200 that would be a pita in a club for me. Also, 2.8 isn't all that fast and IS doesn't make people hold still... So yeah, I'd go with smaller lighter faster primes personally. Better all around.

CptTripps wrote in post #14206985
I never said I can't focus, I said I hate the af system for action. I can use the 60d just fine but it is indeed a simple focus system. Every statement I've read say the af is a joy to use and keeper rates are up on the mkiii.

The gull is as much action as action gets... It didn't fly straight in a predictable fashion, but in a very errratic pattern. The AF, simple as it maybe for you, kept up fine, as demonstrated by the consecutive photos.

CptTripps wrote in post #14206985
I must say I can't tell what you were focusing on in the organ player shot, it honestly looks like missed focus.

The missed focus in an argument is always a cheap shot around here. High ISO was the point...

However,...

If you read and interpreted the Exif you'd understand more about the point.

The photo is shot with the EF-S 18-200 at 18mm focal length at ISO12800 (f5.0, 1/100). It's DOF is from 4 ft to 13 ft, everything in this photo is within this range, yet the photo is not sharp.

That's why I am advocating lenses before body... I could have smoothed the ISO12800 'grain' at the expense of more softness.

I need sharper lenses. ...and so will you... all across the range.

...and I have a feeling that 5 grand is not enough... YMMV

I would spend the money on lenses, or a combination of a 5DII and lenses. Seems silly to me to have your entire camera budget tied up in a camera body and struggle to get by with a single lens...