5D MKIII and financial status

Do you really think the cost is not an issue to professionals? Sure it's a business expense, but to the majority of working pros the business income is their own personal income.

WARAT wrote in post #14430104
Dont sell the 35 L. Shooting at 1.4 and the 5D3's amazing outer af points at low light to avoid focus recompose is about the sweetest thing this combo can ever have. I'm sure other 5D3 owners can say the same.

As much as I'd like to keep it, I can't swing the 5D3 without unloading the 35L. It'll give me a reason to buy the 35L II whenever that comes out

mnml wrote in post #14430536
As much as I'd like to keep it, I can't swing the 5D3 without unloading the 35L. It'll give me a reason to buy the 35L II whenever that comes out

True but until then you never know when the 35 mkii will come out. since you have 2 zooms, ever thouoght about selling the 24-70?

Canon/Nikon don't give us break with our incomes, they forces most of use gear-holic to buy more or add more. Need this camera or not is not the issue, the real issue is that we WANT many things.

I thank GOD that i bought Hassy to force myself to shoot in studio with lights and blown away with its resolution over 1Ds3 or even 5D3 of my friend, the only low light situation i shoot is soccer, here i use 1D series not 5D series.

Damn, H4D-60 = 60 megapixels? a 5D3 probably feels like a point and shoot to you.

Tareq wrote in post #14430890
Canon/Nikon don't give us break with our incomes, they forces most of use gear-holic to buy more or add more. Need this camera or not is not the issue, the real issue is that we WANT many things.

I thank GOD that i bought Hassy to force myself to shoot in studio with lights and blown away with its resolution over 1Ds3 or even 5D3 of my friend, the only low light situation i shoot is soccer, here i use 1D series not 5D series.

So, I'm not really a professional. I'm about 3/5ths of the way there and it's my goal to get there. But, cost is a HUGE issue for me. I don't want to screw up my balance sheet when I am doing just fine with the 5D2.

Sold my II and made up the difference in weddings and portraits. Easy. On the other hand, anything I make at my part time job goes directly to gas and tuition

I am retired, and live on a fixed salary. If I want a 'toy', I have to work a few 'gigs' to pay for the toy. In this case, 4 'gigs' will pay for a 5DMIII and grip. Cost is an issue, and I am happy with my 5DMII, although I wish the AF was better.

WARAT wrote in post #14430831
True but until then you never know when the 35 mkii will come out. since you have 2 zooms, ever thouoght about selling the 24-70?

I plan to sell the 24-70 when the 24-70 II is released. If the performance on the 24-70ii is as good as its MTF charts shows, I don't think I'll ever use the 35L...who knows?

I've found myself thinking of this topic alot lately as I keep wanting to spend and spend on gear and wonder if it's crazy. I think I've finally come to a decision that it's not. Life is short and you never know what will happen 10 mins from now. I've spent countless thousands on stupid things in my life (woman, toys, clothes, drugs, etc.) and what did those get me? Even though I've only been at this about a year I've already missed countless shots due to not having adeuqate equipment, ones I may never get back. Not to mention of all the hobbies I've ever had, this one has the highest resale. I say if it isn't taking food off the table or depriving kids of things they need.....get it. In the end you will probably be glad you did.

WARAT wrote in post #14430104
Dont sell the 35 L. Shooting at 1.4 and the 5D3's amazing outer af points at low light to avoid focus recompose is about the sweetest thing this combo can ever have. I'm sure other 5D3 owners can say the same.

+1 to this...this camera is all about TONS of cross-type AF points...a fast prime lovers dream

WARAT wrote in post #14430116
OP, sell the 5D2 now before the used price resale value drops even more. I was lucky enough to get $1900 out of mine but then again it was in mint condition with low shutter actuations. If you love your 5D2, you will love the mkiii even more.

Again...+1 (BTW, I was lucky to put mine on CL and have someone drive right to my house and give me 1900 as well. But it was low shutter and mint)

TeamSpeed wrote in post #14430139
Many people spend much more than they probably should on their hobbies, I don't see this being any different. What others make or how much they are willing to spend on their business or hobby really isn't any of my business UNTIL I want to sell some equipment to them. Then I care....

There are much more horribler ways to spend hard-earned money than on photography. Just ask the Secret Service organization.

Is this a word? I challange that! Agreed that there are many worse ways to spend money. This hobby actually leaves with something to show for it and there is always room for improvement and growth.

Kechar wrote in post #14430300
For what I shoot and how I shoot I could have done just fine with the 7D really, except for being stupidly addicted to full-frame.

Love the camera so far. I'm trying to teach myself into it though.

Me to, but who cares!!

mileslong24 wrote in post #14431819
I've found myself thinking of this topic alot lately as I keep wanting to spend and spend on gear and wonder if it's crazy. I think I've finally come to a decision that it's not. Life is short and you never know what will happen 10 mins from now. I've spent countless thousands on stupid things in my life (woman, toys, clothes, drugs, etc.) and what did those get me? Even though I've only been at this about a year I've already missed countless shots due to not having adeuqate equipment, ones I may never get back. Not to mention of all the hobbies I've ever had, this one has the highest resale. I say if it isn't taking food off the table or depriving kids of things they need.....get it. In the end you will probably be glad you did.

WORD!

To the OP, this camera is about 100% of my current monthly income. (Once I finish graduate school this will change...part of what makes me feel better). But if you want it and you can still put food on the table and make the bills, I say go for it. I read this whole thread so I can't remember if you are the one with kids, but if you are you would be silly to wait for the price to drop if you can make it happen now. The AF is so ridiculously accurate it really is difficult to miss a shot. I took almost 200 images at at whitewater park the other day and you would be hard pressed to find one that wasn't usable and 98% of the were dead on! Another example is that I took my son out to soccer practice today and cracked off 50 or so. Not a single shot missed. When I was working with the mk2 a I was constantly missing shots. It is just killing the mk2 in this dept. There are many other reasons that this camera is much better. It is just a joy to use. It makes things easy. I am having fun with my photography again. Not struggling to make inadequate outer focus points work or trying to shoot sports with a landscape/portrait camera. I can go out and be selective again about when I depress the shutter button because I can wait for the perfect shot and I know i'll more than likely get it. When I think about it this way, I say who freakin' cares.

The camera was more than my net income, but over the long term, it pays for itself. I made $300 for about two hours of work including post production and prep. I just need to do that about a couple dozen times.

I give up a 5D2 with grip, 7D with grip and a canon 10-22 just to fund the 5D3. I didn't pay anything out of my pocket, but it hurted that I had to give up some much for one camera. For myself it was totally worth it in my opinion. The 7D had the FPS and the AF system that the 5D2 didn't. The 5D2 had the ISO and IQ that the 7D didn't. I'm just a hobbist and my monthly income isn't anywhere near what this camera is worth.

The way I see things I might as well buy it now and use it over the course of the next many years instead of sticking with my 5D2 (which would be further depreciating) and buying it later where it'd still cost roughly the same. I sold the 5D2 and some other items and evened out.

I didn't foresee Beach Camera's varied deals though, haha.

This is an interesting discussion to me for two reasons;
First, when I was a young photographer I had the benefit of a friendly camera store owner. He would call me when one of the "high roller" amateurs was bringing something in to exchange for the latest gear. That made it possible for me to by some really nice Leica M4s and lenses.

Second, I have a 5DII with 47K shutter actuations, that's about 5 cents an image based on the $2500 price tag. My other 5DII had 150K plus, so that means about 1.7 cents an image. The same number of images on slide film would have cost a lot more.

I just took delivery on a 5DIII and look forward to averaging a very low cost per exposure.