1DmkIII...too old?

I have a 5DmkII and a 50D. I'm thinking of buying a used 1DmkIII to replace the 50D. I'm thinking the price has dropped to an affordale level for me and I better get one before the 1.3 crop factor will be gone forever. Your thoughts please...futile or go for it. Thanks.

Why is the 1.3 crop factor so important? To me, it would be in the no-man's land between FF and 1.6: too close to either end to be much of a gain.

porkphoto wrote in post #14701799
I have a 5DmkII and a 50D. I'm thinking of buying a used 1DmkIII to replace the 50D. I'm thinking the price has dropped to an affordale level for me and I better get one before the 1.3 crop factor will be gone forever. Your thoughts please...futile or go for it. Thanks.

Go for it ... you'll never regret it, except that once you've handled a 1D there is no turning back and you'll be waiting for the MK IV to become affordable or worse buying it before it is like me .

Go for it. I love my 1D III. It is still one of the primary camera's I use during a wedding. I've had it for a few years and it is going strong. I do plan to send it in to CPS for a cleaning. Figure it is due.

I moved from the 50D to the 1D Mark III - there are some trade-offs, and some improvements.

I find myself missing AF during live-view, even if it is bloody slow. I always found it to be the most accurate AF out of any of them, because it's using the sensor to judge focus. Live view is nice on the 1D, but I rarely use it because of the limits.

The screen on the 50D is nicer, too - though think of it as a discouragement to use the LCD screen to check important things like focus and exposure (I got bit a couple of times with the 50D's screen making me think a shot wasn't blurry)

The noise in the 1D3 files is a little easier to work with - it gets pretty high on the 50D, though both can be reduced significantly with software.

The 1D3 is the first in the 1D series that has the 8-way directional hat - a must in my opinion for selecting one of the 9 focus points (I limit the AF points in the 1D to the outer 9, though allow expansion if it can't lock).

As for speed - I never found the 50D slow, and I find my particular 1D sometimes hunts more than I'd like it to. Not sure if it's how I have it set up.

I REALLY like that the 1D doesn't have a flash that it's possible to bump and have it fire without me knowing.

porkphoto wrote in post #14701799
I have a 5DmkII and a 50D. I'm thinking of buying a used 1DmkIII to replace the 50D. I'm thinking the price has dropped to an affordale level for me and I better get one before the 1.3 crop factor will be gone forever. Your thoughts please...futile or go for it. Thanks.

It is a fantastic camera, I can't say enough good things about it. My guess is that if you get it, your 5D2 will see a lot less use.

I have to agree with Ryan about the LCD screen and limitations in LV for the Mark III...
The LCD is HORRIBLE for viewing images, checking focus, etc ,etc,etc,etc...
BUT, once you put the images on your PC and look at them, you will see why it is a 1D
the files are VERY impressive. AF is very impressive. not as good/customizable as the 7D...but it is a 1D to the core, and the 7D will never be(not bashing the 7D, I have owned two over the years).

The only reason I sold the 1D3 for a 5D2 was for the better IQ, full frame, and better high ISO performance....but I also stopped shooting sports/action so there was no point in keeping the 1D3.

Honestly, its pretty hard to go wrong with any 1D..imho...and also once you get a 1D a gripped xxD or xD body will never feel as comfortable, or give you a big smile every time you snap a shot..lol

the newer the better, also IMHO, but even the classic,II/IIn are still going strong...and I will probably add a Mark IIn to my gear list when I get back into sport/action shooting..(only reason I am going with the Mark IIn over the Mark III is that I dont need LV, or a body 2x the cost of a Mark IIn for the little bit of action I shoot..may even "settle" for a Mark II...)

Good luck!

archer1960 wrote in post #14701960
Why is the 1.3 crop factor so important? To me, it would be in the no-man's land between FF and 1.6: too close to either end to be much of a gain.

And that is why I want one...seems I am most happy doing my own thing in no man's land.Thanks for your input.

I am also looking at the frame rate compared to the 50d. I was not aware of the sceen differences, the screen on the 5dmkII is awesome, 50d is good too.

I did try out a 1dmkIII about a year ago...belonged to a friend of mine I should have paid closer attention to detail.

More things to ponder. Thank you all for responding.

porkphoto wrote in post #14704874
And that is why I want one...seems I am most happy doing my own thing in no man's land.Thanks for your input.

I am also looking at the frame rate compared to the 50d. I was not aware of the sceen differences, the screen on the 5dmkII is awesome, 50d is good too.

I did try out a 1dmkIII about a year ago...belonged to a friend of mine I should have paid closer attention to detail.

More things to ponder. Thank you all for responding.

I wouldn't let a screen be a deal breaker. Are you going to do editing from that screen? As long as you can get a good idea on how they look, I'd say it's good to go. And if in doubt, shoot some more!

I had planned to sell my MkIII to help fund a second MkIV.

In the end, couldn't part with it. Pretty much permanently welded to my 500mm now.

Don't worry about the LCD screen on the 1D3. It will be fine for a quick review of your photos. The AF, FPS, weather sealing, and price are a good reason to pick one up now if you can swing it.

the 1DIII is still an amazing camera. the only reason i sold mine was because i wasn't doing much birding anymore and i switched to the 5DmkII for studio work. however, i still think that the 1DmkIII has amazing IQ and i am a huge fan of the files it produces.

I love love love the 1D3 and I would still have mine today if funds weren't tight. Everything about that camera was just a joy. The 5Dc gives me that kind of pleasure once I open up the files, but just using the 1D3 feels so much better. I used a 1D3 in tandem with a 50D and let me tell you... the 50D can't even hold a candle to the 1D3 in any regard - the 50D got terribly neglected. Forget the megapixels, I'd still print the 1D3 files bigger. The IQ was better in every respect. The 1D3 has a little more 'noise' than a 5D2 but it's one of those cameras where the noise doesn't bother me a ton, like with the 5Dc. I'd crank up the ISO with little hesitation.

1D, 1D2, 1D3, 1D4, .. 1Dx.. Whatever happened to 5,6,7,8, and 9 ? I guess I missed that thread.

If you use an xrite passport I'd use that for a colour management system. See how your 50D looks as far as IQ is concerned.

The 1dmk3's ISO performance maybe marginally better than the 50D. BUT a "con" in ownership of a 1dmk3 is that you must realize your gonna loose cropping capabilities. 10Mp was fail in my workflow. I like to have some flexibility in cropping capabilities. Sometimes you just cant get perfect composition straight out of camera.

1.3 crop was an odd format for me. Using the 24-70L I lost wideangle but useable FL in that zoom. I didn't care for the 35L on the 1dmk3. A 24Lmk2 and 16-35L is more like my style when using that camera. When I did use that body I put my 85L or 70-200 on it as I used it as my second body for reach.

5dmk2 has poor fps/buffer and lack of cross sensor AF point. For what I shoot the IQ is much of a dealmaker. I was not upset at all when I sold my 1dmk3.