The Great Debate.... D800 or Mk3.. current Nikon owner

I have a question....
I currently own
-- D7000
-- SB-700
-- 35 1.8 DX
-- 18-105 DX
-- Sigma 150-500

I want a Full frame camera...
I am prepared to sell all of my stuff if needed.

I have been debating between the D800 and the 5DMK3...
Every photographer "I know" who is paid uses a Canon...
I live in Hawaii... Maybe that has something to do with it.
I take Landscapes, Modeling pictures, and Sports pictures...
I am just a hobbiest who does this for fun and to help others get sponsorship's
I have take photos for companies but its not my job. I do it to help others.

I really like the colors of canons... i feel they are warmer...
I just want something fun and to enjoy taking pictures and something thats full frame I dont wanna be all regretting my decision LOL

I actually came to this forum because most people on the Nikon forum,,, well just not as professional or un biased as i have seen here.

My first camera was a Pentax and I loved the Heck outta that thing AMAZING!
but i wanted to get something I could find Glass easier and be able to keep the glass i buy. So i went with nikon...
After using the Nikon for over a year and i really enjoy it.. i am debating to switch or not...
Again everyone i know uses canon...
this kinda makes me wanna be different but at the same time wanna join them.

ugh I have read so much on the net and I am just like UGH! IDK
Ken Rockwell was pretty much my reason to get the D7000... after all my reviews i felt what he said was spot on.
Now he bashes the d800... and praises the MK3... makes me really wander...
I know you all cant tell me what to do and I have to make the decision on my own...
But i just wanna hear your thoughts... sometimes people can think clearer if not in that persons shoes...

How do you all like your MK3 or D800's
If you were at Square one... with NO investment which would you all choose.
and why?
I am going to get a good lens with which ever i buy

if i get the MK3 i will get the 100-400L and something else...
If i get the D800 i will buy a good short lens and sell my DX's and keep my sigma

what are your opinions...
I would love to hear any and all thoughts

I tried to post pics on there but my gosh... the file sizes has to be tiny...
gotta find another way...

Thanks

D3s's are dropping in price.


with out going into the discussion as to how many megapixels is enough...(lets not start that here guys, please?)

"color" differences are a highly trivial and nebulous thing. There is no point to saying that one prefers the color of system a over system c.

color can be changed very easily!

you'll find that ken rockwells' review are the source of some controversy here, people with opinions tend to be armed with dangerous thoughts, and a keyboard!

What any person would choose and why can be subject to a (long) list of factors that may(and shall) change with the breeze!

for example, I personally went with canon, because best buy did some things they ought not to have...and I got a 7D and 28-135 kit a month after the 7D hit the store shelves for....1500 before tax, AND the 7D felt AWESOME in my hand.


Starting all over again, Id have gone with a 1 mark 3, because I was right about my guessing my own interest in the hobby.

I am looking at D3S's currently, but I received some help in getting a 70-200 from my parents, and nikon has no nothing that does what a 50L does... so ill stay with canon...

all the other differences are not even worth mentioning....they are so small.

very interesting
I really feel you are so right...
I am Thinking about going and grabbing a D800 and trying it out and if i like everything about it, keep it and If it just feels weird or just doesnt satisfy what I want getting a Mk3
decisions decisions...
I almost got a 7D but picked the D7000.

Personally I would never buy a camera base mainly on some joe schmoe reviewer on the internet, try them out at the store and get some hands on experience, play around with them and see which one you can live with. I found all Nikon camera feel a bit uncomfortable to hold and I don't like the button layout, the menu system isn't so hot either. Forget about Ken Rockbuster or Chucky Waterfall's review, see if your photog friends would let you play with theirs for an hour or so....you should know by then if 5D3 is something you want.

How much landscape stuff do you do? The only place you will really see a benefit of the D800 sensor is in landscapes and studio shooting. I hope you have a tripod as well.

Being the owner of a 5D3 I would obviously lean towards that, but my values are not the same as yours. I hate Nikon ergonomics, so I would suggest going to a store and handling both.

At the end of the day, both are amazing cameras. You just can't go wrong with either one. win win situation

i've tried them both, shot the D800 on Oahu about a month ago. I'd get the D800, 5D3 doesn't bring enough to the table for the money. I like the feel of the 5D3 a LOT better, but I'm a Canon shooter.

Try here

From the very beginning I chose Canon because of their glass. That's not to discredit any of Nikon's, as I have heard they are comparable and at times even better, but it was something about the look of Canon's that made me decide/stay. *shrug*

Since you have a D7000 for any sports pictures I'd stay with Nikon.The D800 is a better Landscape,wedding non sports camera than the 5DMKIII.Having 2 different brands is ultimatly going to frustrate you.

Just back from 2 weeks in South Africa. Thank goodness for the 5D3. I has all of the FF advantages for wonderful landscapes/stilllifes from the 5D2 legacy. But it now has the frame rate to shoot wildlife/action. If there was ever a great compromise body that is good enough at still and action....the 5D3 is it. Plus it is great fun doing multiple images of running animals or doing in camera HDR of a beautiful sunset or sunrise.

So much goes back to what the owner will shoot. Mostly stills, mostly action, an equal mix. Which brand's user interface does the owner like most/least (the wife and I love Canon layouts, commands..etc). And another huge thing already mentioned.....which family of lenses best serves the owner's goals.

I have a mk3, i used to shoot Nikon. If I could have found a d800 at the time I would have bought it no question. Not that the mk3 isnt an amazing camera - because it is, the d800 is just even more for less.

As it turns out my paid work is 90% video now, and the superb hi-iso ability of the mk3 makes it the right choice in the end.

In short, even though I wanted a d800, i have no regrets - and im actually glad I found the mk3 first (not to mention im knee deep in Canon glass).

Cameras/lenses today are so much a personal choice, that one can purchase any type and have a great camera.

I would think that unless you have a super sharp eye, and super human senses, it would be difficult to tell an image from one camera to the next - mostly because the software for processing usually makes the final image into something the camera alone cannot.

saiven wrote in post #14704981
...currently own
-- D7000
-- SB-700
-- 35 1.8 DX
-- 18-105 DX
-- Sigma 150-500

I want a Full frame camera...
I am prepared to sell all of my stuff if needed...
Every photographer "I know" who is paid uses a Canon...I take Landscapes, Modeling pictures, and Sports pictures...I really like the colors of canons... i feel they are warmer...

Both D800 and 5D3 are great cameras. The D800 has a significant advantage in dynamic range at low ISO. The 5D3 has a significant advantage in full frame rate, especially if sustained (about 2.4x faster). The 5D3 has three silent shutter modes and a better Live View implementation. The D800 has continuous autofocus in video. Whether any of these apply depends on your shooting style.

The D800 has a better auto-ISO implementation and its spot metering is linked to the selected AF point. Lots of people find the Nikon flash system better, but Canon lets you separately adjust both flash and regular exposure compensation from the camera.

Canon's custom settings knob stores three separate total camera states. This allows rapidly switching between shooting configurations.

If you ever work collaboratively or plan on this with other photographers, having the same system can help interchange lenses, operational tips, tethering software, and flash system.

If you use Capture NX2 for raw conversion and editing, you'd need to switch to another program for Canon.

I don't think Canon or Nikon has a characteristic color quality. The impression you got may be due to how the in-camera jpg processing was set on each camera, or how it was post-processed. Shooting raw and using post processing can make almost any color characteristic you want.

The D800 user interface will be more familiar to a previous Nikon user. The Canon interface has its own pros/cons but would require considerable learning to reach the same familiarity level.

You really can't go wrong with either camera. They are both excellent. Both are very complex and will require lots of study to fully utilize. You might also want to consider the upcoming full-frame D600, which will be less expensive.

The biggest factors in image quality are the photographer, the lenses and post processing, not the camera body. Quality lenses are very expensive but have a long lifetime -- far longer than the body. It would be better to get, say, a D600 and 24-70 2.8 than to get a D800 and use your consumer DX lenses on that.

It's a mistake to view one body as hugely superior to the other. You are buying into a system where your biggest long-term investment is lenses and operational experience. Whatever pros & cons the D800/5D3 bodies have this year will rapidly change with the next version. Your lenses and operational experience will remain.

Either camera is great so don't stress about "getting the lesser camera" after your purhcase. It just comes down to if you are willing to start your lens collection over, and get used to a different feel of camera. When I was younger I used to use my parents old nikon DSLR - at the time I didn't know anything of photography, just that I liked to shoot pictures. I never liked the feel of the camera, however. I find Nikon camera's are built very box-like, square and full of buttons that my fingers couldn't always reach easily(small hands but long fingers). When I was going into my first program at college, I got a Rebel T2i for a class I was taking, and immediately loved the shape from what I was used to. That said, after a couple years I started to wish that it wasn't so narrow. When I got the 5D3 and picked it up for the first time, it was like there was music playing in the background it fit perfectly. So, long story short, I've stuck with Canon due to the ergonomics, AND the lenses as I know a lot more about Canon then Nikon, obviously. And I'd lie if I said I didn't find those white telephotos attractive

D800 + 14-24 is a great combo. I love it. Sample photo? I shoot both Canon and Nikon. Just give me Manual mode and let the images do the talking.

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