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

Late 80s, at UH I had a Nikon N2000 SLR I purchased from a camera shop near Ala Moana, used that until 2001 when I purchased a 3 megapixel Sony P&S from the old Circuit City near Pearlridge. I got back into photography with a Canon Rebel Xsi, then 7D, then 5D Mark ii, now the 5D Mark iii. Nikon or Canon? It's really how you want to remember your life. But the 5D mark iii's exceptional.

saiven wrote in post #14704981
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...

Please do not go with Ken Rockwell's advise or his incompetent musings.
He is the modern day equivalent of a snake oil salesman.
His reviews are only written to drive traffic to his website and are not at all genuine.
He had initially said that the D800 was the best thing since sliced bread, but has flipped a 180. This is probably due to the availability of the 5D mark III. Clicking on his links to buy it will give him money. The D800 and the D800e is in short supply and is therefore less lucrative.

On a personal level I went through a similar predicament. I have been a canon shooter for 20 years but had a hard time choosing between the D800 and the Mark 3.
I had a D800e on order because I felt that the phenomenal resolution was a real upgrade from my 5D.
But on hearing the horror stories of quality issues with these cameras, plus low availability
resulted in my canceling this order. In addition, I am heavily vested in the canon system (lots of L lenses) and really like the canon erganomics. I rented the D800 with a Nikkor 24-70 2.8 for a couple of days to make sure. But years of institutional use of canon bodies made me decide to go with the canon 5D mark III.
I think both are great cameras, the 5D mark III is a great upgrade from my original 5D. It is more of an evolutionary camera that corrects deficiencies in th 5D and the Mark 2 making it an incredible useable camera like an extension of oneself.
I feel that the D800 is a revolutionary camera with a significant advance in sensor technology, but with a price - bigger files, slower fps, etc.
I wish that both this cameras could use the best of each ones strength...

Did anybody notice how many times Rockwell mentioned in his review that nobody was paying him? Sounded like Nikon dumped him of the corporate teat and he was trying to get back at them by gushing over the Mark III.

Jon_Doh wrote in post #14710759
Did anybody notice how many times Rockwell mentioned in his review that nobody was paying him? Sounded like Nikon dumped him of the corporate teat and he was trying to get back at them by gushing over the Mark III.

I think there's too much tin hat consipiracy around Rockwell's writings. My own personal conclusions follow along similar results he had as well. I think most intelligent and experienced buyers take all reviewers with a grain of salt without letting them get to them so much.

I have used Nikon for 35 years and never cared much for Canon until choosing a cinecamera. I went with a 5DMkII and was very impressed by it. For a current half hour movie I looked into and tried out both the 5D MkIII and the D800. Having shot as a cinematographer as well for the same length of time, I know what I'm looking for in a camera and both of them are fine but I went with Canon again. I'm used to Nikon ergos, but for me, Canon feels better, operates better and feels more solid and balanced. The Nikon felt top heavy and the controls were awkward. But mostly, the Nikon had more moire and more of a video look to me, which is entirely subjective. The color from the Canon also looked better even after grading. There is a definite color shift towards yellow with the Nikon. The overall picture was smoother and more cinematic in the end and I've projected the films in a digital theater with a 26 ft. screen where the images were cropped to 2.35:1.

As a normal camera, I have stayed with the 5D Mk III as well. It is exactly what I wanted and as an upgrade to the 5D Mk II it was fully worth it to me. I liked the images from the D700 but I did not like the camera itself. I feel the same about the D800 and don't have any use for the ridiculous file sizes. The 5D Mk III is already bad enough.

Overall, I'm very happy with having switched to Canon even tho I have mostly Nikon gear on the shelf. The 5D Mk III is definitely the best camera for all my uses that I've ever handled and that was actually a pretty difficult decision to have to come to for me, even with having to spend $500 more than the D800.

But in the end, it all comes down to personal preference and learning to use what you have. It's always the user behind the camera and lens that is the most important.