The latest on the 5D Mk3

I'm not bothered about the MP so long as they're not reduced, but I am looking for certain improvements such as (notably) to the AF system. If the camera has these improvements it's highly likely I'll buy it. If it hasn't then it's equally likely that I'll get whatever replaces the Nikon D700, as I've seen the most amazing results from the D700 and it can only get better. I'll never buy the 5D2 unless I'm offered one at a silly price.

peterbj7 wrote in post #11385593
I'm not bothered about the MP so long as they're not reduced, but I am looking for certain improvements such as (notably) to the AF system. If the camera has these improvements it's highly likely I'll buy it. If it hasn't then it's equally likely that I'll get whatever replaces the Nikon D700, as I've seen the most amazing results from the D700 and it can only get better. I'll never buy the 5D2 unless I'm offered one at a silly price.

nah, 5d II is a huge huge huge jump from the original 5d. had both AND the d700... the AF is not that terrible as they say.

I believe NOTHING till I see the moon.

korrektor wrote in post #11385665
nah, 5d II is a huge huge huge jump from the original 5d. had both AND the d700... the AF is not that terrible as they say.

Having used the 5Dc, 5DII, 7D, 1D3, and D700, my opinion is the D700 bests all the other cameras when you consider both focus accuracy and consistency. My in focus rate has definitely improved since I switched. The D800 successor apparently has an improved AF system in it too.

I just cant deal with the IQ of the d700 and how slow it is to review. I got rid of it after a month. It is amazing in every other way though. However, quite frankly, the cameras nowadays already do so much automatically that, really, it is up to the user... You are a wedding photographer and I can see why you need that autofocus and don't care about the resolution as much I I would perhaps. ( i shoot editorial and advertising) seriously I am waiting for the nikon to come up with something amazing.

korrektor wrote in post #11385755
I just cant deal with the IQ of the d700 and how slow it is to review. I got rid of it after a month. It is amazing in every other way though. However, quite frankly, the cameras nowadays already do so much automatically that, really, it is up to the user... You are a wedding photographer and I can see why you need that autofocus and don't care about the resolution as much I I would perhaps. ( i shoot editorial and advertising) seriously I am waiting for the nikon to come up with something amazing.

By IQ do you mean resolution?! (not how I personally define IQ, but YMMV).

D3x perhaps?

korrektor wrote in post #11385665
nah, 5d II is a huge huge huge jump from the original 5d. had both AND the d700... the AF is not that terrible as they say.

yeh but you don't need the AF right?!

I've had a 5D classic and 5DII and a D3s (same AF system as the D700). The 5D series AF really sucks compared to the D700 (as you'd know). BUT if you're just doing static stuff, then it doesn't matter really.

korrektor wrote in post #11385755
I just cant deal with the IQ of the d700 and how slow it is to review.

I've never noticed that, it's fast enough for me.

tim wrote in post #11385903
I've never noticed that, it's fast enough for me.

What matters is what and how you shoot, really. When you read a book, the last thing you think about is the brand of the typewriter it was printed on.

korrektor wrote in post #11385665
nah, 5d II is a huge huge huge jump from the original 5d

I don't believe that to be the case in respect to IQ. I bought my 5Dc before the Mk2 came out (and indeed before the D700 came out). Had I bought a little later I would have bought Nikon, and I would not have been tempted by the 5D2. And having the 5Dc, the improvements in the 5D2 were not enough to make me change. I hope the 5D3 does contain improvements in those areas that are widely seen as deficient.

tim wrote in post #11385524
The 7d af is similar to the 1 series, except lower spec'd. Putting that AF into the 5D would really cut into their 1D sales, so I doubt they'll do it.

Yup. This is the thinking that went into the design of the 60D ... and the D7000 readily took advantage of it.

Canon can surely repeat that with the 5DIII ... and watch from the sidelines how the D800 is taking advantage of the (weak) competition .

It's a tremendous difference for my use. For instance, the 5D was right at a resolution level that caused very ugly hair moire in 3/4-length portraits. The resolution of the 5D2 is great enough to fully resolve hair at even loosely framed full-length portraits. In fact, I can shoot a loosely composed group with the 5D2, enlarge it to 30x40, and count eyelashes.

Then there is Live View, which is even better than the beloved groundglass of my medium format cameras.

The 5D2 finally allowed me to fully retire my medium format cameras--which was a huge change of photographic lifestyle for me. For professional portrait photographers, the competition for the 5D had always been medium format, which is what most of us had been using before. The company the 5D has bludgeoned the hardest has been Mamiya. In fact, I'd guess it's the 5D that actually killed the Mamiya ZD, at least in the US.

I accept all that you say. But you're a pro with specific requirements and I'm just a hobbyist. Still, if I can swing it I may get a 5D2 on the CLP program. Was going to get a 7D to use its extra reach for bird shooting and keep the 5Dc as well, but if I got the 5D2 I could sell the 5Dc and have slightly less gear cluttering up the place.

I wish I knew when the 5D3 was going to come out and the significant points of its spec. But then that's what we all want to know.

tim wrote in post #11385524
The 7d af is similar to the 1 series, except lower spec'd. Putting that AF into the 5D would really cut into their 1D sales, so I doubt they'll do it.

I read these comments about cannibalizing sales quite a lot here. Nikon doesn't seem to have this problem. They put the same AF in the D700 as in the D3 series. They introduced a 35/1.4 and a 35/1.8 within a couple years of each other. The introduced the D7000 with the D300s in the lineup.

Why is Nikon immune to this thinking?

YankeeHotelFoxtrot wrote in post #11388440
I read these comments about cannibalizing sales quite a lot here. Nikon doesn't seem to have this problem. They put the same AF in the D700 as in the D3 series. They introduced a 35/1.4 and a 35/1.8 within a couple years of each other. The introduced the D7000 with the D300s in the lineup.

Why is Nikon immune to this thinking?

Nikon isn't immune to it--it's not the way Canon thinks, either. "Fear of cannibalizing sales" is an Internet forum myth. Both manufacturers segment their target markets and create products specifically for those target markets. They select feature groups and set prices so that even if "cannibalization" occured, they would still make a profit. Heck, I do the same thing with my own photography product lines--it's a business basic.

Well, if they don't improve the AF on the 5D3 they will lose a lot of sales, and there will be quite a few desertions to Nikon. I'll probably be amongst them.