EOS 5D Mark III vs. EOS 1D X - Differences?

[neuroanatomist]

Now for an affordable ef-s version of the 500mm F4.....

Indeed. Canon would save about $2 on the production cost of an EF-S version vs. the EF version - the cost of the white paint and the red ring. I'm sure they'd pass along at least 20% of those savings to the consumer. Such a deal.

[ChadS]

Indeed. Canon would save about $2 on the production cost of an EF-S version vs. the EF version - the cost of the white paint and the red ring. I'm sure they'd pass along at least 20% of those savings to the consumer. Such a deal.

I'm with John on this one. Fast, long lenses must have large front elements. There's nothing around that. An EF-S version wouldn't have the same flatness-of-field requirements on the back side so maybe he exaggerates a bit but sadly not by much.

However, were a 1.6 crop factor body to be introduced as was wished for earlier I have to believe Canon will have to start making 'L' EF-S lenses.

[jrw]

Thought there were already a handful that meet most of the criteria with notable exception of dust/weather sealing (though some current L's don't have that either) . How much more would they cost though? The last 10% of improvement, and the red stripe of course, will surely drive up the MSRP.

[Mickw]

Hi all, had my hands on both, lucky me. 1D is as usual 1D pro quality build and will last a pro forever. 5D is, well, like my 7D i suppose. Anyway, what i can tell you is i had my paws on the 1DX for 10 mins going through sub menues and having a talk to the rep. I own a 1DS3 and can tell you the x feels similay, very nice to handle and just feels more solid than the 5. Image wise i know nothing, but i can tell you i was shown the x's new focusing system and was totally blown away by what i saw. Makes my camera feel very dated, which i suppose it is. Its design is very focused on sport/wildlife, anything that moves and needs instant tracking. Its so adjustable to your own specification you can set it for any condition, one setting perhaps indoor track and field, another outdoor sport at night, maybe bird in flight on dull days. Whatever rocks your boat its adjustable for. And get this, they made the menus so easy to access, so quick to set up. Canon have really done the buisness. As for image quality, even the rep hadnt seen anything other than A4 JPEG but said that at ISO 12800 all that could be seen is a tiny bit of noise.

So when you compare 5D3 to 1DX just remember, and here ill use cars, ones a really nice BMW, reliable, quality, handles great, available to all. The others a Bugatti Veyron, all the former and a whole lot more.Is it worth the extra money? Well, if like me you take shots in rain, snow, ice, sand, may drop stuff, do wildlife and sport and need that tough as hell ultra adjustable camera, then yes. If you want a camera that isnt so tough and dont do a lot of sport/wildlife then id stick with the 5.

[HDNitehawk]

So when you compare 5D3 to 1DX just remember, and here ill use cars, ones a really nice BMW, reliable, quality, handles great, available to all. The others a Bugatti Veyron, all the former and a whole lot more.Is it worth the extra money?

It might be a hard comparison to draw. I am not sure how many pro photogs would own a Bugatti Veyron and could relay to us a firsthand comparison. But I suppose if you could afford one and actually owned a Bugatti Veyron you could just buy both cameras and just throw the one you didn’t like away. (or just give the extra camera to the wife / gf, after all she needs a camera to).

[Jon Ruyle]

The 5DIII is $1000 more, and has a few other features that won't necessarily translate into higher IQ.

The HDR feature...oh, boy. Anyone who does HDR will likely shoot more than 3 shots anyway, and will post process them, to get the most out of the HDR.

Video? Whoop-de-do. It's in the 5DII, so we already have that.

6 fps? Hot diggity. So does the 40D.

A lot of extra money for a few extra features that will be used infrequently. It's similar to spending money on a "new" car, and finding out that all you're getting is the same power plant, but now it's got a built-in GPS, a DVD player for the back seats, Sirius radio. The previous year's model cost $24,000. The new one, $35,000. No better performance from the engine, but the gadgets are nifty and cool.

A FF camera (1D X) with 3 Mp less than the previous model, and we're all a twitter.

At least when the 5DII came out, there was a substantial increase in its performance, and they dropped the price from the previous model, to boot. But, now, we get version III, with built-in HDR, etc., and we're all lined up to spend an extra grand on it.

We've talked about how Canon leads us around by their marketing. Looks like it's working fairly well.

But isn't the AF far improved? The 5DII has been a great camera: I love the full frame and the resolution, but have always wished for a better AF (I've long said I would pay a hefty premium for an af at least as good as the 7D has). In the 5DIII they are going from arguably the worst AF in a current DSLR to one of the best. For me (and I suspect for others as well), that alone is worth the price of the upgrade. The fact that the high ISO samples on dpreview look fantastic (I take those with a grain of salt, but still, they look *fantastic*) is gravy. I'm been complaining about recent Canon announcements as loudly as anyone. But wrt 5DIII, I'm very happy. I've already pre-ordered mine.

[neuroanatomist]

I watched Disney's Beauty and the Beast with my girls last night, and this dialogue struck a chord:

[LeFou:] But she's -
[Gaston:] The most beautiful [camera] in town.
[LeFou:] I know, but -
[Gaston:] That makes her the best. And don't I deserve the best?

I just wish I could order the darn thing already...

[w349]

By all accounts the 1D X is the beast! Have you looked at the latest Canon image samples from the camera? Rather impressive considering the underexposure in most of the shots, I think.

[HDNitehawk]

I just wish I could order the darn thing already...

I think you should just go ahead and order the 5D III. It is going to be several months before the 1D X gets released, or longer if they postpone it again.
Besides you need a good back up body for the 1D X and the 5D III would do that so well. (ok, the truth is this isn't great advice, but I thought you could give us a good comparison review of the 5D III, 5D II and 1D X if you had all three bodies.)

Have you started thinking about getting the Bugatti Veyron that MickW suggested?

[Jon Ruyle]

the same -2 EV sensitivity.Thoughts and advice from the forum?

Wow, I missed this on first read of your post. That's very impressive and, IIRC, a 2 stop improvement over the 5DII. Big deal IMO.

I'm considering the 1DX as well, but leaning toward the 5DIII. Really, I just want a full frame camera with a decent AF, and *finally*, canon is making one (actually, two now) for under $8K.

I'm assuming that for now, we don't know anything the relative performance of the two sensors when it comes to noise, other than a few jpg samples. That means we really don't know if one camera will have better read noise than the other, though I assume that if there is a difference, the 1DX will have the edge here. Am I wrong? (If I knew for sure that the 1DX had far lower read nose, I might seriously consider the 1DX. But the higher frame rate and better build quality don't tempt me.)

For astrophotography, the lighter weight of the 5DIII is an advantage.