Canon Confirms Light Leak Issue in the 5D Mark III

[vinylphilemag]

Perhaps an alternative might be the new Canon T4i? It's not a full frame, but is apparantly pretty good.

I don't have a huge investment in glass, but like you my family's point and shoot cameras are Canons, and I treated myself to a Canon T1i a couple of years ago (thanks AirMiles!) partially because I had a couple of EF lenses. Since then I've bought an EF L-series macros lens and currently lust after the EOS 5D III. Alas, I only have so many shekels to spend, so I suspect that I'll be acquiring a EF 24-80 f2.8L II before I buy a new body.

 

[DonH50]

Yeah, sure introduce another variable...

That debate is endless: better body, or cheaper body and better lenses? The problem is the full-frame bodies cost so durn much compared to film bodies that it is harder to justify the body, which then calls into question the lens expenditure (e.g. why get L series on a Rebel?) I may (will, actually) revisit my previous decision to get the 7D over the T4i (especially since it looks like a 7D refresh is not happening this year), and let financial sanity rule on the full-frame vs. smaller-frame decision.

Aside: Amazon sent an email saying since I looked at the 5D to check out their special running just this weekend -- get a $4300 camera, and they'll send me $2 (yes, $2.00, not the usual paltry $1.00) in MP3 credit. Oh, the temptation... NOT!

I really need to quit fooling around and just win the @#*! lottery!

 

[vinylphilemag]

The glass is the most important bit, and lenses can be carried forward to your next camera (provided you stay with the same manufacturer). That's why I'll buy L series lenses even though I have a just a Rebel body: the quality is much better than the non-L series lenses, and I aspire to a full frame body. By investing in more expensive lenses now, I'm saving money in the long run because I won't have a bunch of EF-S lenses to get rid of when (if!) I finally get a full frame body.

 

[DonH50]

To be clear, as my last post was not, I agree 100% in buying the best possible glass.

Problem is, i want it all, now!

Seriously, my plan was the L lens in the $4.3k package plus a decent 100 - 200~250 mm range zoom. Not sure if L or not; they have rebates running, but it's still a pricey lens.

The disadvantage of living in such a great place is that I have wide-open mountain views and that elk 300 yards away and need to get them both, fast... The 7D and Tamron 18 - 270 mm is a tempting package. Not the greatest glass, but what I would use the most.

 

[DonH50]

Whilst noodling around on my horn (need to quit and practice for real, show next week) I checked out The 5D Mk III, 7D, T3i (T4i not up yet), and Nikon D800 JPEGs on the dpreview image comparator ( http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-5d-mark-iii/27 ). Panning around the shot at various ISOs, I find myself liking the 5D's shots much more than the D800's, though the D800 clearly has higher resolution. What is more interesting, to me anyway, is that (a) I prefer the T3i to the 7D, and (b) there is less difference than I thought up to perhaps 800 - 1600 ISO, though the 5D proceeds to stomp the little guys as ISO climbs. I may have to rethink this whole plan and go your way, a nice little Rebel with some good glass!

 

[amirm]

The other thing to think about is that a lot of what you see in the camera ISO improvements comes from noise reduction performed post capture. You can do the same in post production yourself. Where this doesn't work is if you need to clean up a ton of images this way as it gets tiring (though you can do batch correction).

I still have my 5D MKI and have not felt the need to upgrade. It creates wonderful images. OK, so I also have 1DS MK III . But really, a ton of my investments are in lenses. You want to get the widest aperture lens you can find. This will help you blur the background of wildlife to get a more pleasing image. You cannot compensate for that with a slower lens and higher ISO. 270mm is way too short for much wildlife. ELK may be OK but at 300 feet I expect that to be a challenge still. You also want to get close up shots. Here is one with 500 mm at similar distances:

Look the dreamy background that the lens nicely blurred. Here is what the brush would look like otherwise:

Even that shot was with 500 mm. If your passion is wildlife, you need to get the longest, brightest lens you can have. I would save all my money for that.

The last shot is from 5D by the way. Pick up a used one if budget is tight and focus on the glass.

 

[rblnr]

Easier to get the blur you see on Amir's first shot with full frame vs. APS-C or DX. Particularly at shorter focal lengths, it's a major advantage of a full frame sensor.

We have several little Canons in the house and we all like them, so it makes some sense to keep the SW consistent,

Whether you go with Canon ( I have an S100 btw) or Nikon DSLR, you likely won't use the software the branded software that came with your P+S. You'll need something more industrial strength that processes raw too -- Lightroom, Photoshop, Aperture, etc.

One other thing, Nikon will be coming out with a ff sensor camera below the D800:

http://nikonrumors.com/2012/06/14/first-leaked-nikon-d600-images.aspx/

they say announced before Photokina in Sept., but who knows.

 

[amirm]

That's a good point Bob. The other related item is that the viewfinder on full-size censor cameras tends to be nicer to look at. I can't tell you how many good shots are lost because one is staring at that image through that peephole .

 

[rblnr]

That's a good point Bob. The other related item is that the viewfinder on full-size censor cameras tends to be nicer to look at. I can't tell you how many good shots are lost because one is staring at that image through that peephole .

Yes, love a big, bright viewfinder. And although most of my work now is done looking at a monitor big or small, I still feel most connected to and 'in' the image with a good optical viewfinder.

 

[DonH50]

Elk at 300 yards, not feet, though I have taken shots when they are only a few tens of feet away (depends on how close they are to the road/trail). I'm lucky to live where wildlife can be close, both to the camera and to the house (don't have to drive far).

Keeping the aperture requires a killer lens, which I know you have, Amir! For those who might not be aware, full frame helps because the larger pixels provide lower noise, allowing you to take better advantage of that aperture, and of course wildlife shots in the wild tend to be at dawn and dusk when light is at a premium as well. I'd love to have a 500 mm L-series lens, but my son needs a new used car... I should start another thread on what inexpensive tele to get. If I go the 5D route, I'll get it with the 24-105 mm f4/L "kit" zoom, but need to pick up a longer lens. Probably not the 500 mm, but some sort of decent 100 - 300'ish zoom. That's one thing nagging me to act; Canon has rebates if you buy lens and camera together by the 30th.

I have Adobe Photoshop CS2; have not upgrded in a while because frankly I don't use it. Hopefully the new camera will spur more use, but of course there are always time limitations. I am seriously considering getting the $100 "lite" version. CS2 is on my old, dying notebook and when I tried to xfr to my desktop (also old but not dying, at least not yet) Adobe said I had used both installs. Probably on my previous desktop, tossed when the HD crashed and graphics card fried taking power unit with it. I called Adobe and was surprised they would not provide a key; they said I would have to buy new. I asked if I could just upgrade CS2 to the latest and they said sure, for $500. I gave up. I strongly suspect the customer service rep I got that day had excessive blur applied.

I don't get out often, but when we do it's often one of the local parks or to hike one of the local trails (we even have Mt. Herman just a few miles away ) so the weathersealing of the 7D or 5D is appealing. I have read mixed reviews about whether it really matters for the casual hiker, however. I am not a 10-20 mile a day guy (ok, might hit 10 on a hard day trip, but I am not a backpacker).

Still cogitating...

 

[vinylphilemag]

To be clear, as my last post was not, I agree 100% in buying the best possible glass.

Problem is, i want it all, now!

I know that feeling VERY well!