I'm a British software developer and photographer living in Vancouver, BC. I mainly photograph landscapes, cityscapes, night scenes, and water.
If you're interested in any...
Hi Alexis, What are your thoughts on Mark II, Mark III and the new 6D? I'm getting ready to upgrade and am having a tough time deciding between those 3!
@btorrey There's no quick answer to that question (and no right answer either!) :)
The 5D3 is, in my opinion, unquestionably the best camera overall. It has moved the 5D range up from being a landscape camera to a general-purpose camera -- it's still fantastic at landscape work, but with the increased frame rate and top-of-the-range autofocus system, it's an extremely capable camera for nature photography, portrait work, sports photography, and just about anything else. Sure, it might not be as good as a 1DX for sports work, but it's still a camera that a professional sports or nature photographer would be very happy with.
However, it is also the most expensive camera of the lot, so if that extra cost means that you will not have the budget to buy high-quality lenses as well, then it might not be the best choice for you.
The 5D2 is definitely very much aimed at the landscape photographer. There is, of course, nothing at all stopping you from taking other types of photograph with it, but with it only being able to take 3 frames per second and having a (relatively) poor autofocus system, photographs of anything that moves will be more of an annoyance. The cost is of course the main advantage of the 5D2, and if you are going to be primarily doing landscape photography, it's an excellent choice. It is a generation older than the 5D3 and 6D, so you do lose a bit of low light capability, but it's very minor overall.
The 6D is what I personally see as the replacement to the 5D2 (to me, the 5D3 feels like a new range of camera, rather than as a development of the 5D2). It fits in between the 5D2 and 5D3 in terms of features -- you have the low-light performance of the 5D3 sensor, but also a reduced framerate and much more basic autofocus system. Again, it will make an outstanding landscape camera, but will not be quite as good as the 5D3 at other types of photography. How this balance works for the type of photographs you take, only you can decide.
Other main advantages of the 6D are the small size and weight, and also the GPS and Wifi connectivity built-in (to buy the GPS and Wifi accessories for the 5D3 would add a quite ridiculous $1,020 to the price!) However, unless these features are absolutely essential to you, I wouldn't choose a 6D for that reason alone.
Personally, I would probably limit my choice to either the 6D or the 5D3 unless you find an excellent deal on the 5D2 (good deals were common a few months ago, but I haven't seen any for a while). The 6D has now been out long enough for prices to settle down, and it is very competitively priced.
Finally, remember that any EF-S lenses you have for your current camera will not fit on a full-frame camera, so you may need to purchase new lenses. While there are some cheap lenses that do fit onto the full-frame cameras (like the Canon 28-135mm IS), it is important to remember that the lens makes more difference to your photographs than the camera -- buying any of these cameras and putting a cheap lens in front of them is a recipe for disappointment. The kit lens that all of these cameras are offered with, the 24-105mm f/4, is a superb lens for the money and well worth getting. (Even if you don't want it, it's still worth buying the kit, as you can sell the lens for more than it costs to buy it as part of the kit!)
Also bear in mind that none of them has a built-in flash of any kind (an oversight I can forgive for the 5D series, but with the 6D series being aimed more at the consumer market, this seems a slightly unfortunate omission). As such, if you don't already have an external flash, you may also want to budget for a small flashgun that you can pack in your case for occasions when it might be useful, such as the Canon 90EX (this also supports controlling other flashes remotely, making a multi-light setup a future upgrade possibility).
Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions!
I wasn't happy with that shot and I'm not entirely happy with this one! :)
It might also look familiar if you've watched shows like Battlestar Galactica, Caprica or Fringe. (I think the interior was used in later seasons of Stargate SG-1 too).
@abirkill Thanks Alexis! I decided to go with the 6D with the kit lens because it is smaller and lighter, has auto focus for video(5D3 does not) Wifi AND I have $$ left over for another good quality lens. Now I just have to figure out what other lens I would use the most! :-)
@btorrey I'm sure you'll love it! Just a quick point, the 6D doesn't have continuous auto-focus for video, it will focus on demand if you press a button but Canon themselves don't advise doing so because it screws up the exposure briefly (see page 211 of the 6D manual).
This is the same as the 5D2 and 5D3, and most consumer Canon cameras except the 650D/T4i and EOS M, which offer a form of continuous auto-focus when shooting video by using a hybrid sensor (although in the current state of the technology this is still relatively poor).
I think the 6D may offer face detection over and above the 5D3 (so when you press a button to focus, it will automatically detect and focus on a face in the frame), but realistically this is a fairly insignificant difference -- for video shooting you will want to autofocus prior to starting recording, and then adjust the focus manually after that, for best results (with any of these cameras).
@abirkill I must have misunderstood the specs I was looking at. It had auto focus for 6D but not 5D2 and 3 so it mustve meant the face detection. Well, it will hopefully be a big improvement over the Rebel t3i that I've been using! I had to order it and it will be in next week.
@btorrey I'm sure it will be! Also worth mentioning that (as I think you're based in the US), the Canon instant rebates are ending tomorrow, so prices at most competitive retailers will be going up on Sunday. If you are considering purchasing another lens, you will probably save money if you order it before Sunday.
A couple of high quality, sensibly priced general purpose lenses I would recommend would be the 17-40mm f/4L (currently with a $100 instant rebate) if you want a super-wide zoom, or the 70-300mm f/4-5.6L (currently with a $200 instant rebate) if you want a telephoto zoom. Either (or both!) will complement the 24-105mm kit lens very nicely.
The 5D3 is, in my opinion, unquestionably the best camera overall. It has moved the 5D range up from being a landscape camera to a general-purpose camera -- it's still fantastic at landscape work, but with the increased frame rate and top-of-the-range autofocus system, it's an extremely capable camera for nature photography, portrait work, sports photography, and just about anything else. Sure, it might not be as good as a 1DX for sports work, but it's still a camera that a professional sports or nature photographer would be very happy with.
However, it is also the most expensive camera of the lot, so if that extra cost means that you will not have the budget to buy high-quality lenses as well, then it might not be the best choice for you.
The 5D2 is definitely very much aimed at the landscape photographer. There is, of course, nothing at all stopping you from taking other types of photograph with it, but with it only being able to take 3 frames per second and having a (relatively) poor autofocus system, photographs of anything that moves will be more of an annoyance. The cost is of course the main advantage of the 5D2, and if you are going to be primarily doing landscape photography, it's an excellent choice. It is a generation older than the 5D3 and 6D, so you do lose a bit of low light capability, but it's very minor overall.
The 6D is what I personally see as the replacement to the 5D2 (to me, the 5D3 feels like a new range of camera, rather than as a development of the 5D2). It fits in between the 5D2 and 5D3 in terms of features -- you have the low-light performance of the 5D3 sensor, but also a reduced framerate and much more basic autofocus system. Again, it will make an outstanding landscape camera, but will not be quite as good as the 5D3 at other types of photography. How this balance works for the type of photographs you take, only you can decide.
Other main advantages of the 6D are the small size and weight, and also the GPS and Wifi connectivity built-in (to buy the GPS and Wifi accessories for the 5D3 would add a quite ridiculous $1,020 to the price!) However, unless these features are absolutely essential to you, I wouldn't choose a 6D for that reason alone.
Personally, I would probably limit my choice to either the 6D or the 5D3 unless you find an excellent deal on the 5D2 (good deals were common a few months ago, but I haven't seen any for a while). The 6D has now been out long enough for prices to settle down, and it is very competitively priced.
Finally, remember that any EF-S lenses you have for your current camera will not fit on a full-frame camera, so you may need to purchase new lenses. While there are some cheap lenses that do fit onto the full-frame cameras (like the Canon 28-135mm IS), it is important to remember that the lens makes more difference to your photographs than the camera -- buying any of these cameras and putting a cheap lens in front of them is a recipe for disappointment. The kit lens that all of these cameras are offered with, the 24-105mm f/4, is a superb lens for the money and well worth getting. (Even if you don't want it, it's still worth buying the kit, as you can sell the lens for more than it costs to buy it as part of the kit!)
Also bear in mind that none of them has a built-in flash of any kind (an oversight I can forgive for the 5D series, but with the 6D series being aimed more at the consumer market, this seems a slightly unfortunate omission). As such, if you don't already have an external flash, you may also want to budget for a small flashgun that you can pack in your case for occasions when it might be useful, such as the Canon 90EX (this also supports controlling other flashes remotely, making a multi-light setup a future upgrade possibility).
Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions!
http://365project.org/abirkill/365/2012-05-13
I wasn't happy with that shot and I'm not entirely happy with this one! :)
It might also look familiar if you've watched shows like Battlestar Galactica, Caprica or Fringe. (I think the interior was used in later seasons of Stargate SG-1 too).
This is the same as the 5D2 and 5D3, and most consumer Canon cameras except the 650D/T4i and EOS M, which offer a form of continuous auto-focus when shooting video by using a hybrid sensor (although in the current state of the technology this is still relatively poor).
I think the 6D may offer face detection over and above the 5D3 (so when you press a button to focus, it will automatically detect and focus on a face in the frame), but realistically this is a fairly insignificant difference -- for video shooting you will want to autofocus prior to starting recording, and then adjust the focus manually after that, for best results (with any of these cameras).
A couple of high quality, sensibly priced general purpose lenses I would recommend would be the 17-40mm f/4L (currently with a $100 instant rebate) if you want a super-wide zoom, or the 70-300mm f/4-5.6L (currently with a $200 instant rebate) if you want a telephoto zoom. Either (or both!) will complement the 24-105mm kit lens very nicely.