should I upgrade to a 5d3, or 6d and new lenses

mrjames

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Ok so i'm in the market for a new camera, currently shooting a 5d, a 5d2 and a 1d3

I love full frame and usually shoot the 24-70 70-200 combo, or 16-35 + 70-200, or 24-70 + primes

but my 5d is now totally dead so i'm shooting mostly events with the 5d2 and 1d3, also portraits and well a bit of everything really, never really know what i'm going to be asked to do but although there might be some action it's not pro-grade sports stuff, although I would have a go if the chance came up
I shoot a lot of nightclub stuff now using just the one camera, usually the 5d2 although sometimes the 1d3 just for fun- it's surprising how people respond to the 1d, people are always amazed by it, and it makes photographers jealous (why I have no idea...) where as the 5d2 just goes un-noticed

i've got a big big big commission for the edinburgh festival in august and want a new camera to use during that time, I want something reliable, and I want something that's not going to get in the way of me shooting, I don't know if it's going to be fast paced or if it's going to be slow and methodical- but I want to be prepared either way, but practicality also comes into play as I would be putting myself into debt for the 5d3, and if I got the 6d i'd have money for some accessories and lenses

my shooting style is quite simple, mostly picking my moments with the 5d2 and using the centre point then recomposing, or cropping to an off centre composition if I feel the need to do so

shooting with the 600ex on top of the 5d2 it's perfectly fine to af in extremely poor light on any of the points, but the 600ex is bulky and heavy, I have an st-e3 (yongnuo version with af assist) I want to try out but not sure how well it would work with more distant subjects

If I got the 5d3 that would be my main camera, if I got the 6d i'd be unsure whether the 5d2 or the 6d was my main camera

I could live with the 6d, I could make great shots with the 6d- I could afford a 6d right now, or I could save up a bit and get the 5d3. I'm an advanced user, I know i'd like the extra customization of the 5d3, but again the reality of money makes compromise a necessity, but

If I got the 5d3 i'd sell the 1d3, if I got the 6d i'd probably keep the 1d3 and have 3 cameras again in case I need the wicked AF

I love the handling of the 1d, the AF is good, the FPS i've only used a handful of times, image quality is great too but i'd really like to shoot at 12800 when needed

i've shot with the 6d and loved the size and weight, not sure how it would balance with a 70-200 2.8, and never tried it with the grip

never shot the 5d3 but held one in my hands and the user had the viewfinder full of crap- I hope you can turn off all the 'aids' which actually just obscure your view...

 
I know almost everything there is to know about these 2 cameras in terms of specs, but what I don't know is how they are to live with:

so a couple of questions

1) auto iso- this could be a deal breaker. Can you set the minimum shutter speed in Av, or even better can you shoot in M mode with auto iso from 100-12800, and have exposure compensation- i try to do this on my 5d2 and all I get is 1/focal length, which isn't very useful- I have to shoot in Tv mode if I want to lock shutter speed to stop motion blur

2) AF on the 5d3- all I want (and this is how I set my 1d3) is for a handful of cross type af points accross the frame (have it set to 19 I think on the 1d3), so with 4 clicks of the joystick I can get from top left to bottom right, I don't want 100's of points taking eons to switch point, and all the groups/af point expansion etc I don't think i'd use- tracking and AI servo maybe, but I like to be in control of where I'm placing focus- the 6d would be perfect if all 11 points were cross type and reliable in low light

3) dual cards slots is a non issue as I never use it on the 1d3 and i've never had a card failure, shooting 2 bodies gives me some degree of redundancy anyway- but has anyone ever experienced a card failure that wash't human error? I would probably use SD cards with both cameras anyway as I like that they just slot straight into my laptop. If I was shooting with just the 5d3 i'd use dual cards, probably an SD card in a CF/SD adaptor but not sure how that would effect the speed- not that I'd really be hammering the buffer anyway but would be interesting to know how a fast 600x SD card worked in the CF card slot vs in the SD card slot

4) flash exposure compenation, I shoot some nightclubs and it's really essential to adjust FEC on the fly while shooting, on the 6d I see this is in the quick menu, would have to borrow one to test out but from the looks of things it doesn't look like a 'quick' change at all, so would be using the 5d2 for nightclubs definitely

5) responsiveness- my 5d2 takes about a second to display the image on the screen, when i'm shooting in the clubs I want to glance down to review the image immediately after taking so I can adjust settings and take another shot before the subject has even realized i'd taken the first shot- the 5d2 is too slow for me in this, is the 5d3 quicker to display the image, and is the 6d as fast/slower

6) the rate button- I use the protect button on my 5d2 to pick the best images, but then there's no way to select only the 'rated' images, so I can scan though them quickly or even just see how many 'keepers' i've shot that session- on the 5d3 is there a way to show only rated images?

I get that the 5d3 is going to be much more programmable but really I think it might be overkill for me, my ideal camera is somewhere between the 6d and 5d3- basically a 6d with better AF

if I got the 6d I could also get the 100mm f2, a 15mm fisheye, upgrade the 70-200 2.8 is to the mk2 and get a 1.4 TC (because I have a great copy of the mk1, but it is horrible with Teleconverters) and I could get a really nice backpack to hold all of this stuff and keep it protected.

i'm contemplating biting the bullet and going straight for the 1dx, calumet are doing 2 years interest free, which is tempting

I think eventually i'll have the 5d3 and 6d, but the question is really which one I get first,
 
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