5D Mark lll or 1d X

[Snapitjack]

When it come to portrait and/or headshot photography which camera is better suited; The 5D Mark lll or the 1D X?

I know the 5D Mlll has more pixels but the 1D X has larger pixels and has a lot of features that I just wouldn't need and the pic quality isn't that much better than the 5D, so I'm leaning toward the 5D.

Any thoughts? Personal experience?

Thanks guys.

 

[runnah]

5d without a doubt. 1DX is great for sports and action.

 

[Snapitjack]

When it come to portrait and/or headshot photography which camera is better suited; The 5D Mark lll or the 1D X?

I know the 5D has more. I think the 1D X has a lot of features that I just wouldn't need and the pic quality isn't that much better than the 5D, so I'm leaning toward the 5D.

Any thoughts? Personal experience?

Thanks guys.

Thank you. You just saved me $2,000.00.

I'm happy with my 70D for that action & wildlife stuff so I've got that covered (although there's not much comparison between the 70d and the 1D X).

I really want the full frame sensor of the 5D Mark lll for the other stuff but didn't want to regret not going for the 1D X. I'm feeling like I won't regret the 5D now.

Thanks agin for the feedback.

 

[pixmedic]

When it come to portrait and/or headshot photography which camera is better suited; The 5D Mark lll or the 1D X?

I know the 5D has more. I think the 1D X has a lot of features that I just wouldn't need and the pic quality isn't that much better than the 5D, so I'm leaning toward the 5D.

Any thoughts? Personal experience?

Thanks guys.

Thank you. You just saved me $2,000.00.

I'm happy with my 70D for that action & wildlife stuff so I've got that covered (although there's not much comparison between the 70d and the 1D X).

I really want the full frame sensor of the 5D Mark lll for the other stuff but didn't want to regret not going for the 1D X. I'm feeling like I won't regret the 5D now.

Thanks agin for the feedback.

yea, runnah has that effect on people. they hear just his opinion, and BOOM! decision made.













I agree with runnah btw.

 

[Snapitjack]

For what it's worth, I tend to agree with anyone who is in line with what I was already thinking and who saves me money. ;-)

 

[Gavjenks]

For portraits? Neither.

Get the 6D and save yourself ANOTHER $1500. The advantages of the 5DIII over the 6D are mainly autofocus points and FPS, neither of which matter for portrait photography. And in fact the 6D seems to have a better sensor for noise and such.

 

[EIngerson]

You won't have a complaint with either of them.

 

[Snapitjack]

For portraits? Neither.

Get the 6D and save yourself ANOTHER $1500. The advantages of the 5DIII over the 6D are mainly autofocus points and FPS, neither of which matter for portrait photography. And in fact the 6D seems to have a better sensor for noise and such.

Plus the 6D has GPS, WiFi (and I do like shoot tethered) and it's lighter.
But the 5D Mlll has a better build quality so it could take more abuse, not that I intentionally abuse my gear, and the focus is supposed to be quite a bit better and a second card slot (biggie). Wish I could just shmush the two together, or is that what the 5D MlV will be?

Anyway, I appreciate the feedback. It's good to have the 1D X knocked off the list.

 

[DarkShadow]

I agree on the 6D and how much abuse does a camera get during headshots. I do birding with a 60D that's been in wind and dust, below freezing temps and gotten a sea water splash once and it is holding up just fine.

 

[table1349]

5d without a doubt. 1DX is great for sports and action.

The 1Dx is great for portraits and headshot photography too, but a bit of over kill for the OP's stated need.

 

[Gavjenks]

For portraits? Neither.

Get the 6D and save yourself ANOTHER $1500. The advantages of the 5DIII over the 6D are mainly autofocus points and FPS, neither of which matter for portrait photography. And in fact the 6D seems to have a better sensor for noise and such.

Plus the 6D has GPS, WiFi (and I do like shoot tethered) and it's lighter.
But the 5D Mlll has a better build quality so it could take more abuse, not that I intentionally abuse my gear, and the focus is supposed to be quite a bit better and a second card slot (biggie). Wish I could just shmush the two together, or is that what the 5D MlV will be?

Anyway, I appreciate the feedback. It's good to have the 1D X knocked off the list.

The focus is not any better for headshots. The 5DIII simply has more autofocus points (and coordination between points). Which is useful for birds in flight and such. The focus point you'd use for almost all headshots--the normal central cross point, in one-shot mode, is identically effective in both.
And yeah sure it's built (a little bit) tougher. Are you planning on setting up your portrait studio in a muddy field with no roof, or inside a volcano? Any DSLR you could buy (even entry crops) would already be hugely overbuilt for indoor portraiture, and the 6D is a significant step up from those with a mostly magnesium body and significant waterproofing rubber flaps on everything, tougher grippier plastics, etc. I don't hesitate at all to shoot in moderate rain, if the lens is resistant too. Or to slap it down on the concrete for a hasty stabilized shot, or to crawl through the scratchy muddy underbrush for a shot. And in a studio who cares.

Yeah the 5DIII has a second card slot. Whatever. Spend a small fraction of the $1500 you save on some high end cards and replacing them often before they wear out, and you won't have issues.

 

[table1349]

Yea, having 61 focus points so you can pick the one that lands exactly on the subject where you want the sharpest focus is over blown compared to focus and recompose with 11 available points. Besides a working photographer who uses his gear constantly 5 or 6 days a week doesn't need rugged gear made to last the long haul. If the body quits he or she can just go to the closet where they keep their spare Alienbee's and get out a spare body and just keep shooting away. :thumbup:


I'm trying to remember, whats the ratio of spare bodies needed on hand, is it three or five?

 

[pixmedic]

if your strictly talking portrait photography, and mainly staged studio shots....the 6D is more than enough camera.
you can use the money saved on good glass and lighting.
you have plenty of time to set up focus points, recompose if you need to, or move your subject.
its not fast moving objects, or "have to get it NOW only one time ever this very second" type events from 1000 yards away.

between the two listed in the OP, the 5DIII is more than sufficient, and by all accounts that I have heard, a fantastic camera.

 

[EIngerson]

The OP didn't ask about the 6D, the choice was 1Dx or 5D MK III.

 

[Gavjenks]

Yea, having 61 focus points so you can pick the one that lands exactly on the subject where you want the sharpest focus is over blown compared to focus and recompose with 11 available points.

Yup. Not only is it overblown, but I would suggest turning them off before a portrait session even if you have them, and using a sparser mode, because it makes no sense to click the button 15 times between every time you frame up a new shot with the eye in a new place, instead of clicking 2-3 times. "Recomposing" halfway the distance between two 6D points is ridiculously insignificant, unless you're shooting from like 2 feet away with an f/0.5 lens.

...a working photographer who uses his gear constantly 5 or 6 days a week...

Where exactly did the OP even say he was making money at all? Much less a fulltime pro?

If he truly shoots every day all day, he should actually get a 1DX in my opinion, not a 6D or a 5DIII, because even if he only gets a 1-2% margin of success out of a couple of its extra features, he'll probably earn the difference over its lifespan in his ownership.

If however, he is not a pro, then spending $1500 extra on a camera that has no particularly useful features (except a card slot) for the intended purpose is preposterous. Especially when the 5DIII is actually worse on some features that might matter, depending on the type of portraiture. Like ISO noise (band portraits, for example)

doesn't need rugged gear made to last the long haul.

They're both rugged, and will both last way longer than you need them to shooting portraits. Yeah sure, maybe the 5DIII will last for 500,000 actuations and 40 years, instead of 350,000 actuations and 25 years. Nobody cares, because long before any of those things happen, both bodies will already be massively obsolete, worth like 2% of their original price, and if being used at all, it won't be by a person who buys cameras new like the OP.

(And actually, according to the data on this site: http://www.olegkikin.com/shutterlife/ for what it's worth, smaller cheaper entry cameras seem to have significantly longer actual shutter lives than high end pro cameras, if anything, so I'm being generous in even assuming the 5DIII would last for more actuations at all. Maybe it's the different type of user. Maybe it's the higher FPS. Maybe the data is confounded and wrong somehow. Dunno, but it's the closest we have. For example, a Rebel XTi they estimate at a 50% survival rate around 10,000,000 actuations, whereas a 1DsMkIII they estimate at about a tenth of that, 1,000,000 50% survival)