6D or 5D Mk III? Which one would you recommend and why?

[seethroughlife]

Thanks Joe. Your feedback on these cameras is much appreciated.

 

[MarshallG]

Both the 5D MIII and the 6D have full support for controlling groups of flashes wirelessly using the new 600EX. It's fantastic for multi-flash set ups.

 

[munecito]

Magic Lantern does allow you to record a clean HDMI feed from the 5D3.

One thing to consider about the 6d is that it has no sync port, so you can only fire flash via wireless (pocket wizard, cactus, elinport, etc) or via a master flash mounted on the hot shoe.

 

[seethroughlife]

Magic Lantern does allow you to record a clean HDMI feed from the 5D3.

One thing to consider about the 6d is that it has no sync port, so you can only fire flash via wireless (pocket wizard, cactus, elinport, etc) or via a master flash mounted on the hot shoe.

I'm not sure what that means . . . no sync port? What if it did have a sync port? I am looking into getting a pocket wizard system but don't know much about flash photography in general. So feel free to share. Thanks! Any advice or recommendations you may have on a mobile lighting system for portraiture (in studio and on location) would be helpful.

 

[Gavjenks]

I shoot primarily portraiture, and indoor cultural events (music, dance, theatre).

The 6D has better ISO performance by about 1 stop, and a bit more dynamic range (and is lighter, has wifi, and gps)
The 5D Mk III has better autofocus and framerate and shutter speed, action-y things.

You don't shoot action, except dancing in a dark room, where ISO is probably more important than AF (maybe I'm wrong, yu can answer that question yourself being the one with experience). And for portraiture, the advantages of the 6D are clearly more relevant. Which means that I think the 6D would actually be a better camera for your purposes. Not even just a better camera for the price. A flat out better camera. As in, even if they were the same price, still the 6D. But of course they are not the same price. The 6D is 30-40% cheaper.

 

[TCampbell]

Thanks all for your help with this new camera dilemma that i'm having. I guess from what I have learned here, it seems that the 5D MkIII would be great but i'm wondering how many months I will need to spend figuring out that 47-page focusing system. That's a little freaky to read, but also indicative of it's extensive focusing capabilities i'm sure. Also, i'm not happy to hear that the sync speed is only 1/160th. I have been shooting primarily ambient light, but thought that with my next camera that I was going to move into strobes and flash lighting so i'm wondering how the 1/160th flash sync speed might affect that.

1/160th is actually pretty fast... considering that for YEARS the max flash-sync speed was considerably slower. My 35mm film camera maxed out at 1/60th.

BTW, the 5D III is 1/200th. The 6D is 1/160th.

You can use "high speed sync" mode if the flash supports it (and most Canon flashes do support it.) This causes the flash to fire rapidly as the curtain shutter sweeps across the image so that you get the benefit of flash even at high speed. The downside is... since the flash has to fire rapidly, it needs to have the power reserve. e.g. if it has to flash twice very quickly, then it can only fire at 50% power. If it has to fire 4 times... it can only fire each pulse at 25% power. You get the idea. The faster the shutter speed you set on the camera, the more times the flash has to fire, and the weaker the max power of each individual pulse of light. You can rig gangs of lights to get around this. E.g. you can buy off-camera flash brackets that hold, for example... 3 flashes... or even 6 flashes. That way you can do very high shutter speeds with high-speed sync, lots of pulses required, but still have the power and fast cycling times. The downside is... you end up having to buy a lot of flashes that aren't cheap.

 

[munecito]

The 6d synch speed is actually 1/180th not 1/160th.

Seethroughlife a synch port or socket is important because it is one more option for back up. What not having one means is that you don't have the option to use a synch cord to fire your flash.

You are getting pocketwizards and that is fine but what happens if you run out of batteries and have no spares on you? You are at subzero temperatures and forgot to protect your batteries and now they are flat? Shooting in a shared studio with no wireless triggers and can't use cell in the head or pack?

I am just describing some of the situations that I have had to deal with and where the synch cord has been handy.

Not bagging the 6d but it should have the port.

Regarding dynamic range. I will shoot my sekonic targets and come back to you guys on that. I have seen DxO been off by a lot before. But then again every sensor is different and they have variations.

I have both cameras. 5d3 and 6d and for me each of them is good and excels at certain uses. So I use them depending on what I am shooting.

 

[MarshallG]

Seethroughlife a synch port or socket is important because it is one more option for back up. What not having one means is that you don't have the option to use a synch cord to fire your flash.

Not bagging the 6d but it should have the port.

It's not that big a deal; you can just buy a TTL cable that mounts to the hot shoe. It's better than using a sync port in many ways. So it's not worth paying $1,000+ more just to get a sync port.

 

[munecito]

It's not that big a deal; you can just buy a TTL cable that mounts to the hot shoe. It's better than using a sync port in many ways. So it's not worth paying $1,000+ more just to get a sync port.[/QUOTE]

I prefer to have the hot shoe free for a fill flash if needed while one the field. The old pocketwizard multimax didn't have a hot shoe like the TT5 or mini TT1 and packs were having troubles picking up the light via cell so the old trusty cord was the solution there.

Yes you can but that is another small piece of hardware that can get lost or need backups.

For the extra $1000 you get more than a sync port too. Extra value which may not be needed or wanted by the OP or you depending in the kind of photography you both do.

I have the two cameras (5d3 and 6d) and another extra backup body and I tend to choose the body to use depending on the assignment.

 

[MarshallG]

For the extra $1000 you get more than a sync port too. Extra value which may not be needed or wanted by the OP or you depending in the kind of photography you both do.

No doubt that the 5D is better and has more features, I'm just saying that the lack of a sync port shouldn't be a deal-breaker. For TTL or wired flash control, you can't use the sync port anyway.

 

[munecito]

Regarding dynamic range. I will shoot my sekonic targets and come back to you guys on that. I have seen DxO been off by a lot before. But then again every sensor is different and they have variations.

Ok. I have done it.

I shot the X-rite color checker and put the images int the sekonic profile maker and guess what?

At least in my cameras the Dynamic Range is the same between the 5d3 and the 6d.

There is a slight variation between the two 5d3 bodies but their dynamic range is the same for the 5d3 and 6d basically.

Have a look at the three graphs and make your own conclusions about it.



The first one is my newer 5d3, the second one is my older 5d3 the last one is the 6d

 

[gsgary]

Thanks all for your help with this new camera dilemma that i'm having. I guess from what I have learned here, it seems that the 5D MkIII would be great but i'm wondering how many months I will need to spend figuring out that 47-page focusing system. That's a little freaky to read, but also indicative of it's extensive focusing capabilities i'm sure. Also, i'm not happy to hear that the sync speed is only 1/160th. I have been shooting primarily ambient light, but thought that with my next camera that I was going to move into strobes and flash lighting so i'm wondering how the 1/160th flash sync speed might affect that.

1/160th is actually pretty fast... considering that for YEARS the max flash-sync speed was considerably slower. My 35mm film camera maxed out at 1/60th.

BTW, the 5D III is 1/200th. The 6D is 1/160th.

You can use "high speed sync" mode if the flash supports it (and most Canon flashes do support it.) This causes the flash to fire rapidly as the curtain shutter sweeps across the image so that you get the benefit of flash even at high speed. The downside is... since the flash has to fire rapidly, it needs to have the power reserve. e.g. if it has to flash twice very quickly, then it can only fire at 50% power. If it has to fire 4 times... it can only fire each pulse at 25% power. You get the idea. The faster the shutter speed you set on the camera, the more times the flash has to fire, and the weaker the max power of each individual pulse of light. You can rig gangs of lights to get around this. E.g. you can buy off-camera flash brackets that hold, for example... 3 flashes... or even 6 flashes. That way you can do very high shutter speeds with high-speed sync, lots of pulses required, but still have the power and fast cycling times. The downside is... you end up having to buy a lot of flashes that aren't cheap.

Old 1Dmk1 is faster than them all 1/500 that why i kept it