Which camera system to upgrade?

[kathyt]

I would try the Mark III. The focusing system is amazing compared to the Mark II.

 

[Chuck77]

Hmm, well, this is odd-

Over the last two weeks with the D600, I found the 24-85mm VRII kit lens was not very sharp. (at least compared to the Canon 24-105 F4L/IS I tried on a 5D MkII)

Just yesterday, I sold the 24-85 VRII kit lens, thinking that I will buy a 24-70 F2.8. However, someone has shown interest in my D600 today. The fact that I got such a great deal on the camera + lens means that I will actually be making a little money from selling the D600.

I have been trying to sell my Canon gear to fund for Nikon lenses, etc. But, as luck would have it, there was little interest in the gear at a good price for me, despite the mint condition. With that said, some opportunities presented themselves this month - 1) My friend told me that he is able to get discounts on Canon products. A 5D MKIII w/ 24-105 lens is $400 cheaper than the cheapest street price here, 2) I have become more interested in the D800 than the D600. The images just appear alot sharper to me.

Now, I have also been hearing great things about the Sony RX1 and saw some great photos online. At $2,800, I easily dismissed it at first, but the more pictures I looked at, the more I could understand the price. It appears that achieving the same level of image quality with a D800 is possible, but with lenses that will make the price significantly more expensive than the RX1. But, where the RX1 wins out is its portability. The D800 will never be able to deliver the same image quality in a package that small. Ideally, I would buy both, but that's not sensible! Also, even with a D600 + a nice lens, the price would be basically identical to the RX1 (but most likely more expensive than the RX1). Of course, one does lose the versatility of changing lenses with the RX1, and I also imagine that Sony might have a full frame NEX series camera out sometime in the future.

What are your thoughts?