Going Full Frame DSLR

[Bean Counter]

Anybody made the jump up to full frame DSLR? I'm thinking the time is drawing near for me. I don't have many complaints with daylight shots but have been running into difficulties in near dark conditions. I'm getting tired of running into noise and shadow recovery problems associated with crop sensors and small ISOs for low light shots. Looking at a  Canon 6d or 5DmkIII. Both can correct for lateral color fringing and lens distortion in camera! That along with the larger sensor seems to allow you to use cheaper lenses and get better results. Anyone?

[Alchase]

I would love to have a 5DMIII!
My sister and my best friend both have them. Sweet camera! Though if I was going to dream, I would get the 1D, LOL.

If I had to choose between a camera and lens, I would keep the crop sensor and get the good glass. I was playing with my buddies EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM on my TXI (300) yesterday. Those lenses make shooting great pictures easy, even for a four year old crop sensor.

[huntnphool]

The 5DIII is a fun camera, this was shot with zero light or flash and hand held.

Yes those are stars in the background, and it was darker than the images make it seem.

Not sure you can use "cheap" lenses, you will pretty much be limited to "L" series, but thats not a bad thing.

[Carl]

Hey, Bean Counter.  You didn't say what you're shooting now. 

Canon (and Nikon) have made great strides in recent years reducing noise.  If budget matters, I would upgrade to the best camera/noise ratio and buy fast L series glass. For some reason, I bet you have some good lenses.   

If not, I have a 70-200 L 2.8 you can borrow if you want to try it out. 

But if you can swing that 5D, I say go for it! 

Carl

[Carl]

The 5DIII is a fun camera, this was shot with zero light or flash and hand held.

Yes those are stars in the background, and it was darker than the images make it seem.

Oh my gosh, after seeing these pictures, you have no choice - get the 5D!   

[huntnphool]

The 5DIII is a fun camera, this was shot with zero light or flash and hand held.

Yes those are stars in the background, and it was darker than the images make it seem.

Oh my gosh, after seeing these pictures, you have no choice - get the 5D!   

We didn't know if it would work but tried anyway. I'll get the exif info for the first shot posted up here when I get a chance.

I dropped that buck right before dark, A LONG WAY from the rig where Shawn was sitting waiting. Long story short, by the time I got back to the rig, loaded up and we went back for the buck a couple hours had passed. I left my camera in the rig and we didn't pack a external flash, the 5DIII doesn't have the little pop up one thats on most of the crop cameras.

Shawn jacked up the ISO and had to hand hold since we didn't pack a tripod either
I held as still as I could and we counted down from 3, 2, 1, cliiiiiiiiick. I think they were over 1 second exposures.

When he looked at the back of the camera after the first shot he started giggling like a little kid. "These are going to be cool" is what he said to me, so we shot a few more before boning out and packing out.

With only the moonlight to use I think they turned out pretty cool. If I remember correctly I think the ISO was up around 16k, maybe even 32k

[Alchase]

I would buy a 5DIII just for the ISO controls!

That and the AF on button (manual focus lock) near your thumb! That is awesome!

[Bean Counter]

I'm leaning towards the 6D at this point. I could do without the wifi and GPS as well as 90% of the other toy store crap. But the 6D has the same sensor as the 5Diii and even some expanded low light capabilities. I like the 11 point diamond pattern of the 6D auto focus as well but only the center point is a cross type, as opposed to all of the 5Diii/7D which are all cross type. My current camera, a 400D/XTi has the same 11 point pattern as the 6d. I tend to like its simplicity but it would have been nice for Canon to upgrade all the AF points to cross type.

[JohnVH]

I want a 5D MKIII so bad!

[returnofsid]

 Your issue seems to do more with lenses than with your camera body.  I'd suggest looking at the Canon 7D.  It's still a cropped frame but handles very high ISO really well.  "Faster" lenses will also allow you to shoot in lower light conditions, giving much better results.

[Johnb317]

Old rule of thumb. Put your money in the glass.
Can't use any Efs lenses on a full frame and many are L quality.  Plus for the 7d
I wanted the 5diii, but too pricey so picked up a 5dii and love it. (6d came out later)

The 24-105L is a great walk about lens. 

[smdave]

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/pho/3970944159.html

Not mine but a really good deal

[huntnphool]

Old rule of thumb. Put your money in the glass.

Agreed!

I'm sure Shawn will chime in at some point but he really likes his 5DIII, and he has had a 7D and 1DsII to compare.

[popeshawnpaul]

Old rule of thumb. Put your money in the glass.

Agreed!

I'm sure Shawn will chime in at some point but he really likes his 5DIII, and he has had a 7D and 1DsII to compare.

I'll chime in.  I've used  and owned every Canon camera but a couple rebels, 1Dx, & 6D.  The 5D3 is the best camera I've ever used.  The focus is fast and needed for moving objects like flying birds, etc.  The 6D will work fine if you don't need a real demanding auto focus system.  I get usable images up to 3200 and suitable images up past that. 

All Canon crop sensors are noisy and not good in low light.  The 7D is really really noisy and produces ugly images, IMO.  If you can shoot at ISO 200-400 all the time I guess it's ok, but if you are shooting in that much light then you don't have very good quality light.  A new 7D is coming but now they say next year.  I went full frame years ago after my 3rd 7D and I finally realized I hate the camera despite the great specs on paper. 

Going from your current camera to a 5D3 will incrementally help you more than about any glass you can buy.  If you don't need fast autofocus, what's wrong with the 5D2?  You get extra pixels but not as many bells and whistles as the 6D, but cheaper...  Don't forget low light autofocus...  Many cameras, even the 1D4 lack this...

These are ISO 3200 shots I couldn't get as good without this camera:

[Johnb317]

Wow!  Beautiful shots. 
So wanted the iii, but am happy with the ii, bought from canon USA refurb. 
I've taken shots in churches where the camera pulled detail I couldn't see in the low light. 
If I ever get a job again I'll trade up.