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Archive 2016 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?

  
 
twinsfan7777
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


I'm debating whether to upgrade to a Sony A7ii or a 5D3. In the past, I've owned nothing but Canon dslr's, but I have been playing around with a Sony RX1R recently and I'm amazed at the shadow recovery and dynamic range. From my experience, Canon crop sensors have pretty lousy dynamic range and shadow recovery, but I've never shot with a modern Canon full frame sensor (only with the original 5D, which is like 10 years old now), and by DXOmark scores, the A7ii blows the 5D3 out of the water. So I'm curious if anyone has played with both of these cameras and can report back on which has the better shadow recovery and overall dynamic range?


Oct 18, 2016 at 05:17 PM
IrishDino
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


What do you own now?
What do you shoot?



Oct 18, 2016 at 05:56 PM
Scott Stoness
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


I own both 5d3 and a7r. I switched to sony when canon was slow to get a high mpx camera and I wanted the ability to print bigger. I now have 5dsr which is about a stop behind a7r2 at iso 100 but I prefer 50mpx vs 1 stop dynamic range.

a7r (or a7r2) is better at iso 100 for dynamic range. However, 5div is way closer to Sony (sony 1/2 stop better). As compared to 5diii, a7r2 is significantl better (1 stop?) at iso 100 and 1/2 stop better at high iso.

My advice is either upgrade to 5d4 or 5dsr over a7rii. Dynamic range is nice but not having to deal with adapters, changing systems is way nicer. You will spend a lot of money on batteries, adapters, l brackets, remote shutter releases, lens for a modest gain. And canon's will do a better job with canon lens for shooting wildlife/ people.

https://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Canon-EOS-5D-Mark-IV-versus-Sony-A7R-II-versus-Canon-EOS-7D-Mark-II___1106_1035_977



Oct 18, 2016 at 05:58 PM
Khun Hans
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


I'm on a Eastern Sierra trip right now and took for the first time a Sony 7II with me which I bought last month. While the files from the Sony are very good the cam is not. The viewfinder is a catastrophically piece of crap and never can beat an optical viewfinder. It showes completely different colors as you see in nature. First thing I will do when i'm back I will sell the Sony. Two of my fellow shooters are using the 7RII and finally the had to admit that the colors of the viewfinder are not what you see with the naked eye.
I own the 5D MIII and Nikon 810 as well.



Oct 18, 2016 at 06:04 PM
twinsfan7777
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


So my conundrum is this (assuming a $1700 budget):

The Canon has better AF, better battery life, more reliability, maybe a little better ISO performance.

But,

The A7ii has 3-axis stabilization with a metabones adapter, a much higher DXO sensor rating, and is slightly cheaper.


I'm 90% a hobbyist going for great image quality, and the 5D3 is a logical upgrade and I want to stick with the Canon system because of it's DSLR-ness, but I'm very enticed by Sony sensor. The image attached, I shot with my RX1R, and I didn't bother to bracket, but I could still pull out a lot of detail without much noise. I guess I'm looking to spend less time snapping pictures, and maybe a bit more in post. So can the 5D3 live up to the bar Sony has set?







Oct 18, 2016 at 06:54 PM
Ernie Aubert
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


That's pretty impressive. I think the only way I could approach those results with one CR2 from my 5D III would be to make three TIFFs with varying exposure adjustments, then blend them with Photomatix.


Oct 18, 2016 at 10:13 PM
johnctharp
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


ZachOly wrote:
What do you own now?
What do you shoot?


This definitely needs to be answered. Aside from being full-frame cameras, the 5D III and A7R II are *very* different.

If perhaps you wanted to get close to the benefits of both, you could look at a D8x0-series camera, assuming you don't have a large investment in lenses.

Or, you could wait and save up for a 5D IV/hypothetical 6D II. If you *can* wait, waiting for the 6D II would probably be the best bet.

But if you want to jump to Sony, you need to understand the limitations for various types of shooting (including landscapes!).



Oct 19, 2016 at 12:28 AM
Paul Mo
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?




twinsfan7777 wrote:
So my conundrum is this (assuming a $1700 budget):

The Canon has better AF, better battery life, more reliability, maybe a little better ISO performance.

But,

The A7ii has 3-axis stabilization with a metabones adapter, a much higher DXO sensor rating, and is slightly cheaper.

I'm 90% a hobbyist going for great image quality, and the 5D3 is a logical upgrade and I want to stick with the Canon system because of it's DSLR-ness, but I'm very enticed by Sony sensor. The image attached, I shot with my RX1R, and I didn't bother to bracket, but I could still pull out a lot
...Show more

Dude, what do you shoot? Subjects: events, portraiture, landscapes, products, food, sports? Out of those, or others, which is your passion?



Oct 19, 2016 at 12:34 AM
artificialyello
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


The OP asks for opinions on the 5D3 vs the A7m2, not the A7Rm2.


Oct 19, 2016 at 12:42 AM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


Objectively speaking, the Sony camera has a larger measured dynamic range than the 5DIII. How important is that? Perhaps less than you think. (Note that the added DR is only useful if you do significant post processing, as your monitor cannot display the full range, and prints have even smaller DR.)

A few examples:

An article here (http://www.gdanmitchell.com/2012/12/22/post-processing-a-shadow-recovery-example) explains how this 5DII photograph:

http://i1.wp.com/www.gdanmitchell.com/images/kolob/01KolobRaw.jpg

... becomes this:

http://i0.wp.com/www.gdanmitchell.com/images/kolob/06ShadedAreaCurve.jpg

If you want to look at other Canon DSLRs, I have examples from the 5DsR.

Another post (http://www.gdanmitchell.com/2015/07/19/the-canon-5ds-r-dynamic-range-examples) explains how this exposure:

http://i0.wp.com/www.gdanmitchell.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/02DarkestExposure.jpg

Renders to this image:

http://i0.wp.com/www.gdanmitchell.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/03ExposureAdjustments.jpg

This one (http://www.gdanmitchell.com/2015/06/07/looking-at-canon-5ds-raw-files-noise-and-dynamic-range) uses 100% crops to demonstrate what happens when you push dark areas way beyond what you'd likely do in real life:

This:

http://i0.wp.com/www.gdanmitchell.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/canoneos5ds0.jpg

Looks like this after about five stops of increased exposure in post:

http://i1.wp.com/www.gdanmitchell.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/canoneos5ds5.jpg

Dan



Oct 19, 2016 at 01:25 AM
KSgal
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


Well, here are some thoughts.

certainly for the price if you are going to buy only for landscapes, and focus on DR and only one lens, the case can be made for the Sony A7m2. Very nice camera. the 35mm zeiss is a nice lens.

The two offerings of Canon that have something in the comparable DR would be the 80D and the 5Dmark IV. You are right, the 5D3 does get blown out of the water sensor wise when pulling up the shadows. However there are ways around single frame exposure, and that may or may not be workable for a solution for you.

So.. boils down to how much DR is important, and if the camera will be doing other tasks/duties as well or if that is the main goal. How much is it worth it to invest in another system totally, and that may depend on what all you have at the moment.

Even though "it is only a crop" the 80D sensor is really stellar, and certainly a worth a look for the price, and the fact it may be the most compatible with what you already have. Very competitive with the A7M2 in price for the body only.

Another thought to factor in.. the 6D mark II should be out the first quarter of 2017 - and I'm betting it will have better AF and Better DR - and might be the perfect camera you are looking for. I might suggest getting the 80D for now and paying 'rent' on it till you sell it when the 6DII comes out.

Here is a link to a chart showing the differences between the sensors... while the 80D doesn't compete as well at higher iso, at the lower end, it is much better than the 5D3 - in practice, the high ISO's are very usable, up to and including 16,000 with good exposure and good processing and a tolerance for some grain - at least my 7D2 files are, and I wish to heck it had the 80D sensor.


Dynamic Range 80D vs 5D3 vs A7m2



Oct 20, 2016 at 12:44 PM
Sorbet
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


twinsfan7777 wrote:
I'm debating whether to upgrade to a Sony A7ii or a 5D3. In the past, I've owned nothing but Canon dslr's, but I have been playing around with a Sony RX1R recently and I'm amazed at the shadow recovery and dynamic range. From my experience, Canon crop sensors have pretty lousy dynamic range and shadow recovery, but I've never shot with a modern Canon full frame sensor (only with the original 5D, which is like 10 years old now), and by DXOmark scores, the A7ii blows the 5D3 out of the water. So I'm curious if anyone has played with
...Show more

The A7ii has a good sensor but it was too flawed as a camera for me. Meanwhile, my 5D3 is an incredible workhorse for weddings & portraits and the sensor is just fine for a wide range of photography. I would only consider the A7ii if I needed a really small camera. But, frankly, I prefer even the 6D to the A7ii. Having more DR than the 5D3 offers might improve about 1% of my photos.



Oct 20, 2016 at 01:31 PM
Eyvind Ness
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


Ditto. I owned A7r and A7r2 for a good while, but never really came to terms with them. AF is much too slow for my kind of shooting (wildlife, kids), in particular initial acquisition is useless, especially when it gets interesting, lighting wise (start-of-day, end-of-day). Ergonomically, the Sony menus are also a total disaster. Battery life is very short. On the plus side, a WYSIWYG viewfinder is nice when using manual focus lenses. Otherwise, just cumbersome (e.g. when sitting in a hide, waiting for action, you have to turn the camera On to see anything in the VF - not good when the battery is going low at an alarming rate, just sitting in the camera).

These days the 5DSR has even more resolution than the A7R2, and the 5Dmk4 can compete with the Sony DR, even below ISO 800. So, no real reason to get a Sony IMHO.



Oct 20, 2016 at 03:51 PM
rdcny
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


How about the Sony a6500 as an alternative to both options currently being compared?


Oct 20, 2016 at 03:55 PM
dtolios
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


If you are after a cropped body - who the OP is not me thinks, you could consider the A6500. But it is totally a different game. Much like the 80D that was mentioned.

For stills I have no doubt that the A7II is a superior camera to the A6500, and - regardless of DXO numbers - the Sony RAW files will be more "malleable" than the Canon ones.

But Canon has IMHO a much better system of lenses and accessories and 3rd party support than Sony, ontop of faster AF, better battery life etc. I also don't "buy" much into the "smaller" A7 series, because I like my zooms and the total "package" of a A7Rii with lenses and batteries etc, is not really smaller than that of a 5D series.

If you are happy with the FE 16-35 f/4 or small primes, the FE system can be very compact, but If we are talking f/2.8 zoom lenses, and drop in enough batteries for it to last all-day, it can be very comparable with a full size DSLR system.

5D4 w/battery + 24-70L II = 890g + 805g = 1,695g
A7RII w/battery + 24-70 GM = 640g + 885g =1,525g.

Add 1-2 extra batteries (60g) to the Sony kit to balance things and its a pretty even game, isn't it? Plus much of the added bulk in the SLR side of things is for a more ergonomic grip, more physical buttons etc. It is not just dead weight.

There is no real work-around that fact atm: fast lenses equal lots of glass, and a FF sensor is a FF sensor. Also most of the weight you remove from the body by removing the mirror box, is added back on the lens side of things, cause the FL of the lens doesn't really care for flange distances. Optics have to be placed roughly the same distance from the sensor in both SLRs and MILCs to give the same FOV and have decent corrections.



Oct 20, 2016 at 05:02 PM
Iwas joeking
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


As far as a working tool goes, the Canon will be far superior almost no matter what it is you shoot. Sure the dynamic range won't be as good, but you are giving up a lot for better DR IMO. The Sonys, as good as they are, have a horrid menu system and the UI gets in the way a lot. Not to mention AF, batteries, ability to use the buttons and functions with gloves on, etc. You can shoot all day with one battery with the Canon, you need an armload with the Sony.
Far better lens line up with the Canon, and so on it goes. So you really need to ask yourself if that little extra bit of DR is worth what you're giving up.



Oct 20, 2016 at 05:52 PM
Dpedraza
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


I used to be all about the whole dynamic range thing too.. I learned that getting the exposure close to what I want with the first shot really helps a lot and I care a lot less about dynamic range. Also knowing what you shoot will help people better give you advice.
I wouldn't go the a7II route unless you're ok with subpar AF or using MF lenses.



Oct 20, 2016 at 06:41 PM
twinsfan7777
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


Great opinions guys, thanks for your responses. Like I said, I'm really a pure hobbyist when it comes to shooting; I will shoot anything and everything. My preferences are landscapes and automotive, but I dabble in a little bit of everything. I currently shoot with a Canon T2i and Sony RX1R, but I just recently sold my 1D3 and original 5D to fund a modern FF camera. The 1D3 and 5D were great cameras, but they lacked shadow recovery, and I usually don't have the patience to stop and make sure I get the exposure right the first time. I'm the kind of shooter who brings a camera with him on a family excursion, and then gets left behind while I try to get the exposure right, so I'm really looking for that ability to just take the shot, and worry about exposure while I'm editing in lightroom so that I can keep the photo stops as short as possible.


Oct 20, 2016 at 08:47 PM
EB-1
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


I don't understand that logic. Regardless of what camera you use, lighting is important. Shooting in bad light and lightening the shadows is often not the best thing to do.

EBH



Oct 20, 2016 at 09:31 PM
Sorbet
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Canon 5D Mark III or Sony A7ii?


Getting exposure right with a 5D3 (or any dslr) is pretty easy, easier than ever in the past. Of course, practice helps, but it's not rocket science to get a good exposure. You don't really have to be that exact.

It is unfortunate that DPReview has many people convinced that the shadow recovery thing is an all-important deal breaker in photography. I believe that's because they are more concerned with measuring things (like sensor differences) than with teaching photography. Same for DxO.



Oct 20, 2016 at 09:52 PM
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