Oh I see you've already ordered it. I think it's a good decision. I personally think 6400 is very acceptable but 12800 might be a little it noisy for a 30x30 print - but that's your decision Personally I'd be looking to add a stop of colour balanced light in to get my ISO back down to 6400 in this case..
Why not a 5D Mk II? Save a lot over the 5D Mk III. Sure the Mk III tech is nice but I would be surprised if you see $1500+ advantage over the Mk II. Thousands of photographers have been shooting weddings in dark churches for years with the Mk II with excellent results (even with the "poor" AF).
This year I plan on shooting with the 5D Mk II and the 7d for one main reason. They compliment each other well. Sharing lenses between the two you can have full backup with less redundancy. You can use 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 on either body and be in good shape (or go primes if you want). Beats having two of each or one of each and a similar focal length prime to back it up (for shooting dual FF).
Keep the 40d, get a 5d Mk II and keep the 5Dc in the car for backup-backup.
@Phil: Thanks for that link, I'm currently reading it.
@That Photog: Interesting perspective: 40D & 5D2. I have thought about the 5D2 recently, now that the mkIII costs so much more to begin with. I agree that for weddings and portraits, 5D2 AF will be good enough, because my 5D classic is good enough. I shoot more than weddings though (in fact I did it only 2 times so far) and for my other (paid) jobs I really want better AF. And I promised myself to skip the 5D2 because I thought the difference between it and the 5Dclassic is too small. Reasons for me to prefer the 5D3 over the 5D2 (in the order of relevance to my shooting style):
- quiet shutter mode (for theatre work)
- AF (for event work & sports, also handy for walking wedding couples I assume?)
- 6 fps
- High ISO noise performance couldn't be enough for theatre
- dual card slots
As for the 40D in the bag and the 5Dclassic in the car? No. My 5Dclassic is at least one stop better, maybe 1.5. ISO 1600 on the 40D is for emergency only in my book. I try to keep it @ISO800 or below. Whereas I can shoot my 5Dclassic @3200 ETTR+0.3 no problems.
YMMV though.
Hi Phil,
Excellent read, thanks. Glad to see more and more "real life" reviews to see its actual usability for specific photographic purposes like - in this case - weddings. It made me even more convinced that I will appreciate the silent shutter and the better AF.
I love having the 1DsII and 1DII bodies. I can choose from slightly different lens effective angles of coverage. I really like the 17-40 L on the 1.3x sensor.
Personally I'd be looking to add a stop of colour balanced light in to get my ISO back down to 6400 in this case..