# canon 5D Mark III vs Nikon 800 for HDR



## bs0604

I have a nikon D90 and want to move up an FX camera.  Thus have on preorder a Nikon D800.  The principal reason I decided on the Nikon was I figure the buttons would be similar to those on the D90.  But seeing as I have no idea when my preorder will come through, and in view of the new Canon evidently availabe for shipping, any thoughs to changing to Canon?  I like landscapes and HDR processing so those will be my primary utility for the camera.  If I thought the D800 would come through in the next few weeks I wouldn't mind, but I don't know if its going to be days, months or many months.


----------



## DorkSterr

Stick with the d800. That thing is made for HDR with its 14+ DR rating.


----------



## Majeed Badizadegan

I'm in the same boat as you... I've posed a similar question to our knowledgable community here:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photography-equipment-products/278341-5d-mk-iii-d800.html

I'm still torn... The high MP and DR would make the D800 an ideal tripod shooter for HDR. Looks like it will allow 2-9 AEB like most Nikons. The Mark III AEB will allow 7 max. The D800 comes in at $500 less and would raise the ceiling on the size of prints you'd be able to make. 

 The 5d Mark III looks like it will have better ISO performance and a faster FPS, but lower MP. You should be able to get through your AEB stack faster with the Mark III FPS, which would be good for fast moving objects (clouds, water, people). 

The Mark III looks like it would be a better all around camera, where the D800 is going to fit in the niche for portrait/landscape photographers. Honestly, it's hard to justify the extra $500 when you look at what the D800 offers...

I waited so eagerly for the Mark III, and it's just a crazy awesome camera. But so is the D800....

Choices, choices...

:scratch:


----------



## Sheldrick

I'm in the exact same situation as you, have had my D90 for 3 years now and it's a trooper! However I feel like I'm really pushing the D90 to its limit, this D800 looks like its going to be a totally new experience for me, already bought my FX lenses for when it arrives!


----------



## 2WheelPhoto

What a silly debate. You guys HDR with these and I'll go manual mode on my ancient D80 backup cam and compete


----------



## Sheldrick

2WheelPhoto said:
			
		

> What a silly debate. You guys HDR with these and I'll go manual mode on my ancient D80 backup cam and compete



That would be fun


----------



## o hey tyler

DorkSterr said:


> Stick with the d800. That thing is made for HDR with its 14+ DR rating.



I guess I don't understand why DR matters if you're doing High Dynamic Range photography to expand the dynamic range of the camera through post processing multiple images of different exposures...?


----------



## spicyTuna

Ya I would think in theory the slightly higher DR for the camera shouldn't matter if you are doing HDR anyways. Although between canon and Nikon I'd go for the Nikon for HDR since your looking for the most detail, prob shooting on a tripod most of the time and shooting low ISO.


----------



## Majeed Badizadegan

spicyTuna said:


> Ya I would think in theory the slightly higher DR for the camera shouldn't matter if you are doing HDR anyways. Although between canon and Nikon I'd go for the Nikon for HDR since your looking for the most detail, prob shooting on a tripod most of the time and shooting low ISO.



Your logic is sound.. I suppose though, shots of my little girls running amok the mark 3 would be ever so slightly faster.


----------



## jamesbjenkins

IMO, the Canon dslrs look fine on paper, but in real life they're still quite a ways behind Nikon on the fine details.  Ergonomics, button placement, the ability to do what you want without having to move your shooting hand off the shutter.  Both makers can make a technically sound device, but IMO the Canon models still feel and operate very clunky by comparison.  Never mind the fact that the 5D3 is about $700 overpriced...


----------



## o hey tyler

jamesbjenkins said:


> IMO, the Canon dslrs look fine on paper, but in real life they're still quite a ways behind Nikon on the fine details.  Ergonomics, button placement, the ability to do what you want without having to move your shooting hand off the shutter.  Both makers can make a technically sound device, but IMO the Canon models still feel and operate very clunky by comparison.  Never mind the fact that the 5D3 is about $700 overpriced...



So that's why DigitalRev, FroKnowsPhoto, and forum member Derrel said that the 5D3 feels better in their hands than the D800, right? Because of D800's superior ergonomics and grip? 

BTW, you have to remove your finger from the shutter to use the mode button at the very least on the D800.


----------



## Alex_B

jamesbjenkins said:


> IMO, the Canon dslrs look fine on paper, but in real life they're still quite a ways behind Nikon on the fine details.  Ergonomics, button placement, the ability to do what you want without having to move your shooting hand off the shutter.  Both makers can make a technically sound device, but IMO the Canon models still feel and operate very clunky by comparison.  Never mind the fact that the 5D3 is about $700 overpriced...



I think the Ergonomics you feel are more a question of which system you grew up with. I for example am very slow and clumsy with Nikons (although their layout is probably very good too), whereas my hands and fingers elegantly operate Canons 

I am not talking of entry-level dSLRs of Canon, they are a pain to me to use in terms of ergonomics.


----------



## 2WheelPhoto

LensRentals.com - Hammerforum.com


----------



## jamesbjenkins

o hey tyler said:


> jamesbjenkins said:
> 
> 
> 
> IMO, the Canon dslrs look fine on paper, but in real life they're still quite a ways behind Nikon on the fine details.  Ergonomics, button placement, the ability to do what you want without having to move your shooting hand off the shutter.  Both makers can make a technically sound device, but IMO the Canon models still feel and operate very clunky by comparison.  Never mind the fact that the 5D3 is about $700 overpriced...
> 
> 
> 
> So that's why DigitalRev, FroKnowsPhoto, and forum member Derrel said that the 5D3 feels better in their hands than the D800, right? Because of D800's superior ergonomics and grip? BTW, you have to remove your finger from the shutter to use the mode button at the very least on the D800.
Click to expand...

I haven't held either of the models in question in this thread.  I was referring more to the general feel of each brand (consumer entry level model from either don't count.). The last Canon I had in my hands was the 5D2, and that thing was damned awful to work with after shooting Nikon for years...Now, I did like the layout/ergo of the 1D mk.IV, but hell for 5 grand, It'd better be awesome... My D700 does almost everything I want with two fingers on my right hand...


----------



## Josh220

D800 ftw. 500+ MB per HDR image. WIN!


----------



## myshkin

Wrong it is 200MB saved to 16bit tiff




Josh220 said:


> D800 ftw. 500+ MB per HDR image. WIN!


----------



## Josh220

Some people shoot 9 images per HDR depending on the range of light in the scene. That's 675MB of a memory card used; that applies to hard drives as well for those who don't delete their original files. Also, just because your end product came out to 2XX MB does not have any bearing whatsoever on the results others might experience with a different workflow and different number of shots.


----------



## myshkin

Well you said the HDR file would be 500MB this is plain wrong and no matter if its 9exp or 3 exp the output file will typically be about the same size. 

Also thats if someone is shooting uncompressed RAW which is 70MB. I believe most including myself will shoot lossles compressed which comes in around 40MB. Add in that the extra DR of the D800 and most will no longer need 9 exps. I would shoot a ton of 9 exp HDRs with the D700 but now with the D800 I likely will stick to 5 max. The DR of this camera is incredible

If your going to make a statement like that you shouldn't cherry pick the worse case scenario. Break it down for people so they don't get the wrong idea


----------

