Amazing Deal: The Canon 5D Mark III For $1899

Amazing Deal: The Canon 5D Mark III For $1899

Over the past few months Nikon shooters have been getting an unfair amount of amazing eBay deals. Canon users can finally rejoice because they are getting their own killer deal. The 5D3 is only $1899.

The Canon 5DIII is currently being sold for $2500 on B&H. "Getitdigital" an ebay seller with 99.7% positive feedback is currently selling brand new bodies for just $1899. If you also want a 24-105mm lens you can buy the kit for $2499. Although the listing doesn't say, we believe these cameras are "gray market" which means that they may not be covered under warranty but the seller is offering a 1 year warranty for free. 

You're going to have a hard time beating this deal

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Lee Morris is a professional photographer based in Charleston SC, and is the co-owner of Fstoppers.com

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18 Comments

A brand new D750 can be had for about the same price.
Would I choose the 5D Mark III ? Nope.

However I can understand long-time Canon owners with a healthy amount of Canon lenses going for this.

agreed.

It's simply a camera from the past.
Dynamic Range, Color Depth, ISO handling, resolution... are simply lagging behind even compared to the entry level Nikon D3300.
Yes, they aren't comparable in other categories, the focusing system is just out of the D3300's league, but that's normal, the 5D Mark III is a near-flagship product from Canon while the D3300 is on the very entry-line of Nikon.

Compared to the D750 ?
The D750 outweighs it easily in every performance category ( Dynamic Range, Color Depth, ISO handling, resolution, focusing [ both in terms of speed & accuracy and consistency, in broad and low light, also better keepers ratio with subject tracking ] ).

Surely, for a wedding photographer both are awesome, both will be fine, but as a product, or an overall usage camera, it simply isn't up to par anymore.

Need proof ?
See how many 5DmIII users who switched to a newer body went for the D750 or D810 instead of the 6D or another Canon body.
And the rest who stayed put will be the very first to put them in the classifieds once the 5D Mark IV hits the shelves ( unless it's a total failure, I have some faith in Canon haha, they just released a 50MP camera with a sensor that can barely keep up with 6 years old sensors from Sony :D )

While the 6D isn't a direct upgrade path, it still performs better in terms of resolution, dynamic range and ISO :-p

What you're missing again is that I never said that you can't get awesome shots with the 5DmIII or any camera for that matter.

I simply pointed out that technically, and performance-wise the D750 is a superior camera.

The D750 isn't a entry level camera at all by the way.
The entry-level Full Frame by Nikon is the D600/D610.
The D750 is at the very same category with the 5D Mark III, a mid-end Full Frame DSLR.

He's right about the 6D, it has better noise and dynamic range than the MkIII. Of course the MkIII has a lot more functionality, but if you're shooting Canon the 6D is the body you want if you want better noise and dynamic range, short of getting a 1DX of course. ;-)

Once again, why so defensive and exaggerating ?
When did I call the 5D a worthless hack ? a rag ?

By the way, on technical measurements I find DxOmark and lenstip a better and more accurate measurements source ( both equipmentwise and technical knowledge-wise ).

Dynamic Range:
6D = 12.1eV
5DmIII = 11.7eV

ISO:
6D = "2340"
5D = "2293"

not much of a difference, but if you're into night/astro photography or landscape, the 6D is a wiser choice between the two.

For weddings/portraits the 5D Mark III is the better choice ( like I said before )

Compared to the D750... it is kinda laughable:

Dynamic Range:
5DmIII vs D750 = 11.7eV vs 14.5eV

ISO:
5DmIII vs D750 = 2293 vs 2956

Color Depth:
5DmIII vs D750 = 23.8bits vs 24.8bits

The D750 has around 30% more shots per battery charge, it also has a clear advantage in image quality & resolution, a slight burst rate advantage and a good 500euro/dollars price advantage as well...

You can stop working on your irony ( it is lacking by the way ) and start working on your photos.

I'm out!

I also would choose the D750.

If you are just taking photos, the D750 is hands down the choice. Video work mostly? 5dMiii all the way.

Personally, I would choose NEITHIER for video work. I would go with the Sony a7Rii or a7s/a7sii

"However I can understand long-time Canon owners with a healthy amount of Canon lenses going for this."

That's the point.

Seriously. I have at least 14 reasons to stick with Canon. Most of them begin with L. Of course, if ISO and dynamic range are not huge concerns for the work someone does, then those variables become less important.

Even in the ISO department Nikon doesn't have a real hefty advantage. If you compare photos between the 6D and D750, the difference is honestly rather small, especially after you reduce color noise (this is assuming you don't raise the shadows).

I don't understand why what was more than usable two 3 years ago is now "If I needed high ISO I would definitely use a different camera."

We've reached diminishing returns on low light performance. Instead of making jumps like the original 5D to the 5D Mark II (in which the ISO jumped from a max of 1600 to 6400 and it was both cleaner and had more megapixels), we're now saying "Well, ISO 25,000 is slightly cleaner." There's a lot of hyperbole.

As consumers, we've become kind of spoiled lol

I still use a 40D and 5D, in addition to my 7D and 6D bodies. The fact that Andrew Griswold (who has a lot more cred than me) shoots such awesome images with a 60D should serve as a reminder that it's generally not the camera. Some features may help, but they're still just tools.

I had my 60D for over a year. When I sold it, it had just over 1,600 actuations on it. Clearly, I had no love for it. Yet I shot that many images over three days with my 7D. And I still just look at them as a box to hold my memory card.

Haha! Love it. Also love the convo with that dude above. I am pushing for a 6D but for completely different reasons than what he is saying above, not sure I can see the specs being 'better' on the 6D than the 5D anywhere so... On top of the $1250 price tag for the 6D (grey market of course) it has wifi and a lighter body in a smaller package. For me that is the best but like much of the argument above to each their own of course. That and the button layout just seems to make more sense to me and is similar to the 60D I curretnly shoot. Love the debate though and I am really wishing I could find a grey market ebay deal on the 6D because 1250 on Digital Rev is the best price I can find right now.

Yeah, let me know how that order goes. Especially if they give you the Chinese menu upsell spiel.

Holy smokes! 1060! How solid is this resource though? Never heard of them.

5D Mark III user since it came out in 2012. I shoot mostly studio but have shot low light outside, sports and some video. It's an awesome camera and all the DR talk is pointless. How many people use the images right out of the camera? I get the details and lighting I need and then finish in Lightroom or Photoshop. This would be a good deal cause mine is approaching 150k images taken and the rubber grip is coming loose so I worry about the shutter dropping dead during a shoot.

Recently rented the 5DS twice and besides the larger image I ended up using my mark III more. Large blurry images don't help me and that's what you get with the 5DS with action shots. Also wasn't thrilled with the white balance on the lcd. I'm sure I could do what I need with any camera but you use whatever gets the job done.

Not a brandwagon jumper.

Right now I would buy another 5d mark III. Great camera and I know it well enough I can get the shots I need quickly. I do fashion, glamour but am known for composite images so I shoot people with flashes inside and then shoot stock outside so I need a camera that does it all.

The 5DS would be fine on a tripod but I move around alot and 250mb files are huge. BUT I rented it for a shoot recently and it saved me for the fact that the person wasn't comfortable with their body and wanted a lot of cropped head shots. So images still large enough for good size prints.

I think of it like 4k video. You might not need 4k but to be able to crop is a useful thing.