The Battle For Your (Big) Bucks: Nikon D800 vs Canon EOS 5D Mark III

No. This article is not intended to add to the hundreds of similar articles already found on the internet. But if you are like me, who are in-between systems and is just about to invest in a full-frame system INDEPENDENT of brand, consider this as a place where you can rest your mind, and seek solace.

Since both these new models have been released I have spent literally HUNDREDS of hours scouring the internet for details on specifications and the occasional sample photographs taken with both. And then, true to my masochistic nature, I began to read almost every English language article (and some in Norwegian, but the Norwegian discussions don't get as violent) comparing these two, which one is better, why more megapixels mean more trouble, etc. etc. It's Sunday night, and tomorrow I will once again be an economist (my day job) and not a photographer. And I will probably not be able to "be" a photographer for the next 3-4 weeks because of a time-consuming project we are undertaking. This is, to me,  good news, because I've just about had it with the Canon vs Nikon banter.

So is there really an answer to the question: which is better? Which camera should we get? And the answer is a resounding, and reassuring, NO! But why reassuring? I will get back to that in a little while.

Most of the camera reviews and "vs" articles written about the Canon EOS 5D Mark III and the Nikon D800 are either a) written by a professional photographer who shoots with a particular brand, or b) a Canon or Nikon fan boy, or worse, c) both a and b.

Last night I found three articles, all of them written by Mike Curtis on ProPhoto Coalition.com, which are by far the most insightful, unbiased, and easiest to understand undertaking of "vs" battle between the D800 and the 5D Mark III. You can check out that article here. And no, this article will not give you an answer, either. But it does detail the similarities and differences between the two models, and should help you, the undecided one, find out which functions found in which model you need the most and cannot live without, which hopefully might lead to that final decision.

The problem with all these "vs" articles is that in the end they are just "BS". Most of the people participating in the discussions (rants) about which of these two new cameras are best, probably already own one system, and with the accompanying collection of (expensive) lenses. For these people, the choice is easy, since there really is no choice. They either upgrade to the Nikon D800 (from the D700 or D3X) or the 5D Mark III (from the Mark II or 1DS Mark III). Selling the entire system to jump ship to a new brand will be a financially catastrophic endeavor.

And this leaves us, the people who ACTUALLY have a choice, and ACTUALLY have a decision to make. And reading all about the banter the CaNikon guys are making is not making the deciding process any easier for us.

Truth be told, what good would it do them (the fan boys) if they were successful in convincing anyone to invest in either a Canon or a Nikon? We do not know these people, and they do not know us. When the purchase is finally done, all that will be left is taking pictures, and making the most out of what we have purchased. The fan boys are not going to be standing by our side to teach us how to get that winning shot. They would have moved on to banter about other things. In the end, all they care about is the banter, we will still be left to fend for ourselves, even after the decision has been made.

So my advice: clear your head of all the pros and cons that you have gathered on the internet, and instead make your own pros and cons list if you haven't already. And for goodness' sake, keep it to yourself, and not flame it on the forums and give these bantering people more "fuel". It is YOUR money, YOUR camera, YOUR passion, not theirs.

For my part, I have owned and shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, both leisurely and during assignments. And I have loved it. But I placed my order for a Nikon D800? Why? Because of the price. The savings I get for the D800 I can use to fund the purchase of the 24-120mm lens I decided this camera should go with. It's plain economics on my part. After making my own pros and cons list, I know the D800 is going to be more a camera than I will ever need in the years to come. So for me it's a sound investment.

So which camera will you be placing your big bucks on?