7D or 5D Mk II

[wavemachine]

I am in a bit of a delema, currently I have a 40D and have had it since they came out, it is time for an upgrade and to keep the 40D as a backup.

I am really torn between the 7D and 5D MK II, I am trying to migrate slowly from my full time job into the world of making a living out of photography.

I have a couple of wedding shoots lined up and am going to start doing familly portraits as a sideline.

From a personal perspective I enjoy landscape shots, portraits and some wildlife.

Currently I have a Tamron 18-270mm (APS-C), Sigma 10-20 mm (APS-C only), Canon 100mm Macro, Canon 50mm f1.8, Canon 70-300mm Zoom.

I am currently looking at:-

5D Mk 2 with 24-105 IS + Battery Grip
7D with 24-70L + Battery Grip and Maybe a 17-35L

My concern is if I start to head pro will people take me seriously with a 7D or will they expect at least a 5D.

We all know it is not how good the camera is but who is behind it.

I have my own opinions of what I should go for but would appreciate some feedback.

[Markulous]

Originally Posted by wavemachine

I have a couple of wedding shoots lined up and am going to start doing familly portraits as a sideline.

From a personal perspective I enjoy landscape shots, portraits and some wildlife.

From the above, I'd recommend 5D - and I've just turned down a very well priced 5D mkII and gone for a 7D (but then I do wildlife, macros and domestic animal commissions)

Originally Posted by wavemachine

My concern is if I start to head pro will people take me seriously with a 7D or will they expect at least a 5D.

Never heard of that...... except from a few precious so-called 'togs!

[flake]

Firstly not many people will be so switched on to know the difference between the 7D & the 5D MkII but if you want to impress buy a battery grip, it makes the camera look larger & more 'professional' basically it doesn't look quite the same as the one they've seen in Comet. That might be a slightly different reaons for buying than you thought!

I'm not quite sure why you have chosen a 24 - 70mm with the 7D and the 24 - 105mm with the 5D MkII? Is it the kitting deal? The 24 - 70mm is the better lens on the 5D MkII and the 16 - 35mm will be VERY wide!

From the photography you've described I'd suggest the 5D MkII is the better choice, but I wouldn't make a decision until after 9th February when Canon make an announcement concerning new lenses, it's expected that a 24 - 70 f/2.8 IS L and a new 14 - 24mm f/2.8 L will be launched which would seriously affect any buying decision.

A new 70 - 200mm IS L MkII has been launched and you might want to consider one of these, a nice big white lens really impresses! This is the lens you need for close up portraits with a nice bokeh. (costs a fortune though)

[minky_monkey]

Looking at the subject matter, I`d be inclined to go for the 5D.

Not that the 7 couldn`t do it, I`ve got one, but the 5D would definitely be better suited and I feel would produce better images.

[wavemachine]

Thanks for the replies, I am thinking 5D myself but there are a few doubts.

My budget is around 2,700 without selling existing kit.

The key point to me for the 5D is of course the full size sensor which fives better low light handling and nice sharp images.

However the 7D does seem to have some nice fetures such as autolevelling, faster burst rate, better video handling (if I decide to us it), more focus points ( not sure how practical that is as I have found my 40D to be fine), faster burst and better weather sealing.

By going for the 7D it will make more cash available for lenses.

Flake you are right about the battery grip someone who was into photography thought my 40D was a 1DS.

(ohhh and the inbuilt flash on the 7D is handy)

I have heard a few 7D owners say get the 5D so I guess I may regret it if I do go for the 7D. I suppose ultimatley it is a case of taking the fancy nice to have tech off and looking at the core camera in which case 5D is the logical option! WIth regards to video I have that on my SX10 and A640, and it has been used about twice in 3 years on the A640).

Flake good point about the new 24-70 lens so probably worth holding fire for a few weeks.

[flake]

The auto horizon of the 7D is a nice feature, but I bought the seculine digital spirit level for the 5D MkII. It costs about £25 and is a series of red & yellow LEDs & one green one!


A built in flash is tempting, especially if you haven't got a flash gun with you, but the results from it are never going to be as good as with the dedicated flash gun, I thought I'd miss it, but to be honest I don't,and it's made me use the proper flash & hence images are better.

The 7D has been designed to be a much faster camera than the 5D MkII and it's like a budget 1D more oriented to sports & wildlife. The 5D MkII is more oriented at high quailty photography and the concession it makes to that is speed.

[wavemachine]

Thanks Flake, I think the key is Image quality as you pointed out.

I occasionally do try to photograph wildlife but that is more by accident than deliberatley setting out to take it but I think the 5D is more than up to this.

I had concluded the 5D would be the one but wanted other opinions, I also came to the conclussion that if did go for the 7D that A) I would always hanker after the 5D and B) I would end up buying new lenses anyway so it is better to spend a couple of 100 more.

Also current owners of the original 5D I have spoken to are still happy with that camera which is surely a good sign.

Coincidentally a colleague of mine has just bought the 5D MK II his primary reason for that was the Video in his case I think the 7D would have been the better option as it has a lot of control and flaxability in this area. I did get to play with it though and felt at home straight away as the layout and controls were very similar to my 40D, looking through the view finder was amazing it felt like I had been looking through someones letter box with the 40D.

So now time to start to try and find the best prices

[anglefire]

I am an owner of the original 5D and until that breaks it will not be upgraded to the 5DMkII - mind you I do have the 1DMkIII as well, so I have both ends covered.

My first thought when I read this thread is the the 5D would be the one more suited to the type of photography that you are currently doing. Whether you will ultimately do wildlife in more depth is not known - but the 5D will be able to do it quite adequately - just won't have the speed, but with good timing, you will get the shots you want.

Whilst there are rumours of new lenses coming out soon, they will no doubt be more money than the ones they are replacing - and that may even translate into higher second hand prices of the old models.

The new 70-200 f2.8 IS L would be a good lens for portraits and most other subjects - but depending on how you are going to light the family portraits, the 2.8 might be overkill - if your shooting at f8 the 2.8 whilst is a nice to have is not essential and just going for the basic 70-200f4 or even Sigma version may be viable options.

The 16-35 is a nice lens, but if you intend using it for landscapes, you will again tend to use it stopped down - and unless you really need the 16mm, the 17-40mm is a far cheaper option and the IQ is very good - though Flake will no doubt say that edge sharpness etc is not very good.

Newer alternatives (including anything that may or may not be released soon) will be at a premium and may not be justifiable when actually printed out rather than pixel peeping.

[flake]

and that may even translate into higher second hand prices of the old models.

I've always thought that the price of older models went down as certain people with expense accounts and/or bought the latest model and sold their old ones on thus more product comes onto the market for those of use less financially gifted. Of course the optical properties of these older lenses are unchanged & I wouldn't always advise buying the latest lens simply to chase the tiny incremental benefit it offers. The way I try to look at it is , what will it do to the price longer term?

Canon seems to have started selling some lenses side by side, such as the 100mm Macro and the new IS L version, and the price has been unaffected as a result. The old 70 - 200mm f/2.8 IS L is now selling on Ebay for less than £900 which is a drop of about 20% on the average price pre Xmas and the new lens hasn't been released yet.

The other point for Anglefires post is something I should warn you about. The 5D MkII has a very high resolution, at the centre of the image, the quality is truly amazing, but the fall off of resolution towards the edges is noticeable. On some lenses more than others, and there no good rule of thumb for this, prime lenses can be worse than zooms, but then someof them are very good. The only way to select lenses for this camera is to review each one individually based on tests on other 5D MkII's beware tests on crop frame models as the performance is very different.

Issues such as distortion and vignetting can be corrected in post production, resolution fall off cannot. With previous FF cameras such as the 5D or the Nikon D3 the pixel count was much lower and the effect is not as noticeable.

Canon has not been able to produce a wide angle lens to rival Nikons 14 - 24mm (yet) the 16 - 35mm L is grossly overpriced for the level of performance it offers, the resolution fall off doesn't really become acceptable until f/8 which is not good for an f/2.8 lens. The f/4 offering also suffers, especially at the wide end to a degree where there isn't really any resolution at all at the corners, although the price makes it an attractive lens still.

I know that Canon are working on a new wide angle lens which will be a match for Nikons offering, and until then I'm going to stick with the Sigma 12 - 24mm which while not perfect does give me a performance which is good enough, plus and extra 4 - 5mm at the wide end. The field of view at 12mm is a huge 122º after which you'll have to buy a fish eye if you want to go wider!

[anglefire]

Originally Posted by Flake

I know that Canon are working on a new wide angle lens which will be a match for Nikons offering, .....

What, you have inside information as well?