Wedding Photography- Which Canon

[deanodpo]

I have been doing wedding photography for about a year now (around 10 weddings covered)

At the moment I use a Canon 450 and a 350. Im considering upgrading but not sure if its worth going for a Canon 5dmkII or 7d or even the new 60d.

As I have a bunch of lenses already for my CMOS sensor its so hard to decide.

The main benefot of the 5dmkII from my perspective is the full frame sensor, but is it worth all the extra money?

[chris-p]

Tough choice... Are you after 1 or 2 cameras?

Personally I get irritated with the assumption that everyone will, one day, upgrade to full frame. If it was my money, I'd have the 7D every time.

[karenoliver]

I love the 5d MkII and one of the benefits that you would get is the correct focal length with lenses, ie not a focal length that is affected by crop factor. So if you want to shoot wide at 12mm or 16mm for a group shot for example then you can with the 5D. I also love the quality of the shots and in low light I do not get excessive noise with full frame. Full frame does perform better at a high ISO in low light, this could be important for inside a church where flash is not allowed.

Karen

[deanodpo]

Just after 1 Camera at the moment and will keep the 350d as a second. For the group shots the 18mm on the smaller sensor is wide enough, but the low light photography is really important, churches and evening receptions are both shot at quite a hight ISO

[ap4a]

You say what camera bodies you currently have, but not what lenses. If you have all EF-S lenses then you would need to replace them if you went for a 5D. So that might help with your decision.

For me, if I was doing a lot of weddings, portraits and similar I'd be aiming to acquire a larger sensor camera than APS-C. I'd also be aiming to get one that gives the best possible results at higher ISOs as a lot of the time you'll be in darkened buildings without the option of a flash (many churches won't permit their use). So I'd go for a 5D over a 7D, but iif the choice was between a 7D and a 60D it would be the 7D.

I'd also keep the 450D as a backup rather than the 350D.

[deanodpo]

To be honest, all but one of my lenses is ef the ef-s is the kit lens, and so that would mean that I needed a 5dmkII and a kit lens, of around 2300? as opposed to a 7d bidy only around 1100 so its almost twice as much, but is it twice as good

[ap4a]

Originally Posted by deanodpo

To be honest, all but one of my lenses is ef the ef-s is the kit lens, and so that would mean that I needed a 5dmkII and a kit lens, of around 2300? as opposed to a 7d bidy only around 1100 so its almost twice as much, but is it twice as good

If your only standard lens is the kit lens then I'd say you needed a new lens either way. If you're being paid to consistently produce high quality work then you need a lens that can do that, and the kit lens will ultimately let you down regardless of which body you'd be using it on.

Whether or not the 5D II is better than the 7D or vice versa will depend on which features are more beneficial to you.

The 5D will give you greater resolution, it has a lower pixel density coupled with similar processing technology and so can produce cleaner shots in lower light, the larger sensor results in shallower depth of field at given focal length due to closer proximity, making it easier to achieve out of focus backgrounds.

The 7D has a better autofocus system, which can be beneficial when the bride and groom are moving down the aisle, it also has 8 frames/s compared to the 5D's 3.9 which may or may not be of use depending on your shooting style. The 7D has a 100% viewfinder whilst, oddly, the 5D doesn't. And the 7D has a much improved metering system.

Both have video, but the 7D has improved options (24 frames/s) over the 5D.

[deanodpo]

Thanks all,

I think based on the advice im going to go for a 7d and spend the extra cash on an improved new portrait lens. This way I can improve my setup, eventually with more work i'd like to purchase the 5d, so I will ensure the lenses bought can be ported.

Many Thanks