5D MK II or 7D - which to buy.

This decision is killing me. Or do I wait for an announcement for a 5D MK III or 6D? I have watched the review over at Digital Review and cannot make up my mind what to do.

Can anyone offer any advice - budget not an issue.

David

Hi I had the same problem what to buy 5D11 or 7D, I also asked the same question. It all depends on what you want to shoot, I bought a 7D for speed at 8fps for wildlife and fast auto focus picture quality is great.
But you cant beat the 5D for picture quality it is the choice of the pro's.
I also bought L lenses for the 7D.
I do have a problem trying to get sharp shots with the 7D and 100-400L is USM but it is operator error rather than the gear.

There is a few on here with 7Ds and will tell you they are great all-rounder
I am sure the 5d owners will give you info on them.

Cheers Goggs.....

7D or 5D Mark 2

It's probably the most asked question on photography forums and as Goggs said - it depends what you want to shoot.

Unlike Nikon who put a bit of both into the D700 to create an 'all rounder' - Canon (rightly or wrongly) decided on two very different dedicated cameras for very different jobs.

Landscape & Portrait = 5DII
full frame loveliness
very high res
much lower pixel density - better noise handling
slower autofocus
slower fps

Sports & Wildlife = 7D
far superior autofocus
crop sensor
faster fps
EF or EF-S lenses

Unfortunately If you want the best of both worlds then you would be looking at one of the Pro 1Ds variations.

Two things worth adding - 7D has it's own flash + EF-S lenses will not work on the full frame 5DII so the 5DII would require even further investment in EF lenses. As with any full frame body the sensor will capture an image accross the whole of the lens compared to a cropped camera sensor which only records what it 'sees' through sweet spot in the middle of the lens. Whilst a lot of mid range lenses are fine in the middle the 5DII will pick up on any drop off in edge quality so top quality lenses are more of a requirement.

My view (for what it's worth) is that they both excel at their own thing but with the 7D you can turn your hand to landscapes and portraits more easily than tackling sport and wildlife with 5DII so - for an everyday 'all rounder' I'd go for the 7D.

As the owner of both half frame and full frame Nikons I can say if you are going the route of full frame you will need deeper pockets and the ability to carry a heavier load. Full frame requires much better lenses, generally bigger and heavier, whereas you can get away with cheaper lenses performing almost as well on the smaller frame. I don't always think the difference is noticeable between the two formats on my D300 and D700. Both are very good performers, but obviously the 700 has advantages in lower light, better tones etc. in certain conditions. To offset that, if I want a set up that is smaller and more discreet the D300 is always at hand... not only that I can use the D300 without a grip with one or two zooms I have, whereas the D700 often requires a grip to counterbalance the bigger professional lenses I tend to use with it. The D300 however gives 1.5x crop factor so for example I can use my 300mm f4 as a 450mm f4 - try buying one of those for full frame!

Sorry, doesn't answer your question but some things to think about...pros and cons

I couldn't afford the 5D MkII so opted for the 7D and I love it to bits. the 5D MkII is quite old now (not that that matters) but It wont be long before it gets upgraded I'm sure.

I started with a 1.6 crop Canon, then moved up to full frame when the original 5D had been around for about a year. I personally would not go back to 1.6 crop, I prefer the files from the full frame camera, but having said that if all you shoot is sports and you need to use peripheral focus points then the 7D would be the preferred tool, plus the increased reach given by the crop factor.

I used to shoot all my motor sport with my original 5D with out any issue at all, but I did stick with the centre focus point (example link below) for best results.

Example 5D @ motor sports (big picture): http://www.kentt.co.uk/potn/IMG_3602.jpg
When it comes to ultimate picture quality sensor size rules.

Thank you everyone. I am leaning towards the 5D MK II as I prefer to shoot portraits and landscapes rather than wildlife or sports. However, I might wait until Canon release news on an upgrade as I would imagine this will bring the price down surely.

You may have a bit of a wait then.

Canon do not upgrade the 5D's as often as the models further down the model line up.

For what it's worth I often wonder why it is essential to have a frame rate of 7fps or more to shoot sports and zillions of focus points to get a sharp image.

5D MkII gets my vote and you CAN shoot sport with it.

Steve

Thanks Steve, yeah it probably would be a long wait. It's a dilemma, should just take the plunge now I suppose but I'm in no hurry.

All, I am happy to announce that I am now the proud owner of a 5D MK II. Now was the perfect time to buy as it is currently going at a really good price in anticipation of the new release later this year.