Hi all! I've got a crazy idea of buying a classic Canon 5D camera. Any reason I shoudn't? I'm desperate of switching to FF from 1.6 crop (canon 500D), but spending £2000 on 5D2 is not an option, I'm not that serious into photography.
Most critical points for me are
1. FF for wide angle photo. 5D ticks this one obviously
2. Good high ISO performance. Now, is it anything comparable to that of 5D Mark II?
Are there any drawbacks which would have stopped you from buying this camera if you were considering it?
Please post your opinions!
[quote name='gunnar' timestamp='1305315757' post='8297']
Hi all! I've got a crazy idea of buying a classic Canon 5D camera. Any reason I shoudn't? I'm desperate of switching to FF from 1.6 crop (canon 500D), but spending £2000 on 5D2 is not an option, I'm not that serious into photography.
Most critical points for me are
1. FF for wide angle photo. 5D ticks this one obviously
2. Good high ISO performance. Now, is it anything comparable to that of 5D Mark II?
Are there any drawbacks which would have stopped you from buying this camera if you were considering it?
Please post your opinions!
[/quote]
1. You can make wide angle shots just fine with your 500D.... No need for FF unless you want to use tilt-shift wide angle lenses. A Canon EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 USM is on APS-C just as wide, or evewn a tad wider, than an EF 17-40mm f4 L USM on FF. And it will have better barrel distortion control.
2. Your 500D is not very bad at high ISO noise performance, and a good noise reducer like Topaz Denoise can improve on that even more. Nevertheless, the 5D is still a bit better. The 5D has bigger advantages DOF wise, making it a more creative tool by a factor of 1.6. And results can look a bit more contrast (hard to explain the difference).
Drawbacks:
Back to a lesser LCD. Be sure the 5D is still well under the average shutter life speed of that model. The 5D's mirror can come off, due to some glue used and not upto spec. This will be covered in a special extended warranty program especially for this problem, though. And the 5D has no live view.
That is about it... the 5D is a very capable, good FF DSLR.
I shoot mostly with a 5D II and had a 5D before that (and a 40D).
With the 5D the 40D never got any use anymore, despite it being a more advanced camera. Quality of image files just was better IMO, which is more important to me than, e.g., 6 fps. Also, you have more options to play with DoF on FF, which I like a lot. And it is a very good low light camera as well, and I happen to do a lot of low light shooting.
When I finally got the 5D II, and the 5D did not get any use anymore, for the same reason as the 40D <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='  ' />.
The 5D is indeed a very capable camera, even nowadays. However did you consider buying a used 5D II? I don't know if your budget reaches that far, but I wouldn't be amazed if you ended up with one eventually, and maybe rather than spend money twice, save a little longer and get the camera you will likely end up with anyway.
HTH, kind regards, Wim
Gear: Canon EOS R with 3 primes and 2 zooms, 4 EF-R adapters, Canon EOS 5 (analog), 9 Canon EF primes, a lone Canon EF zoom, 2 extenders, 2 converters, tubes; Olympus OM-D 1 Mk II & Pen F with 12 primes, 6 zooms, and 3 Metabones EF-MFT adapters ....
Hi Brightcolours! Thanks for reply.
Regarding #1, let me clarify. On FF I can get quality optics for much less money. then on crop
1. Ultra wide: Samyang 14/2.8 for £250. Simply unbeatable.
2. All around wide angle: Canon 35/2 for £220, again nearest competitive for crop sigma 30/1.4 is much more expensive
3. Standard prime: Canon 50/1.8, no comment.
4. Etc...
And of course DOF control! How could I have forgotten.
Regarding #2. 500D IS noisy. I can see noise starting from ISO200, on ISO400 it gets very bad, on ISO800 too bad, on ISO1600 unusable. All reviewers confirm this
Hi Wim, thanks for reply.
Of course 5D2 is a dream, but I can't justify spending £2000 on it... yet. It may well happen, that I end up upgrading to it after using 5Dc, I don't know, but I'm not ready yet <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=' ' />
[quote name='wim' timestamp='1305325708' post='8304']
The 5D is indeed a very capable camera, even nowadays.
[/quote]
That is entirely true. I'm still working with an old 5D (which I bought used in 2008).
Am I satisfied with the 5D ... Yes absolutely, regarding image quality ... Sometimes
no regarding little nuisances like the display (which is next to useless in bright sunlight).
Will I buy a 5D2 this or next year? ... No, if the 5D doesn't break ... yes if it does.
Would I buy a used 5D today ... No ... because the 5D's that are in the market today
are alltogether quite old. It's not that a used 5D2 couldn't break ... but it is less likely.
So, my advice to you would be to save up a little if necessary, and buy a used 5D2.
Just my 2cts ... Rainer
[quote name='gunnar' timestamp='1305325958' post='8305']
Hi Brightcolours! Thanks for reply.
Regarding #1, let me clarify. On FF I can get quality optics for much less money. then on crop
1. Ultra wide: Samyang 14/2.8 for £250. Simply unbeatable.
2. All around wide angle: Canon 35/2 for £220, again nearest competitive for crop sigma 30/1.4 is much more expensive
3. Standard prime: Canon 50/1.8, no comment.
4. Etc...
And of course DOF control! How could I have forgotten.
Regarding #2. 500D IS noisy. I can see noise starting from ISO200, on ISO400 it gets very bad, on ISO800 too bad, on ISO1600 unusable. All reviewers confirm this
[/quote]
1. 14mm is ultra ultra wide. A Sigma 8-16mm goes a tad wider, and is not more expensive if you factor in the 5D price.
2. Don't get thisone. Canon 35mm f2 and sigma 30mm f1.4 do about the SAME thing on APS-C. You have to compare them to 50mm lenses on full frame! Why are you comparing a 35mm on FF to a 30mm on APS-C? And the 35mm on FF you have to compare to 24mm on APS-C. Like the very expensive EF 24mm f1.4 L USM II, the compact and nice Canon EF 24mm f2.8 or the very affordable Sigma 24mm f1.8 EX DG Macro. Compare lenses with their focal length equivalents.
3. Yes, that is a standard prime. As is the 35mm f2 or 30mm f1.4 on APS-C. I use the 35mm f2 on my APS-C as standard prime. Focuses more accurately too.
I would not call the 50mm f1.8 quality optics per se...
Which lenses do you use now, on your 500D?
And what will equivalents on FF cost you? And what will be the weight difference?
It is fine to want to switch to FF, but the consequences have to be clear. The 2 things that I don't like about the 5D are: Body is much bigger, making some shots I make now impossible. And I would miss the live view, again making some shots I make now impossible. Those are personal gripes, that should not have to be the same for others.
What I would like about the 5D is the slightly better IQ due to a more dynamic feel of the output (not talking about "dynamic range"), the DOF control and the better possibilities for wide angle macro/close up.
And what i really like about my 450D is the small size and light weight, making it easier to just take it with me whenever.
[quote name='Brightcolours' timestamp='1305363260' post='8310']
1. 14mm is ultra ultra wide. A Sigma 8-16mm goes a tad wider, and is not more expensive if you factor in the 5D price.
2. Don't get thisone. Canon 35mm f2 and sigma 30mm f1.4 do about the SAME thing on APS-C. You have to compare them to 50mm lenses on full frame! Why are you comparing a 35mm on FF to a 30mm on APS-C? And the 35mm on FF you have to compare to 24mm on APS-C. Like the very expensive EF 24mm f1.4 L USM II, the compact and nice Canon EF 24mm f2.8 or the very affordable Sigma 24mm f1.8 EX DG Macro. Compare lenses with their focal length equivalents.
3. Yes, that is a standard prime. As is the 35mm f2 or 30mm f1.4 on APS-C. I use the 35mm f2 on my APS-C as standard prime. Focuses more accurately too.
I would not call the 50mm f1.8 quality optics per se...
Which lenses do you use now, on your 500D?
And what will equivalents on FF cost you? And what will be the weight difference?
It is fine to want to switch to FF, but the consequences have to be clear. The 2 things that I don't like about the 5D are: Body is much bigger, making some shots I make now impossible. And I would miss the live view, again making some shots I make now impossible. Those are personal gripes, that should not have to be the same for others.
What I would like about the 5D is the slightly better IQ due to a more dynamic feel of the output (not talking about "dynamic range"), the DOF control and the better possibilities for wide angle macro/close up.
And what i really like about my 450D is the small size and light weight, making it easier to just take it with me whenever.
[/quote]
Yes, sure I should have compared, 50/1.8 to sigma 30/1.4. Anyway getting an equivalent of 50mm on crop is not easy, 35/2 is a bit to long, Sigma 30/1.4 gets too contradictory reviews... 28/1.8 is not even near in terms of IQ,
As for equivalent of 35mm lens, sigma 24 twice as expensive and again IQ is questionable not to mention sigma's signature feature - samples variation.
On my 500D I use 18-55IS, 55-250IS, 50/1.8 and Samyang 8mm fisheye.
I'm now trying to choose something for good fast all-around prime and find it next to imposible...
Based on the requirements you've mentioned, and since you will upgrade from cropped sensor, I believe upgrading to FF would be the right choice. But which FF? The 5D would make a difference in IQ compared to 500D. But I would buy either a second hand 5D2 right now, or wait for a while until 5D3 comes on the market (to check the price of unused 5D2 again <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='  ' />) .
Serkan
05-14-2011, 11:06 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-14-2011, 11:08 AM by Brightcolours.)
[quote name='gunnar' timestamp='1305364180' post='8311']
Yes, sure I should have compared, 50/1.8 to sigma 30/1.4. Anyway getting an equivalent of 50mm on crop is not easy, 35/2 is a bit to long, Sigma 30/1.4 gets too contradictory reviews... 28/1.8 is not even near in terms of IQ,
As for equivalent of 35mm lens, sigma 24 twice as expensive and again IQ is questionable not to mention sigma's signature feature - samples variation.
On my 500D I use 18-55IS, 55-250IS, 50/1.8 and Samyang 8mm fisheye.
I'm now trying to choose something for good fast all-around prime and find it next to imposible...
[/quote]
The difference between an image with a 50mm and a 56mm lens is neigh on impossible to determine, unless it is the same scene shot and showed side by side.
It is NOT true that the EF 50mm f1.8 has "better" IQ than the EF 28mm f1.8 USM or even the Sigma 28mm f1.8 EX DG. Nor is it better than that of the Sigma 30mm f1.4 (or Canon 35mm f2). But you can think so anyway, of course.
It is fine, to want a 5D, I am not saying otherwise. But just pointing out some errors/misconceptions.
And I have pointed out the pros and cons.
On your lenses: Neither inexpensive EF-S zoom will work on the 5D, so they will need replacements too. Factor that in cost wise, to see if you can afford that. An EF 28-135mm IS USM is not very expensive, but getting the same tele reach with IS will cost some.
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