Looking to upgrade from a 20d...
I've had my 20d for about three years and I'm looking at upgrading. I'm sticking with Canon since I have invested in some good lenses but I can't decide between the 40d and the 5d. I shoot mostly animals in motion, often at a bit of a distance. I've read many reviews and comparisons on these two cameras but none that talk specifically about this kind of shooting. Opinions?
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I'm in the exact same boat, but I'm a low light indoor shooter vs. a telephoto outdoor one. It's a very tough call for me because I really would like to shoot at ISO 3200 with "pretty" noise as opposed to the 20D's "chunky" noise. I have spent a LOT of time pixelpeeping the results from this test (you may have already seen this): http://wyofoto.com/40D_Image%20quality/40D_shootout.html
I would think nature photographers do all they can to go telephoto. If they went from a 1.6 crop to full frame they would suddenly find half of their lenses are not as telephoto as they previously thought. Also it seems at low ISOs, the difference is much more difficult to detect than at 800 and above.
50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 24-70 2.8L, 35mm 1.4L, 135mm f2L
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Smoochy, welcome to the Digital Grin.
The Canon 40D will give an effective field-of-view (the dreaded "crop factor") of 1.6 times what the same lens would provide on a full-frame camera like the 5D. It's similar in effect to a 1.6x teleconverter but with no loss in effective aperture. This tends to make the 40D a better choice for distance shooting including many wildlife. (You may already know this, since you already have the 20D, but other folks reading may not have heard it enough.)
The 40D also has a somewhat improved (I believe) autofocus versus the 5D which has an autofocus similar to that in the 20D/30D except that the 5D has some hidden "assisting" autofocus points.
The 40D is also more responsive than the 5D.
Basically, the Canon 40D gives you everything you have in the 20D, but it's faster, quieter and (possibly) a little better sealed (at least Canon marketing wants you to think it is.)
Of those two choices I hope you understand which I would recommend for wildlife.
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I am concerned about 'losing' the extra telephoto with the full frame - it's one of the things I was considering in my comparison.
urbanaries - I had NOT seen that comparison so I thank you for the link. I am bleary eyed from looking at the files already but it's a big help.
I didn't mention in my original post that low light is sometimes a factor for me as well. I photograph horses a lot and some of the competitions are in dingy indoor arenas. I'm assuming I can counteract that with faster glass however?
When it is me, however, I'm going a slightly different route: 1D Mk II (N).
I shoot a lot of low light, and have had no trouble with the 20D's ISO 3200 noise levels. I have also been able to shoot a 1Ds Mk II beside my 20D and the main thing that hooked me was the magical AF. In PP, while the 16MP files were quite nice, and a bit cleaner, once you got sized down to screen viewing & typical print sizes ordered it was of marginal benefit. Thus, the target camera at 8MP with the magic AF. Oh, I'm also not addicted to ever-larger LCD screens which helps.
http://www.chrislaudermilkphoto.com/
The 40D can do a commendable ISO 3200 but you have to get the exposure right by the histogram and the high-ISO noise reduction does help. Compared to ISO 1600 there is some loss of dynamic range, but it's not dramatic.
The 5D is better at recovering detail in the deep shadow areas at high ISO and it retains a more natural appearance, but the difference between the 2 cameras is less dramatic than you might expect, considering the size differences between the sensors used.
For your application of animals in motion at a distance I do think the 40D is the better choice.
Can you elaborate on what you hope to achieve and what lenses you have at hand?
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Sure - One example would be that I would like to be able to capture really clear shots of a horse galloping around a jump course in less than ideal light conditions. The 2 lenses I am using the most are the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM and the EF 70-300mm DO IS USM.
For an indoor arena or night venue I would suggest lenses of f2.8, or faster, and fast focusing motors like:
EF 70-200mm, f2.8L USM (IS or not) This would probably be a first choice.
EF 85mm, f1.8 USM or f1.2 II
EF 100mm, f2 USM
EF 135mm, f2L USM
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