50D or used 5D?

mountainhouse

I think these are going to end up being in the same price range. A friend and I have been going over the DPreview samples and find the images fairly close in IQ. Certainly, the 50D has a lot of additional usability stuff. I know I need to wait to see the tests on a production 50D. But, with about $1500 to spend, does this seem a tough choice to anyone else?

jdryan3

mountainhouse wrote:

I think these are going to end up being in the same price range. A friend and I have been going over the DPreview samples and find the images fairly close in IQ. Certainly, the 50D has a lot of additional usability stuff. I know I need to wait to see the tests on a production 50D. But, with about $1500 to spend, does this seem a tough choice to anyone else?

A classic answer: it depends upon what you shoot. Do you want the full frame and the known IQ of the 5D? Or the higher fps and apparently better AF of the 5OD? Do you have a bunch of EF-S lenses that will have to be replaced if you move to FF? Megapixels is a non-issue, per se, but it will be interesting to see what the IQ is of each when blown up.

What I think will be even more interesting is how many 5D Mk I bodies actually show up in the used market, and at what price. Based upon the various threads I've read, it seems that a lot of the enthusiasm for the Mk II is by people who don't have a 5D. I definitely fall into that group. Will I upgrade eventually? Probably, but I'm in no hurry given what I have read so far. I'm going for the 50D instead.

swintonphoto

jdryan3 wrote:

A classic answer: it depends upon what you shoot. Do you want the full frame and the known IQ of the 5D? Or the higher fps and apparently better AF of the 5OD? Do you have a bunch of EF-S lenses that will have to be replaced if you move to FF? Megapixels is a non-issue, per se, but it will be interesting to see what the IQ is of each when blown up.

What I think will be even more interesting is how many 5D Mk I bodies actually show up in the used market, and at what price. Based upon the various threads I've read, it seems that a lot of the enthusiasm for the Mk II is by people who don't have a 5D. I definitely fall into that group. Will I upgrade eventually? Probably, but I'm in no hurry given what I have read so far. I'm going for the 50D instead.

I agree. Both are fabulous cameras. If you shoot telephoto the 50D is great. If you are a wide angle shooter that doesn't need the fast frames per second of the 50D, the 5D is great. I imagine IQ is fairly similar in both cameras as the 50D sensor is 2-3 years newer. If you already have lots of lenses for the 50D, i say go for that. If you don't then I say it is a tough decision.

mountainhouse

Lens-wise, I'm in pretty good shape to transition. I have 17-40mm, 24-105mm and 70-200mm. Using a 30D now. Flip a coin, eh? Guess I'll wait for the reviews on the 50D, and stare at the test images some more. :DThank you both.