Best camera for around $1000?

dracalud

I have two 40D cameras. I shoot sports, like paintball. Have a great set of lenses. Want to upgrade and also be able to shoot portraits and weddings.

What should I do if can spend about $1000?

1. Buy a friend's 5D for $1100?
2. Buy a new 7D and sell one 40D?
3. Buy a used 1D Mark IIn or 1Ds Mark II


Lenses: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, 16-35mmii, 24-70mm 2.8 L, 50mm 1.8, 85mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8 macro, 70-200mm 2.8

Help! You guys are the experts -what should I do?

ziggy53

If you know the history of the 5D and if you have a good flash with an AF assist light, the 5D is still a good wedding camera. It will struggle with focus in a very low-lit church for the ceremony shots without flash.

The 1D MKII/MKIIN or 1Ds MKII has a much better AF section for low light, but a good used 1D IIN is a bit over your price range (unless you get really lucky) and the 1Ds MKII still run around $1800USD (last I looked). The older 1D MKII is in your range and it still feels very fast by modern standards and makes a very good camera for weddings overall.

(The 1D MKII and IIN share the same imager and image processor sections, as well as the same AF and mirror sections. The only changes are a slightly deeper shot buffer in the IIN and maybe a slightly tweeked AI-Servo, to make it less sensitive to distractive subject matter. The IIN also has "Picture Styles", which you can also get on the original if you shoot RAW and use the Canon DPP software, upgraded from the one that originally shipped with the model II. The IIN also has a larger LCD.)

Lots of folks are using the 7D as a wedding camera, but the AF section still does not match the 1D MKII in low light without an AF assist light.

I suggest that the 5D and 1D MKII are the safest bets, but I greatly prefer the 1D MKII for the AF section and for dual memory card safety.

nickeverett

I'm very much an amateur, but I do a lot of reading (and dreaming) about the pro camera range. So here's my 2 pence.

First of all. This will probably help you decide more than anything I can say. Comparison of the three camera by the brilliant review site DP Review. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_eos5d,canon_eos7d,canon_eos1dsmkii,canon_eos1dmkiin&show=all

Secondly, It seams logical to sell one of the 40Ds (on ebay you should get $600 for it).

Also, I wouldn't include the 1D mkII n because the resolution is only 8mp and the sensor has a 1.3x crop factor.

One of the questions you need to ask yourself is do you want want a full frame sensor or are you happy with a 1.6x crop factor sensor? Personally, I dream of being able to buy a full frame sensor camera (5d/1Ds). A full frame body gives your lenses a wider field of view and crucially less depth of field at each stop, meaning a more film like appearance to your images (which is arguably more aesthetically appeasing).

If HD video is important to you, then a 7D is the one (or the new 550D). Plus the 7D being the newest and therefore has some of the best digital features; like a larger LCD with much higher resolution, higher image resolution at 18mp (compared to 5d=12mp & 1dsmkII=16mp), more accurate auto exposure metering, higher continuous image shooting capability.

So in my mind the essential questions are:
- Sensor size?
- Resolution?
- Video Recording?

Although it looks like i'm promoting the 7D here. Personally, I'd much rather have a 5d/1dsmkII because of the sensor size. I love the look of a full frame sensor at 2.8 or below.

Hope that helps and I haven't just repeated what you already know.

NikonsandVstroms

dracalud wrote:

I have two 40D cameras. I shoot sports, like paintball. Have a great set of lenses. Want to upgrade and also be able to shoot portraits and weddings.

What should I do if can spend about $1000?

1. Buy a friend's 5D for $1100?
2. Buy a new 7D and sell one 40D?
3. Buy a used 1D Mark IIn or 1Ds Mark II


Lenses: Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, 16-35mmii, 24-70mm 2.8 L, 50mm 1.8, 85mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8 macro, 70-200mm 2.8

Help! You guys are the experts -what should I do?

The big thing is are you butting up against the 200mm on the 70-200 while shooting? Dropping down from 320mm to 200mm is a good bit so that would be my only concern in the full frame or almost full frame.

nickeverett

NikonsandVstroms wrote:

The big thing is are you butting up against the 200mm on the 70-200 while shooting? Dropping down from 320mm to 200mm is a good bit so that would be my only concern in the full frame or almost full frame.

however, if you are shooting on two bodies. One 5d and one 40d with the 24-70 on the 5d for the most out of the wide end and the 70-200 one the 40D for the best of the tight end.

That would give you the best of both worlds and illiminate the problem

rutt

You can get a Panasonic GF1 with the 40mm f/1.7 lens for about $900. I have a 5dm2 and a slew of great Canon lenses. But this is the camera I grab more often than not these days. It's da bomb for candids.

craig_d

A 40D with a 24-70L and the 85mm f/1.8 isn't a bad portrait setup.

You might consider replacing the 50mm f/1.8 with the 50mm f/1.4 USM for the faster aperture (it's pretty soft below f/2, but the f/1.8 is soft below f/2.8, so you still come out ahead), the faster and quieter focus motor, the superior bokeh (8-bladed aperture rather than 5), and the superior build quality.

If you really need radically better high-ISO performance than the 40D, then I think you're out of luck unless you can go full-frame. Even the 7D, while better, isn't THAT much better. But I'm pretty sure there are people around here who shoot weddings with a 40D, so I don't think that's the problem.

Freezframe

The 1ds mkII !!!
You'll pay more for Ds mkII but,in the long run you won't regret it....Full Frame ,Superior focusing would be key to my pick !!

That's my 2 Cents !!

Goodluck :Brady