Options
Looking for New Body
Hi Everyone,
Today I was checking out cameras and I noticed that there were a couple of used 5d3 for around 2,000. I want to upgrade my camera body this winter and I really want to make the jump to full frame. I have had my Canon t3i for almost 3 years now and I have gotten many great photos. I need to step up my body because I am getting much more picky with my photos. I love shooting sports and Wildlife, but I also love shooting the night sky and various landscapes. I also have a passion for video and love using my dslr for shots in my movies for youtube. I Need to step up my body and find something that will give me the best all around bang for my buck. I was looking into the 7D but I really want to step up to full frame. The 6D looks nice but I shoot lots of sports and I am worried about the amount of AF points. For my sports photography I usually (95%) of the time dont hold down the shutter and hope I get something because the t3i is just not capable of that. Last year I invested in good glass and got a 70-200 2.8. I would love to get the canon 5d3 but it is very expensive and if it is cheap used it is probably beat to crap.... Kind of Stuck here, haha.
-Isaac
Some photos Sorry for some watermarks, they were tests
Today I was checking out cameras and I noticed that there were a couple of used 5d3 for around 2,000. I want to upgrade my camera body this winter and I really want to make the jump to full frame. I have had my Canon t3i for almost 3 years now and I have gotten many great photos. I need to step up my body because I am getting much more picky with my photos. I love shooting sports and Wildlife, but I also love shooting the night sky and various landscapes. I also have a passion for video and love using my dslr for shots in my movies for youtube. I Need to step up my body and find something that will give me the best all around bang for my buck. I was looking into the 7D but I really want to step up to full frame. The 6D looks nice but I shoot lots of sports and I am worried about the amount of AF points. For my sports photography I usually (95%) of the time dont hold down the shutter and hope I get something because the t3i is just not capable of that. Last year I invested in good glass and got a 70-200 2.8. I would love to get the canon 5d3 but it is very expensive and if it is cheap used it is probably beat to crap.... Kind of Stuck here, haha.
-Isaac
Some photos Sorry for some watermarks, they were tests
0
Comments
The 5D3 is the top of the non-1D (series) cameras. So, anyone selling a used 5D3 would very likely not be upgrading. Then the reason that they are selling it would bother me.
Perhaps you might look for a full frame camera as a Canon Factory Refurbished item. I have purchased fur Canon DSLR cameras, including two 7D cameras as Refurbs and have been very happy with my purchases.
BTW: The 7D is a dandy sports camera. I think that a true sports photographer really needs to shoot with a pair of cameras: a 400mm on one camera and a 70-200mm on the other...
I also agree that the Canon 7D is still a very good sports camera body, especially for outdoor and daylight sports. Indoors and night time sports the autofocus (AF) slows down a bit and AF accuracy can suffer a little too.
The Canon 5D MKIII is a full-frame (FF) body which is capable of sports in most environments, but you lose some of the "reach" you get from the crop bodies, meaning that you either need to update your glass at the same time or you need to crop to 1.6x, losing some of the FF wonderfulness.
The Canon 1D MKIV is still a very worthy body with some of the most desirable qualities of all of the Canon sports body solutions. At crop 1.3x it has "some" extra reach, but it also has very good autofocus in any situation. While the low-light image quality can't quite match the 5D MKIII, it's still very good indeed, and I believe better than the 7D. With used prices regularly about or below $3000USD (from reputable dealers) it's very much a contender as a sports camera.
To summarize, the 7D is the least costly sports body upgrade, with new bodies available for $1500, factory refurbished at $1200, and good used bodies under $1000. It would allow you to use all of your existing lenses, and those lenses retain their same "feel" with regard to reach. Works great in outdoor and daylight sports.
A 5D MKIII is a great all-rounder, but you lose reach (compared to the crop bodies) to gain better indoor and night shooting. With factory refurbished at $2800 and used prices at that price or a bit under, a factory refurb seems the way to go if that's your decision. (1 year factory warranty.) You might have to invest in a long lens for outdoor sports, or plan on a lot of cropping to get the same FOV as you're used to.
http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/cameras/refurbished-eos-digital-slr-cameras/eos-5d-mark-iii-body-refurbished
Finally the venerable 1D MKIV is a professionally proven (heavy) sports body. With used prices around $3000 (KEH.com) and performance that can handle most anything, it's worth consideration. Longer lenses still feel a bit longer and closer to the crop 1.6x you're used to. (This body requires EF mount lenses; EF-S won't mount.)
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
http://clearwaterphotography.smugmug.com/
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
I was surprised you didn't bite!
http://clearwaterphotography.smugmug.com/
a 5D3 for $2,000 does sound suspicious and "to good to be true"
Otherwise if you shoot a lot of sports the 70D would be a nice upgrade from the T3i
Agreed. I am guessing a real 5D3 or 1D4 is understandably beyond your budget. In which case I would say if you need a camera now, get the 70D. If you can wait a bit, see what the 7D2 will bring. The original 7D has (presumably) the same sensor as your T3i, so it can't offer an upgrade in IQ. The 70D has a brand new sensor which looks like a nice upgrade, and it has the same AF as the 7D, and 7fps for $1200 - a great value.
I've had several crop bodies, a 5D2, and now a 5D3. Full Frame is very nice, but it's not necessary for everyone. You should have specific reasons for moving to FF. Mostly you just get an extra stop or so of high ISO performance, a bigger viewfinder, and the ability to sensibly use wide primes and L standard zooms. The difference in DOF between FF and APS-C is there, but it is over-hyped.
FF has some disadvantages too. With Canon, you lose on-board flash which can be very handy for impromptu fill, no matter what the anti-on-board-flash snobs may try to say. You also lose reach, which is critical for wildlife, and nice for field sports. A 70-200 isn't that long on FF. You can use one for field sports on FF, but you have to wait for the action to come close. APS-C makes a lot more sense for field sports with a 70-200.
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
The Digital Picture also notes that the Canon 70D is: "Missing Spot AF" and "Missing AF Expansion", vs the 7D.
Regarding the high-ISO images of the 70D vs the 7D, yes, ACR does render the very highest ISO images of the 70D RAW files with less pattern noise in the shadows, but if you use PhaseOne Capture One instead I do see a more pleasing 7D RAW conversion with still less chroma noise than ACR.
*(The Digital Picture claims "7 fps for 40/15 (JPEG/RAW) [70D] frames vs. 8 fps vs. 130/25 [7D frames]".)
**(Although the 70D construction is still very good "where it counts" and I don't think the construction is at all deficient.)
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums