5D owners: some questions for you

DJKennedy

5D owners:


I was considering purchasing a 5D in the spring, unless something newer (and maybe better/cheaper) gets released in the spring. PMA in Las Vegas, Mar 8-11 maybe?


What do you like about the 5D, what do you hate about it? I have a 20D now, and quite frankly I don't see any reason go to the 30D. I've never owned FF DSLR, and realize I will need good glass for it (which I will have to save up for as well).


If you also had the 10/20/30D - how do you feel the autofocus compares. How about low light focusing. Do you like the images (I assume you would be shooting RAW, but I normally shoot JPG, or raw+jpg)? Do you like the feel of the camera in your hands (again, would be nice if you where able to compare to the 10/20D)?


Seems like my main subjects are shooting trains and aicraft (planes taking off/landing, trains going by me on the track but with me about 20 feet from the track) - the 20D is awesome for me as far as focusing on the moving subjects, is the 5D as good, better, worse? The Minolta 7D and the Sony A100 does NOT focus as well/fast as my Canon - no comparison: Canon wins hands down.


What are your general thoughts on the 5D?

jdryan3

I went from the 300D, so I can't speak for the 20 or 30D since I haven't used one. I considered the 30D at the time, but had missed shooting wide angle, and shoot some sports, but not enough that I felt I needed the extra fps the 30D offered. At 13MB per shot they are huge files, but it is fast. I never seem to fill the buffer til the point I can't shoot. It has 4 types of metering, including spot.

The 5D does seem to bring out the weakness's of lower quality lenses (such as vignetting, image quality, autofocus, etc), so I am slowly migrating to better glass also . Not that the other lenses were crap, just that you can tell the difference in some cases (OK, some were crap ).

It is kinda funny how easily I adjusted on the long end from FF film to 1.6 crop, but going the other way you realize how spoiled you are. My 300mm was no longer 480mm, just a plain ol' 300 again. So buy a 1.4x teleconverter if your lenses will take it.

In short, no regrets, no plans to upgrade the body. But those lenses....

DJKennedy

Thanks for your comments - I too will have to get some better glass (I should regardless quite frankly).

I won't be able to purchase a 5D until spring but maybe something new(er) and cheaper will be released by then! (making my choice harder no doubt).

Actually you bring up a good point where your 300mm is no longer a 480 - I'm going to miss that! And I didn't even think of that. So thanks for reminding me.

Derek

leebase

I have both the 20D and 5D and I really love the 5D. Here are the things I like:

1. I love the way my lenses "make more sense" on a 5D. The 85mm f1.8 is magic on the 5D. It was too long on the 20D for many indoor uses. The Tamron 28-75f2.8 is a much better range (wide to mid tele) on the 5D.

2. Nice big files. Good for big prints, or less noise in smaller prints, or for cropping and still having plenty left for making prints.

3. Love the big view finder. Actually -- I finally "got" that it was a "crop" factor when I looked through the 5D for the first time. I somehow expected "bigger viewfinder" to translate into "bigger image". On the contrary, the view is the same size -- there's just MORE in the view.

I know this makes sense if you think about it -- but it really came as a surprise to me.

4. I can't quantify it -- but the AF is clearly better in that I have far more keepers when shooting weddings when using the 5D over the 20D. It's not a "1 series" AF, but there's something better about it.

5. I like the control over DOF as the same lens on the 5D at the same aperture, same focal length -- you'll have a smaller dof. It's because you'll be standing closer to frame the same. And the closer you are, the less the dof.

6. Wide photography. I didn't realize how much I had been missing on the wide end. I had acquired the Tamron 17-35 f2.8/4 so that I could have wide on my 20D. On the 5D my Tamron 28-75 is pleasantly wide to mid tele. And now the 17-35 is a "WOW" wide lens on the 5D.

All is not "a win" for the 5D, though. I still use my 20D in the following situations.

1. Sports. The 5fps is really an advantage. Even though I don't shoot in bursts of five, but the bursts of 3 or so are close together.

2. Reach. It may be a "crop" factor and the lenses are not really "longer". But you have 8mp in the same area that you have 5mp with the 5D. So for those long shots, the 20D is like having a 1.6x extender that doesn't cost you a stop of light.

3. File size. 12.7mp photos are really big -- and over kill for most of what I shoot. I think the 8mp of the 20D is a better "every day" file size.

I like having both of these cameras. If I could only have one, it would be the 5D and weddings and portraits are the most important things I use my camera for.

For the money? I think most people would be better off getting the Canon 10-20 lens to add wide to a crop sensor camera. I do not think the 5D is "all that" such that it's worth the price premium. Not unless you "have plenty of money" or "you are making money with your camera".

Or unless you are really into wide photography and use the nice fast wide primes for your lenses as there aren't really the equivalent choices for the crop sensor bodies.

But if you are into zooms or midquality lenses -- I don't think the 5D is worth the premium.

Lee

LiquidAir

The image quality on the 5D is amazing. The first time you start wading through the pixels on a good capture with the 5D your jaw will drop.

On lenses for the 5D:

As Lee pointed out, the 5D has only 5M covering the area of a 1.6 crop. That is both a good and a bad thing depending on what you are trying to do. If you are shooting beyond the reach of your lens, that is a downside because you have 60% less resolution in the center of the frame. However, if you are shooting in a situation where you are limited by the lens resolution, the 20D/30D will magnify any softness in the lens by 30% compared to the 5D.

Here is what to expect when taking the same lens from a 20D to a 5D:

60% wider field of view on the 5D
Somewhat more vingetting if the lense tends to vignette.
30% sharper in the center of the frame if lens resolution is the limiting factor.

Depending on which lenses you have, you don't have to upgrade your glass for the new body. For many lenses the 5D is actually more forgiving than the 20D. The real reason you upgrade your glass when you get a 5D is because once you see what is possible with the new body your standards change.

All that said, I do find the 5D to be a challenging camera. To really get full value from it you really need to be vigilant about photographic technique. For the first several months after I got my 5D, issues with motion blur, focus accuacy and depth of field haunted me. I had to invest quite a bit of time developing my skills to the point where was regularly getting images as sharp as the sensor is capable of.

DJKennedy

Thanks for both your comments. I couldn't reply right away as I was at work when I got notice of your replies.

I realize I will have to relearn a few things if I get that 5D - I expected that. I do have concerns with one of my lenses - I probably won't insult the 5D or other 5D owners by using that particular lens. I do have plans on getting some new glass for it but it would have to wait until next year. I just don't make a lot of money.

I'm sure I will love the fact that the lens will be as it is stamped on the barrel meaning I will like the extra wideness compared to the 20D as I want to get into more scenics. I actually love the crop factor of the 20D but I'm finding that I'm changing what I want to do (so the 5D does fit into what I want).

I was concerned with the AF speed as I do shoot a lot of moving vehicles (trains and planes) - I do know for a fact that the Minolta 7D/Sony A100 doesn't cut it.

I've read that the 5D wasn't for sports shooters but I hope I have no probs (not missing shots). Getting new/better/faster glass would help there compared to what I have now.

I think I pretty much made up my mind - if I can get the money together by this Spring - I will order it. I also want to see what Canon releases this spring first though.

Thanks guys for your feedback, I appreciate it.

Derek