7D or 5D Mark2

[diddydidit]

Ok, so I have finaly saved enough money to by my self a new camera. I have been doing a bunch of research and I'm in a bit of a dilemma here. Should go all out and go for the 5D, I like the idea of the full sensor. Or go with the 7D and put the extra money into lenses. The majority of the use for this camera is going to be deep water shipwreck documentation, both video and stills. Will the full sensor help to bring out more detail in these very dark situations, or is this more an aspect of a good lens. I was thinking of going with the Canon EF 16-35mm II f/2.8 USM Lens. If I go with the 5D it is the only lens I can afford at the moment.

I am a very new photographer so either camera is going to be able to grow with me for a long time. My main question is is the full sensor really going to make big gains in photo and video quality, which is most important to me.

 

[Ozwald]

Both are awesome camera's. I have the 7D. The 5D has better ISO performance in lower light situations and of course is the "full frame" format. Unless you have an extremely good eye no one could tell with which camera a picture was taken. If you plan on doing the "above water" portrait thing, 5D is a better choice. I see you are in Van.....Don's Photo just had the body on sale for $1899.

 

[darook]

There have been rumors for quite a while about a 5D Mark3 coming out which will crater the price of the Mark2s. With the 7D you can use the Tokina 10-17 which is really popular with UW photographers. I think what should drive your decision is what you will use it above water for. If you want to do telephoto wildlife shots, macro etc. the crop sensor is very nice. As Ozwald mentioned the FF cameras are great for portraits. I shoot the much cheaper T2i but it has essentially the same sensor as the 7D and I really like the images I get from it. My lack of talent, skill, and experience are the limiting factors not my equipment. If I was going to buy another camera for above water it would be a 7D.

You will learn a ton about photography on this forum: Canon Digital Photography Forums - Powered by vBulletin

 

[danvolker]

Ok, so I have finaly saved enough money to by my self a new camera. I have been doing a bunch of research and I'm in a bit of a dilemma here. Should go all out and go for the 5D, I like the idea of the full sensor. Or go with the 7D and put the extra money into lenses. The majority of the use for this camera is going to be deep water shipwreck documentation, both video and stills. Will the full sensor help to bring out more detail in these very dark situations, or is this more an aspect of a good lens. I was thinking of going with the Canon EF 16-35mm II f/2.8 USM Lens. If I go with the 5D it is the only lens I can afford at the moment.

I am a very new photographer so either camera is going to be able to grow with me for a long time. My main question is is the full sensor really going to make big gains in photo and video quality, which is most important to me.

I went with the 5 D because with deeper underwater, I expected the biggest challenge to ALWAYS BE getting enough light. The 5 d IS better than 7D in low light..I also got the 16 to 35 mm lens, which is a very fast or good lens for low light.

You can see my videos with the 5d at http://sfdj.com/Videos.aspx
Check out some of the goliath grouper videos or the baitfish videos--both will push low light for different reasons...the baitfish because you are shooting ambient light instead of video lights in 15 feet of water or less...the jewfish stuff because it is at 95 feet in challenging conditions.

 

[Ozwald]

Check out kelbytraining.com as well.

 

[diddydidit]

Thanks for the responses guys, great couple of websites. Does anybody know whne the Mark 3 is going to come out, I will probably wait till then and pick up the Mark 2. Cheers

 

[Viz'art]

The word is that Canon Canada has 5D Mk II on order till june at least, so I don't expect to se anything soon, (but hey, I could be wrong alos) nevertheless, for deep wreck photography, you can't really beat the 5D Mk II / EF 16-35mm f/2.8L right now, most of our users who do technical Divingr and this kind of work, will uses this combo, fast lens, superior ISO rather than the 7D /Tokina with slower lens and inferior Ilow light (ISO) performance. (mind you saying that the 7D / Tokina 10-17mm is inferior is like saying that 95% is not as good as 98%, they are very, very close in most situations, deep dark water are where you will see the difference, sunny reef in the Caymans Island is not where you will separate the two cameras)