5d mkii or 7d - lenses...

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Hi all,

I'm on the verge of collapse after researching for weeks and still not coming to a decision. I film wedding videos and I'm buying a panasonic AF101 in December which uses interchangable DSLR lenses. I have a Panasonic GH1 which does good video but not so good for photography so I was thinking of buying a canon 5d mkii for 50% video use (I'd see if I prefer it to the GH1 and then decide which is a 2nd cam for weddings and which stays in the boot as a spare) and 50% photo work (I have a couple of weddings coming up and I do some portrait photography.)

On my nikon d90 I had the kit zoom lens and a 1.8 prime and I hardly touched the zoom after getting the prime, however if I use the 5d for video I'll need a good all round zoom for when I hand it over to my less experienced camera operators.

From the photography point of view I don't know if I'll use primes if I get a 2.8 lens like the 24-70 -will the narrow dof be enough for me? The other issue is will the 24-70 be wide enough for the occasional wide shots (both photo and video) that I do... probably not.

I dont want to invest loads into a wide lens as it will get used quite rarely but surely by going full frame for the first time I should get a wide lens to benefit from this. (I say that as the other option is the 7d and just wait for the 5d replacement to come out - a flip out screen would be handy for example) I have seen the tokina 11-16 and was tempted however I dont know if this will vignette on full frame at 11 or even if it will work for video?!

I realise I'm basically not really asking a question here, I'm just waffling but that's because my head hurts and I feel like giving up so I hoped by posting this someone might appear and answer all of my questions and make my decisions for me!

In theory it makes sense to have 3 cameras (the AF100, the GH1 and the 5D) that all share lenses as it means when buying lenses they're sharing out their use among 3 cameras and 2 formats (photo + video)

please just tell me what to buy.

: sigh :
 
In theory it makes sense to have 3 cameras (the AF100, the GH1 and the 5D) that all share lenses as it means when buying lenses they're sharing out their use among 3 cameras and 2 formats (photo + video)
The AF100 and the GH1 are micro 4/3rds lens mount, so are not compatible with the 5Dmk2 EF mount.
 
thanks but I don't fully understand this..
I am under the belief that you can buy adapters for the GH1 and AF100 to use virtually any lens (losing auto focus etc controls) which is not a problem for video.

Are you saying I wouldnt be able to use for example the 24-70 on the AF100?

Would this be any different if I went for a 7D?

If you have patience with me, I'll understand this eventually!
 
I should have clarified... I'm not expecting to use the Panasonic lenses on the 5d, but only vice versa. Does that make a difference?
 
Ahh.. OK. 7D/5Dmk2 use the same lens mount, just the 7D can also use EF-S lenses (which are designed for the smaller APS-C sensors used in most Canon SLRs).

On the 24-70 being wide enough... The 5Dmk2 is a full frame camera whereas your D90 was a crop format camera. A 17mm lens on your D90 would produce about the same field of view as the 24-70 would on a 5Dmk2. If you want wider than the 24mm, for the 5Dmk2, the general consensus is the Sigma 12-24. Most (all?) other wide angles are only suitable for crop cameras like the 7D. The Tokina is APS-C sized sensors only...

Does that help at all?
 
PS. with the SLR route, you'll need an external microphone, but you've probably already got one of those elsewhere...
 
thanks for your help. Yes this is only a 2nd/3rd cam so I'm ok with the audio limitations

To be honest with the rare amount of times I'm going to shoot wide I'm now considering a 7d. I like great bokeh and taking shots from a distance so therefore cropped would help as you say.

I've seen a sigma 10-20 and a tamron 28-75 from the same seller on ebay and both fit canon. The tamron seems a good cheap equivalent of the 24-70 (I dont want to blow a huge amount on a zoom as for photography I'll almost always use primes)

I like the idea of the sigma 10-20 being useable on the GH1, AF100 and the 7D.

Perhaps its simpler to stick to the cropped sensor DSLR if I want full interchangeability of lenses?

I'm far from a pro photographer so I'm not convinced I'll get the benefit out of full frame, plus I'll very rarely take landscapes.

I'd love some more advice, thanks for your help so far.
 
Your head hurts ....... I was flailing around on the lounge floor after a week on here. I have to say though I took all the info, put it together and came out with what I hope was the right decision. I'm getting a 7D, and also after I have cuddled it a bit, a 10-20 Sigma lens. I already have an 18-200 and 70-300

If it makes you feel better, I went up the road to a Nikon friend who has had the original Sigma 10-20 for a long time and he loves it. Uses it for landscape and portrait. He's a serious photographer so I trust what he says
 
glad you got there in the end mitzy.

I'm now considering a 60d as it has a stereo mic input and flip out screen. Both very beneficial for the admittedly occasional video use but I've read its not quite up to the 7d for photography.

I can only imagine using the 10-20 for very wide building shots as it seems to distort quite a bit on the corners. I'm surprised that it costs 50% more than the other lens I want (tamron 28-75) but the tamron is going to be used massively more for me. I'm therefore wondering now if I'm going overkill on the wide lens if I wont use it too much... or will I once I get used to it?

BANG..


there goes the head.
 
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