Actually just HOW BAD is the 5D II for action/sports...

Bretagnez

Bretagnez

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I'm looking into upgrading to a 5Dii during the summer, however I am a bit concerned about all the comments regarding the autofocus and ability of the 5D to handle action photography.

I do a decent amount of DH mountain bike photography plus some rugby and other such sports.
Right now I'm using a 40D and I'm happy with the focussing, by and large, and I just wanted to see if I could find out how different or worse the focussing is.
I know the fps is slower, but that doesn't bother me, what with the increase in IQ and high ISO performance.

Cheers.
 
As long as theres a good amount of light, you won't have any issues. I shoot birds in flight and so far I've never had a problem :D
 
If you use a 40D without issue, then I expect you will be fine with a 5D. It's pretty much the same AF system

The one thing to remember is the positioning of the AF points... if you use outer points on the 5DII they are not as far out...
 
I had a couple of 40Ds and now have a 7D and 5DII. The autofocus on the 5DII isn't as good as the 40D and a million miles from the 7D. Shooting a toddler waddling towards the camera results in a low hit rate with the 5DII if using the outer focus points. The centre point is better but it really isn't great. In low light the 5DII misses more than it hits. The 40D was better and coped well in most situations. The 7Ds autofocus is very capable and I've been able to focus on fast moving swallows in flight. Photographing a football tournament with the 7D last weekend and the AF nailed it most of the time, even with the outer points. Personally I wouldn't shoot MTB or rugby with a 5DII, sports that in the past I would happily shoot with manual focus F1Ns though :bonk:
 
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The AF on a 5DII is fine for most daytime sports, although you may be pushing it's boundaries a fair amount with rugby.

A more important question is whether or not you'll miss the reach of the crop sensor, which does make a significant difference over the length of a pitch.

If you are only shooting sport, I'd seriously consider the 7D which is fine as a GP camera as well.
 
I borrowed a 5d one weekend while my 40D was getting it's shutter replaced

I did rugby on the Saturday and football on the Sunday and found it terrible to cope
 
I have also used one and found it to be ok if you use the centre focus point. Make sure you acquire focus well before you want to release the shutter.

It is no where near the 1d3 or 1d4 but with practise, it can be very useable...In low light forget it.
 
Don't worry about reach as Mark said. The 40D is 10mp, the 5D2 is 21. So if you just crop the centre out to make the 5D2 the same sensor size as a crop camera then the megapixels left would be 21/(1.6*1.6)=8.2. So not much different.
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
I suspect a 7D could be more suited to your needs - and a couple of hundred pounds cheaper
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7D is better for tracking but the 5DMKII works perfectly fine on fighter aircraft moving laterally at 400 knots so I wouldn't discount it in a hurry! ;)

The 5DMKII also knocks spots off the 7D when it comes to ISO performance.

neil_g said:
Not as bad as some people make out, centre spot is perfectly good for sport in reasonable light.
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:agree:
 
Nobody mentioned that 5D will only do 3fps instead of 6 of 40D. This will mean a few missed moments for sure. It also has a much longer viewfinder blackout, so you will have to anticipate timing pretty accurately. The 5D III is obviously a much better tool for some action, at higher price.

If sports is your main thing I would perhaps look at 7D or 1D III. They are design with moving things in mind.
 
daugirdas said:
Nobody mentioned that 5D will only do 3fps instead of 6 of 40D. This will mean a few missed moments for sure. It also has a much longer viewfinder blackout, so you will have to anticipate timing pretty accurately. The 5D III is obviously a much better tool for some action, at higher price.

If sports is your main thing I would perhaps look at 7D or 1D III. They are design with moving things in mind.
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Bretagnez said:
...I know the fps is slower, but that doesn't bother me, what with the increase in IQ and high ISO performance...
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I just looked at a batch of 120 pics that I took of fast moving windsurfers taken at quite close range sailing towards me down waves with a 5dii and 70-200 f4 using centre focus point and AI servo and I would say that about 90% are in focus so it isn't that bad. I usually use my 50d with a 400mm f5.6 for the longer reach and find the two focus systems very similar. I would love to get the 5diii with tracking focus but it's too much money for something that I don't really have a problem with :). Maybe oneday!
 
neil_g said:
Fps don't bother me personally, very rarely use multi shot even on the 1d. Depends on your technique I guess :)
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Yup.

I've never ever used multi shot, apart from seeing how fast it is when trying a camera for the first time :D I've never used anything other than single shot for a real photo though :D
 
I photograph Junior Rugby with mine :) and, in jpeg, it takes a hell of a lot of shots to fill the buffer
 
Wow, thanks for the response guys.
It seems to vary a LOT between how people find it...
I might try and see if I can get hold of one for a play and then decide.

I know the 7D would be great for sports, but I do mainly landscapes/general travel/walkabout stuff along with the sport. So sport is definitely not the only thing I do.
I just wanted to go down the full frame route and see how/if it works for me, but it's a LOT of money to be sinking!
I just wonder if I'd be cursing myself should I get one and then find the AF isn't upto the standard of at least the 40D...!

Thanks again everyone. Incredible feedback! :D :D
 
woof woof said:
Yup.

I've never ever used multi shot, apart from seeing how fast it is when trying a camera for the first time :D I've never used anything other than single shot for a real photo though :D
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Hmm, try photographing a humpback whale breaching with less than 6 fps.....for me a 7D anytime, but I accept the iso comments.

Personally for action shots, the 7D's system outperforms all but the new 5D3 and 1Dx, it's a more recent design than even the 1D4.

Can't you try them out with a friendly pal's equipment?...that's the best answer!!
 
If you want FF and shoot sports the only sensible choices are 1Ds II or III (X), 5D III or Nikon D700, D3(s,x), D4 and D800. 5D II would be my very last choice only as a last resort.
 
Bretagnez said:
Wow, thanks for the response guys.
It seems to vary a LOT between how people find it...
I might try and see if I can get hold of one for a play and then decide.
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Sadly this is one of those things you will never get a satisfactory answer out of the forum on, the opinions on the 5D MKII's focus system is so widely split that every thread turns into a bit of a joke. For every person who says it's totally usless you will find someone who says it's fine, personally I'd dismiss the extreme opinions at both ends of the spectrum.
 
daugirdas said:
If you want FF and shoot sports the only sensible choices are 1Ds II or III (X), 5D III or Nikon D700, D3(s,x), D4 and D800. 5D II would be my very last choice only as a last resort.
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Unfortunately I don't have the money to spend on those cameras, nor the inclination to have a massive brick-like 1D...
Compromises, compromises!

I'm going to see if I can get hold of a friends 5D and 7D for a bit of a trial run! Hopefully they'll let me play! (y)
 
daugirdas said:
If you want FF and shoot sports the only sensible choices are 1Ds II or III (X), 5D III or Nikon D700, D3(s,x), D4 and D800. 5D II would be my very last choice only as a last resort.
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... and yet I know two highly experienced full time sports photographers who shoot all of their stuff using 5DII's.

Go figure, eh?
 
I've just come back from a day photographing fast moving jets in sometimes pretty poor light with the 5d2 and would say the keep rate is about 95% of 160 images. All the keepers were pin sharp even before PP in RAW format.
Having said that, the 7d is generally regarded to have superior focusing from the now quite old 5d2 and a much higher fps than the 3.9fps the 5d2 has to offer. Personally, the fps has never bothered me even with the low level jets where you have a very short time period to get as many shots as possible.

Gareth
 
George said:
Hmm, try photographing a humpback whale breaching with less than 6 fps.....for me a 7D anytime, but I accept the iso comments.
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I've never shot a whale and moving things aren't normally my thing but I take the odd action shot now and again. Motorbike in mid air? Probably moves a little faster, just a little :D One shot, nailed. :D Or how about a bloke diving off a cliff into the sea, one shot and nailed :D Maybe I'm just lucky :D Moving things aren't really my thing :D
 
From the OP's criteria I would suggest a 1d MkIII as it would be the best all round solution.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'd love one, but I just couldn't justify lugging the huge weight that it is around all day, as an everyday camera. It's just not quite what I'd like.

I have a 5D to have a play on in a couple of weeks time, so I'll see how that works out!
 
Put a decent strap on a 1d body and the weight difference becomes negligible.
 
Id agree with the comments from Surrey Sam get a decent low usage 1D Mk3 it's going too be similar priced too a 5D2 and is more suited too sports having 1.3 crop, better auto focusing , 10fps and decent weather sealing.

The 5D2 is a very good camera but i have both and i would personally go out with 1d Mk3 if i was planning on shooting sports..
 
Throttle said:
Id agree with the comments from Surrey Sam get a decent low usage 1D Mk3 it's going too be similar priced too a 5D2 and is more suited too sports having 1.3 crop, better auto focusing , 10fps and decent weather sealing.

The 5D2 is a very good camera but i have both and i would personally go out with 1d Mk3 if i was planning on shooting sports..
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:plus1:
 
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