Canon 40D Upgrade to 5D? Help!!

Marcus Geezer

Marcus Geezer

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Marcus
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I'm tying myself up in knots here trying to think about my next upgrade. Money no object I'd get myself a 5D MkII AND a 1D MkIV but that is absolutely out of the question unless someone is feeling extremely generous, i.e. my boss.

I'm on a 40D and love it to bits for the it's feel and use but can't help but ponder that I've outgrown the image quality. Don't get me wrong this camera produces outstanding images but I'm thinking that I'm due to go on to a full frame sensor as everyone raves about how smooth the images are. I'm looking at the used market on here and I think ulitmately I'd want a 5D MkII (or possibly a 1D Mkiii with the 1.3 crop?) but frankly looking at money again that is out of the question till at least the middle of next year.

So in the meantime I've been looking at the 5D which I could do now if I wanted to. Looking at the specs of 12.8MP, FF sensor, 3fps, Digic II. ISO 100-1600 (50-3200 expanded), no built in flash, 2.5" screen, I think the only thing I'm gonna miss is the 6.5fps and might notice a difference in the screen size. What I'd gain is better ISO performance and hopefully better image quality than the 40D, slight as it may be.

From a commercial point of view I use the camera mainly for portraiture, business events & exhibitions and sometimes cover the odd sports event. I think I can live without the reach the 1.6 crop gives me on my 70-200 as the sports stuff tends to not be typical football/motorsport type action.

Photochimp has offered some good comments already but I just wondered if anyone else can give me some confidence as to whether it is worth jumping to a 5D by offering positives and negatives when compared to the 40D?
 
Do it.
I have/had a 50D, got a 1dMk2 (off e-bay) and I was impressed by the better IQ over the 50D, then I bought a 5D (2nd hand) and that's better than the 1D IQ, you wont regret it.
Af is a little down on the 50D and you might miss some shots with a slow lens (my 28/135 misses occasionally) but I can live with that.
Portraits are definitely its thing, the IQ is wonderful, smooth (as you say), detailed and beautiful colours but its also great at other stuff too.

Cant think of a single reason why I'd use my 50D over the 5D, not one. Oh alright, if it was likely to get damaged I'd take the 50D as I would hate to lose my 5D. I cant see a single reason to upgrade to a 5D mk2 either, I dont want video, so unless the mk3 offers something really usefull the Mk1 is staying put.

Matt
 
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the MKII does offer better low light shots which i really value, I had a 40d too, and the jump to the 5d was a wonderful experience - though i do wish they had speeded up the focusing a bit

still question whether it was time to switch to the d700 for the enhance focusing - but as that's out of the budget - the 5d is a no brainer!
 
go for it, you don't actually lose any reach and I didn't notice my diff in AF between my 50d and 5d2, I think the 50d has the 40ds af and the 5d2 defo has the 5dIs af

my only issue is the spacing of the points, they're the same distance apart as on a 40d, which bunches them up in the middle of the frame :( I think to spread them out requires a massive AF redesign using 1 series spec stuff
 
oh btw I have a 5d2 and a 5dI, went from a 50d

other issue is the menu on the 5dI is the naff old one, also you won't have proper menu control of canon speedlights (mkII only) which is really handy on a 10m ttl cable
 
david1701 said:
go for it, you don't actually lose any reach and I didn't notice my diff in AF between my 50d and 5d2, I think the 50d has the 40ds af and the 5d2 defo has the 5dIs af

my only issue is the spacing of the points, they're the same distance apart as on a 40d, which bunches them up in the middle of the frame :( I think to spread them out requires a massive AF redesign using 1 series spec stuff
Click to expand...

david1701 said:
oh btw I have a 5d2 and a 5dI, went from a 50d

other issue is the menu on the 5dI is the naff old one, also you won't have proper menu control of canon speedlights (mkII only) which is really handy on a 10m ttl cable
Click to expand...

Spacing of the AF points doesnt sound an issue as I'm happy with my D40 AF system and I'd live with the old menu system as long as it allows me to control the camera as I want where all my off camera flash is manual so no issue there. Will the 5D Mki menu system allow me to change the focus from the 'shutter' button to the back AF button? (thumb focus or whatever it is called?)
 
I am also another that went from a 40D to a 5D as my main camera and wouldn't go back. I have kept my 40D for the sport and avaition stuff as the crop factor helps out alot. I find the focusing and handling pretty much identical, maybe slightly in favour of the 5D, when coupled with my 24-70 2.8L the focusing is pretty quick. The 5D definitely has less noise at the higher ISOs not MkII levels but still less than the 40D. Like others have said the IQ is outstanding, and the colours to my eyes seem far better. The only downsides are the lack of Liveview, worse LCD and old menu system, all of which don't really make a difference to me in real use.
 
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