Canon 5D Classic for weddings?

Eighth Avenue · 1 Mar 2011

Hi guys,

I've been offered a classic 5D for a decent price as a backup body to my mkii. I upgraded from a 40d to a 5d2 primarily for the 5d2's ability to shoot in low light with little noise for poorly lit churches.

The range on the 5d classic seems to be the same as the 40d 1600 or 3200 extended, just wondering what kind of results people are getting in low light with the camera at 1600/3200 and whether it performs significantly better than the 40d?

Thanks in advance for the advice

Iain

BacktotheFuji · 1 Mar 2011

At ISO 1600 it's much better than the 40D...about a stop cleaner. ISO 3200 isn't too good though as it's simply ISO 1600 pushed a stop.

Great camera though! I'm getting married this year and I'm happy that my photographer has a 5D classic

Eighth Avenue · 1 Mar 2011

manualfocus-g said:
At ISO 1600 it's much better than the 40D...about a stop cleaner. ISO 3200 isn't too good though as it's simply ISO 1600 pushed a stop.

Great camera though! I'm getting married this year and I'm happy that my photographer has a 5D classic

Thanks

Anyone got any examples of it doing 1600?

BacktotheFuji · 1 Mar 2011

Here's a few snaps, will hunt out some decent ones later:

Model dinosaur at the Oxford Natural History Museum by ManualFocus-G, on Flickr

Eighth Avenue · 1 Mar 2011

They're at 1600 ISO? Nice! Any noise reduction used?

BacktotheFuji · 1 Mar 2011

Only the very basic noise reduction added by the Adobe Camera RAW software i.e. very little.

Here's some more:

This one is at ISO 3200

grum · 1 Mar 2011

Not sure if linking to facebook works but think these were at 3200 on a 5D mk I in very low light.

180877_10150138900856474_603351473_7872568_7427144_n.jpg

180940_10150138900721474_603351473_7872563_2909388_n.jpg

167771_10150138899386474_603351473_7872513_4423388_n.jpg

Album here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=10150138899216474&id=603351473&aid=334132

I will be shooting a wedding soon with a combination of 5DI and 7D so I'll let you know how it goes!

I've used a 40D a little bit and I would say the quality of the noise is different - the 5D noise just looks better and more 'film-like' imo.

Eighth Avenue · 2 Mar 2011

Just took the plunge and bought it

BacktotheFuji · 2 Mar 2011

Great decision

It's still a hell of a camera...I don't shoot weddings for money so have never lusted after the higher ISO capability of the 5D2. One day maybe, but I've got so much more to get out of my 5D classic yet I really can't see me upgrading for a while (and this coming from someone who has got through four crop bodies in the past 15 months!).