How good is the EOS 5D?

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Splog

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Steve
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Hi all :wave:

I'm considering upgrading to a 5D from an EOS 30D :thinking: (I will be keeping the 30D ) but like the idea of ff for landscapes and macro! so here are my concerns, is the 5D perhaps a bit out-dated? is a newer model about to be released? Do any 5D users have anything negative to say about it ?

I'm, not actuall trying to start a negative thread for the 5D but would like to know what's not so good as I'm sure there are some niggles :cautious:and dissapointments about the camera?
 
Had one since December (upgraded from a 350D)...and I've not found a niggle yet. I'm mainly a nature/landscapes/people photographer, so it suits me perfectly. Its noise performance is excellent, and images have an indescribable rich, velvety feel that I've not seen from any other camera I've tried. I use a 20D as a day-to-day camera, and so the 5D gets taken out less often, but when I do use it for more organised shoots, the image quality just makes me smile every time. Some will say it needs good glass to get the best out of it though - yes, most of my lenses are L's, but some of the sharpest, richest shots I've taken with the 5D were with my Tamron 28-75mm - see here for some examples.

It's been around since 2005, but is still capable of great images, and I think it's amazing value at around £1100 after cashback. There'll probably be an updated version later this year, but it'll retail for closer to £2k, I expect. Buy now and enjoy (y)
 
Thanks marky_h

I also plan to keep the 30D as an everyday camera and the 5D for planned stuff :) (y)

Come on guys - Talk me out of it.... pleeease ;)

Steve
 
The 5D is a brilliant camera. At the moment excellent value at just over £1,000.

It's good in all situations (except perhaps sports), not just landscape.

Canon have not yet announced a new 5D even though it is well overdue for an upgrade. My guess is that they will announce the 5D MKII at Photokina this September.

Even with a new version, the 5D is still a great bit of kit and won't stop being great just because a newer version is out.
 
8utters said:
Even with a new version, the 5D is still a great bit of kit and won't stop being great just because a newer version is out.
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Thanks 8utters for the feedback!

Negatives please! - someone :naughty:
 
It's kinda outdated as it's been out for several years.

Infact most of the features on a 40D are superior to those on a 5D, but the 5D's sensor makes it a brilliant camera, worth the extra cash.
 
As 8utters says, it's an old model and some of the cheaper models have caught up spec-wise, but it produces amazing images and is coming down in price (and will drop further when it's replacement comes out). I'm sure it won't be long before it hits £800 and it's a whole lot of camera for that money.
 
It's full-frame. Enough said. Once you've got used to using lenses at their true focal length, the incredible detail and lack of noise at high ISOs, you'll never go back.

Were it not for the 5D, I'd still be using a film camera.

A.
 
The 5D is certainly a pivotal camera. Portraits and Landscapes, especially in low light, are it's strength.

It's metering is it's weak point which gets well found out in sporting situations.

This said I have gone on trips with the 5D and left the 1Ds MkII behind simply because there is more than enough quality in that small package. Especially at high ISO where it has held it's respected position despite others arriving on the scene with similar advantages.
 
Steve,

I use my 30D's for true macro stuff (1:1 and greater)...the 5D has less 'apparant' DOF if you're frame filling. Stick the 180L on it for the close up stuff and it comes into it's own with larger bugs and fauna....fantastic tones and colours.

I'm sure the '5DMkII' will have extra features but will you need them and will they be at the expense of image quality.....I firmly belive that the 20D produces better rendition that the 30D and 40D despite being down on some of the features. There's a lot of 5D's out there but only a very small percentage get sold.

Bob
 
i love my 5D, we use it mainly in studio and for weddings and havent had a bad day with it yet.

if you want a negative there here you go- it doesnt work properly tethered with eos utility on my macbook pro. you have to perform some giggery pokkery to get it to work but that only takes seconds so its not a major issue.

all the shots in our baby toddler section of our portfolio on our website are 5D www.christinehoadphotography.co.uk
 
Sports and motorsports it is never going to excel at but if you are buying a 5D I'd hope it was not to shoot sports!

You are not going to get the focus performance or the frame rate of a 1Ds or a 1D but you are not going to pay 3K or 6K either. If you are a pro (like Papa is) I can see that the 5D may not measure up to a brace of 1D's but for most of us it is a very capable camera. You don't get full frame any cheaper and with L glass it's a little gem.

Personally I've had mine for a year, I've shot 4K frames in that year and I'm not disappointed. In fact I love it.
 
I have had one for around 16 months have shot around 5000 frames not let me down and had some good results ,but I use my 1 D MK2n as my main camera , will be selling my 5D as just about to get a 1 D MK3 , would recommend anyone getting one its a good all round camera
 
I've just doen the swap from a 30d

- well worth it for the full frame (but make sure you have good glass to avoid issues at the corners; try your lenses on it if you are not up to L glass or good sigma quality before you buy)
- handling (feels better again in the hand)
- IQ is awesome - i've shot about 200 frames so far and i've not had one that i'm not wow'd by in terms of colour rendition even on a laptop screen
- its days might be numbered with a MkII possibly on the horizon (been talking about it for 18 months!), and its on paper performance doesn't read that impressively alongside the latest 450/40d but at the price they are now its a bargain.
 
An excellent camera, I have three 1-series bodies as well, but keep getting drawn back to it - I use it at every wedding I shoot, and it's always my first choice for personal stuff.

IQ is excellent, colours are excellent, noise is excellent, it's full frame and it costs a grand. Get one.

It's only failing is that the centre focus point is the only one that's worth using.

Duncan
 
WDC rates it at 91% (if I remember correctly) however it lists under the cons - quite severe vignetting, some cameras seem to have it and some dont.

Also I am not sure what level of weather sealing it has.

As mentioned by other posters, frame rates are not that spectacular - but then you dont buy a 5D for sports shooting do you :)

As a Nikon shooter I have only had access to a 5D on a couple of occasions. The positives listed above, and my hands on experience, are enough to make me wish for a similarly priced Nikon equivalent.......
 
What *is* the similarly priced Nikon equivalent?
 
D300 seems to be the same price point nowadays.

Weather sealing on the 5d - none, similar to 40d
 
From what I've seen it's got IQ second only to 1DSmk2 and mk3, and on par with the Nikon D3.
Having said that, it's got "ok" but not great AF, only 3fps, no weather sealing, no anti-dust mechanism (if that's important to you).
So as stated, awesome with static targets, but not the best thing out there for something that's moving on in poor weather conditions.
 
The weather sealing on the 5D is quite good. 4 hours in the rain during the Marathon - 5D still working, 1D2 still working. 3 straight days of rain in Prague - 5D no problems (though the 17-40 was useless as it kept getting rain on the front element).
 
jimybell said:
Use an umbrella, lens hood, camera cover???
Jim
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If you are refering to the 17-40, then no Umbrella (I normally don't carry one when shooting travel work. Just wear a hooded top), lens hood attached, had a filter attached for a few hours, untill it was obvious that the filter just sat further out and got more water on it. The lens hood on the 17-40 is a very bad design IMHO. I ended up shooting mostly with the 28-70 F2.8. The deep lens hood (just like on the 24-70) is very good at keeping rain off the front element.
 
Hi all and thanks for the replies :clap: It sounds like the 5D is a lot of camera for the money and what I'm looking for but I think I'll hang on a bit longer and see if it's replacement comes out soon and hopefully bring its price down a bit. It still seems pretty good value for about £1000 though.

Thanks again
Steve
 
It will take another drop when the next version comes out but I can't see canon letting it get much below £900 or it will take sales away from current models below it. There may be some good body and lens deals that come along perhaps.

At about a grand it's really good value and compared to all the folks that bought one at £1500 or more, you'd still be doing pretty well. ;)

I have no idea of there is another camera out there that makes more sense but I do know that I really rate the 5 very highly and I didn't want to at all. :LOL:
 
I didnt know the 5D had weather sealing!!! :shrug:
 
I didn't think it did.
 
just not under water.. :naughty:
 
no it doesn't. Currently going for about £850 on ebay or £1400 with the 24-105L on it - someone got a body last week for £550 - git!!!
 
percymon said:
D300 seems to be the same price point nowadays.

Weather sealing on the 5d - none, similar to 40d
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Yeahhhhhhh, but the D300 isn't a full frame camera, it's a 1.5x crop (I think). Same price point, different market.

And AFAIK the 40D has minimal weather sealing as well.
 
fraggle101 said:
just not under water.. :naughty:
Click to expand...

You may be supprised.... When I still had 20Ds, one of them fell into a pool of ankle deep water, and subsequently stoped working. It took a day to dry it out, but it continued to work after that for 6 months, at which time I sold it (and as far as I know it is still working).

The funny thing is that on the CF card recovered from the camera, the final image looks very much like it was taken in the pool of water (well actually half in the pool of water and half out).

So I would say that it (5D) can work under water but only at 2-3 FPW (frames per week) :LOL: :D.
 
It seems the 5d 2 is to be released soon, Amazon have just launched a field guid for it by mistake, it was supposed be launched in November, so I guess the cameras due out before that. Wayne
 
:cautious::cautious::cautious::cautious::cautious:


lol@ FJ..
 
Check it out.. iv never seen a silver 5D before...

link
 
now check THIS out..

mkll


Heres a rumour mill.. iv just found it.. clicky
 
:LOL::LOL:

it might just become a second body!! lol..

you should go digi mate.. but keep the film camera too...
 
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