Is it worth it? 50D Swap

DarrenToogood

DarrenToogood

JAMES CHARLES HARRIES
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Darren Toogood
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Hi guys,

A good opportunity has arisen for me to swap my 50D which I have had since new (November) for a 1D Mk II. More information about this body will be coming through to me shortly however the only piece of information I have at the moment is... it is like new and has only had 22k clicks.

I am mainly a motorsport/event photographer and therefore the 45 AF Points and 8FPS is very appealing for me. The only concern I do have is the 8MP - Not having had a 8MP before I am concerned about the quality of print. I mainly print at A4 or under - would it cope?

Overall the 1D range is well built and provides a more professional feel however compared to the 50D the camera really does show its age. The 1D Mk II uses a DIGIC II processor, does not have Picture Styles and has a very small 2'' screen. These are not major worries however are concerns which put me on the fence with this decision.

In my position, would you do a straight swap of a 50 for a 1D Mk 2 ?
 
I've not used a 50D or a 1D Mk II, so can't comment on the specifics, but certainly 8MP is fine for A4 prints, assuming of course that you're not cropping too much.
 
DarrenToogood said:
One problem I am hearing, is that after 25k clicks, the 1D is pretty much 'brain dead' ?
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After 25K it's barely broken in! 1D Mk II are rated for 200K actuations. I'd guess that the 50D is more like half of that.
 
The 50 is rated to 100,000 actuations.

If I recall correctly the 1D MkII is a 1.3 crop. Its not a big difference but if you shoot motorsports you may notice the the loss in length.

Say you have a 400mm lens, not uncommon in motorsport, your effective length is going to drop from 640 to 520mm - thats quite a difference. - Just a thought (y)
 
Two different stories here then! I was told by a fellow motorsport photographer who has a 1D MK II and has spoken to others, that after 25k it looses sharpness etc.

As for the crop factor, it would be a difference however generally I will be an official tog and therefore have freedom to roam - I can move that little bit closer. I don't do track stuff therefore not restricted by any safety barriers yards from the track.
 
DarrenToogood said:
Two different stories here then! I was told by a fellow motorsport photographer who has a 1D MK II and has spoken to others, that after 25k it looses sharpness etc.
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I don't understand how this is possible. The sharpness is a function of the lens projecting the image onto the sensor; neither of which will in any real sense deteriorate based on the number of shots taken.

I can understand the shutter mechanism breaking - but that would just mean you can't take any photo's at all, and from that perspective the 1D is engineered to have a longer life than the 50D.

Perhaps the photographer in question never cleaned his lens, and eventually after 6 months went and bought another one ;)
 
DarrenToogood said:
Two different stories here then! I was told by a fellow motorsport photographer who has a 1D MK II and has spoken to others, that after 25k it looses sharpness etc.
Click to expand...

Is that sheep...no, er - horse...no, its bull **** - complete nonsense I'm afraid.
 
1d N is abit better then 1d mk2

It depends what you want to use it for really 1.3 crop is good though and shoots 8.5 shots a second which is good for sports, and basic action shots,

and 50d alot of people i know have this some love the camera but with me 400d its 1.6 crop which i used to find hard shooting sometimes when shooting in tight spaces, 1.3 crop helps me out alot more,


Just depends what your main needs are, and you can always shoot in Raw an then change it to tiff on pc if you need bigger prints,

regards
 
DarrenToogood said:
One problem I am hearing, is that after 25k clicks, the 1D is pretty much 'brain dead' ?
Click to expand...

On the basis that this camera was the de facto sports body for a number of years you can dismiss that with the contempt it deserves.

The 1D series bodies are in another league to the xxD series.
 
Well, this is a 100% crop of frame 30030 on a 1DII.

ME9Q8897.jpg
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Looks sharp enough to me and that's with a zoom lens! My 1Ds has 64000 frames under its belt and is superb. The cameras were built to last. I've seen a 500,000 frame 1DII that was still getting daily use!

On the other points

1. Picture styles don't help you capture accurate data
2. A 2" screen is fine for viewing the histogram. Do any more than that in an action situation and you will miss things

All depends what you want. 1D will focus better, is water proof and built like a Sherman tank. 50D has better resolution but is very demanding on lens resolution.

At 300 dpi, you only need a 6Mpx image to make an A4 print.
 
psnpromotions said:
you can always shoot in Raw an then change it to tiff on pc if you need bigger prints
Click to expand...

:thinking: I'm not quite sure what your trying to say here, the format of the post processed image has nothing to do with initial capture...:shrug:
 
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