Question for you 5D and 1D users

jamesoliverstone

jamesoliverstone

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I have a 20D at the moment (and I love it by the way!) but I know its going to be time to upgrade now that I want to take my portrait work much more seriously.

I will be investing in high quality lighting for a studio environment and for outdoor portraiture.

So, my question is, for this kind of work (where off camera flash will almost always be used) is there much point in buying the 1DS over the 5Dmk2 ?

The 1DS for WHE is almost 2K more expensive, but from what I can find out on the net, the only benefits are greater low light performance and higher AF points / performance in low light...

Is this true? if so, I may be better off buying the 5D and having more money for lots more 2.8L glass? Or is the 1DS sooooo much better than the 5D that I should spend the cash?
 
if you dont need the speed of 1ds go for 5d2
 
If there was a difference in image quality then I would opt for the more expensive, but from what I read, as long as you use good glass, you cant really tell the difference between the two in terms of final image quality???

or am I wrong?
 
I have the 5D classic and the 1DsII so not quite the question you are asking but not far off.

Advantages and disadvantages. The 5D is a lot lighter and over the course of a long shoot that can be an advantage. The 1Ds is an absolute brute of a camera though and will stand just about anything you could ever throw at it.

The autofocus. Ah yes, the autofocus. In good bright conditions the 5D is fine, that is until you get your hands on a 1Ds. :) 9AF points vs 45. No contest. The 1Ds is not only brilliantly quick to grab focus in the first place, it just does not let go! I did some childrens fun shoots recently and I had them riding bikes at my head as I lay on the ground. I put the 1Ds on tracking focus and just kept my finger on the shutter. :) There is no way I could do that with the 5D.

In terms of MP the 5D classic is about 12mp and the 1Ds 16mp so a little behind todays offerings, can I tell the difference? No, not unless you want to print them really, really big. I regularly print to A3+ and there is no discernable difference at that size.

The 1Ds has a battery that could power a small town! I regularly shoot all day on one battery. The 5D would be through 3 or 4.

The 5DII also introduces video and only you can figure out how useful that would be.

Hope that helps but basically the differences are build quality, portability and handling, AF and video with the score 2-2. :)

My advice would be to go to a good store and try them both out and see which one handles better for you.
 
I have a 5d (classic) and my next body will be a 1 series, the AF and the metering are both far superior to my 5d.

A1 servo on the 5 is pretty useless really, that's not so much of an issue in a studio but in the situation Ali mentioned, it's a must.
 
For studio stuff I'd opt for the 5Dmk2, you don't need the tougher body, weather sealing, etc. and the extra cash to spend on glass will make a much greater impact on the results.
 
I loved my 5D until I bought a 1dsmk11. If the 5d is the Porsche of cameras the 1ds mk11 is a Ferrari.
 
I was a bit surprised when you said that the 1DS was almost £2000 more expensive than the 5DII, so I looked at WHE. I guess I'm a bit out of touch with prices. The last time I saw a 1DS 3 price they had been around £6000 on release and just bumped up to £8000 - ish at the time when everything was being jacked up. Now it's got me thinking.....

Anyway, cheapest I've seen a 5DII body is £1800 (last weekend). Don't ask where - I can't remember. A recent pro magazine comparing the two said the difference in picture quality was almost indistinguishable. Having been the victim of numerous focus failures on my 5D, I am inclined to go for something much more reliable like the 1DS 3.
 
Having both a 5D Mk1 and a 1Dslll I would say that unless you really need the additional features of the 1Ds then go for the 5D and spend the money on good quality glass. Good lenses will still be usable when/if you decide to upgrade to a different camera, be it a 1Ds Mk X, or the next generation of 5D's
 
Well, the 1DSmkII is cheaper than the 5DmkII (found a couple on ebay)

So, even though the camera is less mp 16 compared to 22 would you guys choose this camera over the 5D? Like I say, I am am thinking that the trade off in image size could be worth it for the AF?
 
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