Should I Sell 1D3 for 5D2?

redmonkee

redmonkee

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PHILIP
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Hi guys

i'd love some advice on my little dilemma. I'm considering selling my 1Dmk3 to invest in a 5D2, the main reason being i'd like full frame plus a smaller more lightweight body as the 1D3 can be a little heavy when carrying all day.

The reason I have my 1D3 is for the football I have been shooting for the last few years. However I have since sold my 300 2.8 and have decided not to pursue a career in sports photography. Now i feel I could downgrade my body but at the same time take a big jump in image resolution and also have the ability to shoot video which would be nice for family events:)

I was waiting for yesterday's announcement but seeing as Canon have decided to announce cinematic cameras it seems the 5D3 will be some way off yet, which is making me think about the 5D2.

The one thing drawing me to keep the 1D3 is that I may still shoot the odd junior sports event in the summer, but then I've heard so much good things about the 5D2 centre focus point i'm thinking I could get away with using it for low level sports.

What do you think?
 
I've a 1Dmk2 and a 5D Classic, if I had to choose 1 camera it would be the 1D.
The 5D is lovely and it does produce nice images, especially compare to my wifes 50D but the difference between a 1 and a 5 isnt that huge. I think you will miss the build quality and the AF of the 1.

Matt
 
redmonkee,

No experience of 1D3 but we have a 5D2 and it did windermere airshow (inc red arrows) with a 70-200 2.8 + 1.4TC no probs on centre point.

HTH

Rob :)
 
ive been having the same dilema recently. to sell the 1dmk3 and the 120-300 and get a 2nd backup 5dmk2 and some more shorter glass.

the 5dmk2 really isnt that bad on center point tracking. mind you not sure the weight is much different by the time youve got a grip on the 5d though.
 
Hi Gary

I've decided to save the money for my house deposit. I did get picked up by an agency but it was on risk, and the cost of travel and parking plus insurance and public liability meant it was gonna be very hard to make money from it.

Also I had so much money tied up in my camera bag I decided to free a little to go into my savings account.

I'm still gonna do local stuff and sell to parents but the pro stuff i'll be leaving it to you guys.

Hope all is going well for you mate :thumbs:
 
neil_g said:
ive been having the same dilema recently. to sell the 1dmk3 and the 120-300 and get a 2nd backup 5dmk2 and some more shorter glass.

the 5dmk2 really isnt that bad on center point tracking. mind you not sure the weight is much different by the time youve got a grip on the 5d though.
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yeah it's quite a hard choice. I know the 5D will give me lovely images, but its whether I can cope with the AF of the 5D having been used to the 1D3.

with regards to weight I doubt i'd bother with the grip as that would defy the point of down sizing
 
MatBin said:
I've a 1Dmk2 and a 5D Classic, if I had to choose 1 camera it would be the 1D.
The 5D is lovely and it does produce nice images, especially compare to my wifes 50D but the difference between a 1 and a 5 isnt that huge. I think you will miss the build quality and the AF of the 1.

Matt
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That's what is making this decision really hard. But then I know i'd love the smaller form of the 5D when on family vacations.
 
This is something that I thought long and hard about. I really wanted a 1D body and seemed tied between a 1dMk3 and a 5DMk2, but the FF and the better high ISO performance of the 5DMk2 means this is next on my upgrade path, but for the kind of work I do the 5D seems better suited which I think is the main decision you'd think about?
 
redmonkee said:
That's what is making this decision really hard. But then I know i'd love the smaller form of the 5D when on family vacations.
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A 5D with a 50mm on is just great for holidays!
 
I am juggling a 5dmkII, a 1DmkIII and a 7D at the moment. At least one has to go, maybe two. The 5D is perfect for almost everything I do except action. While it can cope (I did some kite surfing shots with it that were great) the others are both noticeably better. If I drop to just one camera I think it might be the 7D - probably the worst of the three but the best compromise.

Matt's combination of a 5D classic and a 1DmkII would cover everything for the value of a 1DmkIII.
 
redmonkee said:
yeah it's quite a hard choice. I know the 5D will give me lovely images, but its whether I can cope with the AF of the 5D having been used to the 1D3.

with regards to weight I doubt i'd bother with the grip as that would defy the point of down sizing
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ive had sucess using the 5dmk2 for indoor equestrian (i.e - walk, trot, canter) on center point.

yet to try anything faster though.
 
ianmarsh said:
I am juggling a 5dmkII, a 1DmkIII and a 7D at the moment. At least one has to go, maybe two. The 5D is perfect for almost everything I do except action. While it can cope (I did some kite surfing shots with it that were great) the others are both noticeably better. If I drop to just one camera I think it might be the 7D - probably the worst of the three but the best compromise.

Matt's combination of a 5D classic and a 1DmkII would cover everything for the value of a 1DmkIII.
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I'd love to see your kite surfing shots taken with the 5D2 :)

one other thing that appeals to me about the 5D2 is the customisable C1, C2, C3 settings on the dial. This seems a great way of quickly switching to different settings. I'm getting a bit fed up with the 1D3 and all the menus I have to access to switch custom settings.
 
I'm going to hate myself for saying this, but if I were in your position Phil and had to find a compromise camera, I'd be looking at ditching Canon and moving to a D700.

Admittedly it doesn't have video, but in all other ways it's the perfect hybrid of 5DII and 7D that everyone has wanted Canon to produce for ages.

Other than that I'd be looking at a 7D.
 
DemiLion said:
I'm going to hate myself for saying this, but if I were in your position Phil and had to find a compromise camera, I'd be looking at ditching Canon and moving to a D700.

Admittedly it doesn't have video, but in all other ways it's the perfect hybrid of 5DII and 7D that everyone has wanted Canon to produce for ages.

Other than that I'd be looking at a 7D.
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Oh Mark why have you done this to me. I've never considered going over to the dark side but having looked at the spec of the D700 I have to say I'm really impressed and even considering switching.

My only problem with Nikon is I don't understand the jargon regarding their lenses. With Canon I know which are L series etc but with Nikon I aint a clue:shake:
 
Well if your continuing with sports photography I cannot for the life of me why you would sell a 1dmk3 for a 5d2 which is well known for having a not great autofocus
I appreciate you are not going to be doing as much (for an agency) but you seem to be getting rid of high res Lenses 300mm mk2.8 in favour of more megapixels on a camera body

also remember the weather sealing on the 5d is not in the same ball park as any 1 series camera
 
I've made the switch, albeit a generation older 1Dmk2 to 5D. I swapped for similar reasons, gave up taking motorsports photography seriously and wanted something smaller with better IQ.

I am glad I made the swap, but it did take a while to get used to the slower AF, yes, you can shoot action on a 5D, but it is nowhere near as good as the 1D series when it comes to AF.

One camera is never going to be able to do it all, so it is a compromise based on what you will be using the camera for most.
 
Buttkicker said:
Well if your continuing with sports photography I cannot for the life of me why you would sell a 1dmk3 for a 5d2 which is well known for having a not great autofocus
I appreciate you are not going to be doing as much (for an agency) but you seem to be getting rid of high res Lenses 300mm mk2.8 in favour of more megapixels on a camera body

also remember the weather sealing on the 5d is not in the same ball park as any 1 series camera
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I hear what you're saying but I simply couldnt justify keeping a 300 2.8 if i'm not shooting pro level footy anymore.

I thought if the 5D would work ok for Junior stuff then that'd be fine for me. But the more I think about it the more I worry about the drop in AF performance.

I'm now looking at the D700 and this seems a perfect solution. Full frame plus 5FPS and superb noise performance and also smaller body than my 1D3, just wish it was a canon body
 
DemiLion said:
I'm going to hate myself for saying this, but if I were in your position Phil and had to find a compromise camera, I'd be looking at ditching Canon and moving to a D700.

Admittedly it doesn't have video, but in all other ways it's the perfect hybrid of 5DII and 7D that everyone has wanted Canon to produce for ages.

Other than that I'd be looking at a 7D.
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Yes it does have video, it's a hack but does work, mind you I've never used it on the D700 or D3S
 
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redmonkee said:
I hear what you're saying but I simply couldnt justify keeping a 300 2.8 if i'm not shooting pro level footy anymore.

I thought if the 5D would work ok for Junior stuff then that'd be fine for me. But the more I think about it the more I worry about the drop in AF performance.

I'm now looking at the D700 and this seems a perfect solution. Full frame plus 5FPS and superb noise performance and also smaller body than my 1D3, just wish it was a canon body
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Phil, I was in the same boat when I first switched to Nikon, AF, AF-S, AF-D, G lenses, and DX lenses, I asked and found out, you can always ask me as I've owned just about every single lens made, heck Phil, I'll even lend you a D700 and lens when I'm not using it, I'm only in Birstall 5 mins from JCT 27 M62' post code WF17 0ND
 
redmonkee said:
I hear what you're saying but I simply couldnt justify keeping a 300 2.8 if i'm not shooting pro level footy anymore.

I thought if the 5D would work ok for Junior stuff then that'd be fine for me. But the more I think about it the more I worry about the drop in AF performance.

I'm now looking at the D700 and this seems a perfect solution. Full frame plus 5FPS and superb noise performance and also smaller body than my 1D3, just wish it was a canon body
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8fps with the £40 Meike grip
 
Gary Coyle said:
Phil, I was in the same boat when I first switched to Nikon, AF, AF-S, AF-D, G lenses, and DX lenses, I asked and found out, you can always ask me as I've owned just about every single lens made, heck Phil, I'll even lend you a D700 and lens when I'm not using it, I'm only in Birstall 5 mins from JCT 27 M62' post code WF17 0ND
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Yeah thats the thing i'm struggling with. At least Canon dumb their lingo down so people like me can understand it :lol:

I'll send you a PM and thanks for the offer to borrow your D700, that really is kind of you :thumbs:
 
If your selling the lot and switching camps to the Dark side the D700 looks to be a great bit of kit and with all this talk of a D800 coming out the D700 is appearing more and more in the various for sale sections so might well be picked up at a good price

having said all that - if I had to watch Farsley Celtic every week I would be considering a different hobby altogether LOL
 
Buttkicker said:
If your selling the lot and switching camps to the Dark side the D700 looks to be a great bit of kit and with all this talk of a D800 coming out the D700 is appearing more and more in the various for sale sections so might well be picked up at a good price

having said all that - if I had to watch Farsley Celtic every week I would be considering a different hobby altogether LOL
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haha very funny re Farsley :lol:

Please dont talk about a D800 coming out as I'll end up waiting for that now :shake:
 
Get 1Ds mkII. You'll keep great AF and build quality, get much better resolution (same if cropped to 1.3x). You will only lose 10fps to 4, but that's not a big deal if you aren't full time in sports.
I would only consider 5DII as a backup to 1Ds, and probably use it quite little, as I wouldn't get it near rain or coastline.
 
The 1D series are a lot heavier & more bulky though, one of the OPs reasons for thinking 5D...
 
daugirdas said:
Get 1Ds mkII. You'll keep great AF and build quality, get much better resolution (same if cropped to 1.3x). You will only lose 10fps to 4, but that's not a big deal if you aren't full time in sports.
I would only consider 5DII as a backup to 1Ds, and probably use it quite little, as I wouldn't get it near rain or coastline.
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Terrible noise above ISO 800
 
redmonkee said:
I'd love to see your kite surfing shots taken with the 5D2 :)
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Just a couple:
5745486590_57b7a04513_b.jpg


5745485534_902685754b_b.jpg


5744937227_c509541d78_b.jpg


Freezing wind that day and the surfers were head to toe in black wetsuits, so not so photogenic as the topless, preening Italians I have shot in the past.
 
DemiLion said:
I'm going to hate myself for saying this, but if I were in your position Phil and had to find a compromise camera, I'd be looking at ditching Canon and moving to a D700.

Admittedly it doesn't have video, but in all other ways it's the perfect hybrid of 5DII and 7D that everyone has wanted Canon to produce for ages.

Other than that I'd be looking at a 7D.
Click to expand...

I would have said it's a better match for the 5D not a 5d2, 12mp against 24?
 
redmonkee said:
indeed it does but i'm worried the nikon glass wont compare to the canon glass I have in particular the 70-200 2.8
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The main reason three of my friends have come over to Canon.
 
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