5D mark 1 observations

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milspec78

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Tristan
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I bought a 5d mark 1 second hand a couple of years ago and I have run off 30 or 40000 frames since then.

I was planning to upgrade to the 5d2 or 3 over this winter but have decided that I really don't 'need' an upgrade. I see a lot of posts on the web as to whether the 5D mark 1 is still a realistic upgrade choice, and I have a few observations from my experience I want to share.

I have shot in the rain, spent weeks in dusty and sub zero environments. I change lenses outside and have dropped the camera from waist height on at least a couple of occasions. It has taken everything I have thrown at it, its been awesome.

I have shot weddings in dark locations in winter at iso 3200 and produced 24"x12" album pages of great quality.

I have shot and printed dozens of group shots with anywhere up to 130 people both inside and outside with "only" 12 and a bit MP, and the prints look great.

I regularly make prints at A2 with "only" 12 and a bit MP

The important thing to me is that it still amazes me, in almost every situation, the quality that this body is able to record. If image quality is top of your agenda and you don't need the extra bells and whistles this body is still an excellent choice imvho!

(I must confess that it isn't very good at video ;))
 
Totally agree Tristan and only thing I don't think much of is how dirty the sensor gets

Small price to pay though for such good quality photos
 
tijuana taxi said:
Totally agree Tristan and only thing I don't think much of is how dirty the sensor gets

Small price to pay though for such good quality photos
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Yup, contamination on the sensor and in the VF is a pain as is the size and weight of the camera plus lens but I'm happy with the image quality and I see no need to upgrade or seek more mp's.
 
yep there has only been some minor evolution in dSLR front, mainly video and fancier electronics, but not so much in terms of sensitivity or color (still bayer RGB or similar). Long term Nikon shooters may slightly disagree there

1DsII and 5DIII can still produce very similar images. 16 vs 22mp, both sharp, similar colours, clean files (ISO1600 vs 3200 - 6400 on 5D starts to look quite bad), with just a bit of advantage to 5DIII in every aspect. The sad part is they are 8 years apart and I just expected they wouldn't hold back to new tech so much.
 
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I've been considering a change to full frame for a little while now and have looked at either a used 5D2 or a new 6D but cash is not flowing freely in my house at present due to a new baby, consequently I have been looking at the 5D1 as an affordable way into full frame. I know that megapixels aren't everything but its in the back of my mind that going from an 18mp crop 550D to "only" 12mp is going to cause issues. I use dscl for my prints and normally sell 15x10 prints, sometimes 18x12. I shoot landscapes and the occasional pet portrait and very rarely family occasions, at present I use the sigma 10-20 for landscapes which I'm aware ill need to sell but hopefully coupled with selling my 550D, kit lens and 55-250 I might be able to stretch to a 5D1 and a used 17-40L. I have a 50mm 1.8 (doesn't everyone?) As well for portraits.....

Please someone convince me I won't regret changing
 
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I used to have a 5D mk I and upgraded in 2009 to a mk II. Doing videos is a nice-to-have but I rarely use it for that (so far). The larger screen is nice, but otherwise I don't think the extra megapixels adds much to the quality. In fact I recently did a direct comparison between images from the 5D mkII with L-glass and a Leica M8 (10 mpixels, 1.5 crop-sensor) with Leica glass, and the quality of the Leica shots was far superior. The extra resolution of the 5D mkII was more than lost to the lower-quality glass (even with L-series lenses) and the vaguaries of the different sensors.
 
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I was considering a new body, and the 6D jumped out as the obvious successor to the 5D1 for me - it's a similar price to what I paid for the 5D1 and has a full stop of noise advantage (and all the other guff of course). But instead I'm opting for an IS lens and a service for the 5D1 (which seems 'just about' worth the money at this point).
 
nickjohnwatson said:
I've been considering a change to full frame for a little while now and have looked at either a used 5D2 or a new 6D but cash is not flowing freely in my house at present due to a new baby, consequently I have been looking at the 5D1 as an affordable way into full frame. I know that megapixels aren't everything but its in the back of my mind that going from an 18mp crop 550D to "only" 12mp is going to cause issues. I use dscl for my prints and normally sell 15x10 prints, sometimes 18x12. I shoot landscapes and the occasional pet portrait and very rarely family occasions, at present I use the sigma 10-20 for landscapes which I'm aware ill need to sell but hopefully coupled with selling my 550D, kit lens and 55-250 I might be able to stretch to a 5D1 and a used 17-40L. I have a 50mm 1.8 (doesn't everyone?) As well for portraits.....

Please someone convince me I won't regret changing
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Hi

You shoot a fair bit of landscape I doubt you would regret full frame the 10-22 is a great lens but the 17-40 is a fine bit of glass as well

Not familiar with dsci prints but really think you could eat the size you print for breakfast

You may well regret the change for pets in speed and lens reach
 
Every time I think I want to change my 5D I go out and shoot a few images, take a look at them and think again. I only shoot with relatively modest glass (28mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.4 & a 100mm f/2) but love the images I get from it.

It just amazes me how the prices of them are dropping and what a great economical way it is to get into full frame.
 
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Hi


Enjoyed reading your post about the mk1, I never owned one I had the mk 2 and mark3 love full frame though needed the mk3 for sports images

The main difference between the two bodies for me was the information you could recover from a raw image with the mk3

Does the mk1 suffer from much dust in the view finder and I don't think it did a self clean of the sensor did it ?

Allan
 
border_all said:
Does the mk1 suffer from much dust in the view finder and I don't think it did a self clean of the sensor did it ?Allan
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Contamination in the VF = Yes, but so have all of my SLR's and DSLR's. Sensor cleaning is D.I.Y.
 
just bought a 5D MK 1 and it was delivered yesterday to go with the 17-40 i bought last week.
its going to be a lot easier to carry then the 1D.
 
I'm back and forth over a 5Dc at the moment. £2k budget initially so a 5Dc would give me great scope for some nice glass, Sigma 35mm 1.4 and Canon 135mm f2 would no doubt keep me very happy.

With a 6D new realistically I would probably have to go with the 24-105 f4 to cover a bit of range within budget...and I'm guessing the 35/135 combo will give me far more of a FF 'wow' factor.
 
ukaskew said:
I'm back and forth over a 5Dc at the moment. £2k budget initially so a 5Dc would give me great scope for some nice glass, Sigma 35mm 1.4 and Canon 135mm f2 would no doubt keep me very happy.

With a 6D new realistically I would probably have to go with the 24-105 f4 to cover a bit of range within budget...and I'm guessing the 35/135 combo will give me far more of a FF 'wow' factor.
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A few years ago I was at an event with my 20D and 50mm f1.4 shooting alongside someone with a 5DII and 24-105mm f4. Believe it or not my 20D+50mm f1.4 got the better shots. The 5D user was stuck at f4 with no flash and the 5DII's higher ISO couldn't save the situation. The 5D shooter was gutted that the 20D got the better shots :D

Personally I'd always go for a faster lens than an f4 zoom if at all possible.

Not an issue if you don't shoot in low light though, or if you want to carry a speedlight with you.
 
milspec78 said:
The important thing to me is that it still amazes me, in almost every situation, the quality that this body is able to record. If image quality is top of your agenda and you don't need the extra bells and whistles this body is still an excellent choice imvho!

(I must confess that it isn't very good at video ;))
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Now imagine what quality would give you the latest generation of equipment since 5D3 excels the original in every single category including video...
 
RainMaker said:
Now imagine what quality would give you the latest generation of equipment since 5D3 excels the original in every single category including video...
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No, the original 5D doesn't do video but if video is your priority there are arguably better things to shoot it with than a 5D. Back to stills... Maybe you could post some images that show how superior the latest cameras are to the original 5D. That'd help those thinking of going FF.
 
woof woof said:
No, the original 5D doesn't do video but if video is your priority there are arguably better things to shoot it with than a 5D. Back to stills... Maybe you could post some images that show how superior the latest cameras are to the original 5D. That'd help those thinking of going FF.
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Please don't get me wrong, I was trying to say that 5D is very good peace of kit no doubt, but 5D3 is even better. Images by itself would not prove anything. Any camera is capable of getting stunning results, however the advance of the technologies during the recent years make this being easier.
 
5D3 & 6D both offer pretty much a full stop better sensitivity (i.e lower noise) than the Mk.I.
 
I stepped up to the 6D and the high ISO capability is clearly better with the new camera. That said, there's very little difference at lower ISOs and the 5D images are much quicker to process :)

Biggest differences for me are the far superior LCD, lighter weight / smaller size of the 6D and auto ISO. I love auto ISO :D

P.s. I've kept the 5D too, it's too good to sell.
 
manualfocus-g said:
I stepped up to the 6D and the high ISO capability is clearly better with the new camera. That said, there's very little difference at lower ISOs and the 5D images are much quicker to process :)

Biggest differences for me are the far superior LCD, lighter weight / smaller size of the 6D and auto ISO. I love auto ISO :D

P.s. I've kept the 5D too, it's too good to sell.
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Looking at newer camera images on line and looking at downloaded images I think I agree your your summary.

Newer cameras offer more bells and whistles such as bigger screens etc and higher ISO's (the 5Dc stops of 3200) but when looking just at image quality I think that when shooting RAW and processing for best results the newer cameras will possibly only show an improvement in the following situations...

- When shooting at the highest ISO settings.
- When printing very large or when cropping and printing large.
- When pixel peeping at high magnification.
- When otherwise and in some other way pushing the camera to the very limit.

I think that these things are true of pretty much any comparison except maybe when thinking of the market leaders which offer more DR and much better shadow pulling options that I don't think Canon can yet match. For example when moving from 20D to 5D I saw little improvement other than in my little extreme circumstances detailed above. The same is true when I compare my 5D to my MFT G1 and at low to mid ISO's G1 images stand up very well when compared to 5D images.

Personally I don't tend to need bells and whistles. I only use the camera display for quick review and chimping so the 5D's is adequate, I don't need a cutting edge focus system, I'm happy with the 5D's 12mp chip as the largest I've ever printed is A3+ and I find that I can crop even to 100% and still get a good sized print.

So the 5D is good enough for me but I do realise that newer cameras are "better" but I'm not sure I'd see the "betterness" as personally whenever I upgrade (300D to 20D to 5D) mostly I'm struggling to see the difference and only see improvements in the extremes of shooting like higher ISO's and mega crops.
 
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In a word AF. The mk3 meant I could use just it and no longer have to choose between a mk 1 and a 1d mk2 in my bag. But the mk1 is still a great camera if you don't shoot action stuff with an f4 and 2x converter.
Matt
 
I've decided my Fuji itch is too much, so am selling up my 5D mk1 and DSLR kit if anyone's interested.

Thread details can be found here :)
 
Very interesting read this, its interesting how odd body comparisons occur as 2nd hand prices reduce.

I'm in the process of considering a 2nd body, was looking into Fuji GF-1/x-10 terrirory. BUT have always wanted to foray into the FF world and being able to use my existing lenses, makes me think this is a good idea.

Having a crop and FF would cover pretty much all my subjects in photography - Crop for motorsport/action & FF for Landscape/Lightpainting.

Am I being a dafty or is this solid thinking?

Cheers
Scott
 
As a pure no frills picture taking machine the 5D takes some beating, no live view, video, sensor cleaning gizmo or many other new fangled options, but it takes a great photo

Bought a 6D, not sure how good they are because I got a dodgy one and now got a 5DMKII, but no intention of parting with my trusty 5D

For some purposes I personally think it still has the edge especially for colour rendition and fine detail, no doubt helped by its weak AA filter
 
manualfocus-g said:
You will really enjoy the 5D so long as you understand it's limitations (which only exist because technology has moved on). It's a great camera, but sadly mine will be sold soon to part pay for my Sony a7 :(
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tijuana taxi said:
As a pure no frills picture taking machine the 5D takes some beating, no live view, video, sensor cleaning gizmo or many other new fangled options, but it takes a great photo

Bought a 6D, not sure how good they are because I got a dodgy one and now got a 5DMKII, but no intention of parting with my trusty 5D

For some purposes I personally think it still has the edge especially for colour rendition and fine detail, no doubt helped by its weak AA filter
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Thanks for the input guys, all very intersting reading. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet but its looking possible. Got a quote from MPB on part ex.
 
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