7D or 5D that is tbe question

Sp33x

Sp33x

Suspended / Banned
Messages
145
Name
Terry
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all I'll keep this simple. I take All sorts of photos sport, portrait, landscape. And I'm totally addicted to this hobby. I'm ready to upgrade from my 500D I have read a 100 reviews but I wondered if someone or several would be kind enough to tell me what one they would choose and why?

I have several lenses and understand one is a crop, I guess I'm looking for pros and cons so I can make an informed decision.

Thank you. Sp33x
 
What do you shoot most of? If its landscapes and portrait then 5d. If its sport/wildlife then 7d. I have just ordered a 7d, having considered the 5d. I mostly take pictures of my family, which would indicate a 5d but my 40d does that fine. My main interest is wildlife, however, and as I have hit the buffers there with my 40d the 7d was best for me!
 
I have been through the same thought process a little while ago.

Things to consider

  • What proportion of your photography will be sports vs portrait/landscape?
  • What's your budget?
  • Will your photography likely to evolve from sports to landscape/portrait or vice-versa?

It is generally accepted that the 7D is better for sports and the 5DII is better for landscape and portrait.

However, in my opinion, the 7D is a better landscape/portrait camera than the 5DII is a sports camera.

That is why I bought a 7D.
 
Even though I do quite a bit of low level aircraft shots, I upgraded to the 5D and have not looked back. I wanted to go FF though which I beleive the 7D is not. The cropped sensor on the 7D will give you more reach from your lenses and a much better FPS than the 5D but based on my own testing, I prefered the 5D. The ISO it can comfortably do is amazing. Not sure how the 7d behaves on high ISO levels.:shrug:
I don't think you'll be disppointed with either. :thumbs:

Gareth
 
I ended up going for a 5d2 rather than a 7d as I don't do sports, but do portraits etc !
With any full frame (ie 5d) body it is generally thought that you really do need very high quality lenses to get the most from it, but a crop factor body (ie 7d) means you can use lenses that are not quite so expensive without it showing up why the higher quality lenses are so expensive !
You say you have a crop lens - I assume this is an EF-S or similar. This won't be of much use to you if you go for a full frame body, so you may want to add that to the list of things to think about.
Both are fantastic cameras from what little I know, so if you are like most of us then maybe think about what the financial side of it means - a 7d can be had for about £500 less than a 5d, which could be handy for other things like a flash, tripod etc etc !
 
I am not sure that the 7d needs less good lenses, its just that being a crop camera it doesn't need extreme edge to edge sharpness of full frame. However the portion of the lens focusing on the sensor will need to be bloody good, its got 18mp to get nice, sharp and detailed!
 
The obvious reply whenever anyone asks this sort of question is why do you want to change your current camera? Maybe you're frustrated by a slow frame rate or you want to take movies or there is too much noise at high ISOs. Whatever the reason this should guide any decision about upgrading. If you can't really say what's wrong with your current camera but you've got some cash to spend you're probably better to keep your current body and spend your cash on lenses instead.
 
Thanks so much for the input so far, I have a few lenses and one of the things I have considered is the cost of them.

That said I am thinking of moving from a part time hobby to a serious hobby and buying lenses at the top end of the range.

If I bought for arguments sake a 24-70L and the 85mmL. Would I lose from a 7D or gain from a 5D. Bearing in mind I would purchase these lenses over time and not have them to hand instantly. I am very fond of portrait photography at the moment but I spend a lot of time in the summer at motor sports events, a 70-200 (probably the f4) is a lens that I will be purchasing b4 this summer of outings starts.

Thanks again
 
I had the same dilemma - went for a 5D II in the end.

My recommendation would be to try get experience of FF by borrowing / renting etc - see then how it differs in image quality and how having less reach on the long end affects you etc.
 
Hoohaaa

A very valid point and lens choice and quality are defiantly the main things on my mind, but I have found issues with the camera possibly down to my poor use. But increasing iso seems to quickly effect quality for me, when shooting sports I tend to miss a good bit waiting for the camera to catch up. When trying to compose a shot I would enjoy having the extra focal points. Just a few things from a growing list. The 500D was great for me and possibly still would be with the lenses I plan to purchase in the future. But I have set my heart on an upgrade, and although I'm not rich I'm willing to spend over time on equipment the body for me is where I wish to start.

Thanks :)
 
If its sports where you find the most problems, especially with AF, then the 7D will be better than the 5D for that.
 
Sp33x said:
Thanks so much for the input so far, I have a few lenses and one of the things I have considered is the cost of them.

That said I am thinking of moving from a part time hobby to a serious hobby and buying lenses at the top end of the range.

If I bought for arguments sake a 24-70L and the 85mmL. Would I lose from a 7D or gain from a 5D. Bearing in mind I would purchase these lenses over time and not have them to hand instantly. I am very fond of portrait photography at the moment but I spend a lot of time in the summer at motor sports events, a 70-200 (probably the f4) is a lens that I will be purchasing b4 this summer of outings starts.

Thanks again
Click to expand...

Hi,

One obvious thing, so obvious its not been mentioned is the crop factor. If you are used to the focal lengths or more accurately the field of view from the 500D, you will have ineffect a wider and shortened field of view for each lens on a full frame 5D.

The 7D has the same crop factor as your 500D and even your 'crop' lens will work on this whereas it would not on a 5D.

You may already be fully aware of this but tried to deduce that from your opening question;)

There are obviously other issues that will seperate them techically or artistically from one and other. You could argue that the effect on field of view is the biggest noticeable difference straight out the box.


Andy
 
Full frame has better image quality. That's the big difference really, but it costs more. It has 2.5x the sensor area, sharper, less noise, more dynamic range, just better. The flip side is FF is more expensive and the lenses are bigger and more costly too.

7D is better for long lens action and wildlife etc. The crop sensor puts more pixels over the subject for a given focal length, and it focuses better* has a faster frame rate etc.

If you are expecting a jump in image quality just by upgrading to a 7D, you won't. Don't let those pixels fool you ;) Whichever one you go for, you'll need good lenses to get the most from them both.

* Edit - not that the 5D2 focuses poorly at all, don't believe that tripe. 7D just has a more sophisticated metering system that does all sorts of clever things in difficult situations, but if you can get the 5D2's centre spot over the subject, it'll nail it every time.
 
Last edited:
Thanks again for the reply.

I guess what is coming out here is if you want a great All round camera then 7D. If on the other hand you are going to portrait as a main subject then 5D, I'm sure this was said previous :) and I'm talking in this price range.

I'm almost set on a 7D now are there very big differences in the iso ability between the two.
 
Ive just had the very same dilemma...500D upgrading to 5/7D.
After some lengthy debate and indecisiveness, I went with a good used 5D. My reasons were varied, but I eventually figured that although I wanted the high fps of the 7, I would make more use of the IQ and high ISO performance of the 5.

That..and the fact that it saved me 400 quid, anyway :lol:
 
Sp33x said:
Thanks again for the reply.

I guess what is coming out here is if you want a great All round camera then 7D. If on the other hand you are going to portrait as a main subject then 5D, I'm sure this was said previous :) and I'm talking in this price range.

I'm almost set on a 7D now are there very big differences in the iso ability between the two.
Click to expand...

Yes. 5D2 wins by a big margin.

TBH there are big overlaps between the cameras - 7D will do great landscapes and weddings etc, but the 5D2's will look better when blown up to poster size. 5D2 can shoot action (and its ISO will win in poor light) but it doesn't shoot as fast or track birds in flight quite so effortlessly.

There are lots of threads on this debate ;) I'll just say one thing - if you go to Jessops and try a 7D and a 5D2 side by side - same lens, same subject, same framing, ISO etc etc - as I did, then it will only end up one way :D
 
andrewc said:
And if you want to do motorsports from spectator stands, 200mm isn't enough. Manageable on a 7D with cropping, certainly not from a 5D. 300mm ideally minimum.
Click to expand...

Thank for input. I tend to be track side or as near as mostly
 
HoppyUK said:
Yes. 5D2 wins by a big margin.

TBH there are big overlaps between the cameras - 7D will do great landscapes and weddings etc, but the 5D2's will look better when blown up to poster size. 5D2 can shoot action (and its ISO will win in poor light) but it doesn't shoot as fast or track birds in flight quite so effortlessly.

There are lots of threads on this debate ;) I'll just say one thing - if you go to Jessops and try a 7D and a 5D2 side by side - same lens, same subject, same framing, ISO etc etc - as I did, then it will only end up one way :D
Click to expand...

Interesting points...

How many people will ever blow anything up?, Most folks publish on the web and not much else hence the pixel peeping thing is mostly moot...

The 7D is very usable up to 1600 (never needed to use above 1600 so no real experience above this)

I went 7d as I wanted reach, FPS, AF and the 7D delivers against those...

The 5D typically means bigger heavier lenses, shorter reach, but probably better IQ overall if I ever print at A3 or above (Never printed anything bigger than A4)

Both are of course great camera's
 
mipevo6 said:
Interesting points...

How many people will ever blow anything up?, Most folks publish on the web and not much else hence the pixel peeping thing is mostly moot...

The 7D is very usable up to 1600 (never needed to use above 1600 so no real experience above this)

I went 7d as I wanted reach, FPS, AF and the 7D delivers against those...

The 5D typically means bigger heavier lenses, shorter reach, but probably better IQ overall if I ever print at A3 or above (Never printed anything bigger than A4)

Both are of course great camera's
Click to expand...

All good points. We seem to be saying much the same thing, which is why this question comes up so often.

Just to complicate things, the 5D2 is also an 8.2mp crop format camera - like a 40D basically - if you want to look at reach that way. Two cameras in one? :D
 
HoppyUK said:
All good points. We seem to be saying much the same thing, which is why this question comes up so often.

Just to complicate things, the 5D2 is also an 8.2mp crop format camera - like a 40D basically - if you want to look at reach that way. Two cameras in one? :D
Click to expand...

But with AF worse than the 7d! ;) That's the reason I went the 7D over the 5DII. Photographing birds requires better AF and the crop reach in my opinion. Its horses for courses really, all depending on what you like to shoot most and what your current camera can't handle!
 
5DII, I regret getting my 7D so much now :( Using ISO1600-3200-6400 most of the time has led to me developing an irrational hatred of post production :lol:
 
SamP said:
5DII, I regret getting my 7D so much now :( Using ISO1600-3200-6400 most of the time has led to me developing an irrational hatred of post production :lol:
Click to expand...

Not sure a 5D2 would help dramatically with that Sam. It's a stop or so better than a 7D, maybe a bit more but not much. Fast glass? IS? Flash? At the end of the day, you do need at least some light!
 
SamP said:
5DII, I regret getting my 7D so much now :( Using ISO1600-3200-6400 most of the time has led to me developing an irrational hatred of post production :lol:
Click to expand...

What are you shooting that needs such crazy high ISO?

Indoor stuff ?

what lenses are you using?
 
Buy both lol then youll have a full frame and a cropped sensor 5d for landscapes and potraits 7d for sport moving subjects I have the 60d and getting the 70-200 f2.8 mk2 canon lens the glass is what really makes a difference
 
Ok so the real solution is a 1Dmk4? ohh no but that is still not full frame.

I just got a new job so more disposable income is giving me the upgrade bug as well. And yes I'm thinking the same as SP33x I enjoy shooting sports so the 7D is the call but I also like portraits and do a bit of event photography with a mate so the 5Dmk2 wins there.

Its a tough call as its quite large amounts of money being spent on this "hobby" is the best call one of each maybe to cover all bases and use the best camera for the particular situation?

and yes the 1dmk4 is an option.
 
Last edited:
This question has been asked loads of times before on this forum so if you search you should find some older comments and observations on the matter.

Personally, I found myself asking the same question several months ago - I already have a 7d in the house (belonging to my GF) and wasn't sure whether to get another or the 5D2.
In the end I opted for the 7d for the main reason that the focusing system is a superior (although I'm still trying to master it). I also liked the remote flash trigger built in feature and the built in flash for those times you need a little extra fill?
I do think the 5D2 has a superior image quality which you'd expect with the full frame and more MP but I think a lot of it is about how well you master the technology you have. I took better pics with my 40d and am now only just getting to that level with the 7d. In time I hope to surpass that but it's not an overnight thing.
To use a car analogy - "The Stig" would undoubtably get round the Top Gear track quicker in my GF's diesel Audi A3 than I would in my S3!
 
mipevo6 said:
What are you shooting that needs such crazy high ISO?

Indoor stuff ?

what lenses are you using?
Click to expand...

Urban Exploration stuff as well as some nightclub stuff. Lenses are split between a 10 - 22 and a 8 fisheye. Both 3.5 (well - 4.5...) Need faster lenses, but cant afford a stack of primes at the moment.
 
SamP said:
Urban Exploration stuff as well as some nightclub stuff. Lenses are split between a 10 - 22 and a 8 fisheye. Both 3.5 (well - 4.5...) Need faster lenses, but cant afford a stack of primes at the moment.
Click to expand...

Ahh....

This makes sense....

a 35 1.4 might help a lot.....
 
Well some huge help in the comments made thank you so much all stuff I had read and looked at b4 apart from the iso.

Anyway I just come home with my new 7D :)

Why I would like to explain: First of all every one looks at cost wether you have money or not, the money I saved I can spend on the lenses I have in my wish list and with most being L lenses it's a big help, Because I can't buy them all at once the lenses I have will all work fine whilst I upgrade.

100% view finder will hope fully help me to reduce the amount of cropping I do in production and help me to improve when composing an image.

Iso with the images I will be taking I don't think it will effect me that much I have plenty of flashes and home studio lighting.
Motor sport spectator track side in the past and possible Marshall pass this year I just don't want to miss the shots and the fps upgrade did appeal.

Finally the 5D from what has been said seems to be a little less forgiving and bearing in mind I'm not a pro and this is a hobby for me I'm learning.
So for me it's a case of this is the next step and if I progress more then the lenses I buy from now on will be there ready for the next body upgrade.

Thank so much for helping this really is a friendly forum with a huge amount of knowledge. :). 500D for sale by the way....

Sp33x
 
How much do you want for it I'm interested

Jamie
 
I have no idea yet pm me I will reply as soon as I can.

(i will post in sale area instead of here)

Thais again to all that replied and helped me make an informed decision.
 
mipevo6 said:
Ahh....

This makes sense....

a 35 1.4 might help a lot.....
Click to expand...

35 isnt really wide enough on a crop :( I'd love a 14 1.4 to come out, but I've got my doubts :lol:

Either way, cant afford any new glass till summer when I can get some money coming in.
 
So would it be better to have:

a 7D and a 5D 1

or a 5D 2 and a 40D/50D for example

:)
 
@Hope.

Now your making things complicated, things were so simple b4. Lol
 
Sp33x said:
@Hope.

Now your making things complicated, things were so simple b4. Lol
Click to expand...

Haha, I know, I felt it was a question that needed to be asked :)

I personally think the former is more versatile and common however it will be interesting to see what my fellow togs think.
 
HoppyUK said:
Just to complicate things, the 5D2 is also an 8.2mp crop format camera - like a 40D basically - if you want to look at reach that way. Two cameras in one? :D
Click to expand...

Hope said:
Haha, I know, I felt it was a question that needed to be asked :)

I personally think the former is more versatile and common however it will be interesting to see what my fellow togs think.
Click to expand...


HoppyUK mentioned earlier that a 5DII is close to a 40D if you actually cropped in from a 21MP full frame sensor.

Answer might be closer if it was a 5DII vs 7D + 5DI :bonk::lol:
 
Interesting points! Am looking to shift from a 60D to a 5D2 soon...

I know i will losse some features but the IQ for my point will win on my L lenses... I think as i do mainly studio work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top