Canon 5D Image quality

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sjh2008

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Simon
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I currently have a 40D and a 50D.

I have the possibility of picking up a well looked after 5D, i realise that one is
Full frame, and my 50D is a cropper.
So it would mean adding a 28-135 lens for example as a walkabout lens.
I know the 50D has better LCD etc.



My question is this
How does the 5D compare in terms of image quality v`s the 50D.

I have found the 50D to be quite Poor in lowlight, lots of noise and banding.
Especially above iso 800

I shot landscapes mostly.

Given the choice whch one would you put in your camera bag for a lowlight shoot ?
50D or 5D
 
5d. Ive had the 50d and moved it on, examples ive seen with the 5d seem to be a lot better
 
I had a 5D, my brother a pair of 40Ds. We shot a wedding together and he noticed how well the 5D did in low light. We took three test shots at 800+ and the next day he sold a 40D for a 5D. I don't know about the 50D I am afraid.
 
The physics are simply that the more pixels you cram on a sensor the noiser it tends to be. The 5D has a much bigger sensor so less density of pixels and therefore the noise is better at those higer ISO's. Of course there is always an exception to the rule and that's the 5DII which has shed loads of pixels AND high ISO but that and the Nikon D3X are the exeptions to that rule.

If you mainly shoot landscapes you will love the 5D. I've had mine for over three years now and it will have to be prised out of my mitts, I'm rather attached to it.
 
Never used the 50D but here are a couple of shots at ISO 1600 on my 5D

4301911853_1445ffde7c.jpg

*that was through glass as well

4298240034_3a8a051fe8.jpg

*f1.4

4242220768_838bc4bd6d.jpg

*ISO 800
 
The 28-135mm does make a good walkabout lens on the 5D, that's what I use.

You do get some vignetting in the corners but its easily corrected in lightroom.

Compared to my last camera (500D) there is a noticeable jump in quality and the low light performance on the 5D is great...

If you shoot landscapes a lot the upgrade makes perfect sense IMO.
 
If our OP shoots mainly landscapes I think AL servo might just be a little way down his list of priorities ;)
 
BouncyMelons said:
If our OP shoots mainly landscapes I think AL servo might just be a little way down his list of priorities ;)
Click to expand...

That question really interests me I have the same dilemma, but I shoot more than just landscapes.
 
I don't use it a lot but can't say I noticed much differance between the 5D and 30D as far as AI servo go etc.

I tend to only use the centre autofocus on one shot AF though.
 
Okies, the 40D and 50D both have 9 point autofocus systems that are reputed to be fairly accurate (Source DP review) The 5D and 5DII have 11 point autofocus systems. From my experience with the 5D the autofocus is the one real weakness of the 5D and subsequently the 5DII. If your subject is in reasonable light and not moving too quickly then on AL servo it will lock and track OK. If, however your subject is in less than ideal light or is moving quickly and diagonally through the frame then it struggles in comparison to the 1 Series which has 51 point autofocus with 3D tracking. It was only when I got the 1Ds with that blindingly good AF system that I really had an understanding of the limitations of the 5D system.

It's one reason why I would not hesitate to recommend the 5D for people and landscape photography where it really does excel but if you want a real all rounder then I think there are better options out there like the 7D.

Hope that's useful.
 
I have the 50D, 5D and recently acquired a 5D MkII. Like the photos on the 50D and better reach (1.6x crop) with long zoom. The infor screen on the 5D is a bit aged and dull compared to the 5d Mk II & 50D, but takes exceptional pictures and easy to use. The menu, knobs and lay out are vertically identical to the 5D MkII with lots of enhancements. I was thinking of selling the 5D but loathe too, even though it won't be used much now. Have lots of extras with 5D, 6 batteries and grip that are not compatible with 5d MkII. The 5 D I believe is not sealed for weather (correct me if I am wrong) as the 5dMkII is. All 3 have magnesium alloy bodies that can take a few knocks. Maybe I will take some identical shots with all 3 cameras using the same ISO, speed aperture and see what the noise difference is, if any at 1600 ISO. I probably didn't need to get the 5D MkII, but has useful selectable features such as auto ISO in AP/AV mode. Used the video for the 1st time yesterday, awesome. I shoot in raw +large jpegs so files are enormous on the 5D MKII and rapidly eat into your PC hard disk. The 5d is MKII is exceptional in low light. As I'm not providing poster size prints and any noise that develops at 3200 plus I just smooth out with noise reduction software. These are just my views so nobody has to agree with them.
 
5D MkII ISO 100 f6 200sec. Unprocessed JPEG.





5D Mk II ISO 1600 800sec F9, speeding car transporter

jessops.jpg
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5D mk1 iso 200 at 30 sec 2.8 (trying canon 70-200 2.8 IS lens in Jessops) Hand held

lionbottle.jpg
[/url]

5D mk1 iso 1250 250sec f5.6 focal length 300mm (cheapy lens)
 
I have had a 40D and recently sold my 5D, the best way to describe how I felt about them was I had no problems selling the 40D but I strugled selling my 5D I loved the IQ from it.
If you are shooting landscape then the 5D will be way better than the 40D imo, the only bad points on the 5D is the AF is a bit hit and miss as has already been pointed out, and the lcd is rubbish in comparison to more modern lcd's, I always shot using the histogram as I believe a lot of users do.
Just buy it, I would be very suprised if you don't like it, once I bought mine my 40D just sat in the cupboard.
The only reason I sold the 5D is because I wanted something lighter for long walks so went for a G1, otherwise I would have never sold it.
 
BouncyMelons said:
Okies, the 40D and 50D both have 9 point autofocus systems that are reputed to be fairly accurate (Source DP review) The 5D and 5DII have 11 point autofocus systems. From my experience with the 5D the autofocus is the one real weakness of the 5D and subsequently the 5DII. If your subject is in reasonable light and not moving too quickly then on AL servo it will lock and track OK. If, however your subject is in less than ideal light or is moving quickly and diagonally through the frame then it struggles in comparison to the 1 Series which has 51 point autofocus with 3D tracking. It was only when I got the 1Ds with that blindingly good AF system that I really had an understanding of the limitations of the 5D system.

It's one reason why I would not hesitate to recommend the 5D for people and landscape photography where it really does excel but if you want a real all rounder then I think there are better options out there like the 7D.

Hope that's useful.
Click to expand...
which canon has a 51 point af system with 3d tracking.
 
1 series cameras
It's what I have on the 1DsII and one of the reasons that I am moving to Nikon. If I upgrade my 5D to a 5DII I still have the 11 point system that I really don't like. I shot the 5D and D700 back to back on Saturday to test them and the D700 also has the 51 point system, grabbed focus first time while the 5D took three goes at it. Yes it was a very dark test for both cameras but the D700 succeeded where the 5D was a bit hit and miss. If that was a key moment at a wedding the D700 would have got it and the 5D would have missed it. The 1DsII is blindingly good at autofocus. I have a whippet and the 5D can't get and keep a focus on her unless it is at a distance where the 1Ds has a much, much higher success rate.
 
Thanks to all for your replies, the pics do look good.

I am hopefully borrowing the 5D over the weekend so i will have a better idea of the IQ v my current camera
 
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