Help needed, 1DS Mk3 or 5DS MK2 or 3DS/DX

VinceW

VinceW

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I do a variety of photography and am lucky enough to have a sum of money to buy the best kit i can.
My main interests are
1: Weddings
2: Large Format Panoramas... about 100 in x 30 in
3: Entomology ( Insect life)

I intend upgrading my lenses too

For a canon fit I am contemplating

Canon EF 24-105mm f4 L IS USM Lens
Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens
Canon EF 2x II Extender

My budget doesn't stretch to 800mm prime lenses!


I have a 40d at the moment but find it is limited in low light, and the images are not quite as crystal clear as they could be.

I have the following lenses

Sigma 28-300 zoom
Canon ES60 Macro
ES 24-55 Kit lens

What recommendations would you have? Should i contemplate swapping to nikon and what kit?

Your expert opinion may help me doing something I regret.

Thanks

Vince Woodward
 
I can offer some advice on the weddings part Vince and to be honest your lens selection is way wide of the mark. That concerns me a lot more than your choice of body. Most wedding photographers shoot with lenses in the f2.8 and below aperture range, certainly not come across one using a 100-400 never mind an 800? I don't understand why you would want those lenses for those subjects?

A typical setup would be 17-40mm f4 or 16-35mm f2.8
24-70mm f2.8
70-200mm f2.8 or 2.8IS
and perhaps a good prime or two in the 24mm 35mm 50mm 85mm sizes for really low light situations.

For weddings you also need two bodies capable of bringing home the bacon. Two reasons, one is the obvious backup and the other is that it saves changing lenses too often.

I use a 1DsII and a 5D and will upgrade the 5D next year.

Hope that helps
 
Thanks Ali,

I had intended the 24-105 for the weddings, the big lens is intended for looking at Bird photography...

What will you upgrade the D5 to?
 
1. 5DMk2 + Another body (maybe a 1DMk3)
2. 17L TS-E (very sharp at f8, with sideways shift and stitching it offers a similar AOV to a 10mm lens on FF, allows instant user change of tilt direction for max DOF control)
3. MPE-65 and MT-24 (lifesize - 5x lifesize)

Other lenses:

24-70L
70-200L f2.8 IS (personally I prefer the f4 IS due to it being half the weight)
100L Macro (also great for portraits)
300L f4 IS
1.4x Converter
2x Converter
 
24-105 I have one and I call it the doorstop for a very good reason Vince. In good light it's great with a brilliant range but anything indoors forget it unless you want to be using flash for every single pic. Useful lens and I use it a lot for general photography but nowhere near good enough in low light to have it as your only option in that range. You would really need to add a prime or two or go for the 24-70mm f2.8.

The 5D is still a cracking camera and I have a couple of thoughts on an upgrade path. The 1Ds is going nowhere, it's still cutting the mustard in image quality and the only thing I would like is a bit more at the top end of the range in terms of ISO. Shooting a wedding next weekend and looking at the light levels today................

So I will look closely at the 5DII as a trade in with the 5D but I will also consider simply adding a 7D to the 1Ds and 5D and having three. Would also add a little reach above 200mm.

Lenses I have:-

17-40mm
24-70mm f2.8
24-105mm f4
70-200mm f4
70-200 f2.8IS
35mm f2
50mm f1.8 (will get the 1.4)
85mm f1.8
100mm f2.8

I HAVE shot a wedding on just two lenses but others I have been diving into the bag of goodies. One memorable one where the bride was getting ready in a suite with no windows! f4 is not your friend then. f1.8@ISO1600 was getting me about 1/60th/sec. That's why I want a little more ISO in the bag for next year. Brides have got us shooting in near darkness these days.
 
I thought long and hard about the 1dmk3 and the 5dmk2 as a replacement for my 5d, while the 5d2 lost out in terms of fps and focus speed it won through on ease of use and low light capability. Not to mention I didn't have to have a reshuffle of my lenses to get the width back.

The 5d2 coupled with the 24-70 f2.8 is awesome, it's also capable of jaw dropping resolution with a good fast prime like the 50 f1.4

I also use it with a 70-200 and a 400, neither are aimed at landscape or macro though :D
 
To be fair, both Canon and Nikon have very very good cameras available and I do like the high ISO on the D3 but find it an ergonomic nightmare thanks to my small hands. The 5DII seems every bit as good and if you want to see what can be done with it have a look at http://www.jeffascough.com/
 
As much as I like Jeff's work, I think that's a pretty bad example of how good the 5d2 is as he's used a noise filter over every image, unless he's shot the entire gallery at ISO25000 that is.

I regularly shoot ambient in clubs at ISO4000 and get a fraction of that noise.
 
Go for it - swap to Nikon :D:D

Can't comment on the canon side as have always been easy pickings for the Dark Side.

I can say that a D3x/3s pairing would be absolutely perfect (my D3s arrives next week hopefully) for everything you have mentioned above.

The one thing you've not mentioned is a budget :shrug:
 
The lens Question is an interesting one, I looked at the 24-105 because of the IS, but I guess that the 2.8 will prove more beneficial in low light

In terms of Budget I have a total budget of about £7 - £8k but obviously O don't want to spend money and regret it!

Would I regret choosing a 1DS MK3 over the 5D MK2 or the Nikons come to that?
Or would I regret spending money and thinking I could have done just as well with the 5D MK2

I also selected the 24-105 as I don't want to change lenses during a wedding... if possible, but in retrospect 24 - 70 would be ok.

Anyone tried the 180 Macro?

Maybe the mists are clearing?...
 
If you want the high MP then you really should stay Canon with that budget.

The d3x is 4750, which is more than half your budget.

Once you add in the 24-70 and 70-200 that's another 3k.

However, if you only really need 12mp then the D700/D300 pairing may be for you, depends if yo uwant an FX/DX mix
 
I would use my 40D as a back up, I am only thinking of buying one set of Kit. The 40D is a more than competent backup. I also have access to my wifes kit.. she is a nikon fan.. looking to get a D700 with similar lenses.

So I am looking for one exceptional set of kit. Canon or Nikon, I obviously would loose use of the timer self release, the flash I have a 580EX. And of course any new lenses would enhance the results I get with the 40D.

But if the quality is worth it then I will make the change that's necessary.

Keep the comments coming, it is really helping
 
your lens selection is way wide of the mark
Click to expand...

While your assessment of lens selection is pretty close to where I'd go too Ali, it's a little wrong in my book to say that there is one correct path to choose here.

Different snappers have different ways of shooting and what might suit us, could be totally wrong for others. The difference between a 2.8 lens and an F4 one is not all that much and I really cant see how a single stop is going to open up new opportunities for low light shooting.

You could say that the gain from 3 stops IS is worth the loss of a stop for all those fab detail shots it cold allow you to pick up on the day.

Honing a kit down to contain all the tools you need and no excess is a very personal journey and will be different for every snapper.

The one thing that did occur to me though reading through that lens list is that I doubt a 100-400 would be all that nice bolted to a 2x.
 
My firend is a sucessful wedding photographer and he uses the !ds MkII & MkIII & has a 5D as a backup. Lens tend to be the 16-35 f2.8 & 24-70mm f2.8 and the 85mm f1.8. I know he wihed the f2.8 were even faster for the old dark churches. Also he often shoots at f2.8
 
OK, I think the lens bit is getting clearer,

Whats the opinion on the 5D MK2 or the 1DS MK3 .. is the quality significantly better on the 1DS.. like £2k worth?
 
Well, I'm going to change my mind on what you should do based on what you said about your wife's kit.

If she is definately going to get a D700, then in my opinion it would be crazy for you to stay Canon. Invest in one system and share the lenses/flashes etc.

D700 and lenses for the wife, and 5dmkII and lenses for you, plus flashes etc, would in my opinion be more expensive than say a pair of d700 bodies and good fast Nikon Lenses. plus you can share batteries etc, use the wife's camera as a backup. maybe even get yourself the D3 instead of the d700.
 
dazzajl said:
While your assessment of lens selection is pretty close to where I'd go too Ali, it's a little wrong in my book to say that there is one correct path to choose here.

Different snappers have different ways of shooting and what might suit us, could be totally wrong for others. The difference between a 2.8 lens and an F4 one is not all that much and I really cant see how a single stop is going to open up new opportunities for low light shooting.
Click to expand...

You are quite right too :)

Where I don't like the 24-105 f4 is in anything like low light. Yes the IS will help to stabilise ME but it won't help at all with subject movement which is a bigger problem. (It's amazing how much B&G's move about) I have had to go to f2 before just to get decent enough shutter speeds. In those conditions f4 is just too slow and if the official is not allowing flash there is very little other option. High ISO or go wide. :) Even a single stop is worth it if you are bumping against the highest ISO you have.

I guess our OP won't have that problem though with the newer DSLR's

And I also agree with Barney, you would be well advised to stick to the same system, whichever that may be.

I'd definately advise getting your hands on the cameras in question and test them in your own hands before spending your cash.
 
at last - someone agrees with me :D:D:D

I'm going to print this thread out and frame it (it's better than my pics anyway) :D:D:D
 
AliB said:
I'd definately advise getting your hands on the cameras in question and test them in your own hands before spending your cash.
Click to expand...

Probably the best advice, what ever system you go for. As for lens choice, seems limited for what you want to do.
 
Thanks for the help, It has been good to see the views.

I guess the best bet on the body seems to be the 5D MK2,
Get the wife a 7d
and go for a 24-70 for me 24 -105 for the wife
share a 100-400 for long range candids and playing with birds and things
and 2 100 Macro with IS

I guess I might even have some change!

Sell the wife's camera, and then have the 40D as a spare.

Get the remotes and spare flash..

More comments welcome.. especially if it brings unity to the Canon v's Nikon debate!
 
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