Is it the right time to buy a Mark 5d II

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I want to upgrade my 20d to something more pro. I want to purchase the Mark 5d II but Ive read that there is the possibility that Canon releases an upgrade this summer. Should I wait or theres no chance that is happening this year?</p>

<p>Thank you for your advice.<br>

JC</p>

<p>Nobody knows, that will tell you, but if you have the money, you want it etc then just get it. Even if a newer one came out it wouldn't be available for months and the price would be higher, I'd expect there to be a premium for a few months too.</p>

<p>My speculation, the MkIII is not due this year.</p>

<p>5D was in the market for nearly three years before 5D II came in. And it has only been a little more than a year and a half since the 5D II was introduced. I seriously doubt Canon has any plan of updating the 5D II. Even if they do, 5D II will still remain a great camera and I am sure you will not regret investing in it.<br>

Amlan</p>

<p>Ain't gonna be no 5D III this summer. Buy the II.</p>

<p>I'll bet that there will be no 5D3 this summer, and when there is one I'll bet that the difference in image quality is not that great - at 21MP they would have to go to about 40MP (and they won't) to give us a change with the same magnitude of that from the 5D to the 5D2.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>If you need a 5D mark II now, I see no reason not to buy one. Canon isn't likely to upgrade the design significantly until well after they've released their next 1Ds model. My guess is that the next 5D model will arrive no sooner than the autumn of 2011, but who knows? With the economy, Canon might not be in a hurry to release new, expensive camera bodies.</p>

<p>5d2 is light years ahead of a 20D. I understand that it sucks to buy something and then its replaced just after your purchase it but thats how it is with camera bodies, there will always be something better on the horizon so get what you want or can afford now. Lots of very happy 5d2 users.</p>

<p>The original 5d was in a market place all of it's own and competition only came along late in the day in the form of the d700. Things have changed a little in the FF area, so the product lifecycle may not be a 3 year fixture anymore.</p>

 

<p>The original 5d was in a market place all of it's own and competition only came along late in the day in the form of the d700. Things have changed a little in the FF area, so the product lifecycle may not be a 3 year fixture anymore.</p>

 

<p>What lenses do you have, do they fit full frame? Are they high quality enough to do the 5DMKII sensor justice? Think about that.<br>

Do you need full frame? You can upgrade to something like a 50D or 7D, great cameras, and stick to APS-C sensors.</p>

"I want to upgrade my 20d to something more pro"

<p>There are still many who use the 20D for "pro" work, so perhaps you'll be better answered if you tell us what limitations you feel you have with your current kit. And as Paul asked, what lenses you have or plan to have plus what you shoot or plan to shoot.

<p>I do agree with others though, the 5D Mark II is a whole new level of camera compared to the 20D. Often too much camera for some :) I don't see a 5D3 coming out this year, and I very much doubt you would regret a 5D2 purchase. You can get a factory refurb (like I did) relatively cheaply - http://www.adorama.com/ICA5DM2R.html

<p>I wait and wait for prices to drop. I finally get tired of waiting and purchase. Then a few weeks later Canon starts offering rebates and the prices start to drop. This has happened to me with every DSLR I've ever bought. So my unscientific opinion is that 5DII prices are about to plummet, as I just bought mine at regular price a few weeks before the $100 rebate. ;)</p>

 

<p>From my perspective, you should go ahead and buy the Mk2. I am a Mk1 owner. I bought it after the Mk2 came out. I love it. It can do wonderful things if the photographer is good enough. The Mk2 is better. There are more pixels (I don't really care), the high ISO performance is better, the LCD is far superior. If you can afford it, buy the Mk2 and enjoy the camera. Having the latest should be a concern.</p>

<p>Actually, the right time to buy a 5D Mark II was October, 2008.</p>

<p>There will always be the "possibility" that, at any given time, any given body or lens will soon be upgraded, but in the case of the 5D II, it's improbable. Furthermore, people are still happily using the original 5D, and it still fetches a decent price on the used market.</p>

<p>So I agree with the others: go out and get a 5D II.</p>

<p>Oops. I messed up. I said "Having the latest should be a concern." I meant, "Having the latest should <strong>not</strong> be a concern."</p>

<p>Thank you very much for the advices. I decided to buy it.<br>

Best regards and have a good day.<br>

JC</p>

<p>Juan, just buy it. Even if 5DIII comes tomorrow, Mark II will still remain a great camera. Canon may not release 5DIII this year. Even if it is released, it will not be available for months and then it will be much higher price.</p>

<p>I am thinking that if they did release an upgrade, all the could do to make it better would add the new AF system, and other features that are in the 7D. maybe a f aster frame rate and higher mp, but id definatly wouldnt be this summer.</p>

<p>This is my first post and couldnt be happier with all of your responses.<br>

Thanks<br>

JC</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I decided to buy it.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I think that is a wise decision. Even in the unlikely event that Canon decides to make an early upgrade, your MkII will be just as usable as it was before. What could they do fo an encore? More pixels? probably no major advantage to the ordinary user. Better video? Maybe, but how important is that to you? Bigger LCD? Where they going to put it, although swivel might be nice.</p>

<p>Usually Canon will only do an early (ahead of their usual schedule) upgrade only in response to something spectacular that Nikon has done --which I don't think is out there right now. As soon as Nikon releases something as good as a 5D MkII for the same price or less, then Canon will try to trump them with a big upgrade that they otherwise will hold up their sleeve. [Nikon readers, take no offense - this is the EOS forum and if we can't swagger a little here, where else? Consider it repayment for all the references on the Nikon forum to how Canon just <em>recently (<strong>1987</strong>)</em> orphaned all the FD users, so they switched to Nikon.]</p>

<blockquote>

<p>[Nikon readers, take no offense - this is the EOS forum and if we can't swagger a little here, where else? Consider it repayment for all the references on the Nikon forum to how Canon just <em>recently (<strong>1987</strong>)</em> orphaned all the FD users, so they switched to Nikon.]</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Hahaha xD. My guess would be that if they make the Mark III, it's not the megapixels they'll work on but it's the speed. The 7D is, I think, significantly faster than the Mark II (the 1DM4 is like... 2x as fast?), speed being the 5DM2's major criticism. If you don't need speed (and I think, most people, even pros, don't), everything about the Mark II is really good, so why not get it?</p>

<p>Adding megapixels would just be absurd... (and it would probably make the continuous shooting mode even slower) though I suppose Canon might be feeling just a little sweat from Sony.</p>

<p>Anyhow, congrats Juan. Enjoy!</p>

<p>I would bet for 90% of photographers the 5d2 is more then enough camera. Your going to love it. </p>

If you got the money splurge !

<blockquote>

<p>I suppose Canon might be feeling just a little sweat from Sony.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Everyone is going to be feeling some sweat from Sony before it is over with. With such a huge corporation and a very impressive full-frame camera already out (not to mention some very impressive cropped-sensor cameras as well), Sony is positioned to leap-frog both Canon and Nikon at the top end. Nikon has already leap-frogged Canon with the D3X, the best DSLR out there right now if one is looking for high resolution, an overall excellent feature set, and tough build quality.</p>

<p>As for the 5D II, I am glad that you got it, Juan Carlos. We will watch for your pictures. I've had mine about a year now and have no complaints whatsoever. I am shooting from ISO 50 all the way up to ISO 25,600 and getting spectacular to at least usable results at the high end.</p>

<p>--Lannie</p>