Canon 5D

For those trying to decide whether to upgrade to a Canon 5D, just thought I would share my

first day with the camera. In one word ... do it ! great camera.

 

attached is one of the first days photo's

 

 

Auto Focus is quick and accurate , seems to have nicer jpegs straight out of the camera than

the 20D. The full frame .. wow didn't know what I was missing with the 20D<div></div>

I'd like to upgrade from my 20D, because I do a lot of landscape photos at which the 5D must also excel, but I also do bird photography, and I think I'd then need a longer lens than my 100-400L IS, and the 500/4L IS is very heavy and very expensive.

 

Pierre

Shouldn't that be 2 words ;). Glad you are happy russell but the full frame sensor doesnt swing it for me and that is the only talking point most people seem to dwell on. If all I wanted was a full frame sensor I wouldn't upgrade to a 5D from a 20D because IMO the 5D has more noise, the picture quality over the 20D is marginal, 3fps against 5fps, vignetting wide open so cropping the image to get rid of the vignetting brings it back down to maybe a 1.3 sensor Auto focus is the lens not the camera. So no, unfortunately you haven't sold me. If I didn't have a camera and I wanted one I would still go for the 20D over the 5D because (again IMO) I don't think the changes are enough to justify buying a 5D, but hey, That is just MY opinion.

I just purchased a 5D. Viewfinder on the 5D is much better than for the 20D. I have not experienced excessive noise on my 5D dispite a lot of fast ISO shooting over the holidays.

"Auto focus is the lens not the camera" <p>What? No so. Tell that to EOS 1 series owners.

I spent two years using a 10D for newspaper and magazine work. I jumped at the opportunity to upgrade to the 5D, and it's all that I hoped for. Full-frame is a godsend--especially with the 16-35 2.8. At 1600 ISO, where much of my work has to be done, the images produced by the 5D with that lens (wide open much of the time) are remarkable. A recent front-page picture in the NY Times (I'm a regional stringer) and several magazine jobs, including two covers--all shot almost exclusively with the 16-35--have convinced me that, given its performance, the 5D is a bargain.

As Sheldon says, that comment is silly. <P>I think a full frame sensor is quite a good reason to upgrade. I own the 10D and wont be upgrading anytime soon (unless a full frame comes out for less $$). I like everything the 5 has to offer, just too cheap to make the move to something that expensive.

I also agree that a Full-Frame sensor is reason enough to upgrade, but I'm waiting to see what the "EOS 30D" will be, even though I'm almost certain it will not compete with the 5D on sensor size terrain.

 

Pierre

Pierre

<<and I think I'd then need a longer lens than my 100-400L IS>>

 

Someone correct me if Iﾒm wrong.. If I have a picture at the 12.8mp resolution and I crop the subject and enlarge it up to make it equivalent to a 1.6x crop factor shot, I believe I would expect to find both pictures equally sharp.

The pixel pitch on the 20D is higher than on the 5D (indeed it is higher than the 1Ds Mk II). The area of the the 5D's sensor that corresponds to the 20D's APS-C sensor has less than 8MP. Thus you get a lower megapixel image by cropping a 5D than you would have got with a 20D.

What Alastair said. The 5D's pixels are the same as the 1DMkII's. It just has 4.5 million more pixels than the 1D2 over a full-frame's worth of landscape. So an equivalent 1.6 crop out of the 5D would be a big improvement over the 10D but a slight decrease from the 20D.

I don't remember the formula, but I've read somewhere that it would leave only 5 Megapixels, after cropping.

 

Otherwise I'd already have a 5D.

 

Pierre

A "1.6" (62.5%) crop of a 5D sensor yields 7.8 million pixels. Not 5!

Are you certain?

 

I've been told otherwise many times. I'll try to find the messages on the http://www.fredmiranda.com Canon Forum.

 

Pierre

Pierre's question is correct and Ken is wrong regarding the image size of a 1.6 crop of a 12,480,000 pixel image.

 

Taking 62.5% of this size as Ken has done ignores the fact the image area is a square of the sides. Instead, by my quick calculation, multiplying the height and width of the 5D image by 62.5% THEN squaring the same results in an image size of approximately 4,875,000 pixels. Now we are comparing "apples to apples"...

 

rt

If money were no object, I'd probably buy a 5D, which is a fine camera, although it has its share of issues, such as "hot" electronics behind the sensor, which adversely impact color uniformity across the image.

 

I fully expect the 5D's successor to arrive sometime next calendar year, combining the best aspects of the 5D with the speed of the 20D, and probably a decent dose of additional performance / feature enhancements, and selling for about $2K. That'll be the one I want to buy.

 

The big question is whether I'll sell my 20D at that time, or keep it for telephoto / backup.

Here is the discussion about cropping the 5D's image, where I was told I'd be left with only 5 Megapixels.

 

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/327401

 

Pierre

I've also read the the 5D's Focus Points are all packed too close to the center of the frame.

 

Pierre

You are wrong. (I mean I am wrong) 62.5% of 100 sqpr. feet if 62.5 sqr. ft. --

Same as for pixels, so 62.5% of 12.8M pixels is 8.0 MP.

<p>

5D sensor is 35.8 x 23.9mm = 855.6 mm sqr.<br>

20D sensor is 22.5 x 15.0mm = 337.5 mm sqr.<br>

<p>

Therefore just 39.4% of the 5D's pixel will fit in the 20D's "frame", or just 5.05 MP. Now that I did the math correct it is clear. <p> MY MISTAKE!

OK lets put this in perspective, I have read my post above and I am pretty sure it says I have a 20D not a 10D, so I dont think the changes between the 20D and 5D are enough to justify buying the 5D. The 10D might be a different story but I dont own one.

 

Do some people on this site read what is written and decipher it as something completely different just so they can get thier 2 cents worth in ?

"I think a full frame sensor is quite a good reason to upgrade."

"I also agree that a Full-Frame sensor is reason enough to upgrade"

"Full-frame is a godsend"

 

Did you read in my post anything about me not wanting a FF sensor? I would like a FF sensor but the 5D has not got enough over the 20D to justify me buying one.

 

OK Sheldon and Anthony if you want to play semantics you can have a 5D with a 28 - 90 mkll usm and I will have my 20d with my 24 - 70L and lets see who's focuses faster. Jeez some people.

...and also, knowing that the 5D's sensor is essentially just a FF version of the 1D2's sensor it is obvious that far fewer pixels would be in the 20D's crop factor sensor. In essence the 20D places a higher demand on the center portion (the sweet spot) of the lens since so many pixels are packed in there... more or less, ehh?

The general rule of thumb for photographic formats is that bigger is always better. This holds

true for the 5D and 20D. I own both cameras, and having no great emotional or financial

investment in either, can happily report that the 5D is significantly the better camera. Having

said this I prefer to shoot using only a 50mm prime so maybe I'm just biased that I can now

use this focal length as nature intended.

"Do some people on this site read what is written and decipher it as something completely different just so they can get thier 2 cents worth in ?"

 

yes, that's exactly right. this is like Internet Rule #3. notice the time of day, a lot of people need to just waste a little time at work talking about cameras. there is nothing you can post so specific that it won't attract irrelevant left-field answers. best to just expect that, read the ones that are relevant, and don't stress about the rest.

"yes, that's exactly right. this is like Internet Rule #3. notice the time of day, a lot of people need to just waste a little time at work talking about cameras. there is nothing you can post so specific that it won't attract irrelevant left-field answers. best to just expect that, read the ones that are relevant, and don't stress about the rest"

 

--Well said!

"OK Sheldon and Anthony if you want to play semantics you can have a 5D with a 28 - 90 mkll usm and I will have my 20d with my 24 - 70L and lets see who's focuses faster. "<p>Yep, that's a fair test alright. Jeez some people.