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FullFrame, when to buy ? (5D and its successor)


jean_tagada

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Unless it puts you and your family out on the streets, it's always a good time to buy a 5D.

 

There is always going to be something better on the way and if you wait for it, you will miss out on using a truly excellent camera between now and then.

 

My 2p

 

P

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It is hard for anyone to provide an answer that is right for you - you'll have to work through the options and pick the best one.

 

All of this is predicated on the possibility (likelihood currently unknown) that Canon will release some sort of update to the 5D in

the not-too-distant future. The problem is that we don't actually know that this will happen, when it will occur if it does happen,

or what the features or price might be. There is a lot of speculation - some quite reasonable - but it is all rumor at this point.

Basically, all of this is based on unproven assumptions and hunches.

 

The 12 MP 5D is a fine camera and if its features will do the trick for you there are several possibilities. If you want a _new_ 5D, I

would guess that now is a good time to get one. While there might be some new 5D cameras still available when (if) a replacement

is released, in the past the prices of the previous models have not immediately dropped all that much.

 

If would be happy with a used 5D and you don't need it right now, you might find better deals if you wait. There will be some folks

who just have to rush out and replace their 5D with the newer model, and some of them will be so obsessive that they are willing

to let a perfectly good 5D go for a low price.

 

If you don't need a replacement camera right now, why hurry? If/when a replacement comes out there will be copies of the

current 5D available (both new and used) at prices that are the same or perhaps lower than current prices. In addition, rather than

speculating about the features of the new model (and whether they are cost effective for you) you'll know what the differences

between the old and new are.

 

So, I wouldn't make a blanket recommendation concerning how you should time your purchase given the rumors of some new

release with unknown features - but I would suggest that you think through questions like: how well are you served by your

current gear? how big of a problem would it be for you to wait? how much better might (or might not) a 5DII with the rumored

features be for you? would you pay list price to get it? and so forth...

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It should be noted that, while past doesn't mirror future, a major retailer in the Toronto area dropped the kit price of the 30D by $600 to $700 when the 40D started dribbling through their doors.

 

Could that have been to clear out inventory? Presumably, Canon dropped the dealer cost, although, the retail drop was close to the dealer mark-up, so it is feasible that the dealer bore most of the hit - not likely though. This paragraph is conjecture.

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"The 12 MP 5D is a fine camera and if its features will do the trick for you there are several

possibilities."

 

My 5D is 12.8MP of effective pixels. If you're gonna round it off, 13MP is nearer than 12,

although it actually has 13.3 total MP.

 

I agree with the others: buy now if you need it. There's always something a little better

around the corner but then if you waited you'd miss a lot of pictures.

Sometimes the light’s all shining on me. Other times I can barely see.

- Robert Hunter

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Although there's a lot of very wild and silly speculation on the web about what Canon will do and when they will do it, still it is true that a good many of the main guesses have been reasonably accurate, and I'd back the current best guess, that Canon will introduce some form of new FF camera (just possibly splitting the product line, but in any event superseding the current 5D) in the new year, quite possibly in time for PMA. Following your earlier post when you were thinking about the choice between 1.6-factor and FF, it looks as if you've come down in favour of the latter. So let me approach the question from a slightly different direction from Xavier. Assuming the guess is right and that if you waited you would go for the new version, how much will you miss having your new camera over the next four to six months? If you have some fantastic trip in the pipeline, like a January safari, or a lot of ongoing photography during the winter, like indoor sports, buy now. If not, wait.
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I've been watching the 5D since the spring. The price has dropped <B>$400</b> dollars since then. It's selling at <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/397314-REG/Canon_0296B002_EOS_5D_Digital_Camera.html">B&H </a> for $2300 and that's not even the lowest price out there. I just prefer to deal with B&H. I'm going to wait a little longer (mid November) and then pick it up. I'm sure that something will come out thereafter. But, hey, how long do I wait?
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Do you REALLY need full frame?

Do you really NEED the improved image quality of the 5D?

 

The 40D has more advanced features compared to the 5D -> at half the price (or so).

 

The XTi is half the price of the 40D, and has "pretty much" the same imaging system of the 40D. (only a real review will tell. . .haven't seen many reviews yet).

 

There are plenty of choices out there.

 

For my money. . .I would not buy a 5D at over $1800. I would not pay a significant premium for any full frame camera over a non full frame equivilent.

 

Now. . .with the prospect of the 300D by nikon. . there is a real possibility that the 5D replacement will be much more than a full frame version of a 40D.

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The problem of a APS is i will have to buy an 'expensive' 17-55 (compared to a 24-105 for instance, 600 euro in a kit) that does not make the APS so cheap and for which the used value is at my opinion less than a L FF lens.

 

I have also primes that will not fully keep their real value on APS. In the future, if Zeiss will release ZEOS mounts, they'll take their value on a FF i guess.

 

EOS 5 with in the kit version is sold in serious online shops at 2,600 Eur (with a 24-105) and 2,000 for just the body.

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I'd use whatcha got until the next model comes along...then buy a 5D when they drop to around $2000 (what I think the camera is actually worth anyhow).

 

I would like a 5D a lot, but I think it is a highly overpriced camera. Not a bad camera; just a bad value. For that amount of money, I'd rather get a used 1D Mk. II N.

 

Keith

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