Camera Labs

Ok, I am a gear geek, I can't help it. First in my military life and now in my camera hobby. The only problem is right now the camera gear is more expensive than the military stuff.

So here's the deal. I keep up with the local pawn shops to see if a L lens slips in, so far no luck. But today one of the shops say they will have a 5D available tomorrow. My first mistake was not asking is it a MKII. He also was not sure what the price was going to be set at until this afternoon and I didn't have a chance to call back.

My dilemma is do I really need it My 550D is a great camera and I'm still learning a lot. I have 3 lenses but my primary walking lens, Sigma 18-135, is not compatible with the 5D. That leaves my 35mm and my 70-300. I know having a full sensor is nice but comparing the features to the 550D and 5D, there are of course some better features on the 5D but there are a few things that the 550D may be a little better at. The sensible part of me just wants to think more on lenses and save my little nest egg for that, the gear geek of me wants to get the camera weather 5D or 5d MKII. Now if it is a MKII for the right price I don't think I could hold back but if it isn't I'm still torn HELP

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

Personally I wouldn`t worry about it just yet. With the new 5D coming out there will be plenty of opportunity to pick up something secondhand.

You may get more benefit from a 17-50 Tamron non vc or Sigma 17-50 OS or Canon 17-55 is usm.

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

Well - I wouldn't buy one of those if a full frame camera is considered in the (maybe not too far) future...

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

I wouldnt buy it. If you dont ''know'' your camera and its features that well, I shouldnt move to FF. Also, your lenses are not that good, on a FF you will see the problems of the lenses quite quickly on a FF.
Id look at a good lens instead of a new body

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Ruben

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Canon G5, Canon 350D, Canon 50D + BG-E2N
Tamron 17-50 2.8, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM,
Canon 18-55 II plus lots of Minolta MD/M42 lenses and bodies

Oooookay thank guys. Yea I'll wait and focus more on my lenses.

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

Well - if it's about a sharpness I guess you can see the difference better on a crop frame sensor.
But yes, I'd focus on the lenses first. OK, I did. And I'm happy with it.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

As a recent returner to full frame DSLRs with a 5D in the past and a 5D2 now, I do intend on writing more some time in a dedicated thread.

To me, there is one big reason for going FF, when used with fast primes you get a look that can't be achieved easily if at all with crop sensors. Consider how that might fit in to your usage. FF isn't unquestionably better. It is only better if you need it.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I definitely consider my 5D "Classic" pre-Mark II to be worth it! I acquired this one from a local dealer's pre-owned inventory. I visited several times, trying a demo lens on one visit, and three of my own lenses on subsequent visits. I visited such sites as dpreview, to peep at pixels and how the 5D renders colors, and read countless user reviews on many sites. Then, I made the purchase, $900 US. More details are in the thread I started here, on the relevance of the 5D in 2011.

I may well skip the 5D2! Between my 7D pair and 5D, I am should be able to cover everything, until I have a chance to see if any of the 1Dx features trickle-down to the successor(s) of the 5D2, or other full-frame Canons that may appear.

popo made a really good point about fast primes. I did not realize just how good this 5D's images could be until I tested my 35mm 1.4L and 100mm 2.8L on it, at the camera shop, then later looked at the images on my computer at home. Getting the good glass before the full-frame camera seems the better option, to me. Good glass will benefit one's cropped-frame cameras while saving for full-frame.

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Canon 7D/5D/40D/1D2N; Nikon F6, FM3A, & Coolpix A; Canon 40mm Pancake, 135L, 50L, 35L, pre-II 50mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8L Macro, 10-22mm EF-S, 28-135 EF, 400mm 5.6L; Nikkor 50mm 1.2 AI-S, 50mm 1.4G, 50mm 1.8D, 16mm 2.8D Fisheye, 180mm 2.8D, 100-300mm 5.6 AI-S; Tokina 17mm & 100mm 2.8 Macro