[biggins]

well i am in the position to buy a new camera. If i go with the 40D im not upgrading sensor size at all from what I have. However in talking to a few canon pros/endorsed photogs I know that bought 50D as their backup rig they are all selling them and buying 40D bodies again due to noise issues. The 5D would be the logical step but the price and slow burst rate/slowish auto focus are kind of a turnoff.........im shooting mainly slower speed sports like climbing and kayaking and also doing a lot of flash work so the auto focus wouldnt be too much of an issue i dont think. Also does anyone know if my current lenses would work on the 5D? i am shooting the 10.1 megapixel version of the rebel right now and have some decent glass for it and wont be able to afford new glass for a while if I buy the 5D. hmmm.....decisions.....

 

[narlus]

i'm not sure what your current lenses are, but the 5D can use any Canon EF lens...i think that 3rd party 'digital crop' lenses can be used on the 5D but there might/will be vignetting issues; however, they won't physically interfere w/ the focus screen and/or mirror flip like the EF-S lenses will).

i have borrowed my friend's 40D and it's a nice camera. i wish the newer 5D had more cross-type AF sensors, but the center AF point is actually very accurate, and since the resolution is so high, you can easily get away w/ cropping in post if you want to go that way.

image quality on the 5D/5D2 is better than the XXD series bodies, no question in my mind. esp @ high ISO. if you don't think you will need high ISO performance, perhaps a 40D would serve you better.

 

[stiksandstones]

Buy a used 5d (mark I)

It will go down in history as the best DSLR ever made (for the time, price, etc)

I had 3 5d2's (not at one time haha) and all had worse AF than its predecessor and the images had a weird look to them. I am not a anal 300% zoom noob, I just noticed something was weird with the 5d2.

Old 5d's can be had for 1000-1400 bucks, and some places still have them new for 1900 or so??

and Narlus is correct on all fronts.

 

[Toshi]

i'm quite happy with my 5D Mk II. my previous body was a 20D, and before that, a (canon) D30 <-- 3.2 MP of 2nd gen dSLR goodness.

 

[narlus]

I had 3 5d2's (not at one time haha) and all had worse AF than its predecessor and the images had a weird look to them. I am not a anal 300% zoom noob, I just noticed something was weird with the 5d2.

by chance did you have highlight priority on? i was using this initially, but it made the shadows look bluish instead of black...not good at all, so i have ditched using that particular setting.

i still need to do a microadjust test on my lenses...that's a neat feature. i am also digging the live view quite a bit more than i thought i would...i've been able to use it @ gigs w/ pretty good results, if i need to hold the camera over my head.

 

[Silver]

I finally used Liveivew on my D300 yesterday. I wanted to shove the lens and a flash down a ventpipe on a roof that a bunch of bees decided to use for a home.

I think that officially makes my liveview use 1/20000 shots...

 

[narlus]

if you are using a tripod to take photos of static subjects, live view is great for nailing/confirming focus when zoomed in 10x.

i've also used this to set focus on video recording.

 

[stiksandstones]

by chance did you have highlight priority on? i was using this initially, but it made the shadows look bluish instead of black...not good at all, so i have ditched using that particular setting.

i still need to do a microadjust test on my lenses...that's a neat feature. i am also digging the live view quite a bit more than i thought i would...i've been able to use it @ gigs w/ pretty good results, if i need to hold the camera over my head.

I had HP on when I was first using it, but found similar issues and just odd detail in the highlights if I was really analyzing an image.

For action it was horrendous, worse than old 5d. I have since got rid of it all together but I do miss liveview, the video, and the nicer build. Don't miss the OOF ratio, big file sizes.

Oh and I also found the hi-iso was not that much better than the old 5d. Canon hit the ball out of the park with that old 5d.

 

[biggins]

so what are the issues with the 50D versus the 40D?

 

[IH8Rice]

so what are the issues with the 50D versus the 40D?

i dont see any...higher MP, higher ISO, better lcd screen, face detection, newer processor, hdmi output

 

[narlus]

For action it was horrendous, worse than old 5d. I have since got rid of it all together but I do miss liveview, the video, and the nicer build. Don't miss the OOF ratio, big file sizes.

well you can shoot sRAW1 and yield about the same resolution as the 5D. and i haven't noticed any AF issues (though i am mainly using center point a lot of the time).

Oh and I also found the hi-iso was not that much better than the old 5d. Canon hit the ball out of the park with that old 5d.

i don't agree w/ this...ISO 6400 is actually pretty usable on the 5D2...a one stop push in post on a 3200 ISO shot w/ the 5D would be noisier.

 

[Silver]

Oh and I also found the hi-iso was not that much better than the old 5d. Canon hit the ball out of the park with that old 5d.

I'm surprised it is as good as it is considering how many more pixels are crammed onto the sensor.

I don't think you can fault Canon there...