Reading mode: Light Dark

Going from Nikon To Canon

Go to last post
B

bill hennan

Well-known member
Messages
110
Reaction score
0
Location
Midwest, US
These forums have been great in getting me up to speed on Canon. With delivery of a 5D pending next week I'm starting to get cold feet. Maybe it is simply buyer's remorse for spending so much money, but all the postings on banding and excessive dust problems are kind of getting to me this late in the game.

I know that no camera is perfect, and even read that my alternative choice a Nikon D200 has some reports of banding. But, I just don't remember my formerly owned F5 or D70 ever have out of the box dust or long term use dust problems like some describe with the 5D. The way some go on a regular sandstorm was going on as they took their 5D out of the packaging ;)

As good as the 5D seems I'm wondering if I should invest in a DSLR that might have fewer banding problems (at a lower native ISO) and less dust cleaning?
 
DPR is where the most exotic problems come out, no matter how rare or small they are and they are revealed by doing strange things to image files, that normally wouldn't be done. So don't worry. I think everyone on here is very happy with their 5D and I am sure you will be 2.
 
There are no rampant problems with banding on the 5D. If there was you'd see it all over this forum. Just take a deep breath :). When your 5D comes jack that ISO up to 1600 and snap a bunch of indoor low light pictures, load them onto your computer and then marvel at the IQ. You will be in heaven. I guarantee it. I speak as a former Nikon user (D200).

Enjoy your new rig.
bill hennan said:
These forums have been great in getting me up to speed on Canon.
With delivery of a 5D pending next week I'm starting to get cold
feet. Maybe it is simply buyer's remorse for spending so much
money, but all the postings on banding and excessive dust problems
are kind of getting to me this late in the game.

I know that no camera is perfect, and even read that my alternative
choice a Nikon D200 has some reports of banding. But, I just don't
remember my formerly owned F5 or D70 ever have out of the box dust
or long term use dust problems like some describe with the 5D. The
way some go on a regular sandstorm was going on as they took their
5D out of the packaging ;)

As good as the 5D seems I'm wondering if I should invest in a DSLR
that might have fewer banding problems (at a lower native ISO) and
less dust cleaning?
Click to expand...
--
Cheers,
Doug

http://www.pbase.com/dougoglesby
 
I was in the same boat as you a couple of days ago, and when you go out with your 5d for the first time, you will know that it wasnt a bad mistake. After Nikon, the 5d fits like a glove. Unfortunalty the on/off switch is a bit uncomfortible, and the meter goes the wrong way, but after just a day I am used to it. You will love it.

--
http://www.dancespencerdance.com
 
Whatever you do, just make sure you don't get that new 5D wet--I hear they don't hold up very well in a light rain............

--
http://www.pbase.com/nonprophet

'Anyone can make a buck, try making a difference instead.'

'A good photographer frets over which lens to buy,
a great photographer knows that vision and creativity
produce spectacular images--not lenses.'

'No photographer is as good as the simplest camera.'
 
Nonprophet said:
Whatever you do, just make sure you don't get that new 5D wet--I
hear they don't hold up very well in a light rain............
Click to expand...
You heard wrong. We've shot in light rain, and even sproradically heavy rain, with our 5Ds, and no problems. My wife, and her 5D, got drenched by a wave at the beach during a shoot, again, with no problems. This last time, we took the camera in for inspection, but nothing was found.
--
Skip M
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com
http://www.pbase.com/skipm
 
Ghozer said:
When your 5D comes jack that ISO up to 1600 and snap a bunch of
indoor low light pictures, load them onto your computer and then
marvel at the IQ. You will be in heaven. I guarantee it. I speak
as a former Nikon user (D200).
Click to expand...
I was in your same position last week until I finally rec'd my 5D (Nikon Guy here).

As Ghozer said, kick that baby into 1600 ISO and all stress will quickly melt away.

I had been waiting for the S5, but then decided to just go with the 5D based on track record.

I went with a 24-70 L as my first lens.
No regrets here.

Best of Luck
 
bill hennan said:
As good as the 5D seems I'm wondering if I should invest in a DSLR
that might have fewer banding problems (at a lower native ISO) and
less dust cleaning?
Click to expand...
OK, calm down and relax if you can. You're fine and it will be OK. You obviously got spooked by the knuckleheads, but remember that these forums are full of "chicken littles" (CL) and beginning photographers, very few of which are reliable sources. Also note that the Nikon and Canon people get along about as well as the Israelis and Palistinians. That's the way it is unfortunately. I spend a lot of time in the Nikon forums, and the nonsense that goes on over there when talking about Canon cameras is mind boggling.

Anyway, many people here simply don't know what they're talking about, but they love to blame their ignorance, inability, etc. on their equipment. You'll see all kinds of whining often in inarticulate and incoherent diatribes.

I'm sure some cameras have had some problems, but those are minority numbers and every mfg has had some issues. Cameras are mechanical and electrical devices - the quality is not 100% and some failures/annoyances will occur.

5d banding? What banding? I've never had it, but it's not an issue for the model either. Don't listen to the CLs here. Period. End of discussion.

Dust? Sure digital cameras get dust on their sensors, so clean it. Do you really think Nikon cameras don't have equal dust problems? If so, you'd be wrong. The only reason more people know about the dust on a 5d is they can finally see it. The sensor is large enough (2x the DX sensor size), the images is large enough, etc.

As for the 5d specifically having more dust problems than any other camera, I absolutely disagree. Perhaps I'm more cautious with my camera when I change lenses, but you shouldn't worry about this. I've owned three 5d cameras and they all get dust. So do the 1 series, the 300/400 series, the x0 series (10d, 20d, etc.) and every Nikon/Oly/Pentax/Sony ever built. That's the way it is.

OK, in short, the 5d is superior to the D200 in all aspects except the FPS and the D200's "not-quite-pro-level " weather sealing . I guess it comes down to what's more important to you. if IQ is important, you'll stay with your decision. If FPS is more important to you, then sacrifice better images for the D200.

Personally, I wouldn't buy any Nikon camera over the 5d. You made the right choice and you'll be very happy.
 
Bill, I agree with the others, relax ... the 5d rocks.

I'm shooting both Nikon and the 5d.

My take on banding is that it is a non-issue.

Dust however, may be an issue for you depending on your expectations. I don't know what nikon body you're coming from, but my experience is that sensor dust isn't much different between a d70 and the 5d. However, my pair of d2x's are miles ahead of both.... I have never cleaned either of my d2x's sensors ... I've had one for almost two years, one for about 7 months. I've had virtually no viewfinder dust with the d2x's either, but a little with the d70. The 5d kinda bites it here ... but it's something I just try to ignore. As straight as I know how to tell it.....

best, mark
 
Bill,

I've owned a Canon 5D for over a year and I get less banding than any dslr that I've previously owned or used. I'm told that it's a result of electromagnetic interference which is amplified at high iso values. This "noise" might come from mobile phones, USM AF motors (my old 100-300mm USM was really bad), or something else that we haven't worked out yet (like the Aperture motors). But it does seem to be lens specific, by that I mean copy specific as opposed to model specific. My 28-135mm some times has a wee bit of banding at iso 1600 but not a lot but my ef 50mm f1.8 Mk I has none. Amusingly, none of my 3rd party lenses induce this noise either. My Tamron 17-35mm, Sigma 100-300mm f4, Sigma 12-24mm, Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 or Sigma 15mm fisheye. Which sort of flys in the face of the "only buy Canon" advise that is prevelent here.

Dust is problematic with all sensors. The bigger the sensor, the bigger the scoop, hence more dust. But those dust particles will be effectively smaller for the same size output (eg, an A3 or A4 print out). I clean my sensor every few weeks, but it common for me to have to dust spot several blobs per image. It's a fact of life until Canon put an auto dust cleaner into a full frame camera. I'm not obsessed with having a spotless sensor. When it gets quite grubby, I clean it. No different than any other DSLR that i've used, except it gets grubby more quickly. But it's not a big deal.

The Canon 5D is a terrific piece of kit and I'm sure that you'll love it. I think a lot of people's critism towards their photographic equipment, here on this forum is a result of un-happy lives, not the gear. The current lens and DSLR equipment that is currently available is the best that there ever has been. I currently take the best quality images that I have ever taken and print out to greater sizes than I have ever done before. If some thing isn't right, it's rarely the gear that's at fault. It's usually me. The camera is just doing what it was designed to do. I am very contented with my gear, but less so with my ability to actually use it to it's full potential.

Gareth
--
http://www.pbase.com/gazzajagman

'Science is what we dream of, technology is what we are stuck with' Douglas Adams
 
Well said Mark. It's great to have those with N/C experience provide balanced input

Thanks for providing a solid reply and possibly helping more people. I didn't know the D2x was that good on dust.

I do know, after using countless Canon digital cameras, the 5d on a size basis just isn't worse than any other iMO. Perhaps the sensor's larger size becomes a bigger magnet from an electro static perspective, but regardless, it's easy to clean.
 
Dust: Really overblown IMO. I live in Dust central in a desert and I have yet to clean my sensor. I do have 5 spots (when shooting at f/8.0 and smaller) of dust after 6 months of medium to moderate use with frequent lens changes. I have not cleaned my sensor yet. Compared to my 1D, this is sweet and still better than my 1D Mk II.

Banding: This is a very minor issue and impacts very specific shooting conditions/equipment. Test for it, but for the extreme vast number of users, it will NEVER impact them. For those that it does, the 5D is not a good choice. It does happen I am sure, but I can not induce it with any of my lenses on my 5D. To me, it sounds like an impedance mis-match between the lens and the camera. Big no-no for Canon.

Steven

--
---
2006 White Sands and Bisti Workshop
http://www.pbase.com/snoyes/white_sands_and_bisti

Winter 2007:
http://www.pbase.com/snoyes/images_winter_2007

 
superbouncykid said:
my 5D:

1) no dust
2) image quality beats d200 and any other dslr that price range and
below
3) no banding
4) very strong magnesium body ( I don't shoot in the rain, so no
problem here and for those very few times I use an umbrella)

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/namakumo
Click to expand...
I'm glad you folks calmed me down with my worries. I've had the 5D for about a week and I'm enjoying the hell out of it! I've got no regrets about picking up the Canon line after having had some very nice Nikon equipment. Picture quality of the 5D meets my wildest hopes. Thanks all.
 
Hi Bill,

I came over to the 5D from at D70 after carefully considering a D200. Both cameras are absolutely fantastic. The 5D costs more but I believe you get what you pay for.
Congratulations on your purchase. Enjoy!
Sam

--
5D + 24L, 85L II, 135L, + 24-70L
 
bill hennan said:
money, but all the postings on banding and excessive dust problems
are kind of getting to me this late in the game.
Click to expand...
Hi Bill,

Don't worry about it. You will find a very hard time finding banding in your 5D images. If this doesn't make you feel better, take a look at a test I did and spot the banding in the D200 image. It's not there in the 5D image.



--
Selwin

Currently still enjoying film SLR, film scanner and Photoshop CS2. Switching from F6 to 1D3 (or 5Dii) in 2007. Not interested in Dxxx because of noise and other IQ issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top