5d mark2 + sport + wildlife vs 7d

Hi guys,

I am reading this forum and the xxd forum to see the difference between 7d and 5D markII, and the conclusion it will be: if you photograph mostly wildlife and sport the AF system from 7D will e more helpful.

currently I have an old pentax and a lousy lense (28- 200) that does not allow me to shot moving objects. it has a such bad autofocus

I don’t really know how good/bad the AF from 5D is compared with the one from 7D.

What will be the limitations, what I will not be able to shot?

What does the 7D have and the 5D does not have (regarding the AF)?

I am thinking at something like: if you go to a football game, I will have less keepers with 5D?!

I don’t shoot sports like that, but a running dog/horse/kid/moving people I am. I am also doing portraits and landscape. I intend to go to Africa and shoot some wildlife.

And the lenses that I want to buy: 70-200 f/4 is and 16-35 f/2.8.

With these two lenses, what do you recommend? Will I gain more from 5D mark 2? Do you recommend something else?
What is the IQ?

I asking all this because I have no place to test the cameras and I don’t know how good the AF for xxD or xD cameras is.

Hope this questions are not too stupid.

Thanks for your time

I've just arrived from my photography shop.

I had been thinking for a while now about whether to go for the 5D2 vs 7D.

My interests are wildlife/nature in the first place, then landscapes in the second.

I have an 1D Mark III, and used to have a 50D, which I don't have any longer, but a wanted/needed a second body, though.

My decision? I have just bought the 7D.

Yes I know. I've given up in terms of IQ, and maybe a lot. But then again, I wasn't happy with the 50D's AF System, which in turn is similar to the 5D's (I think that it is better as it has more cross-points, but I'm not sure about this. Maybe someone can correct me in this point).

And I have just been spending a while with the 7D's AF system... and it is just great. Amazing. I was being cautious because of the many threads in the xxD forum with people complaining about faulty AF System... but I tested it in the shop -before buying the cam- and I have been trying it at home. It works. And it works great.

Maybe it is on pair with the 1D3's AF System (my copy has always worked flawlessly for my needs), but I'll have to check it out more in depth.

What I think is wrong with my decision? Obviously, I'll miss the 5D2's IQ every time I want to take my time shooting a landscape.

(All that) being said, I am not telling you what to do, mind you. I've tried to illustrate my point and what I've decided after having been thinking for a couple of months, now.

TLR I've just bought a 7D, and as much as I will be regretting not having bought a 5D when shooting landscapes, there is no way I'll spend the money on a cam that has an AF System obsolete (when it comes to wildlife/sport photography).

Please, note that this is all my humble opinion, that I know that I might be wrong, and that in the end all the stated above is about my own needs and understanding. I think that the 5D2 is an amazing camera that I'd have bought in a heartbit should its AF System be like the 7D's. Knowing first-hand the 50D's AF System and having tried the 7D's make me think I've made the right decision -according to my needs-.

HIH

Good luck with your decision.

Regards

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http://jaimsthesweetspot.wordpress.com/

Hi

I can't tell about the 7D, but the 5D2 is not a good camera for sports: 3 fps is way too slow and, moreover, its AF is quite unreliable for tracking fast moving subjects (and I am referring to the central AF point, forget the other ones...). I have some experience covering professional soccer, and I carry the 5D2 as a second body for capturing ambient scenes, goal celebrations and so, but I can't rely on it for action shots...

--
http://www.felipe-rodriguez.com

Bokeh

Dadme un mundo sin contornos,
Un espacio feliz que ignore los perfiles.
Concededme, sí, la dicha redonda
De flotar sin conciencia en el fondo
Desenfocado de mis fotografías.

Give me a world with no edges,
A happy space knowing nothing about outlines.
Grant me, please, the round joy
Of thoughtlessly floating on the blurred
Background of my photographs.

thanks guys for your answers,

I am not interested in speed, i believe that 4 FPS should be enough, but I would like to be easer for me to focus objects in motion.

but what about the lenses, will they perform better on a full frame?

thanks

I own both a 7D and 5D2, I agree with the sentiments above. 5D2 produces stunning IQ overall, but its AF is not up to what the 7D can do when it comes to moving targets. So for sports and wildlife I generally grab my 7D. (Actually, I often pack both, with different lens selections, so I can still shoot portraits with the 5D2.)

As far as lenses, I have not heard that much special about the 16-35. I have the 17-55 f/2.8 IS. Wider zoom range yet also f2.8, cheaper and it has image stabilization. It's not an L lens, but it does produce very nice images.

As for the 70-200 f/4 it has a great reputation overall, I haven't used it. I'd worry that the reach may not be sufficient. With wildlife you almost always want more than you have, and even for a lot of sports it's nice to have at least up to 300mm... I believe that with anything above a 1.4x extender the AF won't work (since it will be above f/5.6). So you may want to rent that and see if it suits your particular needs.

You already have a 1DMKIII but you chose to buy a 7D because you say the 5DMKII has an "obsolete" AF system?? Oh dear!

Sport =1DMKIII; high quality landscape/portrait = 5DMKII; = perfect combo.

I would rather have a MKIII instead of a 7D any time.

Zoooming

Jaims said:

I've just arrived from my photography shop.

I had been thinking for a while now about whether to go for the 5D2 vs 7D.

My interests are wildlife/nature in the first place, then landscapes in the second.

I have an 1D Mark III, and used to have a 50D, which I don't have any longer, but a wanted/needed a second body, though.

My decision? I have just bought the 7D.

Yes I know. I've given up in terms of IQ, and maybe a lot. But then again, I wasn't happy with the 50D's AF System, which in turn is similar to the 5D's (I think that it is better as it has more cross-points, but I'm not sure about this. Maybe someone can correct me in this point).

And I have just been spending a while with the 7D's AF system... and it is just great. Amazing. I was being cautious because of the many threads in the xxD forum with people complaining about faulty AF System... but I tested it in the shop -before buying the cam- and I have been trying it at home. It works. And it works great.

Maybe it is on pair with the 1D3's AF System (my copy has always worked flawlessly for my needs), but I'll have to check it out more in depth.

What I think is wrong with my decision? Obviously, I'll miss the 5D2's IQ every time I want to take my time shooting a landscape.

(All that) being said, I am not telling you what to do, mind you. I've tried to illustrate my point and what I've decided after having been thinking for a couple of months, now.

TLR I've just bought a 7D, and as much as I will be regretting not having bought a 5D when shooting landscapes, there is no way I'll spend the money on a cam that has an AF System obsolete (when it comes to wildlife/sport photography).

Please, note that this is all my humble opinion, that I know that I might be wrong, and that in the end all the stated above is about my own needs and understanding. I think that the 5D2 is an amazing camera that I'd have bought in a heartbit should its AF System be like the 7D's. Knowing first-hand the 50D's AF System and having tried the 7D's make me think I've made the right decision -according to my needs-.

HIH

Good luck with your decision.

Regards

--
http://jaimsthesweetspot.wordpress.com/

Click to expand...

I have both the 5DII and the 7D and shoot wildlife as much as time will allow. After eight months of mostly going after BIF I find myself always shooting with the 5DII. After many shoots in the field I found that the keeper rate was way higher with the 5DII and even though it shoots at about half the frames per second of the 7D, the frames were sharp. I sent the 7D to Canon to make sure all was well. They did some adjusting so I was willing to test it again. Unfortunately the same bad results compared to the 5DII. I use the 500/4 with and without 1.4 with both cameras and have found that the 7D really doesn’t like the 1.4 on it. With the 500/4 the image quality of the 5DII compared to the 7D is very noticeable. I always take my 7D with me as a back up, but I never dare use it when the light is good and the birds are active. The 5DII image quality is stunning. Please check out these photographers who use the 5DII for their exceptional work.

http://ari1982.smugmug.com/

http://www.manospapadomanolakis.com/

Hope this helps with your decision!

Robin

http://www.robinprangephotographer.com

I shoot a 5d2 and a 1d2n. Mostly landscape with the 5d and wildlife with the 1d, although both will do either the 1d AF is much better than the 5d. I do not have a 7d and am not that familiar with it, but if I had a 1d3 I would not be looking at a 7d. I am not looking at it with a 1d2n. Both the 5d and 7d have video if that is a consideration.But all in all I agree with the previous poster that a 5d and 1d combo is the way to go. Finally, for Africa I shot a 100-400 on a 1.6 crop and would recommend at least 400 on the long end for that and wildlife generally.
http://mitchseaver.com/

To late to edit. I thought the OP had the 1d3, it was some one else , so... never mind.
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http://mitchseaver.com/

I have two 5DII. One with 16-35 and the other with 70-200 f/4 and am happy with both lenses. I owned the 7D for 3 days and mine wouldn't focus properly. Wasn't happy with the detail from the 7D. Some shots looked like watercolours. Go for the full frame and you won't be disappointed. I use my 5DII for capturing surfing and it does a great job. This is with a 500mm lens on a big tripod.

I am almost afraid to respond to any question about the 7D; last time I did I had a 7D fanatic stalk me through a couple of threads.

I have a 5DII and needed a better sports camera, so I bought a 7D. I only shot soccer on one day with it, but the three games occurred at different light levels. I found that bright sunlight shots were no where as good as my 5DII and the late afternoon cloudy conditions required higher ISO and the noise was unacceptable, so I returned the 7D. I use a 100-400 lens. Although IQ of the 7D may have been better with a faster lens, the lens I have provides great photos on my 5DII.

andu112 said:

andu112 said:

I humbly apologize to 7D owners, so please, you can disagree with my findings, but no more personal attacks about my competency!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I really wanted a great sports/wildlife camera, so I bought a 1DIV...the camera is fantastic with IQ and high ISO noise as good as my 5DII.

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http://www.pbase.com/sullyc5er

one 5D2 is actually one 5D2 + one APS-C camera which has stronger AF ability than 7D

detail see:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1032&thread=36312425

wow,

your photos are awesome, did you shot all of them with 5D mark2?
did you encountered any issue with AF at 5d?

thanks man

I really don't understand what you mean by this. can you be a little specific?

Thanks

If I will go with 5D, I cannot use 18-55 2.8.

and the 70-200 seems a more general lens than 400 mm which I really cannot afford.

thanks for your input.

Thanks! Yes all of the shots in "Avian" were shot with the 5D Mark II.

Robin Prange

http://www.robinprangephotographer.com

Thanks for your insight!

Your point was what actually took me thinking on the move for more than 2 months.
Shall I buy the 5D2 -IQ- or the 7D -amazing AF and the better crop cam?

In the end, I decided that what I wanted was a backup cam but not a complement cam. I want a backup cam that has an AF system as reliable as the 1D3... and having owned a 50D for 1 year and half, I wanted more in the AF department. Besides, a 1D4 was off the question because a) budget and b) I wanted a backup cam smaller (which can be more than convenient quite often.

If there was such a cam as the 5D3 (5D2 sensor + 7D AF, weather sealing, etc.) I would have bought that one.

Since the 5D3 is not around -yet-, I went for the 7D and... when the 5D3 is out there and prices have lowered a bit (sometime 2011?) I will buy it.

In the meanwhile, I was testing the 7D yesterday, birding, and I'm more than happy with the first results (other than auto-iso going all the way to 3200, when pictures have a lot of noise).

Again, thanks for your comment.

Regards

zoooming said:

You already have a 1DMKIII but you chose to buy a 7D because you say the 5DMKII has an "obsolete" AF system?? Oh dear!

Sport =1DMKIII; high quality landscape/portrait = 5DMKII; = perfect combo.

I would rather have a MKIII instead of a 7D any time.

Zoooming

Click to expand...

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http://jaimsthesweetspot.wordpress.com/

Really great shots! I have a bit experience with shooting wild birds, too, and I notice something looking at your pictures: the birds are moving nearly perendicular to the direction between them and your camera. This is a situation that does not challenge AF too much (if the background isn't to disturbing). Much more critical is a bird flying towards your camera and you want its head being sharp.

I use currently the 7D (with a 50D as backup), and its advanced AF system should handle such a challenge perfectly according to all the hymns about it. From my practical experience I can say that the 7D has indeed the best AF system I ever used but it struggles with such a challenge, too. I tried different AF configurations, but a bird's head is small and its feathered contours without pronounced edges obviously do not deliver enough optical information for the AF system. So if you think about wildlife shooting do not expect the 7D to be a sort of magic wand. You may double the really sharp shots, if you are lucky.

Another experience I made is that the 7D's AF performance really depends on the lens, when it comes down to real action. The drive of the lens must be precisely micro adjusted, too, because the extremely small pixels/high res sensor of the 7D requires much more precision than a 5D II.

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Picturenaut

5D2 better IQ, my 7D AF not that good disappointed with it, so I use a Nikon when tracking sports. The 5D2 does track OK, but I often need the reach of a cropped camera as no time to crop photo's at live events

Trevor

I read this thread with great interest as I currently use a 7D for wildlife photography and think about upgrading my backup 50D to a 5D II. Thanks for the many helpful comments! Apologize for this long post but this is currently a really important matter for me...

As I replied to Robin Prange my experience with the 7D's AF system (nearly 15000 shots) is quite mixed, but shooting wild birds flying not perpendicular but towards your cam is of course most challenging even for the best AF systems. Shooting sports with people, horses, cars with more defined faces/edges than birds manages the 7D much better.

So, overall, I think if you do not want to have the crop factor of the 7D, its better but not magic AF system (for flying birds, dragon flys etc.) and its hammering burst rate it is really worth considering a full frame 5D II for wildlife action shooting (I manage to shoot sharp results with my 50D that should perform mostly like a 5D II). If there is enough light available, the 7D/50D produce both very nice results with teles. But birds @ ISO 1600 and higher are no good with such APS-C sensors since its fine feather textures get lost in a swamp of chroma noise - heavy PP does not really produce satisfying results. And if you prefer lighter but less fast teles for handheld shots such as the EF 400 mm f/5.6 you often get into this situation.

That's the reason why I think about upgrading to the 5D II as the second (or first) body. A 1D would be of course the best solution for wildlife shooting but it is simply too big and heavy for my taste (I often meet wildlife freaks using it). My full hiking gear already contains 2 bodys to avoid changing too often lenses in dusty/wet environment, 4-5 lenses (macros, teles...) so that's enuff for my poor back.

The only matter of concern to me: I heard that the 5D II has quite a long shutter press lag for a DSLR. Is that true? I still struggle with the shutter lags of DSLRs in general because I was socialised by the instant reply of film SLRs. Thanks for your help in advance.

@andu112: I have the 70-200 f/4 L IS USM - if you get close enough for this shorter tele distance this is a really great action lens. With it I get more sharp results of moving subjects with my current DLSRs than with any other tele lens in my collection (second to it is the EF 400 mm f/5.6 L USM). So I can highly recommend this zoom lens.

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Picturenaut