5D Mark II or 7D

Hello everyone I'm new to the forum. I have read through a few of the threads and have yet to make a decision on which camera to get.

I'm a dentist and use my camera Canon 20D for work macro shots of the mouth and teeth (Canon 100mm Macro and ring flash). I also shot recreationally (niece and nephew at Lacrosse and soccer, landscapes, portrait, etc)

My current camera is great. But, it's time for an upgrade. I wanted to know what the consensus is out there on which to buy 5D Mark II or 7D?
Oh yeah, one more thing. Is there any reason to wait for the rumored 5D Mark III

5DII.
No, don't wait.

I recommend either the 24-70L or the 24-105L IS as an additional lens if you don't already have them.
Have fun!

Thanks! And I'll look into those lenses

I have both the 5DII and 7D. You said you want to take photos of your neice/nephew playing field sports. The 7D is what you want for this. It will also allow you to do great macros of mouths, but for field sports the extra reach of the 1.6x crop will allow you to cover a lot more of the field with a 70-200mm lens. The 70-200 f/4L IS is a spectacular lens for a great price. With a full frame camera like the 5DII, 200mm is very often too short for field sports.

You have or will probably read threads saying that the 7D AF is no better than the 5DII. These people are only comparing center point to center point. The 7D has 19 points that are just as good as the 5DII center point if not better. I shoot field sports as a semi-pro and for soccer and lacrosse I use the top AF point in the frame. The outer points of the 5DII AF are useless for sports. Furthermore, you can set the 7D to automatically switch AF points when you hold it vertically or horizontally, which is awesome.

Good luck.

7D has 19 points that as good as 5DII center point if not better. You guys will say anything on this forum. That is why you want to send your 7D to Canon or upgrade to 1DIII.

JackM said:

I have both the 5DII and 7D. You said you want to take photos of your neice/nephew playing field sports. The 7D is what you want for this. It will also allow you to do great macros of mouths, but for field sports the extra reach of the 1.6x crop will allow you to cover a lot more of the field with a 70-200mm lens. The 70-200 f/4L IS is a spectacular lens for a great price. With a full frame camera like the 5DII, 200mm is very often too short for field sports.

You have or will probably read threads saying that the 7D AF is no better than the 5DII. These people are only comparing center point to center point. The 7D has 19 points that are just as good as the 5DII center point if not better. I shoot field sports as a semi-pro and for soccer and lacrosse I use the top AF point in the frame. The outer points of the 5DII AF are useless for sports. Furthermore, you can set the 7D to automatically switch AF points when you hold it vertically or horizontally, which is awesome.

Click to expand...

I have both also and the 5DMKII shares it's AI-servo performance with it's 50D stable mate (see the joint Canon WP.)

I've rolled over 10,000 night action sports shots in a 11 months and I've only caught the 7D take a focus flyer once. It aquires and tracks new targets in less than half the time of a 50D (and a 5D MKII by association) and with a slower sync speed I won't even give the 5DMKII a try.

Well not entirely true, I have taken general background shots at 4000 ISO using the EF 70-200 F2.8 iS MKII in panning mode.





But the money shots are 7D flash.

amobi said:

7D has 19 points that as good as 5DII center point if not better. You guys will say anything on this forum. That is why you want to send your 7D to Canon or upgrade to 1DIII.

JackM said:

I have both the 5DII and 7D. ...--

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Phil Agur

7D - 5DMKII - Dual Body Bag - Go 'L' and don't look back!

Got 7D? See http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=3167

The 7D is a camera oriented to those who want to take mostly action shots, its cropped sensored like your 20D. For dental work, if I were you, I'd keep the 20D at the office, its all you need for teeth.

I've owned three DSLR's, the Original Digital Rebel, the Xsi, and the 5D mk 2. I still use all of them if you can believe it. I love the Xsi as its small enough to almost be a Point and Shoot.

My bias is clearly toward full frame, you can just do more with it if you're the artsy fartsy type. With full frame, you can crop deeper without affecting the image as much, blow up the image with excellent resolution, its a wonderful camera.

Many own a crop sensor camera because they can't or don't want to own a full frame financially. I'd say to you, where do you think you want to go with your photography, if its toward the action end of things, then the 7D. If you see yourself shooting more landscape and portrait type photos (not necessarily studio work) and you enjoy being artsy fartsy with the images, I'd say go full frame.

I definitely prefer the optical view finder of a full frame camera, so much brighter and it seems like the great state of Texas compared to an OVF of a cropped camera. Either will give you great images, they are both tools so the question is - what tool do you need, only you can know.
--
An excellent lens lasts a lifetime, an excellent DSLR, not so long.

amobi said:

7D has 19 points that as good as 5DII center point if not better. You guys will say anything on this forum. That is why you want to send your 7D to Canon or upgrade to 1DIII.

Click to expand...

I know it sounds like I'm speaking out of both sides of my mouth, but I'm not. All 19 of the 7D AF points are about as good as the 5DII center point. I do think it could and should be better, based on posts by other 7D owners who have also owned 1DIIs and 1DIIIs. That is why I'm sending mine in. I'll probably always be undecided between 7D vs 1DIII, until the day I can afford a 1DIV. In the mean time, the 7D gives a lot more reach than a 1DIII, in a much more portable body. Being able to cover a good portion of a soccer field with a 70-200 is a big value.

You know I still don't know which one I want. But, I think I understand a little better the pros and cons of each.

With that said there something about owning a full frame DSLR. But versatility is also important.
Thanks for all the advise

Happy Holidays

nomadmai said:

With that said there something about owning a full frame DSLR.

Click to expand...

Yes there is. It's about having a nice big viewfinder, walk-around lenses that go to 24mm, L-grade wide-angle zooms, vignetting, DOF, high ISO, and focal lengths that make sense to former film users. I thought again about you using your camera to shoot your neice/nephew in sports... if that's not going to be a major use of the camera, that might tip the scales over to the 5DII. It can do sports, just with less reach and fewer keepers. If it were your own children (or if your relationship with them is like that of a third parent) and you shoot their sports a lot, I'd say 7D.

nomadmai said:

Hello everyone I'm new to the forum. I have read through a few of the threads and have yet to make a decision on which camera to get.

I'm a dentist and use my camera Canon 20D for work macro shots of the mouth and teeth (Canon 100mm Macro and ring flash). I also shot recreationally (niece and nephew at Lacrosse and soccer, landscapes, portrait, etc)

My current camera is great. But, it's time for an upgrade. I wanted to know what the consensus is out there on which to buy 5D Mark II or 7D?
Oh yeah, one more thing. Is there any reason to wait for the rumored 5D Mark III

Click to expand...

Hello nomadmi,

I just recently bought a 5D II and love it. I was looking into the 7D as well but decided against it because I wanted the full frame sensor for narrower DOF. One of my best friends just happens to be a dentist and we had several conversations about this. He uses a similar setup as you for his professional dental photography. He does that with a 40D, the same lens as you and the ring flash. He tried several setups and it turns out that this was the only thing that really worked.

He is not in the market to change/upgrade the camera for his professional work. We haven't tried it yet but my 5D would probably not give as good results for this specific purpose exactly for the reason why I wanted it: narrow(er) DOF. The cropped sensor of the 7D (or 60D etc) may give you better results for dental work because of the magnification and the wider depth of field. As you already know, even with the ring flash it is not easy to stop down enough for DOF while still shooting hovering over the patient.

However, if you are happy with your current dental photos why not buy the 5DII for regular pictures and keep the 20D? I don't think the higher resolution of the 7D or 5D will be that beneficial even if you publish the pictures.

if you go for the 7D , you might want to wait a month to see the upcoming 7DMK2.

I am pretty sure about the 7D successor will be announced in January 2011.

I am hoping the 5D3 will be announced then, though I doubt that happen since the 5D2 is still selling pretty well.

nomadmai said:

Hello everyone I'm new to the forum. I have read through a few of the threads and have yet to make a decision on which camera to get.

I'm a dentist and use my camera Canon 20D for work macro shots of the mouth and teeth (Canon 100mm Macro and ring flash). I also shot recreationally (niece and nephew at Lacrosse and soccer, landscapes, portrait, etc)

My current camera is great. But, it's time for an upgrade. I wanted to know what the consensus is out there on which to buy 5D Mark II or 7D?
Oh yeah, one more thing. Is there any reason to wait for the rumored 5D Mark III

Click to expand...

--
Ken.

But if I had to choose one over the other it would be 7D.

Though 7D is noisier than 5D2 the noise is so tight that you need to zoom quite a bit to see it. It might also need a little more sharpening though I have not found any difference but people just saying that.
Here is advantages of 7D over 5d2:

1.Though 7D is not FF with Sigma excellent 8-16mm it would make it the same as 5D2 with 12-24mm. You just can't go wider than that with rectilinear lens.

For the same reason your long lenses become much longer because 7D is like having 46mp camera. 5D2 has a long way to go to reach 46mp.
2. 7D is much more advanced camera. Period. Even some controls are better.
3. Much better focusing system and much better focusing.

4. If you are not DOF junkie forget about what people say about the shallowest DOF of 5D2. Just get F1.2 F1.4 and even F1.8 lens and be happy.

If 5D3 will come the same as 7D I am getting it because I need 2-3 cameras anyway.

--
Eugene

The only time a smaller sensor with the same pixel count is superior to a larger sensor (aka higher pixel density) is when you are focal-length limited.

Quote by Lee Jay

The outer point on 5D2 are useless for anything other than just being there.

--
Eugene

The only time a smaller sensor with the same pixel count is superior to a larger sensor (aka higher pixel density) is when you are focal-length limited.

Quote by Lee Jay

You can still have everything you mentioned with 7D.
Many people successfully shoot with 4/3 system and getting the same results.
It is not the camera, it is photographer behind it that produces good images.
--
Eugene

The only time a smaller sensor with the same pixel count is superior to a larger sensor (aka higher pixel density) is when you are focal-length limited.

Quote by Lee Jay

SOB1 said:

if you go for the 7D , you might want to wait a month to see the upcoming 7DMK2.

I am pretty sure about the 7D successor will be announced in January 2011.

Click to expand...

Winning lottery numbers please!!!!!!

--
Eugene

The only time a smaller sensor with the same pixel count is superior to a larger sensor (aka higher pixel density) is when you are focal-length limited.

Quote by Lee Jay

Eugene Powers said:

You can still have everything you mentioned with 7D.

Click to expand...

Really? You can have a large viewfinder? You can have a walk-around lens that starts at 24mm? And is dust/water resistant? You can have L-grade wide-angle zooms? You can use primes and have them actually work the way they're designed to?

Member said:

Many people successfully shoot with 4/3 system and getting the same results.

Click to expand...

Not in low light they're not. Not in inclement weather/conditions they're not.

Member said:

It is not the camera, it is photographer behind it that produces good images.

Click to expand...

That is profound! I've never heard that before!

I own both a 7D and a 5D2 and generally have both with me at events. Both great cameras, different strengths as others have mentioned. When not shooting sports I generally reach for the 5D2. But in terms of bang for buck, I'd give the edge to the 7D (especially given the good value of some of the EF-S lenses).

JackM said:

Eugene Powers said:

You can still have everything you mentioned with 7D.

Click to expand...

Really? You can have a large viewfinder? You can have a walk-around lens that starts at 24mm? And is dust/water resistant? You can have L-grade wide-angle zooms? You can use primes and have them actually work the way they're designed to?

Click to expand...

The answer is 'yes' to almost all these questions... only the prime issue is a matter of opinion. 17-55 and 15-85 are great walkarounds with about 24mm equivalent. 10-22 is a near L-grade wide zoom. 7D has weather proofing on par with 5D2 from what I've read (e.g., read here: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/reviews/Canon-EOS-7D-Digital-SLR-Camera-Review.aspx ). Viewfinder is comparable and 100% coverage vs. 98% from 5D2.

JackM said:

Not in low light they're not. Not in inclement weather/conditions they're not.

Click to expand...

5D2 decidedly has the ISO advantage. AF in low light is actually better on 7D. For weather, they're about equal.

JackM said:

Eugene Powers said:

You can still have everything you mentioned with 7D.

Click to expand...

Really? You can have a large viewfinder? You can have a walk-around lens that starts at 24mm? And is dust/water resistant? You can have L-grade wide-angle zooms? You can use primes and have them actually work the way they're designed to?

Click to expand...

Sure you can. The size and angle of view is only trivial.
There is a thread right now of the guy who took most pictures with 50mm lens.

He had 24-70mm with him but not used it. He said one step back and 50mm is like 24mm and one step forward and 50mm is like 70mm.
BTW, 7D is more dust and water resistant than 5D2.
I use 16-35mm on 7D as walk-around all the time.
So it is really how you use it.

But if you want to stand in one place and take a picture of the world, forget it.

JackM said:

JackM said:

Many people successfully shoot with 4/3 system and getting the same results.

Click to expand...

Not in low light they're not. Not in inclement weather/conditions they're not.

Click to expand...

Really!!!! Do you want me to show you?
Sign up for Aperture Society of LA and look up Larry and his pictures.

JackM said:

JackM said:

It is not the camera, it is photographer behind it that produces good images.

Click to expand...

That is profound! I've never heard that before!

Click to expand...

There is first time for everything.

--
Eugene

The only time a smaller sensor with the same pixel count is superior to a larger sensor (aka higher pixel density) is when you are focal-length limited.

Quote by Lee Jay

lemming2008 said:

I own both a 7D and a 5D2

Click to expand...

So do I.

lemming2008 said:

When not shooting sports I generally reach for the 5D2.

Click to expand...

So do I.

lemming2008 said:

But in terms of bang for buck, I'd give the edge to the 7D

Click to expand...

Sure. If I could only have one camera, it would be a tough choice.

lemming2008 said:

JackM said:

Really? You can have a large viewfinder? You can have a walk-around lens that starts at 24mm? And is dust/water resistant? You can have L-grade wide-angle zooms? You can use primes and have them actually work the way they're designed to?

Click to expand...

The answer is 'yes' to almost all these questions... only the prime issue is a matter of opinion. 17-55 and 15-85 are great walkarounds with about 24mm equivalent.

Click to expand...

17-55 is 27.2mm. There is a difference there. The 15-85 is hardly comparable to the 17-55 or any L.

lemming2008 said:

10-22 is a near L-grade wide zoom.

Click to expand...

For IQ, maybe, maybe not. I had a Sigma 10-20 on my 40D. It was reviewed to be as good as the 10-22. I'll take my 17-40L over the Sigma 10-20 all day long.

lemming2008 said:

7D has weather proofing on par with 5D2 from what I've read.

Click to expand...

Fine, but the EF-S lenses are not weather proof at all.

lemming2008 said:

Viewfinder is comparable

Click to expand...

Now you're just talking crazy. You must never switch between your 5DII and 7D, because if you did you'd admit that next to the 5DII, looking through the 7D presents a significantly more cramped view.