Beginner considering 7D, 6D and 5D Mark II - need advice

I'd also like to add the Nikon D600 into the mix as I don't have any lenses yet by either company.

Thanks again

I have the Canon 450D and then stepped up to the Canon7D and l love it a lot. I have read plenty of articles on the Caon 7D and have had noting but positive feedback even from professionals that write for magazines. Mine takes excellent images and they are crisp even at 8fps. No other camera can touch the Canon7D for the Price for what the 7D offers Especially with the new firmware update.

Joe D

6D. AF is miles ahead of the 5DmkII and high ISO is the best of the affordable full frame cameras. You need to get a 1DX or D4 to top it.

Roi1 said:

Roi1 wrote:

Hello,

I've been shooting with a Pentax *istdl I've purchased almost 7 years ago. It's a great camera but I want more. I've been using it as a point and shoot camera regrettably and haven't had a chance to really learn my way around the ins and outs of digital photography.

I do know that I want:

1. Overall higher quality images - sharpness, colors, etc.

2. Better results in poor light conditions such as taking pictures of my kids playing indoors (many pictures come out blurry)

I mainly photograph landscapes and family - playing, portraits etc.

I'd appreciate your help in determining what is my best option. I would like to buy a decent lens and not have to re-buy equipment as I improve.

Would I be able to produce high quality images without a 6 month photography course?

I was considering the 5d mark 2/ 6d kits with the Canon 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM AF Lens. The 6D kit goes for 2,400 which seems like a good price at the moment (The 5d mark 2 kit is priced 2,600)

Many thanks,

Roi

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If your main interests are landscape and family photos I would go with either the 5D2 or 6D. The 7D produces great images (it's the model I use) but the full frame sensors in the 5D2 and 6D would be my choice for the stuff you want to shoot. They will be better in low light situations where you could be shooting at a high ISO setting (due to the FF sensor). The 5D2, by far, is the choice of many landscape, wedding, and portrait shooters (who shoot Canon). The 7D tends to get a little noisy once you crank the ISO up over about 1200 or so (some people say 800 is the limit). You can correct that in your post-processing work but when you reduce the noise in post you lose some of the detail in the photo. So, why not just get a camera that can shoot really clean images at high ISOs in the first place (like the 5D2 or 6D).

The one challenge with the 5D2 is that it sometimes struggles to focus well in low light situations. So, if you're trying to focus on children playing in your home and it's kind of dark it might have some trouble locking focus. I don't know enough about the 6D to say if it's better than the 5D2 but it's much newer and from what I've read the high ISO image quality is very good.

All three of those camera can shoot landscapes, kids, and portraits but, generally speaking, most people say to get the 7D if you shoot a lot of sports or action photography and go with the 5D2/6D if you tend to shoot landscapes, portraits, weddings, etc.

I've never shot with the 24-105 lens but it seems to get very good reviews. Many people use it as their general walkaround lens on the 5D2. If you could afford the 24-70 f/2.8L lens that would be my choice but it's quite expensive (the 24-105 is an f/4 so it won't be as good in low light situations).

You don't need to take a course to learn how to take great photos but you do have to educate yourself somehow (read books, watch DVD's, visit forums like this, ask questions of more experienced photographers). However, if you want to take a course I would recommend something from here:

www.nyip.com or www.ppsop.com

Good luck!

6D all the way. 5Dmkii has an old AF system that is terrible.

I have a 6D and totally recommend it for the types of photos you shoot.
If you were to shoot sports or birds in flight the 7D would be the better choice.

Keep in mind that only the high iso performance will not be enough to stop your kids motion. The 7d has an built in flash and the other two don't. I would recomend the 6D as the best performer but paired with some fast lens or an external flash.

Muresan Bogdan said:

Muresan Bogdan wrote:

Keep in mind that only the high iso performance will not be enough to stop your kids motion. The 7d has an built in flash and the other two don't. I would recomend the 6D as the best performer but paired with some fast lens or an external flash.

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Built in flash generally speaking looks terrible.....he could get a cheap $140 ETTL Yungnuo flash that will perform just as well as the $500 Canon 580EXII.

I have the 6D + 24-105 the high ISO is something else, a fantastic camera at a fantastic price, if you have a limited budget good luck.

Hi ASR45,

I own a 7D and contemplating of going for a full frame. Though I want the 5D Mark III, I feel I could check out 6D. I do own some fabulous lenses like the 100mm L f2.8 IS & 70-200mm f4L IS.

Though 5D Mark II does not have a great AF system as mentioned by many, the images at lower ISOs are very clean and sharp. Infact, looking at images shot with the 5D Mark II, I decided to go full frame.

Are the images from 6D as clean as the 5d Mark II at lower ISOs. (I may not need higher ISO performance) Is the DR better in 6D than the 5D Mark II.

I'm sure I'll repeat a lot of what has already been said, any of these 3 cameras can generate fantastic images. Basically the 7D is the most advanced feature set of the cameras you've listed, the 6D has the best sensor of the 3 and the worst interface of the 3, though given that you are likely to only use the center AF point it's probably not much of an issue.

Roi1 said:

Roi1 wrote:

Hello,

I've been shooting with a Pentax *istdl I've purchased almost 7 years ago. It's a great camera but I want more. I've been using it as a point and shoot camera regrettably and haven't had a chance to really learn my way around the ins and outs of digital photography.

I do know that I want:

1. Overall higher quality images - sharpness, colors, etc.

Click to expand...

The larger sensor cameras will produce the best images, the larger pixels and less dense sampling gives less noise and more apparent sharpness. Color depth is slightly better on the 35mm sensors than the APS-C. Resolution is great on all of them, if you are focal length limited (wildlife/sports) then the 7D is a better option, also the 8fps burst rate and AF tracking is significantly better than the 5Dmk2/6D, so it really depends upon your needs. For most photography the 5Dmk2/6D is a better option, but the 7D can do it all very well. Generally if you will print huge (bigger than 30x20) or need really high ISO or REALLY thin depth of field the 5Dmk2/6D is a better option. If you are going to spend a significant amount of time shooting sports/active kids/wildlife the 7D provides what I think is the best all around performer below the 5Dmk3.

Roi1 said:

2. Better results in poor light conditions such as taking pictures of my kids playing indoors (many pictures come out blurry)

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Flash, you need flash, regardless of camera. At ISO 25,600 your photos will be noisy and lose detail, don't get me wrong it's amazing that the 6D can do it with usable results, but the best approach to bad lighting is.....get better lighting. A bounce flash is the most useful thing you can add for this situation. A flash will fire for around 1/1000th of a second, freezing your subject even when your shutter speed is fairly slow, bouncing the flash off of the ceiling or a wall will make it behave like a very large light source giving nice soft light.

Roi1 said:

I mainly photograph landscapes and family - playing, portraits etc.

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There ya go, the 5Dmk2/6D would be better options if that's your main thing.

Roi1 said:

I'd appreciate your help in determining what is my best option. I would like to buy a decent lens and not have to re-buy equipment as I improve.

Click to expand...

There are a couple schools of thought here, either get a nice prime lens or two and use those, or a zoom that will cover most of your needs. I like to use both, personally. The 24-105 f4 L IS USM is highly regarded and gives you a nice solid solution to cover a large range of needs. Prime lens options are many, Sigma 35 f1.4, Canon 85 1.8, or 1.2 L, or Sigma 85 f1.4, Sigma or Canon 50mm f1.4, Canon 50 f1.2 L, all great options.

Roi1 said:

Would I be able to produce high quality images without a 6 month photography course?

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I cannot answer this, it depends upon your experience and dedication, really. There is a TON of information online that can equip you to become a very good photographer.

Roi1 said:

I was considering the 5d mark 2/ 6d kits with the Canon 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM AF Lens. The 6D kit goes for 2,400 which seems like a good price at the moment (The 5d mark 2 kit is priced 2,600)

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I would go for the 6D over the 5Dmk2. I have not tried the 6D, but I have used the 5Dmk2 and while it's a great camera it's slow and bit old, AF is ok, not great. The 7D AF is MUCH better and it's a lightning fast camera, a real joy to use, but with a crop sensor. The 5Dmk3 is pretty much the best of everything, but 1000$ more. Hope this helps.

Roi1 said:

Many thanks,

Roi

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For your intended uses, any of the cameras you mention are more than enough. To decide, you need to try them out yourself, as ergonomics are more important than spec sheets. Also need to consider lenses, and in this regard, I think that Canon are better served in terms of available kits; for example, the 6D comes bundled with the excellent 24-105L zoom lens, whereas the D600 kits I have seen come with the more "mundane" 24-85 zoom lens.

For landscapes, plan on a good tripod and ball head, if you don´t have them already.

I'm surprised at the prices for the 5D2 and 6D kits, but just checked on Amazon, and they are correct. Seems like a very good deal for the 6D. If you count $800 towards the lens, then the 6D only costs $1600 for the body.

$1800 for the 5D2 body is excessively high, but now that the camera is discontinued, and they are only selling left over stock, maybe it has become a collectors item. There were plenty of used low-shutter count 5D2s selling recently in the $1400 - $1500 range recently, though.

Given the price points you quoted, though, the 6D is a no-brainer.

Thank you all for the insight you've provided me. I appreciate it very very much.

All that's left is to go buy the camera.

Thanks again

What does everyone think of this opportunity? Following this thread?

I have a 6d and I am really impressed with the low light capability of the camera. I take a lot of indoor pictures (gymnastics and soccer) where flash is not allowed and get pictures that just would not have happened w/o this capabilty (upgraded from a T2i, same sensors as the 7d but not the same quality auto focus). I looked long and hard at the nikon D600 and handled it a lot. The D600 specs are as good or better (and it is cheaper!) then the 6d other then for the high iso capabilty and the gps/cell/tablet capabilty. However, after a lot of reading on the nikon forum the quality control issue was to much for me to ignore. I also think at this level the you are not going to see a difference in picture quality at least 98% of the time unless you are shooting in really challenging conditions (and this includes the 7d).

Keith Leonard's great reply is packed with useful and relevant information and doesn't really leave all that much more to say on the issue.

One other thing to consider that I seldom see mentioned when discussing these cameras is the AF point coverage. Depending on your shooting style, this may or may not be an issue for you. If you're of the focus-and-recompose school, you won't really care either way. The following photos give an insight into the AF point coverage of the cameras you listed:

• The 6D
  
• The 7D
  
• The 5D MK II
  
• The D600
  
• The 5D MK III

Credit: http://blog.kareldonk.com for the 5D MK II image and user dojoklo on Flickr for the others

I do focus and re-compose but that maybe due to the camera I already have. It may change...

Roi1 said:

Roi1 wrote:

What does everyone think of this opportunity? Following this thread?

Amazon.com : Nikon D7000 16.2 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm Lens (Black) : Slr Digital Cameras : Electronics

Amazon.com : Nikon D7000 16.2 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm Lens (Black) : Slr Digital Cameras : Electronics

www.amazon.com

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If you are buying a kit lens to never remove from the camera, you would probably bembetter off with the Canon g-series lie G15 or G1X. The Canon S100 is also a fine camera. Sony makes the RX100. These will give you resultsmthat compare to entry dslr with kit lens but with kuch less bulk.