Hey man,
Thanks a lot for your review. I just ordered one of these lenses; I’m on a SUPER CHEAP lens run but honestly, I think I need another camera too!
I have a canon 350D (yeah, I know it’s stupidly old but it was like £10 from eBay and it was my first d-SLR back in the day (or was probably the modded 300d tbh) so it brings back fond memories.
Now a while ago, I wanted another camera but this time one that could do video - and it NEEDED to be quite cheap so I searched for the first canon camera that shot film and came to the Canon EOS 5D mark ii.
It’s great with my 50mm (it probably changes that focal length tho) and I often use the 50/1.8 with those lens extender tube things on my 5dii- it’s okay but what I didn’t realise at the time is that it’s a full size sensor which makes things really annoying!!! Well…actually I suppose if we are being accurate it makes everything expensive if you want good quality and you get bad round blacking at the edges (I can’t remember the technical name) if you use lenses meant for a smaller sensor.
I want a Canon that both does video (pretty easy these days), I need to decide if I want mirrorless - in which case I’d likely go with the M range bodies, second hand.
OR
Do I want to go the d-slr route - except it has to be one which holds an APS-C sensor…this means I can, overall, spend less on lenses and actually some of the older d-slr cameras that have an APS-C sensor are a pretty reasonable price.
what would you guys suggest? Mirrorless or an APS-c, D-SLR? Both would have to be older models around the £150-250 price range (body only). The lower numbers are generally the APS-C SLR’s and the higher ones are from prices of the canon M5, I think…
Either way, if I had known the EOS 5d mii had a full frame sensor, I probably wouldn’t have got it!
don’t get me wrong though, it’s a great D-SLR but it is very heavy - particularly with the extra battery/ grip mount.
Photo quality using the canon 50mm f1.8 lens come out great and I was really enjoying using magic lantern.
It would be useful if the camera (with correct lens) could start doing macro. I take a lot of photographs of cannabis - don’t worry, it’s privately prescribed so totally legal.
it’s a beautiful plant at the end of the day…
With a full frame sensor, the money I would need to invest to get a macro lens is insane - and the old lens reversal trick with a mount just looks blurry and has loads of vignetting (Ha I remembered the name for it).
yeh, I can crop using GIMP - yes, I’m cheap this whole post basically lines that out!
Your photos with this lens are very inspiring - you said you were using a mirrorless canon, which model were you using?
I feel like with the canon 5d mii, unless you are doing ‘studio’ or indoor stuff it’s fine on a sturdy tripod or even holding it but I have a bad back and to carry the canon 5d mii, walking when we go to national trust properties, just really hurts your back by the end of the day - especially now that I carry such a good camera (with surprisingly good, fake bokeh) in my pocket on my phone.
It makes it hard to justify carrying the d5ii when I have an iPhone 13 which probably has more Mp (although we know that’s not everything).
oh also, I was REALLY surprised that the canon d5 mii doesn’t have a pop-up flash. I know it’s meant to be a semi pro camera and they’d just buy a Speedlight flash and attach it either to the hot shoe or use some sort of slave system to use multiple flashes. Either that or it’s meant for a studio where it’s sat on a tripod so weight doesn’t really matter and they would use proper studio strobes instead.
I personally miss the pop up flash of my EOS 350d - oh you may be asking why I havnt tried all these lenses (and the standard zoom that came with the 350d) using the 350d I have…well, I lost the charger and so am waiting for Jeff Bezos to bring me a battery charger that fits the 350d battery, in his rocket, with Captain Kirk!
The amazon delivery man literally came as I typed that joke!
okay so now I can at least see what my lenses look like on an APS-c format sensor - even if it is a bit (VERY) old now!
Okay so I spent way too long writing this and figuring out my ‘needs’.
The two things you don’t really want to cheap out on are the glass (lenses) - although this rule is less strict (depending on desired outcome) I would say- and the actual sensor itself.
Those are the parts that do the heavy lifting so the rest is secondary.
At the mo it’s between an eBay Canon d-slr in the newer EOS range - the 650d or something
OR
something like A Canon EOS M5/M10 mirrorless, body only for a little more cash. (Although iv just read the autofocus lens adapter is like £200 - although this review site is old…I’ll look on eBay…okay so more like £50 for a non brand Chinese lens adapter with AF so the m5 could take any of the 60 EF and EF-S lenses and have AF capability (although, I’m not totally convinced it would work that great for AF but that is literally just a hunch. That’s if you want the autofocus and aperture to ‘work’. There are ones for like £10-15 that don’t give you the AF and also they keep your aperture at max and you can’t change it. So it’s worth the more expensive converters.
I’m going to watch a video review of the lens mount adapter…
im looking at the slightly older m10 now seeing as I have to factor in the cost of the adapter…I wonder how much that changes the focal length of the EF lenses also…
Wow! This is a HUUGE reply in a thread that I think has been dead for years!!
I bought my Canon EOS 5d mii for around £250 - I got into a bidding war annoyingly! But I bought it on a whim with next to no research and I don’t want to do that again!
I would also like to be able to bring a small camera on family outings etc because the iPhone - although very good for selfies and family selfie type photos, it’s pretty useless for non digital bokeh and I want a smaller dedicated camera to be able to get shots without people noticing and then ‘posing’ which I don’t want - I’m sure you guys must have had similar. The best photos are when the person isnt aware of the camera. That’s what is leading me to EF-M type cameras…their size is crazy
I’ll probably sell the d5 mii at a loss when I get the mirrorless one I decide on but still, it’s about the fun and the photographs!
I am LOVING using the holga d-slr (or normal slr if you want) lens. You need a ton of light though!
Anyway - even if no-one reads this it has allowed me to figure out my priorities and what I really want. Small size, ability to use Ef lenses and to be a relatively good quality - I’m not printing huge canvases with the photos or anything so I don’t need the highest MP number.
It’s a balance between price and quality - pretty sure im looking at the M range and adapter though…
