Canon 7D Mark ii vs 5D Mark iii

[christosphoto]

Hi all,

I'm new to photography and was wondering, which one is better. 7D Mark ii or 5D Mark iii. The only thing the 5d has better is the sensor pixel area but all the rest the 7d wins on.

Can anyone tell me if it's still worth to get a 5D

Thank-you.

 

[FingerPainter]

Hi all,

I'm new to photography and was wondering, which one is better. 7D Mark ii or 5D Mark iii. The only thing the 5d has better is the sensor pixel area but all the rest the 7d wins on.

That's not correct.

The 5D III has more pixels. And the sensor has 2.56 times the surface area. That means the 5D III can make pictures at the same exposure which capture 1.3 more stops of light, making image less noisy and with a higher dynamic range. Because of this the 5D III has a wider ISO range with an extended ISO 50 and extended High ISO settings the 7DII doesn't have. In short the 5D III will take higher quality photos unless your subject is smaller than the 7D II's frame when you use your longest focal length.

The 5D III also has a better viewfinder, a larger LCD screen, >40% longer battery life and supports white balance bracketing.

Significant advantages of the 7DII include:

• faster processor,
• faster frame rate
• faster x-sync
• faster USB port
• wider exposure bracketing

Can anyone tell me if it's still worth to get a 5D

Depends on what you want to take pictures of.

The 7DII is a better action and wildlife camera. The 5D III is better for landscapes, weddings, portrait, studio, ...

Both of these cameras are on the order of a decade old. Why not look at newer cameras, and from other makers?

Thank-you.

 

[Michael Fryd]

...The 5D III has more pixels. And the sensor has 2.56 times the surface area. That means the 5D III can make pictures at the same exposure which capture 1.3 more stops of light, making image less noisy and with a higher dynamic range. ...

At the same exposure (same subject, f/stop and shutter), the 5D sacrifices depth of field for less noise. At the same depth of field and shutter, the 5D does not offer a noticeable noise advantage over the 7D.

The 5D generally does offer the option of shallower depth of field. Thus, in situations where you can tolerate shallower depth of field, you can get less noise.

.

To be fair, if there is enough light that you can shoot at base ISO, the 5D will be less noisy. However, at base ISO the 7D doesn't produce visibly noisy images, so there may be little advantage to the 5D's lower base ISO noise level.

.

The underlying concept is that at the same aperture diameter, same angle of view, same shutter and same subject, you get pretty much the same image out of any camera. By "pretty much the same image" I mean same depth of field, same motion blur, same framing, and same overall image noise.

"Aperture diameter" is the result of the f/stop calculate. When we say the lens is set to "f/4" we are saying that the aperture diameter is the focal length divided by 4. Thus a 50mm lens at f/4 has an aperture diameter of 12.5mm, and a 100mm lens at f/4 has an aperture diameter of 25mm.

The primary factor in overall image noise is usually the total light captured. That's determined by subject lighting, angle of view, shutter speed and aperture diameter. Note that this is independent of sensor size.

 

[PGH423]

Hi all,

I'm new to photography and was wondering, which one is better. 7D Mark ii or 5D Mark iii. The only thing the 5d has better is the sensor pixel area but all the rest the 7d wins on.

That's not correct.

The 5D III has more pixels. And the sensor has 2.56 times the surface area. That means the 5D III can make pictures at the same exposure which capture 1.3 more stops of light, making image less noisy and with a higher dynamic range. Because of this the 5D III has a wider ISO range with an extended ISO 50 and extended High ISO settings the 7DII doesn't have. In short the 5D III will take higher quality photos unless your subject is smaller than the 7D II's frame when you use your longest focal length.

The 5D III also has a better viewfinder, a larger LCD screen, >40% longer battery life and supports white balance bracketing.

Significant advantages of the 7DII include:

• faster processor,
• faster frame rate
• faster x-sync
• faster USB port
• wider exposure bracketing

Can anyone tell me if it's still worth to get a 5D

Depends on what you want to take pictures of.

The 7DII is a better action and wildlife camera. The 5D III is better for landscapes, weddings, portrait, studio, ...

Both of these cameras are on the order of a decade old. Why not look at newer cameras, and from other makers?

Thank-you.

Yup. A new Canon R50 costs about the same as those cameras used.

 

[Mark S Abeln]

I'm new to photography and was wondering, which one is better. 7D Mark ii or 5D Mark iii. The only thing the 5d has better is the sensor pixel area but all the rest the 7d wins on.

Can anyone tell me if it's still worth to get a 5D

Since you are new to photography, it seems curious that you are trying to decide between these two older cameras from only one brand. For sure, both were excellent for their own day and still hood up well today. And of course Canon is a well-regarded brand, often familiar to non photographers. Do you have any particular reason for these two models? Are your research materials up-to-date? What’s your budget?

What kind of photography do you want to pursue? Portraits, fashion, sports, landscapes, wildlife? Are you currently doing photography with another camera or a smartphone?

 

[FingerPainter]

Michael,

Ask yourself whether what you wrote actually helps OP get his question answered.

...The 5D III has more pixels. And the sensor has 2.56 times the surface area. That means the 5D III can make pictures at the same exposure which capture 1.3 more stops of light, making image less noisy and with a higher dynamic range. ...

At the same exposure (same subject, f/stop and shutter),

When I said "same exposure" I meant same number of lux seconds, or same number of incident photons per sq. mm. I'd call same f/stop and same shutter "same exposure settings", and what you meant to refer to as "same exposure settings in same light at same subject distance".

And if we're going to nitpick, what you actually wrote isn't strictly true, as if we specify only the "same subject, f/stop and shutter", we are free to vary the lighting and the subject distance (varying either doesn't change the subject) , in which case we won't get the same exposure or DOF.

the 5D sacrifices depth of field for less noise. At the same depth of field and shutter, the 5D does not offer a noticeable noise advantage over the 7D.

It is true that when both Depth of Field and shutter speed are constrained, no sensor size offers a noise performance advantage over any other size. However in most shots at least one of these is not constrained, so it is normal to refer to a larger sensors as having a noise performance advantage.

The 5D generally does offer the option of shallower depth of field. Thus, in situations where you can tolerate shallower depth of field, you can get less noise.

To be fair, if there is enough light that you can shoot at base ISO, the 5D will be less noisy. However, at base ISO the 7D doesn't produce visibly noisy images, so there may be little advantage to the 5D's lower base ISO noise level.

.

The underlying concept is that at the same aperture diameter, same angle of view, same shutter and same subject, you get pretty much the same image out of any camera. By "pretty much the same image" I mean same depth of field, same motion blur, same framing, and same overall image noise.

Neverthless, the 5D III's image if produced with a lens of the same sharness as used on the 7D II, will be sharper.

"Aperture diameter" is the result of the f/stop calculate. When we say the lens is set to "f/4" we are saying that the aperture diameter is the focal length divided by 4. Thus a 50mm lens at f/4 has an aperture diameter of 12.5mm, and a 100mm lens at f/4 has an aperture diameter of 25mm.

The primary factor in overall image noise is usually the total light captured. That's determined by subject lighting, angle of view, shutter speed and aperture diameter. Note that this is independent of sensor size.

 

[Michael Fryd]

Michael,

Ask yourself whether what you wrote actually helps OP get his question answered.

...The 5D III has more pixels. And the sensor has 2.56 times the surface area. That means the 5D III can make pictures at the same exposure which capture 1.3 more stops of light, making image less noisy and with a higher dynamic range. ...

At the same exposure (same subject, f/stop and shutter),

When I said "same exposure" I meant same number of lux seconds, or same number of incident photons per sq. mm. I'd call same f/stop and same shutter "same exposure settings", and what you meant to refer to as "same exposure settings in same light at same subject distance".

And if we're going to nitpick, what you actually wrote isn't strictly true, as if we specify only the "same subject, f/stop and shutter", we are free to vary the lighting and the subject distance (varying either doesn't change the subject) , in which case we won't get the same exposure or DOF.

the 5D sacrifices depth of field for less noise. At the same depth of field and shutter, the 5D does not offer a noticeable noise advantage over the 7D.

It is true that when both Depth of Field and shutter speed are constrained, no sensor size offers a noise performance advantage over any other size. However in most shots at least one of these is not constrained, so it is normal to refer to a larger sensors as having a noise performance advantage.

The 5D generally does offer the option of shallower depth of field. Thus, in situations where you can tolerate shallower depth of field, you can get less noise.

To be fair, if there is enough light that you can shoot at base ISO, the 5D will be less noisy. However, at base ISO the 7D doesn't produce visibly noisy images, so there may be little advantage to the 5D's lower base ISO noise level.

.

The underlying concept is that at the same aperture diameter, same angle of view, same shutter and same subject, you get pretty much the same image out of any camera. By "pretty much the same image" I mean same depth of field, same motion blur, same framing, and same overall image noise.

Neverthless, the 5D III's image if produced with a lens of the same sharness as used on the 7D II, will be sharper.

"Aperture diameter" is the result of the f/stop calculate. When we say the lens is set to "f/4" we are saying that the aperture diameter is the focal length divided by 4. Thus a 50mm lens at f/4 has an aperture diameter of 12.5mm, and a 100mm lens at f/4 has an aperture diameter of 25mm.

The primary factor in overall image noise is usually the total light captured. That's determined by subject lighting, angle of view, shutter speed and aperture diameter. Note that this is independent of sensor size.

What doesn't help is implying that one would want to shoot a full frame at the same exposure as a crop body. That's as helpful as suggesting that you would use the same focal length.

 

[FingerPainter]

...

What doesn't help is implying that one would want to shoot a full frame at the same exposure as a crop body.

Did I imply we'd want to? I didn't mean to. I was just providing the usual basis for comparison.

That's as helpful as suggesting that you would use the same focal length.

I agree that we often want to use different exposure settings on different formats. That's worth pointing out. With the smaller sensor we more often cannot use the settings we'd like to. You already pointed out the smaller format's frequent inability to produce as shallow a DOF. There is also the matter of smaller formats not having equivalently low ISO.

For instance if we wanted to shoot on the 7D II to get the same DOF, framing, motion control and noisiness as we got on the 5D III using an 85mm lens at f/1.4, 1/1,000, we'd want to shoot a 53mm lens at f/0.875, 1/1,000, but such a fast lens doesn't exist.

If we wanted to match on the 7D II a SOOC JPEG with about the same image lightness, DOF , noise control, and noisiness as one we took at 80mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 100 on the 5D III, we'd want to shoot at 50mm, f/1.8, 1/500, ISO 64, but that ISO isn't available on the 7D II.

 

[christosphoto]

Hi all,

Thank you all for your responses. I greatly appreciate the help.
My budget range is about 550-750 CAD.

the reason why I like the 5D series is because my dad used to be a everyday photographer (and he was really good at it! He travelled around all places and took amazing landscape photography.) he used to have a 5D mark iii but sold it unfortunately for a Panasonic Lumix gh5 for video purposes. He still has 3 EF lenses that are some of the best. I'd like to do photography like what he did. And showing that he loved the 5D series, I thought I could get the same results. I'd like to be like my dad. I would rather have a DSLR than mirrorless just because of personal preference. I'm looking at either getting a 5D mark ii, 5D mark iii (if the price is good), 6D or a 7D mark ii.



I'd hope you guys could help me with this decision.



Thank-you.

 

[christosphoto]

Also, to add to this I'd like to buy a camera from the brand Canon only. That's my preference.

 

[Michael Fryd]

Hi all,

Thank you all for your responses. I greatly appreciate the help.
My budget range is about 550-750 CAD.

the reason why I like the 5D series is because my dad used to be a everyday photographer (and he was really good at it! He travelled around all places and took amazing landscape photography.) he used to have a 5D mark iii but sold it unfortunately for a Panasonic Lumix gh5 for video purposes. He still has 3 EF lenses that are some of the best. I'd like to do photography like what he did. And showing that he loved the 5D series, I thought I could get the same results. I'd like to be like my dad. I would rather have a DSLR than mirrorless just because of personal preference. I'm looking at either getting a 5D mark ii, 5D mark iii (if the price is good), 6D or a 7D mark ii.

I'd hope you guys could help me with this decision.

Thank-you.

The 5DIII is a very good camera. Personally, for general use, I would choose it over a 7D II.

On the other hand, for someone who mostly shoots sports, or wildlife, the 7D II might be a better choice. The 7D II has a very good autofocus system. The 7D II will also give you more “reach” with your existing lenses.

If you can find a used 5D4 in reasonable condition, grab it. That’s a great camera. If you mostly shoot in a studio, or landscapes, you might look for a used 5DS. Canon USA sells a refurbished 5DS for about $1,200 (that includes a one year factor warranty).

In terms of getting the “same results” as your dad, that’s likely more a matter of skill, then which camera you have. Realistically, just about any recent name brand, interchangeable lens digital camera is capable of producing great results. I am a fan of Canon DSLRs, but I will readily admit that there are a lot of other good choices out there.

 

[christosphoto]

How's the canon eos RP against the 5D mark iii in your opinion. And by the way, the 5D4 is way out of my budget lol!

 

[Michael Fryd]

...

What doesn't help is implying that one would want to shoot a full frame at the same exposure as a crop body.

Did I imply we'd want to? I didn't mean to. I was just providing the usual basis for comparison.

That's as helpful as suggesting that you would use the same focal length.

I agree that we often want to use different exposure settings on different formats. That's worth pointing out. With the smaller sensor we more often cannot use the settings we'd like to. You already pointed out the smaller format's frequent inability to produce as shallow a DOF. There is also the matter of smaller formats not having equivalently low ISO.

For instance if we wanted to shoot on the 7D II to get the same DOF, framing, motion control and noisiness as we got on the 5D III using an 85mm lens at f/1.4, 1/1,000, we'd want to shoot a 53mm lens at f/0.875, 1/1,000, but such a fast lens doesn't exist.

If we wanted to match on the 7D II a SOOC JPEG with about the same image lightness, DOF , noise control, and noisiness as one we took at 80mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 100 on the 5D III, we'd want to shoot at 50mm, f/1.8, 1/500, ISO 64, but that ISO isn't available on the 7D II.

I will try not to stray to far from the OP’s question of 7D2 (a crop body) vs. the 5D3 (a full frame).

With his existing lenses, the 7D2 will yield a narrower angle of view. This is good if he wants a little more reach. It’s bad if he likes wide angles.

The 7D2 requires him to open up about one f/stop in order to get the same depth of field as the 5D3. Depending on how you look at it, that makes his existing lenses about one stop slower on the 7D. If he normally shoots wide open on a full frame, this will be an issue. If he normally stops down a bit it shouldn’t make a difference, as he can just open up one f/stop more than he is used to.

As you have mentioned, he likely would want to reduce ISO by a stop to compensate for opening up by a stop. As it turns out that also compensates for the smaller sensor size, and you end up with the same amount of noise.

It does mean that at base ISO, the 5D3 has about one stop less noise. However, many people find that there is no visible noise in images from the 7D2 at base ISO, so this is a non-issue for many.

Obviously, he will also need to use shorter focal lengths on the 7D2. But I suspect he is already aware of how crop factor affects field of view.

 

[Michael Fryd]

How's the canon eos RP against the 5D mark iii in your opinion. And by the way, the 5D4 is way out of my budget lol!

I don’t have enough experience with the RP to give an informed opinion. I do see used 5D4s on ebay starting at $800 and up.

The touch screen and extra buttons on the 5D4 are very convenient.

 

[christosphoto]

800 USD? Remember I'm in Canada.

My budget is from 550-750 CAD.

Is the 7D mark ii really not meant for landscapes at all?

How's the 6D for landscapes? or 5D mark ii?

Thank-you

 

[Mika Y.]

Hi all,

I'm new to photography and was wondering, which one is better. 7D Mark ii or 5D Mark iii. The only thing the 5d has better is the sensor pixel area but all the rest the 7d wins on.

Can anyone tell me if it's still worth to get a 5D

Thank-you.

In addition to anything else that has been commented so far, one thing that may be worth considering is that according to this Canon page:

修理対応期間 個人のお客さま向け商品一覧

修理対応期間対象商品の一覧とサポート終了年月を掲載しているページです。

canon.jp

5D mk III will lose official Canon repair support next year and 7D mk II in 2027.

Third parties will be able to do some repairs after those dates, but newer camera bodies may be a safer bet.

 

[christosphoto]

Quick question to everyone in this thread -

Does anyone have experience with the Canon RP?

Is it good for Landscape photography?

Thanks

 

[PGH423]

Quick question to everyone in this thread -

Does anyone have experience with the Canon RP?

Is it good for Landscape photography?

Thanks

There’s really no modern ILC that’s bad for landscapes. Some cameras appeal more to people in one genre like the 7D2 and R7 attract wildlife shooters. But any ILC or 1” sensor point and shoot from the last 10 years can take excellent landscape photos.

 

[christosphoto]

Quick question to everyone in this thread -

Does anyone have experience with the Canon RP?

Is it good for Landscape photography?

Thanks

There’s really no modern ILC that’s bad for landscapes. Some cameras appeal more to people in one genre like the 7D2 and R7 attract wildlife shooters. But any ILC or 1” sensor point and shoot from the last 10 years can take excellent landscape photos.

What does ILC mean?

 

[InkedMarie]

christosphoto wrote

What does ILC mean?

Interchangable Lens Camera

Marie