Quote Originally Posted by Brendan7
For wildlife, the 7D trumps the 5D2 in almost every regard.

I'd second this, sort of. For many wildlife situations, the 7D is the clear winner - more reach, faster frame rate, faster and better AF. But, honestly you can get great shots with either camera on a safari, depending on the setting.


For example, when I was in the Ngorongoro crater, lions and elephants walked within a few feet of the Land Rover, so optical reach wasn't needed (they were literally close enough to reach with my hand, although that seemed unwise . Likewise, in Rwanda the mountain gorillas were also very, very close. From that trip to East Africa, I've got frame-filling shots of lions, gorillas, wildebeest and hartebeest, elephants, giraffes, etc., all in the FF-equivalent focal range of 70-200mm. On the other hand, there were plenty of situations where more reach was very helpful.


For a safari, IMO the best combination would be the 7D with the 100-400mm zoom lens.


The IQ differences with the 5DII are by far most apparent at higher ISO settings. One problem you won't face too often on a safari is lack of available light. Also, if you don't have sufficient reach with the FF body, and have to crop your image substantially, you're cropping away the noise advantage anyway.