7D vs 5D Mark II for wildlife advice wanted

[Bill W]

Rick; concerning renting. About a year ago I was fed up w/my combo of the 40D and 100-400 photographing birds in low light situations....a.k.a. a New England winter.


So I did my own little test; I rented the 7D and 5D MK ll from LensRentals (link here on this site). Great service, in fact I just returned the 70-200 IS 2.8 MK ll....I wanted a comparison between the MK l and the MK ll. This was my 6th time renting from them.


I was renting at Calumet, but the drive to Cambridge Ma. (about the same as your drive) was a pain and the availability was limited....so I tried LensRentals. UPS delivers right to your door....you have to sign on delivery.....and then when it's time to return the equipment, there is a UPS office 5 minutes away from me. The whole process is simple and convenient.....give them a try.


BTW......I went w/the 7D for it's great AF (much better than the 5D MK ll) system's ability to quickly lock onto birds. Both cameras improved the 100-400 ability in low light and I'm no longer frustrated w/the dull gray low light of the NE winters.


I've also enlarged some photos taken w/the 7D to 10x30 (pano) and 16x20....they look great to me and garner ooh's and ahh's from friends and family when they see them....not very scientific, but satisfying. LOL


Regards


Bill

[HDNitehawk]

I've also enlarged some photos taken w/the 7D to 10x30 (pano) and 16x20....they look great to me and garner ooh's and ahh's from friends and family when they see them....not very scientific, but satisfying. LOL

Bill


Thats what I am looking for, the "ooh's and ahh's"

[Daniel Browning]

The contrast difference you talked about may, I would be interested in seeing the difference.

Since the 7D always trounces the 5D2 when you have to crop to the same angle of view (8 MP on the 5D2), I'll only give you an example of the situation where you don't have to crop the 5D2. This only applies when you are able to get closer with the 5D2+500, or you are able to switch to a longer lens (e.g. 800mm f/5.6). To simulate the scenario, I'll use separate lenses:


5D2 + 300mm f/2.8 @ f/4 vs 7D + 200mm f/2 @ f/2.8


The crops are slightly larger in the 5D2 image because of the slight difference between 18 MP and 21 MP (only 8% linear resolution difference). As you can see, the 7D images are lower in contrast, but not by much. With the right post processing, you can probably make it indistinguishable from the 5D2 image. But again, this is only in the circumstance that you do not crop the 5D2 image at all or use a TC.


Think of the 7D as a perfect 1.6X TC. It doesn't add any additional aberration, it doesn't slow down (or stop) autofocus, and it doesn't make the viewfinder any darker. All it does is magnify the flaws in your lens. Since the 500mm f/4 has few flaws, this is not much of a problem. I would have thought that the 7D would handily trounce the 5D2+1.4X TC, because real life teleconverters aren't perfect (though their distortion and chromatic aberration can often be corrected in post), but in this case (200mm lens) it looks like even with the 1.4X TC, the 5D2 is sharper:


1Ds3 + 200mm f/2 + 1.4X TC @ f/4 vs 7D + 200mm f/2 @ f/2.8


However, you still have the slower-autofocus and other TC issues. The results may also be a lot different for your 500mm lens).


Hope that helps.

[HDNitehawk]

Think of the 7D as a perfect 1.6X TC. It doesn't add any additional aberration, it doesn't slow down (or stop) autofocus, and it doesn't make the viewfinder any darker. All it does is magnify the flaws in your lens. Since the 500mm f/4 has few flaws, this is not much of a problem. I would have thought that the 7D would handily trounce the 5D2+1.4X TC, because real life teleconverters aren't perfect (though their distortion and chromatic aberration can often be corrected in post), but in this case (200mm lens) it looks like even with the 1.4X TC, the 5D2 is sharper:

Daniel


The 200mm lens in the comparison is a very high quality sharp lens. The 500mm F4L is an awesome lens as well. With the 1.4 teleconverter on the 500mm I can not perceive any loss of sharpness or Image Quality when using the 5D Mark II. With some other L series lenses I think you would have seen the 7D outperform the teleconverter. The 2x is a different story, it rarely performs to what I expect.


In the crop comparisons you pointed out, I am not sure in a real world situation I would notice any difference in quality from either camera. That said the autofocus system and the frame rates would be the deciding factors.


The 7D being the better camera for wildlife use is a hard one to get in my mind. I upgraded to a 5D Mark II before the 7D existed. At first thought you would think it would be a step backwards. I have been waiting for the 1Ds IV to come out, and hoping it would have a very fast frame rate and be able to process pictures quickly so I don't hit the "BUSY" signal.


Thanks for the input, it gives me a lot to think over.





Rick

[Daniel Browning]

You're welcome.

I have been waiting for the 1Ds IV to come out, and hoping it would have a very fast frame rate and be able to process pictures quickly so I don't hit the "BUSY" signal.

This is certainly possible, but the only way for it to happen would be if Canon took a significant departure from their current marketing philosophy. Right now, their cameras/marketing is based on the idea that compression is bad, bit depth is good, etc. The 5D2, for example, is plagued by such bad pattern noise and read noise that no one in their right mind (which excludes astrophotographers, naturally) ever uses more than 10 bits of of the 14-bit raw files. The 4 bits are just a waste of space (and frame rate). But the whole "14-bits" thing is a big marketing deal for Canon, so they can't allow the user to disable it for a faster frame rate. What I suggest they do is say "14-bits" on the box, but actually use 10 bits in the files. Users wont know the difference since they're not using more than 10 bits now. They could even write "16 quadrillion bits for better color!!!11". One can only hope...

[scalesusa]

I returned my 7D and bought a used1D MK III for about the same price, I like it much better. As to the 500L f/4, I have read a number of complaints about AF problems with the 7D and 500mm L, I don

[HDNitehawk]

I returned my 7D and bought a used1D MK III for about the same price, I like it much better. As to the 500L f/4, I have read a number of complaints about AF problems with the 7D and 500mm L, I don't know if there is anything to it, or if it was a problem and fixed, but you should make sure ot works for you.

Scaleusa I will check that one out, since the only lens I will be using it on is the 500mm F4L


Thanks

[Alan]

This reviewer shows that the 5DII is still superior to the 7D when it comes to noise levels and sharpness/detail.


Yes, the 7D has superior AF, but it doesn't blow away the 5DII in these other areas.


http://rolandlim.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/canon-eos-7d-review/