$2500 budget - Which would you pick?

[canoli]

I fell in love with the 1DsII when it came out, although I never owned it. Shot with it a few times and it's just an awesome camera, built like a tank, IQ is stunning - contrast, color, noise levels are much lower than my 40D etc...it's a 1-series after all...


The only thing stopping me from getting one, now that refurbs are going for about $2500 is that 5DII. I realize its frame rate and AF wasn't improved from the 5D, but for field sports / far-away action I'd generally want a 1.6 crop anyway. And the frame rate is about the same as the 1DsII, so the difference between them isn't appreciable.


I figure most would choose the newer camera, but if you had $2500, would you even consider a 1DsII refurb? I am, and I'm wondering if I'm being foolish. It's almost always better to buy the newer electronics...but I can't overlook how great those 1DsII shots were...


Any opinions? I suppose it'll come down to "what kind of shooting do you do?" but let's say I want this FF 2nd body for everything but sports/action.


I know the better electronics are inside the newer cam, but it's hard passing up a 1-series body, even if it is a few years old...what do you think?


Thanks for any thoughts you'd care to share...

[Daniel Browning]

The 5D2 has better performance at high ISO (less noise in low light) and the 1Ds2 has better performance at low ISO (more dynamic range in ample light). The 5D2 has a lot of important new features like microadjustment, liveview, etc. The 1Ds2 has better autofocus, build, weather sealing, etc. Personally, I'd go with the 5D2 because the features it has are far more important for my photography, but that's just me.

[canoli]

Thanks Daniel I appreciate your reply.


Is there an easy-to-understand reason why the 1DsII has better low-ISO IQ, or at least a wider DR, than the 5DII? Certainly the 5DII uses a more sophisticated microlens CFA, not to mention an updated processor and circuitry throughout...


I've seen gorgeous, "holy ___!" prints from the 1DsII (and the 5D too), most of them at dawn (ISO <800, <4 secs) - and I've had the same reaction to the 5DII at ISOs >800 <1/15 sec. (hand held).


Is the 1DsIII the camera that "does it all" so to speak? I've yet to see prints from that camera, only shots posted online.


Thanks again for your reply!

[Fast Glass]

If you don't need the high ISO's of the 5D II then the 1Ds III might be you dream camera.


John.

[Jordan]

Honestly?? I'd skip BOTH of them and get a 7D.... it's got almost as good ISO as the other two, FAST frame-rate, beautiful IQ, and it'll save you $900 so you can put that toward a lens or toward a second body in the future (full-frame maybe?)


Maybe I should have stuck to one of your two options but that is what I'd do... I mean DID do haha!

[Daniel Browning]

You're welcome.

Is there an easy-to-understand reason why the 1DsII has better low-ISO IQ, or at least a wider DR, than the 5DII?

The 5D2 has a lot of pattern noise (AKA "banding", or "temporal FPN") at ISO 100, limiting it to around 9 stops or less of dynamic range. The 1D series has much less pattern noise, perhaps due to more expensive electronics or who knows what. Here is an example of what the pattern noise looks like:


Link to full-size image with pattern noise at ISO 100

I've seen gorgeous, "holy ___!" prints from the 1DsII (and the 5D too), most of them at dawn (ISO <800, <4 secs) - and I've had the same reaction to the 5DII at ISOs >800 <1/15 sec. (hand held).

True - but none of them have used very much dynamic range, or you would have seen a crosshatch of lines in the shadow noise. A lot of photographers never use more than 7 or 8 stops of dynamic range, so they wont be affected by the problem.

Is the 1DsIII the camera that "does it all" so to speak?

Overall, I'd say yes, but it's not as good in low light as the 5D2. I'm sure the 1Ds4 will do it all when it comes out (at least until the 5D3).

[Fast Glass]

Is the 1DsIII the camera that "does it all" so to speak?

Overall, I'd say yes, but it's not as good in low light as the 5D2. I'm sure the 1Ds4 will do it all when it comes out (at least until the 5D3).

Great, get a 1Ds III then....[]


John.

[Brendan7]

Honestly?? I'd skip BOTH of them and get a 7D.... it's got almost as good ISO as the other two, FAST frame-rate, beautiful IQ, and it'll save you $900 so you can put that toward a lens or toward a second body in the future (full-frame maybe?)


Maybe I should have stuck to one of your two options but that is what I'd do... I mean DID do haha!

agree completely. Seems like the perfect solution to me.

[canoli]

Oh no, is that sample really at ISO100? Looks like a bright sunny day...I assume it was processed to augment the banding in the shadows? - please tell me that's the case...


Thank you all for your opinions. I'm actually thankful there's been some hesitation about the 7D because I really want to get back to 35mm. Had the reviews unanimously praised it I would've considered buying a new 7D. It really does have everything I could want in a camera body...except a 35mm-sized sensor.


So thanks again for your input. Here's hoping the 1DsIII refurbs come down to the $2500 range, but I'm not holding my breath for that!

[Daniel Browning]

Oh no, is that sample really at ISO100?

Yes. You can download the raw file if you like.

Looks like a bright sunny day...I assume it was processed to augment the banding in the shadows?

No, but it was processed for about 11.5 stops of dynamic range, and the banding appears around 9 stops or so. If you process the image for only 8 stops of dynamic range, then the foreground building will be completely black, so you wont see any banding.