2nd Body Choices!

[Brendan7]

If I had the money, my camera & lens of choice would be the Nikon D3s and 200-400 VR. In my opinion the D3s is fully usable at ISO 25,600. Take a look at this. It's considered by many to be the best DSLR camera ever made.


The 200-400 VR is fast, light(er), and has 4-stop VR. It's better at 400mm f/4 than Canon's 400 DO. And did I mention it's a zoom??? I wish Canon made that lens. But then again, Nikon doesn't make a 300 f/4 VR, 85 f/1.2, 70-200 f/4, etc.


The 1D III is a superb alternative. It is better than the 7D at high ISOs, especially where it counts most (check out 1D3 images at ISO 800-2000!). It has the 1D build and sells for the same (plus or minus a few $) as the 7D. I will say that I have used every one of the 7D's 18 megapixels. I don't think the pixel density of the 1D3 is a plus -- it makes it harder to pull out the detail on some wildlife. I dislike how Nikon's D3 bodies have only 12mp. That means to get reach for wildlife it's a 600 or bust. I don't think the slight noise advantage is worth that loss of mp.


I agree w/ John #2 (fastglass) that 1.3 crop is to save money. If the 1D bodies didn't have APS-h they might sell for more. But why then are Nikon's D3 bodies FF and sell for the same (excluding the D3X)?


For portraits and still shots of animals the 5D2 can be a better body. But you get less reach and much less power ~ smaller buffer, slower frame rate... 8fps is a LOT slower than 10fps. 4fps just doesn't compare. And let's hope no one is shooting wildlife at ISO 12,800 [:P]

[Fast Glass]

That means to get reach for wildlife it's a 600 or bust.

LOL.[] I do have my Minolta600mm so reach is not a problem. I rarely ever crop, I'm talking about only a couple of shots in my whole porfolio.

8fps is a LOT slower than 10fps.

I have used fraps in my games and have used is to make 8fps and 10fps comparison, the differance is very note worthy to me. But I am trading alot for that extra 2 frames; extra resolution, huge noise differance,35mm DOF, much larger view finderandFFultra wide angle lenses. But one mark in the 1D III's favor is faster AF which is relavant in my choices, because Nikon made a auto-focusing 1.6x extender! And it can be made to work on newer Nikon bodies, and there is an adapter for Nikon to Canon without optics which allows focus to infinity and AF. It's not the fastest AF in the world but better than no AF and can be inproved with a faster camera body.


So here are my narrowed down choices,


John.

[SafariMonkey]

("Hey, are you still there?")

Yes I am! Sorry about the radio silence, but been out of the country with little to no internet access - can't believe how far this discussion has progressed in my absence... been a great read!


I am still undecided at present and unfortunately quite tied up with work []... will hopefully have more time to properly test the various bodies in a couple of weeks. I want to have the new baby in my hand by mid august LATEST so i can get to grips with it before the trip!


Current thinking is to stick with Canon (i cant afford a completely gear change!) and to forget about the 5DII - its a great camera and i'd love to use it, but the speed/AF is just not there for my needs.


Thanks to you all for your help! Will let you know once i've decided! []