Canon 5d Mk Ii Vs Canon 7d

[eurasianthai]

Is one better than the other?

One is sure cheaper...

So here is the thread that will show you if the more expensive camera is better, or not.

Canon 5D and 7D owners, please post your pictures and movies here

Edited March 5, 2010 by eurasianthai

[eurasianthai]

I start with the 7D, 1/30s, f4, 24mm (corresponding to about 35mm) with Canon lens 24-105mm.

Edited March 5, 2010 by eurasianthai

[aeon]

they are both great tools no doubt, but to judge on small resolution photos and without the same conditions/light/subject/setting/lenses I think is an impossible task. On many things 5d mk2 is better than 7d, in few things 7d is more advanced, there is no doubt on this point.

Edited March 5, 2010 by aeon

[eurasianthai]

You're right Aeon, and besides only Vulcan is using the 5DMKII, so I'm afraid the competition with the 7D owners will not be fair...

What I read about it is:

The 5D is better for low light pictures and landscape pictures, thanks to its bigger sensor.

The 7D is better for sport and wildlife photography thanks to its cropped factor (a 200mm has the reach of a 320mm) and its faster continuous shooting at 8 fps. And also better for video recording.

Both camera bodies are about the same weight, I think the 7D is even a bit heavier than the 5D.

In conclusion, you need both.

Edited March 6, 2010 by eurasianthai

[phetaroi]

In conclusion, you need both.

Unless you're a professional photographer (and I know you're not), you don't need both.

If you want to see a ton of real comparisons, go to Canon Digital Photography Forums. There are literally thousands of related posts on the topic, and most at full resolution.

[eurasianthai]

In conclusion, you need both.

Unless you're a professional photographer (and I know you're not),

Indeed, the recommendation was not for me actually.

I now have two and this is one too many. A light one and one that is a bit heavier.

So the light one is for my wife

Edited March 6, 2010 by eurasianthai

[Nordlys]

The 7D is better for sport and wildlife photography thanks to its cropped factor (a 200mm has the reach of a 320mm) and its faster continuous shooting at 8 fps. And also better for video recording.

I think it's rather misleading to say 7D is "better" in sport and wildlife than 5D or if 200mm lens has a reach of 320mm on 7D. 200mm lens has a "reach" of 200mm lens whatever the body you use it on, it's not like you get more magnification on cropped sensor body than full frame because if you crop the shot of a subject in the same distance from full frame's image you'd essentially get 7D (why they're called "cropped sensor"). That said, smaller sensor and less pixels means faster and thus high fps of 8 over 3.3 of 5D Mk2 which surely makes 7D more advantageous and suitable for sport and wildlife photography.

Both camera bodies are about the same weight, I think the 7D is even a bit heavier than the 5D.

So you never even bothered to compare with 5D Mk2 in the shop and chose 7D simply because it's 30,000 baht cheaper? I mean each to their own and nothing's wrong about your choice, but I don't quite understand why anyone would go for 7D over 5D Mk2 for mere 30,000 baht difference when it's as big and heavier than 5D, or for that matter, what kind of niche market Canon had in their mind when they developed and marketed 7D (or is it only D300 that they had in mind?)? I mean it's like 7D has all the feature, spec and build quality of the high end, except for a big sensor which is essentially what identifies pro and high amateur models as pro and high amateur. It seems to make more sense to me if they came up with a full frame camera in the spec and build quality of 450D at the price of 7D.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Nordlys

[eurasianthai]

It seems to make more sense to me if they came up with a full frame camera in the spec and build quality of 450D at the price of 7D.

I guess they thought about it but are not sure anybody would buy a camera with the build quality of the 450D for the price of a 7D, full sensor or not.

And to answer your question, besides the 30,000 baht difference, there is also the lens difference, I can not use the 10-22mm on the 5D and the 24-105mm is average on the 5D (so I heard).

And I can't really afford to change all the lenses + adding 30,000 baht for something that I actually use as a high amateur, as you rightly said

[Nordlys]

but I thought you're half way there in that direction...

And are you sure your investment and upgrade will stop with 7D and 24-105F4L?

You might soon find 30,000 baht to be a small fraction of your total investment in camera gears.

[astral]

In conclusion, you need both.

And a divorce??

Weren't you asking us how to explain to your wife as to why you bought the 7D.

[aeon]

I also add that 7d has a new auto focus system, built in wireless trigger/transmitter for external flash, dedicated button for video, face recognition focus for video (anyway a serious videographer won't use it).

Anyway I am curious to wait a next generation of 5d and maybe get it as well.

By the way I found something interesting about iso in 5d mark 2 but I suppose is something that happen on 7d as well, something strange with noise levels such as 640 iso is less noisier than 160 iso, of course photos has less dynamic range at higher iso, but... check it out: http://forums.canonphotogroup.com/showthread.php?t=2541

Edited March 6, 2010 by aeon

[aeon]

I don't want to rebate on a difficult comparison as 5d vs 7d, but rather I would prefer to add some more info about the 7d (I own one) to avoid any mislead on choosing the right tool for each preference.

First someone stated that you don't get magnification from a tele lens because the sensor size is smaller, this is incorrect as you have to compare the final resolution and being the 7d a 18 mp that makes a magnification, because cropping the same photo taken with the same lens on a 5dmk2 and matching the same crop as the 7d you would not get 18mp but less than 14mp.

This together with being able to shoot 8 frames per second and with more faster and very advanced (zone focus for example) 19 focus point system this makes the 7d better for sport and action photography.

Video mode (not all are interested on this matter, but I am) is much more advanced on 7d, it has a 100% magnification viewfinder, and incorporates a TTL flash trigger so you can trig many flashes at the same time, without additional gadgtes.

Noise levels are "slightly" worse on 7d than 5dmk2 that is a fact, but normally I (and many others) don't shoot at over 1000 iso and the difference is very little up to those high iso. 7D has less noise than other camera with the same sensor size because the way the microlenses in front of the sensor are constructed, they reduced the gaps between them and distance from sensor, and this allow more accuracy on capturing the light.

Another myth is about depth of field, you don't get less narrow depth of field on a cropped sensor as many believe. Depth of field is a property of the lens not of the sensor. If you use same lens, same aperture, and same distance from a subject in focus, you will get the same depth of field on both 5d and 7d. The difference is in the framing. To get the same framing with 7d you need to move back, more far from the subject and this reduce the depth of field (but you could open wider the aperture and compensate with faster lenses). The same is valid for tele, to get the same framing of a 7d with a 5d you need to go closer to the subject. (I don't mention the differences in perspective, but this another argument).

Same is valid for smaller cameras, they have deeper depth of field because of the lenses. Try using an optical 35 adapter (not a ring adapter) on a small camera even a small consumer video camera, and you will get the same depth of field of a 35mm sensor camera, of course is a not convenient tool to carry around, and aliasing and noise are other issues related to sensor size .

[eurasianthai]

I actually still did not try the video mode on the 7D.

I think it will take a bit of time for my mind to get used to the idea that a DSLR can be used as a video camera.

I must be getting too old