Help: Sell 2 bodies for new Canon 5D II??????

[canonsnob]

I need your help/advice.

I shoot about half sports/wildlife (both moving subjects) and half other subjects (non-moving).

I have a Canon 20D that I use most of the time and a Canon 1D Mk II that I bought (but haven't used yet) for sports b/c of its 8.5 frames per second. Both cameras have 8MP.

I saw that the new Canon 5D II has 21MP and I thought that I might sell my current bodies for the 5D. This would allow me to crop (which I do a lot) as well as blow photos up while retaining detail.

My main issue is that the new 5D only has 3.9 fps vs 8.5 fps for the 1D Mk II.

And I'm not sure how fast the auto focus is on the new 5D--the 1D Mk II is supposed to be lightning fast; hence, its use in sports.

Any thoughts on whether I should keep my current two camera set-up or switch from two cameras to the 5D II? Any other thoughts?

Thanks!

Gary

[The View]

The 5DII isn't a sports camera.

The autofocus is the same as in the 5D (hard to believe, but it's true).

Why do you want to sell the 1DII? It's still a great camera.

Many get the hots about full frame and overlook the basic requirements a camera has to deliver to them.

[canonsnob]

Thanks for your reply.  Yeah, I know that the 5D II isn't a sports camera, but I guess I thought that 21MP offered some great opportunities to blow photos up and to crop.  21MP vs. 8MP takes my breath away.

Gary

The 5DII isn't a sports camera.

The autofocus is the same as in the 5D (hard to believe, but it's true).

Why do you want to sell the 1DII? It's still a great camera.

Many get the hots about full frame and overlook the basic requirements a camera has to deliver to them.

[Imaginara]

If 21 MP against 8MP blows you away, imagine what 60MP would do against 8MP..  feel like selling your car for a medium format digital system?  But of course there are more important factors to consider here.

Megapixels should never be the reason you get a camera, crop or no crop. If you feel the need to crop consistently, get a better lens and frame closer. You will be using the sensor on your camera much better.

Since you are shooting sports, you want fast and accurate autofocus, fast fps and general handling which means "up, press button, boom" you got the shot. 5D is not made for this, just like 1Ds is not made for that either. Can you shoot a sporting event with these cameras? Ofcourse you can. You can shoot it with a cellphone camera aswell. But a 1D (as opposed to 5D or 1Ds) will work better for you.

And the only argument against it would be that you will have a hard time blowing up 8MP to a billboard or gallery quality prints in the 1-2m range. So... you have to ask yourself, how many billboards will you be shooting for?

Back in the "days" you could for some odd reason blow up 6MP to pretty much anything and no one complained =) Today its almost like you can't shoot your kids birthday to put on the family website unless it's 50MP.

So my advice to you is stay with your cameras, they will work just fine. If you need to invest in something go for glass. Or possibly a 1D Mk3.

[canonsnob]

Thanks very much!!  Makes good sense.  Much obliged.

Gary

If 21 MP against 8MP blows you away, imagine what 60MP would do against 8MP..  feel like selling your car for a medium format digital system?  But of course there are more important factors to consider here.

Megapixels should never be the reason you get a camera, crop or no crop. If you feel the need to crop consistently, get a better lens and frame closer. You will be using the sensor on your camera much better.

Since you are shooting sports, you want fast and accurate autofocus, fast fps and general handling which means "up, press button, boom" you got the shot. 5D is not made for this, just like 1Ds is not made for that either. Can you shoot a sporting event with these cameras? Ofcourse you can. You can shoot it with a cellphone camera aswell. But a 1D (as opposed to 5D or 1Ds) will work better for you.

And the only argument against it would be that you will have a hard time blowing up 8MP to a billboard or gallery quality prints in the 1-2m range. So... you have to ask yourself, how many billboards will you be shooting for?

Back in the "days" you could for some odd reason blow up 6MP to pretty much anything and no one complained =) Today its almost like you can't shoot your kids birthday to put on the family website unless it's 50MP.

So my advice to you is stay with your cameras, they will work just fine. If you need to invest in something go for glass. Or possibly a 1D Mk3.

[mike.online]

If 21 MP against 8MP blows you away, imagine what 60MP would do against 8MP..  feel like selling your car for a medium format digital system?  But of course there are more important factors to consider here.

Megapixels should never be the reason you get a camera, crop or no crop. If you feel the need to crop consistently, get a better lens and frame closer. You will be using the sensor on your camera much better.

Since you are shooting sports, you want fast and accurate autofocus, fast fps and general handling which means "up, press button, boom" you got the shot. 5D is not made for this, just like 1Ds is not made for that either. Can you shoot a sporting event with these cameras? Ofcourse you can. You can shoot it with a cellphone camera aswell. But a 1D (as opposed to 5D or 1Ds) will work better for you.

And the only argument against it would be that you will have a hard time blowing up 8MP to a billboard or gallery quality prints in the 1-2m range. So... you have to ask yourself, how many billboards will you be shooting for?

Back in the "days" you could for some odd reason blow up 6MP to pretty much anything and no one complained =) Today its almost like you can't shoot your kids birthday to put on the family website unless it's 50MP.

So my advice to you is stay with your cameras, they will work just fine. If you need to invest in something go for glass. Or possibly a 1D Mk3.

This is one thing I've been wondering about.

I find that I often want to make funny crops, like super wide. My 30D is really not working out right in that respect. I want to be able to crop how I want to, and still have the latitude to print up to 2' x 4'. Further, its difficult to really know what I want out of a shot until I convert the RAW file, there are elements that I just need to crop for that I couldn't have predicted when taking the shot. Personally, I'm going to be upgrading to a 5DMkII for other reasons (i.e. ISO) as well, but to be able to print large sizes (at 300ppi) and not worry about cropping is an awfully large benefit

[Imaginara]

This is one thing I've been wondering about.

I find that I often want to make funny crops, like super wide. My 30D is really not working out right in that respect. I want to be able to crop how I want to, and still have the latitude to print up to 2' x 4'. Further, its difficult to really know what I want out of a shot until I convert the RAW file, there are elements that I just need to crop for that I couldn't have predicted when taking the shot. Personally, I'm going to be upgrading to a 5DMkII for other reasons (i.e. ISO) as well, but to be able to print large sizes (at 300ppi) and not worry about cropping is an awfully large benefit

Yes, but that suggest that you are more doing studio, landscape, architecture rather than fast paced action photography like sports or some high-speed wildlife. 5D would definately be better for the cases where you need the filesize over the speed of handling, but 1D would be more advisable when you need the faster autofocus and fps. The original poster wanted to shoot sports and thats what the 1D mk2 was built for. And you rarely need to blow up a odd crop of a sports picture. If you do, then i would suggest looking at the 1Ds (the mk3 or the next version). Sure it cost about as much as a fairly new used car but thats the drawback. If you need specialized gear like a very high MP camera that still shoots fast, it will cost you. Thats why even as a professional photographer it's quite often more economic to buy the equipment you use 99% of the time, and rent the last 1%.