Suitable camera for my needs, 1d iv, mark III or..

[Dimx]

Hi all, my very first post here.

I am the owner of a 5d mark II, 35mm L and 135mm F2 L. I mainly shoot landscapes and portraits, but I am also interested in photographing birds and not at least my children in whatever they do.

After owning the 5d since release, had 40d before that, I feel thta it covers my landscape addictions, but I am having a hard time photographing birds in flight and also my 3 year old daughter who is as fast as a formula 1 car, can't stand still usualy not good enough focus and missed moments that ill never be able to capture again. For birds it is ok with lost shots, but i would like to up my hit rating. Beeing a family that takes time I don not have whole days anymore to spend photographing, but thats life:)

I am wondering about getting the 1D IV or Mark III. Have to admit I have been looking at he 1DX as well but its a tad expensive.
I have ready looooads of posts here, and other places, but I am still not sure which one would be better for me. I am not sure if the 1D iv has better atufocus and capabilites for my needs than mark III.

Would be very appreciated with some views on his matter.

[neuroanatomist]

Welcome!

Lots of options, depending on budget.  I can say that I know where you're coming from - I have daughters nearly 5 and nearly 3, and the 5DII's AF struggled to keep up (and usually failed).  The 7D AF did much better, but the ISO noise limited me to 1600 or so (that's a subjective call), meaning useless for most indoor ambient shooting.  I did use the 7D for birds in good light, where the 1.6x helps get more pixels on target.

The 1DIV is an excellent camera for action/wildlife, great AF, fast frame rate, and the 1.3x crop give more reach than FF. But, not so good for landscape (your wide angle 35L becomes a 46mm 'normal' lens, for example). Also, your DoF gets deeper for portraits - the 135/2 becomes a 175mm f/2.6 in terms of framing and DoF for an equivalent shot to FF.

When you say 'Mark III' do you mean 1D or 1Ds?  The 1DIII will have the same crop factor issues as the 1DIV for landscape/portraits; the 1DIV has better AF than the 1DIII, but the III is still miles ahead of the 5DII and will meet your needs fine.  If you mean 1DsIII, AF is the same as the 1DIV, but you can't push the ISO up very high.

The 5DIII is a huge step up from the 5DII in every way except IQ (and the 5DII is already great there).  It has the 1D X AF sensor and 6 fps, truly a great all-around camera. 

The 1D X just can't be beat - top IQ, top AF, great build and ergonomics (for some - I used gripped bodies before getting the 1D X, if you don't it will be big and heavy by comparison to a 5DII).  Although the 5DIII has the 1D X AF sensor, the 1D X has a much better metering sensor, and data from that are used for face-tracking AF - I can tell you that it locks onto my kids' faces and keeps a lock as they run all over.

The only 'downside' to the 1D X and 5DIII is when it comes to birds, the FF sensor means less apparent reach. But if you're shooting them with a 5DII, it'll be no worse.  Coming from a 7D + 100-400mm, my 'solution' to the loss of the 1.6x was to buy a 600/4 lens - but at $13K that's not an option for many people.

For your family and landscape shots, I'd stick with FF. But there are a couple of possibilities there: 1D X, or a 5DIII and $3200 left - that could buy a couple of nice lenses including a 70-300L or 100-400L for birds, 24mm TS-E for landscapes, or even a 7D and 400mm f/5.6 which would be a great BIF setup.

Hope that helps...

[danski0224]

After using a 1DIV, your 5DII will sound and feel cheap, almost toylike.

The 1DIV offers many focus points and options that don't exist in a 5DII.

The 1DIV seems to drive lens AF motors faster than a 5DII. 

The 1DIV will give your 135 a bit more reach compared to the 5DII, whether it is enough is up to you.

The 1DIV lcd screen is loads better than the 1DIII, whether or not that is important is up to you. You are on your own for feature differences between the two models.

If you are referring to the 1D(s)III (full frame), that is apparently still at the top for low ISO use.

Image files out of the box are much better to my eyes between the 1DIV and 7D.

Nice 1DIV cameras seem to be selling at roughly half of a 1DX.

[Tov]

The diff between the 1D IV and 1D III are better AF, low light, IQ and last but not least the IV has 16MP. Specially shooting birds/wildlife the extra mp's helps.