$1200 7D vs. $1800 5D II?

[jon_charron]

Almost a year ago, I had $18,000 of gear stolen while in LA, and was not covered by insurance. It totally killed a project I came here to work on. I had a 7D, 70-200 2.8L IS II, 11-16mm Tokina 2.8, Canon 17-55 2.8 IS, 1.4x and 2x TCII's, 580 EXII, pocket wizards, remotes, filters, zacuto z-finder, etc. I shot mostly wildlife back in the day, and more recently some models, etc. My focus though, has been motion pictures. For the first time in over 20 years, I've been without a camera. It's been very hard. Financially, it hasn't been possible to buy everything again, and I haven't been able to come to terms with buying something cheaper to tide me over. I also want something weather sealed, since I do a lot of work in humid, misty and/or coastal environments and had a bad experience with two failed 40D's in Central America.

I rent or use other people's stuff for films right now, but need to get something. I'm dying. Particularly not having something decent for stills. I still have a lot of my support gear, tripods, follow focus, matte box, slider... But I need a new body and lenses. My first instinct is to go with what I new and get another 7D. But since the 5D II and 7D are so close in price now, and since I'm hoping to try and pay for some gear by doing head shots, I am thinking I'm better off with the 5D II. I know I'll lose some focusing for BIF and such, and I've done some excellent portrait and modeling shots with the 7D, the shots from the 5D II just seem cleaner right out of the camera with the same lenses.

I'm interested to what others think? That $600 could really help towards a decent lens. Any suggestions for a primary head shot lens for either body would be greatly appreciated also. I suppose if I can get some head shot work under my belt, I could always upgrade later. Dang. Depressing starting over.

 

[robbymack]

Go used on everything there are deals to be had on both those bodies right now which should give you some extra for a lens or two. My choice to keep things cheap used 7d w used 17-55 2.8 is and should more than tide you over. Weather sealing concern? Plastic bags are cheap. Head shots? 85 1.8 is cheap and fantastic both on crop and ff so works for either. Maybe squeeze in a used 70-200 f4. Oh and call your insurance agent.

 

[bycostello]

if cash is an issue go with the cheaper one....

 

[aroo]

I would go with 7D, such a great camera. Crop wide angle lenses are cheaper and look fantastic.

 

[Radiating]

Almost a year ago, I had $18,000 of gear stolen while in LA, and was not covered by insurance. It totally killed a project I came here to work on. I had a 7D, 70-200 2.8L IS II, 11-16mm Tokina 2.8, Canon 17-55 2.8 IS, 1.4x and 2x TCII's, 580 EXII, pocket wizards, remotes, filters, zacuto z-finder, etc. I shot mostly wildlife back in the day, and more recently some models, etc. My focus though, has been motion pictures. For the first time in over 20 years, I've been without a camera. It's been very hard. Financially, it hasn't been possible to buy everything again, and I haven't been able to come to terms with buying something cheaper to tide me over. I also want something weather sealed, since I do a lot of work in humid, misty and/or coastal environments and had a bad experience with two failed 40D's in Central America.

I rent or use other people's stuff for films right now, but need to get something. I'm dying. Particularly not having something decent for stills. I still have a lot of my support gear, tripods, follow focus, matte box, slider... But I need a new body and lenses. My first instinct is to go with what I new and get another 7D. But since the 5D II and 7D are so close in price now, and since I'm hoping to try and pay for some gear by doing head shots, I am thinking I'm better off with the 5D II. I know I'll lose some focusing for BIF and such, and I've done some excellent portrait and modeling shots with the 7D, the shots from the 5D II just seem cleaner right out of the camera with the same lenses.

I'm interested to what others think? That $600 could really help towards a decent lens. Any suggestions for a primary head shot lens for either body would be greatly appreciated also. I suppose if I can get some head shot work under my belt, I could always upgrade later. Dang. Depressing starting over.

Wow, that really really sucks.

How was it stolen if you don't mind me asking?

Regarding the 7D vs 5D2 I'd get a set of lightly used gear and go with the 5D2 because it will save you around $400. Specifically get a 5D II on fredmiranda for $1200, it will come very lightly used at that price in my experience. The 7D is slated for a price drop so it's a really bad investment. They go for $999 though but full frame pro lenses can sometimes be cheaper than crop lenses as you need f/4.0 for the same light and bokeh as an f/2.8 crop lens, a 5D2 & 24-105mm should work for pretty much any task, add a 70-200mm f/4.0 IS and you've got a killer cheap combo.

You can buy all of that for:

$2700

Add a 85mm 1.8 if you need even more bokeh.

You'd need a Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 7D and Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 OS to match that combo and you'd end up paying $3100-$3300 used for that setup. You'd get worse IQ, worse zoom range, and worse performance all around. I've had both the 7D and 5D2 and if you're using the 5D2 center point it takes more work but I've never had any trouble with keeper rates.

 

[dtaylor]

5D2 if you regularly shoot and make large prints at ISO 1600 and above. OR if you have certain Canon lenses which really work best on FF (T/S; the fast wide primes like the 35 f/1.4).

7D for everything else.

No matter how many times people insist...just insist...there's a HUGE difference when they pixel peep at 300%, they cannot pick out 16x24 or 20x30 prints at ISO 100-800.

And $600 would make a big dent for lenses, either buying one you need out right, or getting you that much closer to one that's more expensive.

 

[pj1974]

5D2 if you regularly shoot and make large prints at ISO 1600 and above. OR if you have certain Canon lenses which really work best on FF (T/S; the fast wide primes like the 35 f/1.4).

7D for everything else.

No matter how many times people insist...just insist...there's a HUGE difference when they pixel peep at 300%, they cannot pick out 16x24 or 20x30 prints at ISO 100-800.

And $600 would make a big dent for lenses, either buying one you need out right, or getting you that much closer to one that's more expensive.

+1

So true. I have used various Canon (& other brand) FF and currently use my Canon 7D as my 'general go to camera' - from landscape to wildlife to macro to occasional 'event' photography.

The 7D is such a capable camera... awesome ergonomics, great flexible - yet not overly complicated AF system, etc, etc. Ok obviously several other cameras beat it on ISO noise / detail, etc - but often that's just pixel peeping!

And there are just so many great EF-S lenses (dedicated for APS-C) these days... and many EF lenses (normally for FF) - whic use the 'sweet spot'. I cover 10mm to 300mm on my 7D, and it's awesome (35mm equivalent of 16mm - 480mm!)

Paul

 

[WillThompson]

$999 7D refurb at B&H

B&H has Canon refurb 7D's that will pass for new!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/740768-REF/Canon_3814B056AA_EOS_7D_SLR_Digital.html

Will T.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Canon has a customer Loyalty program that gives you about 20% off the refurb price. To get this, you need to trade in a old broken camera.
They will take and old 35mm Film SLR body, or even a old broken powershot digital. If you don't have one, they can usually be had on Craigslist for a song. I buy them for $10 at garage sales, sell the lens and keep the body to trade in.

 

[Plamen]

The 5D2 with cheap lenses like the 85/1.8, 100/2, 50/1.4 and with the moderate priced 135L will beat the 7D with any lens in the world, for portrait use. You get cleaner files, better color separation, better (not just stronger) background blur.

You will actually save money with the 5D2.

 

[jon_charron]

Canon has a customer Loyalty program that gives you about 20% off the refurb price. To get this, you need to trade in a old broken camera.
They will take and old 35mm Film SLR body, or even a old broken powershot digital. If you don't have one, they can usually be had on Craigslist for a song. I buy them for $10 at garage sales, sell the lens and keep the body to trade in.

I have a G9 with the lens error, that I wanted to get fixed but seems to be hard to have done now. I could trade that in, but the Canon Refurb price is $80 more than BH Brand new, and $200 more than BH refurbished. Looks like I'm better to keep the G9 and try to find a place to fix it. But thanks for the heads up.

 

[risc32]

normally i would just ask if you want fast(7d) or slow(5dmk2) ,but the fact that you want some sort of weather tough camera should eliminate the 5dmk2.

 

[unfocused]

5D2 if you regularly shoot and make large prints at ISO 1600 and above. OR if you have certain Canon lenses which really work best on FF (T/S; the fast wide primes like the 35 f/1.4).

7D for everything else.

No matter how many times people insist...just insist...there's a HUGE difference when they pixel peep at 300%, they cannot pick out 16x24 or 20x30 prints at ISO 100-800.

And $600 would make a big dent for lenses, either buying one you need out right, or getting you that much closer to one that's more expensive.

+1... Paul

+2

But...if you must buy a full frame, I can't imagine why anyone would buy a 5DII when the 6D can be had for essentially the same price and you aren't buying four year old technology. In fact, right now, a new 6D with the 24-105 kit lens is actually cheaper than a new 5DII with the same lens. (B&H and Adorama).

 

[jon_charron]

5D2 if you regularly shoot and make large prints at ISO 1600 and above. OR if you have certain Canon lenses which really work best on FF (T/S; the fast wide primes like the 35 f/1.4).

7D for everything else.

No matter how many times people insist...just insist...there's a HUGE difference when they pixel peep at 300%, they cannot pick out 16x24 or 20x30 prints at ISO 100-800.

And $600 would make a big dent for lenses, either buying one you need out right, or getting you that much closer to one that's more expensive.

I have no lenses. Starting from scratch now. To the other poster who asked, all was on one Lowepro Flipside 400 AW. Jam packed with a carbon fiber monopod on the outside. Like a target I guess. Grabbed from a The HI hostel in Santa Monica while I was I dozed off on my bunk at around noon. It was about a foot away from my head. Cleaning staff came in with a big laundry tub on wheels, so I think it was them. I came here from Canada to do an adventure travel show. Didn't quite work out.

 

[kennephoto]

5D2 if you regularly shoot and make large prints at ISO 1600 and above. OR if you have certain Canon lenses which really work best on FF (T/S; the fast wide primes like the 35 f/1.4).

7D for everything else.

No matter how many times people insist...just insist...there's a HUGE difference when they pixel peep at 300%, they cannot pick out 16x24 or 20x30 prints at ISO 100-800.

And $600 would make a big dent for lenses, either buying one you need out right, or getting you that much closer to one that's more expensive.

+1... Paul

+2

But...if you must buy a full frame, I can't imagine why anyone would buy a 5DII when the 6D can be had for essentially the same price and you aren't buying four year old technology. In fact, right now, a new 6D with the 24-105 kit lens is actually cheaper than a new 5DII with the same lens. (B&H and Adorama).

Or if you're like me and have high end compact flash cards already and never had any SD cards laying around then the 5D2 was a great buy!! Personally I want both cameras but I want a 7d2 right now and I'm waiting for that otherwise I'd be buying a 7d for sure! I love my 5d2 a lot bought it brand new in October and I'm so very happy!

 

[jdramirez]

Call Canon and ask if they will extend the canon loyalty pricing on a 5d mkii. I think they will at this point. You'll get one for around 1400ish. Then use that money saved to buy a new lens. I'd go cheap primes until you can afford more.

 

[wickidwombat]

if you are looking at primarily video why not look at a T3i? much cheaper can spend more on glass
has some features for video that no other cameras have, Magic lantern is stable on it already

 

[pedro]

This is a tough experience...must hurt more than drop something. Well, maybe slightly higher in price but best for both worlds below 2k: Canon Eos 6D body only at amazon.com at US $ 1879.00. New cam, New tech, good high ISOs and decent AF. my two cents... And yes call Canon for customer loyalty...

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-20-2-Digital-Camera-3-0-Inch/dp/B009B0MZ8U

 

[RLPhoto]

The real question I want to ask...

Can you explain why the Insurance company didn't cover your equipment? This would be very useful to know.

 

[sdsr]

This is a tough experience...must hurt more than drop something. Well, maybe slightly higher in price but best for both worlds below 2k: Canon Eos 6D body only at amazon.com at US $ 1879.00. New cam, New tech, good high ISOs and decent AF. my two cents... And yes call Canon for customer loyalty...

Agree re 6D instead of 5DII, unless you don't do low light photography and care about those few areas where the 5DII is better (such as faster max shutter speed) - you can get ia new 6D + 24-105L kit from B&H (and elsewhere, presumably) for a mere $2400.