First Canon body for 300mm f2.8 primes?

[edrrt]

Greetings everyone.

So I've been a nikon shooter all my life. I shoot amphibians and underwater and am in need of a FF upgrade. Recently one of my firends passed away and his wife gave me his 2 canon 300mm f2.8 primes. One is IS the other is not. Both are imaculate condition wise. I feel the need to keep them given the gesture.

So now I'm wondering what to do body wise. I thought about switching over completely but in general I notice my nikon pics always look popier with wilder colors than my friends who shoot canon. It may just be the in camera settings, can I achieve the same effect with canon? I also notice my canon friends have major problems with auto focus, they actually need focus lights and I don't. So I'm colflicted about a full system switch because I'm nervous it wont produce the look I like.

Also every nikon camera I have ever owned had a spot on AF in very low light so the idea of canons AF not working well is terrifying to me because all my shooting is in the dark.

So I'm thinking about dipping in with 5d mk1 to see if I like canon image and lens performance. If not I could keep if for the two lenses and get a d600 for my others.

Is this a mistake? Would I be that much more impressed with a 6d on those Tele's?

I hear the 6d has good IQ similar to the 5d but also the same poor AF so I'm not sure it would be worth paying 3x the price.

Thoughts?

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I'd get a 1 series Camera like the 1D X, or at least a 5D MK III. Canon refurbs are excellent, many of us who have bought them find them to be even a little better on average than a new one. They get more and better QA than a new camera or lens.

The Refurbs now have a 1 year warranty as well.

Also note the Canon Loyalty program where you can trade in a old broken Canon film SLR or powershot for 10-15%, maybe more off a refurb 5D MK III.


http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/cameras/refurbished-eos-digital-slr-cameras/eos-1d-x-body-refurbished


Nikon jpegs tend to have the saturation turned up while Canon tends to have them with less saturation. You can adjust it anyway you like, its merely a difference in philosophy about the level of saturation.


Nikon lenses are just as much noted for inconsistent AF as Canon, that's why they offer "Fine tuning" in the better Nikon bodies. Its nothing to worry about, but the facility is there if you want the best possible autofocus accuracy. Normally, you will not see much difference until you get to f/1.4. or f/1.8.


Normally, the expensive lenses like the 300mm f/2.8 are going to be right on AF wise, but there are certainly some that need fine tuning.


I'd recommend selling the older non IS version if needed to pay for the 1D X. I think your friend would have agreed with that. There is a table of lens selling prices in the price watch section, I'm not sure if the non-is version is there, its pretty old, and Canon no longer services it, but you can usually find a third party service company to do a limited amount of work on one. I'd sell it while its still in near mint condition.

 

[Menace]

+1 Mt Spokane.

To OP, renting the two bodies mentioned above for your IS lens for a hands on long weekend might be a valuable experience. Personally, I think you'll be very pleased with this combo.

Have fun

 

[risc32]

sorry about your friend.

I have a 300mm 2.8 IS and a 5dmk1. i wouldn't recommend that combo. In fact i never was fully pleased with my 300 until i got a 5dmk3. on the other hand my 5dmk1 matched with my 70-200mm 2.8 nonIS works very well and seems on par with my 5mk3+300mm combo(IQ wise), but that's a different story.

basically- 5dmk1 + very low light levels = not so great AF tracking. one shot is actually pretty good. also you'd be best off never using anything but the center AF. ever.

 

[Hannes]

How would the 1dMkIIn fare? Here at least it tends to go for even less than the 5Dc and has far better AF if you just want to try it out. Admittedly it is pretty ancient by now