Canon DSLR Advice

[a1ex2001]

The D700 is a better camera for the reason of the AF.

Unless you like to use video, want more mega pixels or invested heavily in canon glass, between the D700/5Dii, the Nikon is a better tool for the job.

5D3/D800 however things are more even.

You are of course right but it does drive me mad when people (not yourself) imply that the 5D Mkii is compleyely useless becuase of it's older AF system when this clearly isn't the case. The AF system is obviously not state of the art but it does work well enough as it's wide commercial use indicates.

 

[Nexus]

You are of course right but it does drive me mad when people (not yourself) imply that the 5D Mkii is compleyely useless becuase of it's older AF system when this clearly isn't the case. The AF system is obviously not state of the art but it does work well enough as it's wide commercial use indicates.

It's for that reason that I keep twiddling my thumbs about just buying a mk2, rather than waiting for the mk3 price to drop. I've got a 7D which more than covers me for things like Sports where I need AF speed, plus the crop is many ways beneficial for distance shooting.

 

[a1ex2001]

It's for that reason that I keep twiddling my thumbs about just buying a mk2, rather than waiting for the mk3 price to drop. I've got a 7D which more than covers me for things like Sports where I need AF speed, plus the crop is many ways beneficial for distance shooting.

It's just the price thats stopping me buying a 5D Mkii if they would just drop into 3 figures I think I'd bite!

 

[An Exception]

You are of course right but it does drive me mad when people (not yourself) imply that the 5D Mkii is compleyely useless becuase of it's older AF system when this clearly isn't the case. The AF system is obviously not state of the art but it does work well enough as it's wide commercial use indicates.

A horse and cart isn't completely useless either, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't accept and acknowledge there are more reliable/better performing solutions out there.

I don't remember anyone here saying the AF was completely useless. I think you have likely added your own interpretation to someone else's criticisms in the past.
If you don't need speed, precision, and consistency in tough lighting conditions without having to do the focus recompose dance, then obviously the 5Dii would be a suitable candidate.
However let's not kid ourselves into thinking it's the best solution in this regard, and let's not get upset when someone points out the obvious truth.

I could right a long list, but the summary is the D700 does just about everything better from weather sealing to read-noise/banding, with the exceptions of sensor resolution and video.

Therefore I could only in good conscience recommend a 5Dii if someone was already invested in Canon, or they either needed resolution or video, and didn't have the budget for a 5Diii or D800.

If something like a D600 is released, then I most likely couldn't recommend a 5Dii at all, except if the 5Dii got close to 5D classic pricing, then the 5D & 5Dii would become my default recommendation for people getting into photography on a budget.