Decisions Decisions....

[OG]

I would suggest looking into some kind of support to take, maybe not a full tripod but something, particularly for landscapes in my experience of canada as you can't really shoot half second exposures hand held no matter how hard you try...

The beanbag type idea isn't a terrible start, particularly if you get something a little rugged like the MagBag range.

I have got a Gorilla pod which I will probably take along with me as I can fold it up kinda smallish.
Got a full size Red snapper tripod, as much as I would love to take that I really cannot justify lugging round something that large everywhere I go.

 

[bigredshark]

I have got a Gorilla pod which I will probably take along with me as I can fold it up kinda smallish.
Got a full size Red snapper tripod, as much as I would love to take that I really cannot justify lugging round something that large everywhere I go.

Another advantage is your current body will work OK with that, larger bodies tend to be just too heavy for things like the gorilla pod...

 

[p0ss3s3d]

Another advantage is your current body will work OK with that, larger bodies tend to be just too heavy for things like the gorilla pod...

Okay enough picking holes with my body

 

[D.P.]

Both have good and bad points, the D700 isn't talked about as much as the 5DII here but is a really excellent body, the AF is an obvious big bonus over the 5DII (that and the availability of the 14-24 lens). I would tend to agree Nikon semi pro bodies do seem to be really solidly built but I don't hear many stories about Canon ones falling apart either. End of the day, both are excellent. I'd have the D700 myself but then I've always preferred Nikon...

Some testing in Antarctica:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/antarctica-2009-worked.shtml

The largest group of failures through were among the Canon 5D MKIIs. Of the 26 samples of this camera onboard, one quarter (six) failed at one time or another, and while three recovered, the other three never did. In all cases it appeared to be water or humidity damage. Of particular concern were two cameras which stopped working while completely protected within Kata rain covers during a light rain ashore.

I've seen other reports of high failure rates of the 5DMkII. It just isn't a pro or semi pro body, but even then, thats quite a high failure rate. Especially considering not a single Nikon body failed.

 

[Rojin]

What sort of photography are you interested in? I went from a 500d to a 7d inside 3 months, this was due to the superior AF and burst rate that I wanted for sports photography (mainly rugby). The 500d just wasn't coping too well, also ISO performance is better on the 7d for when you need that bit extra shooting under floodlights. I'm still learning photography and I've a long way to go, personally I couldn't see any technique which could overcome the limitations I found with the body in the areas that I was using it.

I did like my 500d though, I wish I could've afforded to keep it as it is a lovely size with a 50mm lens attached. Nice and compact, in DSLR terms!