Associate
- Joined
- 12 Aug 2003
- Posts
- 786
- Location
- North London
Hi guys.
Hoping to get some feedback from users of the 5D mk2 (and 5D mk3).
Basically here's my story (one Im sure has come up a fair few times on forums, and I'm well aware of the stigma it carries):
Thought Id hide that diatribe in the spoiler tags to save people from whiplash when turning their heads away from such a wedge of text!
TL;DR?
5d2 v 5d3 pragmatic AF performance information, from someone with experience please.
Hoping to get some feedback from users of the 5D mk2 (and 5D mk3).
Basically here's my story (one Im sure has come up a fair few times on forums, and I'm well aware of the stigma it carries):
I've been into photography since I was around 8 years old helping my dad in the makeshift darkroom we had for a few years in our garden shed. Ive always had a camera of some sort since then.
Fast forward 2007, I bought my first DSLR; Olympus E-330 which was lovely but I soon became acutely aware of the Olympus system and the 4:3 sensor etc. April 2008, I purchased a brand new 450D and photography, in terms of a hobby, moved on to the next phase for me. Since then Ive taken the camera around the world with me. I've experimented with a few lenses by renting quality glass from time to time, and have ended up doing a bit of everything from landscapes, motorsport, portraits.
Here comes the typically cliché part of my post: Over the passed year or so, friends of mine have been getting engaged, married, etc and I've had to look through many photographers galleries. From time to time, I have done this and thought "Given time, Im sure I could produce comparable results". I want to begin wetting my beak with taking my photography more seriously, with a view to gaining more experience and potentialy doing some small jobs on the side.
I feel I must be clear some things: I dont not intend to shoot weddings over night. I dont want to charge anyone for anything just yet.
I dont mind spending a bit of money to get my gear up to scratch, but I want to want to throw money at things that are not necessary. Right. So I'm upgrading my 450D, 18-55mm IS and 50mm F1.8 kit. Things that bugged me the most about this kit; small camera body with sometimes awkward control. Generally poor autofocus performance (im well aware of how AF works technically, so I use what I know to get by sticking to my centre cross point a lot of the time... I was even manual focusing to get my F1 cars coming through the corners etc). Small viewfinder is very annoying to me. When I looked through a 5D for the first time... I was amazed! Thats pretty much it, when I nail a shot on the 450D image quality is not bad, especially if good glass is used. Usable ISO is only upto 400 really, maybe 800 sometimes so I guess that is another thing im not happy with.
So what this has always made me believe is if that I upgrade, its not going to be to another APS-C body, and that I will buy decent glass.
With that in mind I heavily debating switching to Nikon with the release of the D600, due to the spec of the body on paper and the availability of their 24-70mm F2.8 at around £1000. In the end I bottled the switch to Nikon for a number of reasons; one of them being I snapped up the purchase of a mint Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8 L mkI off the TP forums for £800. This is me sorted for my main lens for now. In order to test the if I could get by with it on my 450D for the near future and first "assignments/jobs" (more on that in a sec...) I bought a flash so I could try it out. This week I took delivery of my Speedlite 600EX-RT which is... just an ETTL flash really. Radio trigger stuff will be cool in future when they release a cheaper radio slave flash or the price of the ST-E3 drops. In all honesty I could have bought a Yongnuo 565 or a second hand Canon 580EX-II but this means no need for pocket wizards for off camera flash.
So the 24-70 and the 600EX can take some nice pictures using the 450D. My biggest problem still is AF performance, esp regarding locking on the eyes. I always use the closest focus point, sometimes a bit of focus re-compose. Im not sure whether or not this is technique, or whether the few knocks my 450D has had over the years means it needs sending in for AF calibration. Either way with my current set up my biggest peeve is AF performance.
I might have my first bit of (unpaid) work on in November, a christening for some friends who dont have the money to hire a pro and would like some photos taken.
Now in North London, especially in the Greek community, I know word of mouth can be all you need to be successful with regards to winning work. If I do a good job Im sure Ill be recommended but this young couple to their peers for other such christening and maybe engagement jobs for me to cut my teeth on. Doing a good job from day 1 is important to me. I know from now I will not do a perfect job no matter now much stuff I read, practise I have, or gear I own.
I have a budget of around £1200 for a body. Which fits perfectly to the price of a 5D mark 2 from Digitalrev. I dont really want to spend the extra £750 required to buy a mark 3 if its not necessary. However I dont want to spend the £1200 on the mark 2 and then have the same unconfidence in the AF system as I do now with my 450D; feeling I have to second guess it and undermine the compositions I want to achieve with my photos just to make sure eyes are over focus points clustered in the centre of the frame.
What I want is a pragmatic answer (not opinion) by someone who has used both cameras, who can tell me if the 5D mark 2 is annoying with regards to autofocus - and whether the 5D mark 3 is that much better with regards to AF point coverage across the frame, and achieving accurate AF when selecting the focus point yourself.
Fast forward 2007, I bought my first DSLR; Olympus E-330 which was lovely but I soon became acutely aware of the Olympus system and the 4:3 sensor etc. April 2008, I purchased a brand new 450D and photography, in terms of a hobby, moved on to the next phase for me. Since then Ive taken the camera around the world with me. I've experimented with a few lenses by renting quality glass from time to time, and have ended up doing a bit of everything from landscapes, motorsport, portraits.
Here comes the typically cliché part of my post: Over the passed year or so, friends of mine have been getting engaged, married, etc and I've had to look through many photographers galleries. From time to time, I have done this and thought "Given time, Im sure I could produce comparable results". I want to begin wetting my beak with taking my photography more seriously, with a view to gaining more experience and potentialy doing some small jobs on the side.
I feel I must be clear some things: I dont not intend to shoot weddings over night. I dont want to charge anyone for anything just yet.
I dont mind spending a bit of money to get my gear up to scratch, but I want to want to throw money at things that are not necessary. Right. So I'm upgrading my 450D, 18-55mm IS and 50mm F1.8 kit. Things that bugged me the most about this kit; small camera body with sometimes awkward control. Generally poor autofocus performance (im well aware of how AF works technically, so I use what I know to get by sticking to my centre cross point a lot of the time... I was even manual focusing to get my F1 cars coming through the corners etc). Small viewfinder is very annoying to me. When I looked through a 5D for the first time... I was amazed! Thats pretty much it, when I nail a shot on the 450D image quality is not bad, especially if good glass is used. Usable ISO is only upto 400 really, maybe 800 sometimes so I guess that is another thing im not happy with.
So what this has always made me believe is if that I upgrade, its not going to be to another APS-C body, and that I will buy decent glass.
With that in mind I heavily debating switching to Nikon with the release of the D600, due to the spec of the body on paper and the availability of their 24-70mm F2.8 at around £1000. In the end I bottled the switch to Nikon for a number of reasons; one of them being I snapped up the purchase of a mint Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8 L mkI off the TP forums for £800. This is me sorted for my main lens for now. In order to test the if I could get by with it on my 450D for the near future and first "assignments/jobs" (more on that in a sec...) I bought a flash so I could try it out. This week I took delivery of my Speedlite 600EX-RT which is... just an ETTL flash really. Radio trigger stuff will be cool in future when they release a cheaper radio slave flash or the price of the ST-E3 drops. In all honesty I could have bought a Yongnuo 565 or a second hand Canon 580EX-II but this means no need for pocket wizards for off camera flash.
So the 24-70 and the 600EX can take some nice pictures using the 450D. My biggest problem still is AF performance, esp regarding locking on the eyes. I always use the closest focus point, sometimes a bit of focus re-compose. Im not sure whether or not this is technique, or whether the few knocks my 450D has had over the years means it needs sending in for AF calibration. Either way with my current set up my biggest peeve is AF performance.
I might have my first bit of (unpaid) work on in November, a christening for some friends who dont have the money to hire a pro and would like some photos taken.
Now in North London, especially in the Greek community, I know word of mouth can be all you need to be successful with regards to winning work. If I do a good job Im sure Ill be recommended but this young couple to their peers for other such christening and maybe engagement jobs for me to cut my teeth on. Doing a good job from day 1 is important to me. I know from now I will not do a perfect job no matter now much stuff I read, practise I have, or gear I own.
I have a budget of around £1200 for a body. Which fits perfectly to the price of a 5D mark 2 from Digitalrev. I dont really want to spend the extra £750 required to buy a mark 3 if its not necessary. However I dont want to spend the £1200 on the mark 2 and then have the same unconfidence in the AF system as I do now with my 450D; feeling I have to second guess it and undermine the compositions I want to achieve with my photos just to make sure eyes are over focus points clustered in the centre of the frame.
What I want is a pragmatic answer (not opinion) by someone who has used both cameras, who can tell me if the 5D mark 2 is annoying with regards to autofocus - and whether the 5D mark 3 is that much better with regards to AF point coverage across the frame, and achieving accurate AF when selecting the focus point yourself.
TL;DR?
5d2 v 5d3 pragmatic AF performance information, from someone with experience please.
Last edited:
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