Advice on a Canon 5D Mark II

I like the HD video capability of this camera. If I d buy one this would be for this.

Yeah I now your more looking for the camera features, but still this camera is amazing on this.

I'd say go for it. The 50D packs a heck of a lot of pixels onto a small(ish) sensor. The 5D spreads those out a bit more, and has noticeably better color. Shallow depth of field is a bit easier with FF and if your lenses are quality - the 5D will make them shine.

Video clips might be a fun bonus feature too, even if it isn't a primary function that you will use.

Nice website, wonderful pics.

A FF dSLR would only do you more justice...

jrotunda85 said:

I am currently shooting with a 50D and I have been contemplating upgrading to the Canon 5D Mark II since it is a full frame camera – all my lenses are of the L variety. I am trying to justify though spending the $2,700+ on purchasing it. In doing that I’m also questioning whether full-frame makes that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

Currently, my business is shooting about 5-6 weddings this year and I anticipate many more next year (somewhere in the range of 10-12). Is it worth while to invest in it or should I hold off? On a side note: Money isn’t the issue, I have enough currently to purchase it should I choose to.

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Why not just buy a classic 5D or a 1DSMKII. I see those go for a tad over 2K now. Crazy.

If you can afford it then get it. You can probably use that body for a Loooong time. I am saving up myself

If you're eyeing on 2nd hand 1D, then do yourself a favor and factor in a new shutter service of about 100 bucks. If you cannot reliably be told how many pics have been taken, you should assume it's a lot.

Though the 1D can take a lot of good use, all moving parts fail at some point, and you do not want it to be in the middle of paying job; which means you should most probably get the shutter exchanged immediately after purchase.

If I remember this one correctly, DIGIC II has 12bit A/D but starting with DIGIC III it was 14bit. So better colour accuracy for starters.

jrotunda85 said:

I am currently shooting with a 50D and I have been contemplating upgrading to the Canon 5D Mark II since it is a full frame camera – all my lenses are of the L variety. I am trying to justify though spending the $2,700+ on purchasing it. In doing that I’m also questioning whether full-frame makes that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

Currently, my business is shooting about 5-6 weddings this year and I anticipate many more next year (somewhere in the range of 10-12). Is it worth while to invest in it or should I hold off? On a side note: Money isn’t the issue, I have enough currently to purchase it should I choose to.

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Will your clients purchase more and bigger prints if you offer them? Can you work with it in the conditions you shoot in, and will you have less PP to do if so? I'd highly recommend renting one with a copy of your most used lens, and shooting some tests in a venue you use a lot, then you can decide based upon side-by-side results in prints.

5D MkII

Aside from deciding if the crop factor and coolness factor are enough to justify the upgrade. You want to make sure you set a time period to amortize your purchase. So, in 6 months will I make enough money from the business to pay this camera off? Or a Year, 2 years, whatever you set the period to be. I myself am thinking about upgrading from a 40D to a 5DMII, but I am just starting out with the whole business photography aspect and this is one of the problems I've beset upon myself haha. So, just something to think about. But it is a wicked awesome camera. If you get one, let us know how you like it!

The 5Dmk2 is an excellent purchase for you, IMO. Keep the 50D as your "Tele" cam and the 5D on the other shoulder for your portraits and landscape shots at the wedding. I, too, went through the same decision making process and shoot with a 40D. I had one L lens and decided to pick up the 5D kit with the 24-105L. Combined with the 70-200/2.8 IS, I am set with the 5D. I use a 50mm (Sigma 1.4) on the 40D and the 24-105 on the 5D as walk arounds for most weddings. My wife also shoots with me on a 5D classic and the 70-200 in some cases. Works great.

The 5D is going to be a good purchase for another 2-2.5 years, body-wise. Even long after it has been EOL'ed, just as the original 5D and 1Dmk2's are still excellent cams. I also look at it as more than a business expense. It's a pretty awesome Family Cam too! With a 4 year old son, I get a chance to take lots of fun practice shots....with the ease of clicking into Live Mode for Video on the fly! 1080P at that. Pretty awesome machine.

Good Luck

J

I upgraded from 50d to 5dII last month and haven't looked back. Amazing camera.

jrotunda85 said:

I’m also wondering whether there is a significant difference between the DIGIC IV processor in both the newer 5D and even my 50D vs the DIGIC II in the older 1D. Any thoughts?

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DIGIC is irrelevant.

JFreak said:

If I remember this one correctly, DIGIC II has 12bit A/D but starting with DIGIC III it was 14bit. So better colour accuracy for starters.

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12bit vs 14bit has nothing to do with color accuracy, just how much you can post-process before banding/posterizing becomes a problem...and even then, no one's decided if it really makes a difference in the real world.

I'd say go for it based on the ISO performance. I have found it to be excellent and is great for weddings which can often be in low light.

21MP images are beautiful to look at too - the amount of detail really has blown me away.

I don't think you will regret it. I know I didn't.

Do you only have a 50d? If you are shooting weddings a backup camera is absolutely essential.

If you were planning on selling it and buying a 5d Mk2 keep it and get a classic, if you were planning on keeping carry on.

Get it. Now.

Seriously, when I upgraded to the 5D Mark II, the difference was quite noticeable. I was shooting with an XTi, and a friend's 40D, and the full-frame just blew them away! I know I didn't regret the decision of buying the camera. It's also gotten me a lot more jobs too.

Trust me, once you go to full-frame, you'll never go back! But like someone suggested, use your 50D as a tele-camera, and your 5D for just about everything else.

Gold89 said:

Do you only have a 50d? If you are shooting weddings a backup camera is absolutely essential.

If you were planning on selling it and buying a 5d Mk2 keep it and get a classic, if you were planning on keeping carry on.

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5d classic is good.

Maybe this will help out your wedding business....


http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/contro...rticleID=2327&productID=249&articleTypeID=225

The behind the scenes is at the beginning and the wedding video starts towards the middle.

jrotunda85 said:

That’s a good point and based on this year’s average booking, I could pay it off in two weddings - which I have two left this year. I think my advantage has been that I infused a lot of our personal savings into the business when I started so I paid cash for everything, no credit, including the 50D, Cases & Packs, L Lenses, etc. So the business has no debt to date which is also a great thing.

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As already suggested, make an investment and rent one if possible for a few days, even if not doing a proper job, maybe borrow some friends and have them do a test shoot at a location you know. It will give you some idea of what you can expect & maybe get comfortable with the camera quicker.

I would suggest that should you buy the 5DmkII you keep the 50D as a spare, of even use it during events as an alternate. The camera is your business so an additional quality body is a solid investment as you can't ask a couple to wait a day or two for the big day

Long term, I believe you wont be hurting yourself with the new camera, a higher quality photo should lead to more sales, even if you do not marginally increase your prices for offering your customers a better quality photo shoot to begin with. Your lack of debt for the business is a big plus and makes it much easier to say go for it.

jrotunda85 said:

Should I read anything into the fact that both Amazon and B&H are on back order for the 5D Mark II?

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I waited a month and a half for my 5dmark2 to ship, i ordered it in mid january got it first week of march.

best camera i've ever owned. honestly, you'll love it, it's my baby.

jrotunda85 said:

Should I read anything into the fact that both Amazon and B&H are on back order for the 5D Mark II?

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Not really, and I wouldn't get it from Amazon. The retailer that Amazon uses changes from time to time, as does the cost.

I'd go with B&H, where it is backordered and available at different times during a given week. Just keep checking and eventually it'll be in stock. It used to be that weeks would go by before it was in stock. Now it's probably just a matter of a few days. It's an extremely popular camera, but supply has started to catch up with demand.

If you pay more than B&H's price of $2699, you're paying too much.