Canon 5D

[Designs by Gregus]

I'm thinking about selling all my gear and buying a Canon 5D. The thing that's holding me back besides money is I read that the meter is all over the map with exposure and the flash just plain sucks. What do you people know?
If I decide to buy one what lenses do you recommend for portrait, wedding and sports? I was thinking of Canon 70-2100mm f/4L USM and the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 for starters. By sports I mean team memorymates stuff. So what are your thoughts? How bad is the flash and the meter? I'm using Nikon right now and they are king with there flash. That SB-800 and SB-600 rule. Only thing better is Q-Flash, Metz or studio flash.

[nasose]

I own a 5D and I can assure you there's no problem with exposure. The camera does not have a built-in flash and it only accepts external units like 550,580 or others. Using a 5d with both a 550 and a 580 never caused me trouble or gave me poor results.

Regarding lenses, what you mention is ok for starters. If your budget does not let you go higher, then you're OK. However if you can afford a bit more, you have options like Canon 24-70 f2.8L, Canon 70-200 f2.8 (w-w/o IS) and Canon 24-105 f4L IS. This is regarding zoom lenses. But there's always the primes solution and quite a few lenses you could have in mind
50 f1.4
50 f.12L (expensive)
85 1.8
85 1.2L (very expensive)
135 f2L (excellent choice)
200 f2.8L

[Noel_Carboni]

Just a thought: If you're not particularly keen on the advantages of full-frame exposure, perhaps you might want to consider a 30D instead, which has a 1.6x crop factor. The difference in price will buy you one more nice lens.

The 5D provides:

1. A wider field of view than the 30D with a given EF lens. However, there are decent wide lenses available for the 30D (e.g., Canon EF-S 10-22 zoom), so one can't say the 30D is incapable of wide angle photography.

2. Shorter depth of field given the same framing and subject distance (because this requires a longer FL lens on the 5D to achieve).

3. Slower operation than a 30D. There's more data to handle, so it doesn't shoot as fast nor store the data as quickly. The 30D is actually pretty snappy. That'll be important when you're shooting sports.

4. More pixels and a bit larger pixels than the 30D, meaning the imagery will hold up to being blown up to a slightly higher size. That's not to say the 30D is a slouch, however. With 8.2 MP you can easily do 24 x 36 inch prints and even beyond with a 30D.

5. Better color and image noise characteristics than Nikon (I'll probably get into trouble here, but this is my opinion and I'm stickin' to it). The 30D will give you this as well. The two cameras seem to be pretty close siblings, though the edge goes to the 5D in image quality.

6. Less "reach" with your long focal length lenses. If you're shooting sports from across a field, the smaller sensor in the 30D can really shine here.

Of course, in the other direction lie the 1-series cameras, which better the 5D in most every category. It depends on how much you want to spend.

-Noel

[DougAxford]

My 2 cents:

I was a Nikon guy (at least for 35 mm) for 35 years
Bought a Fuji S1 and promptly hated it
Bought Canon gear (lots) and am happy - till now
Just bought (ordered) Fuji S5 a few days ago
I've still got the Nikon glass and every pro I speak to that owns an S5 is thrilled with the jpg images and camera handling (D200) They hate the menu and PS still has trouble with raw conversions, as yet. The auto WB on the Fuji S5 is said by pros to be dead-on in difficult situations, even fluorescent.
I read good reviews from a few pros (not camera techies) that own 5D and S5 and if you are shooting jpgs, it's a toss-up. Nikon flash tipped the scale toward Fuji, since it's a Nikon D200 body. The clarity of the 5D is superior, the tonal scale and color of the S5 is superior. I've got both Nikon & Canon flashes and have to admit that Nikon makes a better flash.

I hate people touting their brand, but I was in a similar situation - D5 or Mark3, or ? If you have Nikon glass, it would be wise to take a serious look at Fuji S5. For fast sports action, stay with Nikon or Canon, but for people photos, I think you will be surprised.

BTW, don't be a techie and count pixels - look at the printed results!

Doug

[Dennis_Vied]

No problem with exposure or flash. In fact, I find the flash excellent. The wireless system is not quite as sophisticated as the Nikon CLS system, but I didn't find it caused me any limitations because of it. One thing you want to make sure of is that you have the best quality lenses. The 5D sensor is so good that any flaws in lenses will be apparent. Instead of the Tamron, I'd go for the 24-105 f/4 L IS, and I'm a big fan of the 70-200 2.8 L IS. I have owned most of the Nikon DSLRs, and the 5D is the equal or better of them.

[Josh_Hawkins]

I find my Tamron 28-75 is pretty good piece of glass, especially for the money. That said, I agree that you need to get good glass for this camera.

I personally have to spend more time dealing with getting the exposure I want from my Nikon flashes than I do my Canons (I use both currently.) In many situations the Nikons my beat the Canons, but not in mine. And the auto-exposure is as good in the 5D as it is in my D2h.

Having said that, I suggest getting the equipment that gets the job done for your needs. Maybe if you make it to Milwaukee or Chicago for a day rent one and give it a try for an afternoon?

[Ron_Donson]

I've never had a problem getting good exposures on the 5D. I'm not familiar with what the complaints might be.

The Canon flashes can be challenging at times but you can learn how to use them. The latest flashes, 580 EX and 580 EX II, should produce good results. I use 550 EX flash units and shooting manual often cures a lot of the problems. Learning when to use C.Fn 14 helps as well.

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