7D or Mark II? Read Info Inside please!

alphotography1

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whats up guys, I'm looking into a new camera and I'm in a bit of a pickle.
i cant decide on wether a 7D or a 5D mark II. Which is better? I can buy the 7D and save some cash but I really need good quality and detail in low light. I plan on buying a 24-70mm 2.8 L lens for whichever body i choose. Im going to be shooting mainly portraits so im going to need a great amount of detail.
Will there be a significant difference in quality of the photos between the two? Personally I'd rather buy the 7D to save some cash but i need top notch photos and the Mark II has great reviews. Help?

thanks guys.
 
The 5DmkII if you're not going to need amazing autofocus performance (moving subjects, mainly). Better low-light (the 7D can hold its own but the 5D is superior in every regard) but the IQ is going to be better overall with the 5Dm2.

The 7D is a great action/all around camera. The 5DII is a better portrait/landscape/IQ machine.
 
Sounds about right to me too.
 
From my little knowledge of Canon. 7D is a cropped body and so alone for that reason.

5D > 7D
 
From my little knowledge of Canon. 7D is a cropped body and so alone for that reason.

For terms of image quality, dynamic range and high-iso performance, yes, you are correct.

But ...

The 7D has color aware metering -- the 5D does not.
The 7D has canon's most advanced AF system -- the 5D does not, by a long shot.
The 7D shoots 8FPS, the 5D shoots 3.9 FPS.
The 7D has the ability to control flash units externally while maintaining ETTL-II. The 5D requires a $300 peice of additional equipment to do that.
The 7D EV compensation is 10-steps wide. The 5D is only 4. The 7D can bracket up to 3 stops in either direction, the 5D is limited to 2.

If you are shooting in a controlled environment at iso100 all of the time, pick your poison -- when you print an image from either camera under optimal conditions, you can't tell the difference. The differences come about under less optimal shooting conditions.

They are fundamentally different cameras for different purposes once you get out of an ideal situation. I had the choice between a 7D and 5DmkII and I went with the 7D because I needed the AF performance and 8FPS.

So, OP, take the previous poster's initial caveat to heart. He speaks out of ignorance and readily admits it.
 
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The 5DII is a better portrait/landscape/IQ machine.

This.
To elaborate a little, the full frame image sensor will allow for a better optimized combination of focal length and camera-to-subject distance for background blur in conventional portraiture.
 
The best thing is to have both 5D + MK II = 7D or .... (5D + 7D) = 1DS MKIII
 
I own the 7D and love it, does everything I ask of it and more. it is a cropped sensor but if you are shooting set position portraits it wouldn’t make that big of a difference depending on your set up and space. I have never owned or shot with the 5D so I cannot fault that camera nor have I read many of the reviews. As far as I know it is a stellar camera and for those who need full frame and the well don’t know what else. The 7D has more functionality then the 5D and several features the 5D does not.

Down load the books (user guild) and review what each camera has or doesn’t have and spend accordingly.
With the $$ you would save on the 7D you could get a prime 50mm F1.4 or 85mm lens and maybe even the 24-70 F2.8.
 
I'd go with the 7D, personally. I own two of them so maybe I'm a little biased, but I considered the 5D2 for a long time and REALLY thought about it as a second body. The conclusion I came to is that the 5D, while offering slightly better image quality (sorry, nobody will convince me that the 5D is VASTLY superior in that regard) the 7D is more versatile and can be purchased refurbished (AKA good as new) for $1000+ less than the 5D2.

Granted, that's to suit my shooting needs. The autofocus and frames per second rate were enough to push me away from the 5D and the full frame/image quality advantage didn't make up for it or warrant an extra $1200 to me

The 5D2 is an excellent camera. It would be my absolute go-to if I was going to have a third body, or my second if I didn't shoot so much sports but I still feel like the 7D is more than competent and is an all-around better value as well.

I'm curious as to why you need such low-light capabilities if you're shooting mostly portraits that need great detail. Why aren't you using lights?

My best suggestion: Buy a 7D and with the $1200 you'll save, you can invest in a nice, simple light kit. The strobist kits at Midwest Photo Exchange Specializing in Off Camera Lighting, New and Used Photographic Cameras, Lighting, Printers, Medium and Large Format are a great value and will set you up very nicely.
 
Much to my surprise, the 7D is sharper than the Mark II when looking at photos, side by side.

skieur
 

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