Canon 5D, 6D, or 7D?

[alyssaxxcupcake]

What do you think is best for the price?

Debating, and 6D and 7D seem to be in a great price range, but would it be better to just pay the extra money to get the 5D?

 

[rexbobcat]

It depends on what you want to photograph.

 

[goodguy]

5D III might be best camera in a reasonable price range but for the non pro user many of its features will be wasted so I would say the 6D is best camera for the money for the average hobbyist.

 

[Derrel]

I dunno...by 5D I assume you mean 5D Mark III??? The 5D-III is a wonderfully designed camera--really has wonderful ergonomics, good fit,finish and feel, and is just a really nice camera. The 7D is getting "older" now...hard to beleive Canon has not updated it yet, but then again, its main competing camera, the Nikon D300s, is even OLDER and more-outdated, so, why bother, right???

For the money, the 6D is probably as good a body as many people will really want or need to have at their disposal. I've seen images out of the 6D...it's a nice camera...more or less close to what the 5D Mark II (mark-two) "was" for so long...and people liked the 5D Mark II quite a bit. Of course, personal evaluation enters into camera buying. Sometimes, one body just "has it", and a similar one "sucks".

 

[Juga]

5D III might be best camera in a reasonable price range but for the non pro user many of its features will be wasted so I would say the 6D is best camera for the money for the average hobbyist.

So where does my T4i place me as a hobbyist?

I have played around with the 6D and it is fantastic. Very fast AF and GREAT low light performance. I have also played around with the 7d and it is a great camera as well but it is no 6D (cropped vs full frame.) I would have loved to go with either the 7d or the 6d but my limited budget kept me out of that market not to mention with the 6D you HAVE to invest in full frame lenses whereas the 7d can accept both cropped and full frame lenses.

 

[stevensondrive]

What do you think is best for the price?

That's a loaded question!! :lmao::lmao::lmao:

All 3 are excellent cameras. I recently upgraded from a T3i to a 6D. I wanted full frame so that ruled out 7D. That left the 5D's or the 6D for me to choose. The 6D still had the "scenes" on the wheel. I am still learning to be a better photographer and like that option. Plus I really like the WIFI feature to upload my pictures to my iPhone or iPad. I didn't see the need for me to pay the extra $1500 for a 5Diii. So for me the 6D is better. YMMV

Steve

 

[grafxman]

I briefly toyed with the idea of replacing my 7D with a 6D. Then I realized that my crop factor lenses wouldn't work too good. I would experience vignetting. I then started hunting around for lenses that would do with a 6D what my current lenses were doing with my 7D. I soon found out that the greatest selection of lenses are meant for crop factor cameras. Juga hit the nail on the head with this statement "with the 6D you HAVE to invest in full frame lenses whereas the 7d can accept both cropped and full frame lenses". My favorite lens for zoos, museums and aquariums is the Sigma 18-250mm and, search as I might, I couldn't find anything comparable that would work with a full frame camera. So, I'm sticking a crop factor camera.

 

[kathyt]

You have to decide for yourself WHY you are wanting to upgrade, and then that should help with your decision.

 

[TCampbell]

The rumor is the 60D will be replaced with a 70D... and that announcement may yet come this month. There are rumors for a 7D Mk II... but the bets are that camera is probably not going to arrive before end-of-year.

After shooting lots of film, I bought a T1i as my first "digital" SLR to dabble and see if they were worthy enough to replace film. Then I decided digital was it... time to make the move. The problem is I bought an entry-level digital and wanted a full-frame, like my 35mm SLR... I was ABOUT to buy it.

But then I ran into a photographer who told me to wait... he put me onto the rumor sites where they mentioned the 5D II had been out a couple of years and was probably going to be replaced in three to 6 months. THAT started a whole chain of events. So I waited. At the end of 3-6 months there was no camera and no announcement... but there was a NEW rumor... that it would be out in 3-6 months. So I waited AGAIN.

At the end of that 6 months (so now it's been a year), there was ANOTHER rumor and I thought... geeze I should have just bought the 5D II by now, but I'm so close that may as well wait. And this happened ONE MORE TIME. In total, I waited 2 full years for a Mk III. My other half decided this was stupid, so he bought me the Mk II (thinking I was clearly the most patient person on the planet and I'd go to my grave with no camera if I just kept waiting.)

Naturally... within 2 months of him buying me the Mk II at my birthday, they announced the Mk III (of course! <sigh>)

I used the Mk for the better part of a year and then bought the Mk III anyway (now I own both.)

The point of all this is, that if you want the 70D, then I'd wait. If you want a 7D II, then don't wait.... just get a 7D. Make sure you get a good price. As soon as a 7D II is released, upgrade to it and immediately sell your 7D I and consider the loss in value you take as the "rental fee" for using your camera for about a year.

When the 5D III came out, there was a huge number of photographers upgrading and selling off their 5D II bodies... and a huge number of people who wanted a full-frame body but couldn't afford a Mk III... but were more than happy to pick up a used Mk II. The Mk II was somewhat holding some value because there was no 6D. When the 6D was released, Canon discontinued the Mk II and the Mk II went down in value again. Today, a Mk II is probably worth about $1400... that's a guess. As long as you're not planning to use it to shoot sports or other action photography a 5D II would be a _huge_ upgrade over a 60D or 7D (because in ISO performance, the 5D II smokes the 60D and 7D.) However... the 6D and 5D III smoke the 5D II in ISO performance.

A 5D III has an amazing focus system. It has the _same_ focusing system as the flagship 1D X with the exception of how it uses metering system to follow-focus (it's a very slight nuance... to anyone who doesn't know about the nuance and uses both cameras you wont think there's any difference at all... they're that close.) There's roughly a 45-page document dedicated to JUST how the focusing system works... it's that advanced.

The 6D's focusing system isn't nearly as advanced (it's only an 11 point AF system). In many ways the 5D III is a substantially better camera, EXCEPT, the 6D does have a built-in GPS (if you want to tag your images) and it also has built-in WiFi if you want to do live-transfers... you can also download the Canon EOS Remote app for an iPhone (assuming you have an iPhone) and use it to control a 6D. Be aware that leaving the GPS or WiFi enabled will eat through battery life noticeably faster so if these are functions you think you'd use a lot, buy a spare battery and possibly also the battery grip.