Canon 5D Mark II Price & Advice

[ColeGauthier]

Hi guys!

I am in need of your opinion. I have received a quote from a local Future Shop and they told me that they have a Canon 5D Mark II available for $1299.99 plus tax ($1468.98) almost brand new, has been serviced by Canon because the shutter button wasn't responding. What do you guys think of the price? I was going to get the 5D Mark III but at this price I can get an awesome lens combo and a few extra things I need. I will be keeping my Canon 7D as a backup and for sports. I think personally this is a great price.

I am ready to jump the gun unless you guys say otherwise!

Cole

 

[Overread]

Honestly if you want the fullframe camera for portraits/landscapes/macro etc.. - ie most things not reliant upon fast AF then I'd say that the 5DMII is well worth considering if it lets you sink the rest of the money into some quality lenses, lighting and other support gear. The 5DMIII is, however, the one to aim for if sports/wildlife is going to be a key use since it has a very superior AF system .

 

[ColeGauthier]

Thanks Overread! My main focus will be Portraits, landscapes and weddings!

 

[TCampbell]

I own a 5D II and 5D III. The II is a fantastic camera. The most significant difference is in the focus system. The II has a 9 point AF where only the center point is "cross type" and the outer 8 points are single-axis AF (there are technically some hidden "focus assist" points near the center point.) Your 7D has 19 points -- all cross-type -- and a fantastic continuous frame-rate for sports/action. But the 5D II will take vastly better images (it has it's own character and the ISO performance is significantly better than the 7D.)

On the 5D III, Canon significantly revamped the focus system (it was the number one gripe from 5D II owners... the fact that they were paying considerably more for a camera and had a focus system that was not even as advanced as the 7D or ... even the 60D for that matter.) Canon gave the 5D III what basically amounts to the same focus system as the flagship 1D-X (although there is a minor nuance in how the 1D-X does tracking vs. how the 5D III does tracking.)

Since it doesn't sound like you'd be using the 5D II for sports (you have a 7D), I don't see much of a downside to this.

 

[stevensondrive]

that seems like a pretty cheap price. The fact that Canon went over it would give me a "warm fuzzy". I've got a buddy with a II who decided it wasn't worth upgrading to the III. Seems like a good deal for a great camera.

 

[ColeGauthier]

Well I have purchased the camera along with the 50mm f1.4 and so far it works great! Awesome price too!