canon 5d mark iii or 7d mark ii for wildlife

loulie · Mar 1, 2015

I currently have a fujifilm x-t1, but there are no long telephoto lenses available.
I'm looking at the new Canon 100-400mm l is ii usm. I want a long lens for wildlife, including birds in flight.
Any experience using the effective 600m on the 7d or 400mm on the 5d but better in low light.

Overread · Mar 1, 2015

Honestly this is a hard choice.

The 5DMIII has superior high ISO capabilities and a very capable AF system; whilst the 7D MII has a superior AF and the native crop factor. However because of the larger pixels in the 5DMIII chances are you can crop shots from that without any problems at all.

Honestly I don't know the answer to this one now-a-days. Used to be the 5D line just had poor AF and the 7D line had the good AF. Now its more complex and it might even be reaching a point where its more personal preference than anything else.

If you have a local camera shop you might want to go down and have a play with both and see which you feel is superior

Note what is your total budget? I ask that because those are both expensive cameras as is the lens you're looking at, which suggests you've a fair bit to buy with. If so you might find that a 7D original coupled to a higher priced lens might be a better path (wildlife is very demanding and good glass is nearly always near the top of the list to get first).

loulie · Mar 1, 2015

Overread said:
Honestly this is a hard choice.

The 5DMIII has superior high ISO capabilities and a very capable AF system; whilst the 7D MII has a superior AF and the native crop factor. However because of the larger pixels in the 5DMIII chances are you can crop shots from that without any problems at all.

Honestly I don't know the answer to this one now-a-days. Used to be the 5D line just had poor AF and the 7D line had the good AF. Now its more complex and it might even be reaching a point where its more personal preference than anything else.

If you have a local camera shop you might want to go down and have a play with both and see which you feel is superior

Note what is your total budget? I ask that because those are both expensive cameras as is the lens you're looking at, which suggests you've a fair bit to buy with. If so you might find that a 7D original coupled to a higher priced lens might be a better path (wildlife is very demanding and good glass is nearly always near the top of the list to get first).

loulie · Mar 1, 2015

Thank you for your response.
Budget is an issue, otherwise I would consider the 5diii and 600mm f4.
I guess I'm asking if the aps-c with the lens at 400mm f5.6 can cope at dawn and dusk.

Overread · Mar 1, 2015

I'd say its worth spending the bulk of your budget on good glass over good camera bodies. Both are a limitation, of course, but a good lens will last you decades whilst a body will be old and upgraded far quicker. So it makes more sense early on to invest more heavily into the lens than into the body for this field of photography.

The 7D will be able to cope - it won't cope "as" well as the 5DMIII, but it will certainly cope.

loulie · Mar 1, 2015

Overread said:
I'd say its worth spending the bulk of your budget on good glass over good camera bodies. Both are a limitation, of course, but a good lens will last you decades whilst a body will be old and upgraded far quicker. So it makes more sense early on to invest more heavily into the lens than into the body for this field of photography.

The 7D will be able to cope - it won't cope "as" well as the 5DMIII, but it will certainly cope.

loulie · Mar 1, 2015

I totally agree with your philosophy, but to get that 600mm reach on full frame means a $12,000 lens. Unfortunately that breaks the budget.

Overread · Mar 1, 2015

There are other options - a 300mm f2.8 IS L (original IS or the new MII) with a 2*TC gets you to a very good 600mm. A Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 OS (or OS Sport its the same optical formula the sport just has a new body and the USB hub connection option for uploading new firmwires) with a 2*TC gives a decent 600mm (not as good as the prime, but its got the bonus of zoom). There's also the sigma 150-600mm of which they make two - a lower and higher end option (not quite sure how those results line up).

The long lens market 5 years ago was pretty simple; its got a LOT more complicated now and there is more room for personal preference and choice.

fjrabon · Mar 1, 2015

loulie said:
I totally agree with your philosophy, but to get that 600mm reach on full frame means a $12,000 lens. Unfortunately that breaks the budget.

I think you're thinking about this aspect of it wrong. APS-C bodies don't have greater reach. They just force you to always do a fairly drastic center of the frame crop. Because of the 5DIII's resolution, you can crop in post processing and still get the same 600mm reach you would get from a 7D, plus you'd get the benefit of making the crop however you'd like, in the center or slightly off centered.

Remember crop frame isn't magic, it just crops down from full frame. As long as your full frame body has sufficient resolution and pixel density (the 5DIII does) you can always crop in post for greater "reach" if you want.

loulie · Mar 1, 2015

fjrabon said:
loulie said:

I totally agree with your philosophy, but to get that 600mm reach on full frame means a $12,000 lens. Unfortunately that breaks the budget.

Click to expand...

I think you're thinking about this aspect of it wrong. APS-C bodies don't have greater reach. They just force you to always do a fairly drastic center of the frame crop. Because of the 5DIII's resolution, you can crop in post processing and still get the same 600mm reach you would get from a 7D, plus you'd get the benefit of making the crop however you'd like, in the center or slightly off centered.

Remember crop frame isn't magic, it just crops down from full frame. As long as your full frame body has sufficient resolution and pixel density (the 5DIII does) you can always crop in post for greater "reach" if you want.

loulie · Mar 1, 2015

I appreciate your explanation of the cropped image, and thank you Overead for the other lens options.

sashbar · Mar 1, 2015

FUJI is about to launch a weatherproof FX 140-400 lense. It was displayed at Photokina last September. It looks surprisingly compact for an APS-C sensor.

Bigger is better First picture of the huge 140-400mm Fuji XF lens prototype Mirrorless Rumors

The release date is still unknown though. In the meantime you can use any Canikon tele with an adaptor.

loulie · Mar 1, 2015

Any adapters that retain autofocus ?

runnah · Mar 1, 2015

If you look at my flicker and check the bird photos you can see both the 100-400 and tamron 150-600 on a 5dmk3.

Af has never been an issue.

I notice that the canon glass is the better of the two options optically.

loulie · Mar 1, 2015

Beautiful shots Runnah.
When you say AF has never been an issue, does that include poor light when most birds are active?
Also do you think the canon lens would cope well with the 7dii. I'm trying to keep costs down.