Canon 5D or 7D?

[Hopeful4ky]

I am looking to shoot photos at indoor agility trials (dog action shots). I am coming from shooting outdoor horse shows, which my Canon digital rebel was fine for, but when it came time to shoot agility trials, it failed miserably. It just couldn't handle shooting indoors for action shots with no flash. I am going to be shooting action shots indoors in average to low lighting. Would the Canon 5D or the Canon 7D be better suited to shooting in these conditions? I should note that I will not be shooting in sports mode. Unlike many of those shooting both horse show and dog show photography now, I learned how to time shots (you had to when shooting large numbers of classes at horse shows, and couldn't afford to waste film), and will not be relying on holding the button down and lucking into good shots simply because I have caught every stride as a dog goes over a jump, so one being stronger at taking continuous shots does not need to be taken into consideration.
I will be printing photos that are anywhere from 4x6, up to 11x14. 8x10 will be most common.

There is nowhere around me to try each of these cameras out to see which performs better for what I'm wanting to do, so am having to rely on the internet to help make the decision on which camera to purchase.
As a long time Canon owner, I don't wish to switch brands, and can't afford the Mark II, which would probably be best for what I'm wanting, but just isn't an option.
I am using the EF 70-200mm 4L usm lens (am saving for the 2.8 IS, but it's currently not something I can afford).
I still miss shooting with my old EOS-3 and Elan 7, as for the money, I could produce better shots than I've been able to produce for the same price with digital. Indoor shots at low light indoor horse arenas with no flash were never an issue.
Thanks
Stacey

 

[MichaelH]

The canon 7d is what you should be looking at as it has a much better focusing system than the 5dmII. It has 19 cross type auto focus points, I believe.

 

[EIngerson]

I agree with MichaelH, I own the 7D. It's great at higher ISO. I love my 70-200 F4 but it does lack at most indoor events with lots of motion.

 

[gsgary]

Ive used a 5dmk1 for indoor dog agility once because it handles noise better than my 1mk2's but i was using a 300F2.8L that you can pre focus on a jump set it, focus on another jump and with one twist of the barrel it is ready for the pre focused jump it's all down to knowing how good your camera works and then working around it, but there is no way i could have used my 70-200F4 not long enough or fast enough
Here's one from the 5D shot at F3.2 1/640 iso3200

 

[MLeeK]

5d original or 5d Mk II?
The focus system in both 5D's will be tougher indoors in low to average light with any other focus point than the center one. The 7d's focus system is lightyears ahead of that in the 5d series to date. If the fast FPS is a concern, the 7D is also much better. I RARELY if ever use my 5d2 for any sports at all because of the focus issues with it.
I honestly default to my 7D before my 5d2 on most things now days. I am just plain disappointed in the 5d2.
The 5d2 has served me well for portraits and weddings, but I am pretty confident that there isn't a situation that I have been in for weddings or portraits that my 7d couldn't cover beautifully.

If it's sports you are shooting the 70-200 f/2.8L IS isn't really necessary. The non IS version will do perfectly. Your shutter speed has to be so high that the IS is totally irrelevant. So... if that helps you with your budget even better. You'll have to turn the IS off in most sporting situations.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Agree. You do not need the 2.8 because you can manage the ISO nicely on 7D to compensate for that small difference.

 

[gsgary]

Agree. You do not need the 2.8 because you can manage the ISO nicely on 7D to compensate for that small difference.

Only if you get the exposure bang on, it will be noisy like any other camera if underexposed, because a lot on here think they can shoot on shutter priority at the speed they need and adjust in post

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Only if you get the exposure bang on, it will be noisy like any other camera if underexposed, because a lot on here think they can shoot on shutter priority at the speed they need and adjust in post

What would other options be then?

 

[gsgary]

Only if you get the exposure bang on, it will be noisy like any other camera if underexposed, because a lot on here think they can shoot on shutter priority at the speed they need and adjust in post

What would other options be then?

When shooting in these conditions you need the best kit possible, there are no cheap options, the next time i went to this event i changed tack to make money, i set up a studio and shot dog portraits instead, much better money maker

 

[GeorgieGirl]

But a 7D and a 70-200 even at f/4 is not too shabby a setup. I don't think anyway...

 

[gsgary]

But a 7D and a 70-200 even at f/4 is not too shabby a setup. I don't think anyway...

At the event above i was shooting at you would have to set the ISO at 6400 and that was the well lit part of the areana

 

[GeorgieGirl]

I have that photo on my bookmarks with your set up from when I first saw it. Love it!

So the moral of the story is that arena lighting is so poor that there is not much likelihood of getting a decent result no matter what..?

 

[MLeeK]

But a 7D and a 70-200 even at f/4 is not too shabby a setup. I don't think anyway...

At the event above i was shooting at you would have to set the ISO at 6400 and that was the well lit part of the areana

I shoot at 6400 OFTEN. Probably more often than not with my 7D. Results are beautiful. I do agree that the f/2.8 lens is almost a requirement, just not the IS, HOWEVER I will add that I most often am using my f/2.8 lens at about f/4. Every lens is at it's sharpest somewhere around 2 stops down from wide open give or take. When using an f/2.8 lens you are stopped down at f/4-5.6 and get that extra sharpness. Not that it's BAD at 2.8 by any means!

 

[gsgary]

I have that photo on my bookmarks with your set up from when I first saw it. Love it!

So the moral of the story is that arena lighting is so poor that there is not much likelihood of getting a decent result no matter what..?

No i got loads of keepers with the 5D and 300F2.8L
This dog was like lightning but i had to shoot it at iso3200 F2.8 1/400 which it not really fast enough, plus i had to shoot JPG's because we were printing on site

 

[kamerageek]

I take a lot of shots at my kids' swim meets where the light is typically really poor. I had been using my 70-300mm f4-5.6 on my 40D and found that it was just barely sufficient for the lighting conditions at the pools. I bought a 200mm f2.8L and I have been really happy with the results. I've been able to shoot handheld for the most part and have not had an issue with camera shake. The 7D will probably help, but I've some pretty good success just by upgrading to faster glass.