dipping my toes in the FF pool

[CoBilly]

I'm getting closer to pulling the full frame trigger but it will be an older body. I'm debating between a 5D or a 1Ds, sway my decision one way or the other. Please

 

[fjrabon]

I think the 5D Classic is a substantially better camera in basically every regard. Neither is very good at high ISO (they're both worse at high ISO than entry level APS-C Nikons). I really like the look of the 5DC's files though. Never been able to quite put my finger on what it is about them, but they just have a look to them I really like.

 

[CoBilly]

Thanks for the reply, fj.

I should add to the story some. I have a 60D already and some non-crop lenses. I just want to start playing with a full frame camera and refine my skill (ha!)

 

[jaomul]

I've had both. The 5d is better. Better battery, better at higher iso. The 1ds has some benefits but 5d all the way here

 

[CoBilly]

Alright then, thanks for the replies. I've got another question now. A 1Ds ii is $225-ish more than a 5D on amazon. Is the 1Ds ii $225-ish better than a 5D? If the difference is substantial enough I could save a bit longer for that instead

 

[jaomul]

Yes again/ maybe.

A 1ds 2 improves a few bits from the 1ds, being about 16mp but improvements in iso are noticeably better. I have not had a mark 2 so my comparison between the 1ds and 5d is from user experience, but the mark 2 is from studying to nearly buy one.

The 1ds bodies have great button access, everything is at your fingertips, and they are weather sealed and can take abuse. However the batteries are poor and require a regular sequence of discharge, are expensive to replace etc. 1ds are also heavy.

The 5d on the other hand is smaller, has plenty function buttons but not as customizable as the 1ds bodies, it's viewfinder is poor.

I'm pointing the faults, the 5d is great and the 1ds was great at low iso, so the 1ds 2 is also a good choice, albeit both are dated now

 

[Derrel]

Batteries for the Canon 1D/1Ds series bodies were very poor for a long time...big, low-tech batteries with poor life. Canon was slow to get into Lithium-ion battery technology on the 1-series. The thing about the 5D Classic is it's a pretty low-specification body. It feels a bit Yugo-ish because it was basically built on something a lot like to old $389 EOS Elan body, with digital guts plopped in. Some 5D examples (like the one I have owned since 2006) have very poor in-finder LED readout brightness, where the LEDs basically disappear in bright shooting conditions, like at the beach, and you can not see what the in-finder LEDs are set to...compared to an EOS 60D, where the finder LEDs were bright, brilliant green that was easily seen at the beach on the same day, same time. The 1D bodies are all high-level machines....Ferraris as opposed to Yugos. But, of course, much,much bigger and more obvious.

 

[rexbobcat]

Get the 5D. The original 1DS might be around the same price, but it was the first FF digital camera that Canon developed and marketed, so it comes with all the pitfalls of being...first.

While its body is more rugged and sturdy than the 5D, it has worse low light performance, less resolution, smaller, lower quality LCD, and its batteries aren't great, especially given how old many of them are.

You see, the 1D series until I think the Mark III used nickel-metal hydride batteries. As these types of batteries age, their ability to hold a charge dwindles until they become expensive paperweights.

Besides that, the button layout on the 1D series is MUCH more cumbersome than on Canon bodies that have a more conventional DSLR form factor. To change ISO, for example, it requires you to hold down two specific buttons on top of the camera, and then use the wheel on the back or top to change it. It's a very unintuitive layout when compared to the 5D series.

They didn't simplify it until the 1D/S Mark III.

As someone who has used the 1DS, 1D Mark II, and 5D Classic, if you don't need speedy autofocus and a DSLR chassis that can survive a bomb blast, you'll probably be happier with the 5D.