Should I buy a 5D mk II or wait for its replacement?

[Neil S.]

I have been thinking about stepping up to a full frame for quite a while now.

The 5D mk II is currently the right camera at the right price for me, but I can't help but think what its replacement might be like. I am unsure if it would be worth waiting for, or if I should go ahead and get the 5D II now.

Please give me your thoughts and advice.

Derrel I welcome your input especially, and am guessing you might have some good insight into this one. It was you who more than anyone else here taught me the intricacies of sensors and why FF is superior.

Neil S.

 

[Derrel]

Neil,
The recent quake and tsunami have dealt a terrible blow to the higher-end, Japan-based camera plants, due to the electricity shortages, the loss of life and property, and the overall devastation of the entire shipping and receiving infrastructure; my personal belief is that the long-anticipated rollouts of new mid-priced professional-use cameras by Nikon, and by Canon, will have to be postponed. The entire photographic supply channel here in North American has been tightened to the point of non-availability before the quake and tsunami, and now, afterwards, it seems as if the supplies of many higher-end photo products are exceedingly constricted. Right now, it feels "late" in the buying cycle to me...I would think about purchasing a used 5D-II, and in that way, not losing much, if any valuation, when its successor hits the market.

WHAT the 5D-II's replacement will actually be is the $64,000 Question; if it is merely an iteration of the 5D and 5D-Mark II models....well...you will be very glad you bought a used 5D-II. Many have said Canon needs a "Nikon D700-like" camera; and yet, despite the howling, the 5D-II is what Canon has stuck with for a while now. The tremendous feature uptick of the Canon 7D makes me wonder if the folks at Canon have realized they actually could do better with a higher-spec'd FF body...

 

[Robin Usagani]

What derrel said. Also 5D II is still selling like crazy. At one point major stores in the US did not have it in stock a couple months ago. I wouldn't be surprised if you don't see 5D replacement in 2 years. I would buy a used 5D personally.

 

[Neil S.]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your advice.

Derrel I was in Japan for that earthquake, and let me tell you it was a big ass one. It lasted like 6 min too.

Ya I am thinking I will just get a 5D II, I dont even know what the replacement will be and more importantly when it will come out. It sounds reasonable that new models will be delayed due to the dmg from the earthquake and tsunami.

I have been wishing more and more that my 7D performed better in low light, and I think its time I get a FF body. Pixel density really does seem to be a big factor when it comes to high Iso performance.

 

[nickzou]

I was thinking about getting a 5D II as well. It would be cool to have a bad ass full frame camera with a nice collection (1 or 2) white lenses. But after asking the forum here, it seems that if you are Nikon now, you should stick with Nikon. Shame, I really liked my old Rebel XT. Would've eventually liked to have gone back to the Canons.

 

[steve_tan]

if you have a camera now , i say just wait. i have a nikon 3ti now so i am waiting for what Mark 3 might bring especially on the video side.

 

[chaosrealm93]

i have a nikon 3ti

are you from the future? i didnt know nikon made those....

 

[KmH]

It would be cool to have a bad ass full frame camera with a nice collection (1 or 2) white lenses.

Pimp My Ride!

1 lens is just .....1 lens .

2 lenses is a couple of lenses...

3 or more lenses is a collection of lenses.

 

[christian.rudman]

The Japanese manufacturers are back on track as of this month, and the plants for Nikon and Canon suffered minor damages but no loss of life. The main issues have been the rebuilding of the transportation infrastructure and the rolling blackouts, which both are no longer issues. I wrote up a nice little article on this the other week actually on my blog for work: Japan’s Crisis Update | Blog & Community Site for Precision Camera and Video
I would say that you aren't far off from a new 5D Mk III or whatever they name it, but IMHO there will be a new line of Nikons and Canons being churned out by the end of this year or early 1st quarter.

 

[JClishe]

Ultimately it's impossible to answer the OP's question. Since no one knows the specs of a 5D MkIII (and the rumors vary wildly), no one can say whether or not it would meet the OP's requirements and budget. About the only thing we do know is that it will be FF. To make things more confusing, some of the rumors involve a splitting of the 5D line into 2 versions, one of which would have high end video capabilities. And there are also rumors that point to a merging of the 1D/1Ds line which would likely have downstream implications on the 5D line from both a technical and cost perspective; Dropping the 1D would leave a big price point gap between the 5D and the new merged 1D, and considering how close the 7D and 5D are in price, I'd expect the 5D MKIII to slide up the scale and become a more expensive camera.

That said, the rumors do point to some seriously sexy specs on the 5D MKIII.

 

[Tigertail]

Might be worth it to wait until the end of August. A few of the rumor sites have said Canon is likely to have several announcements that month.

 

[Garbz]

Might be worth it to wait until the end of August. A few of the rumor sites have said Canon is likely to have several announcements that month.

I'm sure they will. But will the announcements come in the form of a new high end DSLR, a new bottom end DSLR, or some point and shoots

You can safely bet Canon makes an announcement at every photography show.

 

[penfolderoldo]

There are still limited power outages affecting the production plants in Japan, however the biggest issue now is supply. Canon could run all of their plants at 110% capacity for months JUST to get back to the stock position there was before the disaster. There are massive shortages globally right across Canon's high-end DSLR's and lenses, and I personally don't think there will be any announcement about any new models before November, just in time for Christmas pre-orders. Everyone's assuming there will be a 5D mk 3 at some point, but there's no guarantee of that, tho I think it more likely than a replacement for the 1Ds mk 3, which I think is some way off, if at all. The problem for Canon is upping the spec from the 5D mk 2 enough to make it appealing whilst keeping the cost significantly enough below the 1Ds mk 3 to equally appeal.