Which camera should I upgrade to?

[HFPhotography]

Which camera should I upgrade to?

I currently have a Canon EOS XTI. I am going to upgrade to either the Canon 7D or the Canon 5D Mark 2. Now I could get the D7 sooner in the next month or wait 3-6 months and get the D5. Also I want the Canon lens 24-105 which would be more affordable when buying the D7. But that lens I was told is better with the D5. Now I noticed the big difference between the two camera is Large format. Do I need large format? I am shooting outside right now kids, family, seniors and babies! I am putting together my studio to do the same work inside. I might look into wedding but on a year or two. Let me know what you think and any comparisons on the two.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Unless you are looking for te benefits of the full frame sensor, the 7D has quite a lot over the 5D. You'll really have to compare the features, like FPS for continueous shooting and such, and see what will benefit you more.

 

[MohaimenK]

I'd go with 5D M2 if you're doing landscape, fashion portraits, weddings and other portraits. Although 7D would be fine for portraits but more geared toward action shots, such as runway wildlife and sports. 5D2 will give you better ISO range and the ability to shoot with higher ISO since it's a full frame. The 24-105 is a great lens. I use it with the 5d2 and yes with it you will get wide angle view where with 7d you're getting a cropped sensor so not getting the true 24mm view. 7D does have a lot more features, which I believe will come to 5d Mark 3 when that's announced.

So if you're looking into wedding in year or two, go with 5d2 because you're going to have to upgrade anyway.

Also for the 24-105 lens, it's $800 range when bought with 5d2 and a great place to get the cheapest price is to go to Home page-Digital Cameras, Camcorders, Projectors, GPSs....@ CentralDigital and I bought both my cameras from there. No BS just simply the cheapest price. I think tis $2230 now there brand new (for the body) plus add another $800 or so for the lens. Add $5 and you get a 3-5 business day shipping. G'luck

 

[MohaimenK]

Actually it's even lower now. I got mine for $2250 just little over a month ago for the body. It's dropped now. Here's the link with 24-105 attatched.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21MP Digital SLR Camera w/EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens

 

[Derrel]

Look into the Nikon D700. Full frame, the right number of megapixels for people work, better focusing system than the 5D-II. I personally think that yes, the 24x36mm sensor size is the vastly preferrable choice for traditional people photography. The larger sensor area opens up many possibilities WRT to lenses...the 85,100/105,and 135mm lenses are all extremely more usable on a FF sensor than on a small, 1.6x Canon sensor camera.

Indoors, the 1.6x and 1.5x sensor cameras use short focal lenght lenses on a very small capture format, which leads to greater depth of field on each and every angle of view. On APS-C cameras, in-studio you find yourself shooting full-length figures at 19 to 35mm focal length settings, and so on a normal 10x20 foot background fabric, your background is totally in-focus and looks like crap when your flash units are outputting f/8 to f/11. APS-C is too SMALL a format for traditional professional people work; there's a reason that most professionals use a 24x36 d-slr, or even a medium-format digital camera if the work is high-end.

 

[MohaimenK]

Darrel, friends don't let friends suggest Nikons. What's wrong w/ you?!?!? :hug::

 

[Derrel]

He said "upgrade"...not merely "update"...there's a difference!!!

 

[DerekSalem]

I'd go with 5D M2 if you're doing landscape, fashion portraits, weddings and other portraits. Although 7D would be fine for portraits but more geared toward action shots, such as runway wildlife and sports. 5D2 will give you better ISO range and the ability to shoot with higher ISO since it's a full frame. The 24-105 is a great lens. I use it with the 5d2 and yes with it you will get wide angle view where with 7d you're getting a cropped sensor so not getting the true 24mm view. 7D does have a lot more features, which I believe will come to 5d Mark 3 when that's announced.

So if you're looking into wedding in year or two, go with 5d2 because you're going to have to upgrade anyway.

Also for the 24-105 lens, it's $800 range when bought with 5d2 and a great place to get the cheapest price is to go to Home page-Digital Cameras, Camcorders, Projectors, GPSs....@ CentralDigital and I bought both my cameras from there. No BS just simply the cheapest price. I think tis $2230 now there brand new (for the body) plus add another $800 or so for the lens. Add $5 and you get a 3-5 business day shipping. G'luck

Umm...You don't get to use higher ISO simply because it's full-frame. It's better at higher-ISO simply because the sensor handles low-light better.

Now, to the OP...I don't think you should be blowing your money on things without realizing how they work. It starts by knowing that Canon's naming scheme has the numbers *preceding* the letter D. That means they're named 5D and 7D, not D5 and D7. The reason that's important is because Nikon's naming scheme goes in reverse...so if you start bringing up those names in public or to photographers they'll think you're talking about Nikon.

The other thing is that neither of those cameras are "large format". Full Format and Large Format are *VERY* different things in the photography world.

I don't mean to sound offensive in this...but if you don't know that there's a difference between full format and large format...and you don't know the simple difference in how the bodies are named...then I'm guessing you're very new to the photography world. With that knowledge I'd suggest not throwing all the money you have into starting a photography business.


On to the topic at hand, I'd definitely recommend the 7D over the 5D2. There is a wide range of reasons why, but basically the focusing system is *MUCH* better on the 7D, the burst rate is a huge help, and it can make use of the EF-S lenses (which, as someone new to photography, you might want to look into since they're usually *much* cheaper).