5D at last

I finally got round to ordering a 5D today, yep almost two years after they got introduced, I decide to get one!

I wanted something less bulky than my 1 series and considered the Leica Digilux 3 and Olympus E510. I'll be concentrating on cityscapes and landcapes more this year, so the price was good, I already have lenses and the 12.9mp FF sensor seemed so attractive.

I got a weekend in Amsterdam coming up so I couldn't think of a better place to put it to work.

Have fun with it. I really like mine. I didn't buy early either, though I have in te past. I also know I won't buy anything soon again either since this body suits me and my shooting so well.

Looking forward to seeing your work.

Diane

Gratulation John,

this is for sure a very fine camera, and you have the lensepark. Good choice!

Enjoy your new 5D. I have put through some 10-15,000 shots. I used the 24-105mm a lot first. now the 50 1.2L.

Tell me your thoughts on lens choices for your work.

You now get the bonus of wide lenses that can be used as designed!

Asher

9 months later

I am so thrilled with my 5D - love the size, love the images I make with it...congratulations~!

It looks like the 5D has some strong advocates, I hope I can do it justice.

I have 4 lenses at my disposal, a 50 f1.4, a 24-70 f2.8L, a Sigma 12-24 and a loaned 17-40 f4L.

The 24-70 has always perfomed superbly on the 1DN, its sharp, contrasty and will now be wide!. It balances well on the 1DN, so i'm hoping it becomes the defacto lens for the 5D, especially for walkabout and landscape work.

The 50 f1.4 will be great for discretional use, making the package very compact (by 1D standards). I see this lens very much as challenge, with more footwork and thought going into composition.
I've got so accustomed to using zooms, that (up until last year) I treated 50mm as a "always keep it in the bag" and and get it out for low light situations lens.
However, reading some of OPF's earlier threads and knowing Asher and others are great advocates, it will be quite refreshing and educational to see how I will look at things through a fixed focal length, now akin to our natural field of view.

The Sigma 12-24 was bought to provide wide angle capability on my earlier 10D and 20D. Its a very capabale lens (Nicolas Claris more than proves this). I find it a little slow and may be overly worried about edge softness on FF.
1.6 crop cameras worked within the Sigma's sweet spot so depending on how it performs I may well trade it in for the 17-40. One thing for sure, if end up keeping it then I may need to get a longer remote to keep my feet out of the viewfinder

No doubt the 5D will exceed my expectations and together with the complimentary 1DN, I think I'll sit with this combination a few years to come.

Ironically, I asked both Asher and Michael Tapes over a year ago their views on whether to get a 5D or 1DN and both concurred that the 5D was their preference, however they already owned a 1DN.

I look forward to posting some shots of Amsterdam using all lenses for comparison.

It is a good camera. I just ordered my second one (with 24-105) yesterday - not because I need two, but one was stolen :/

I spent a month and a half pondering a different camera from what's been available over the year since I bought my first 5D, and ended up with the same choice.

I was comfortable with a repeat purchase because I believe that this camera will be capable of long, solid service -- even if the 4D or 5DMk2 came out by this weekend, I'd be happy with my 5D and the pictures it can make (as long as I can keep my hands on it, heh.... ouch)

kb

Hi John

Thinking about buying the 5D myself, but was wondering when the MarkII will be available, sounds as though everyone likes it so much that I may get one myself before my next trip up to Scotland next month.

I'll be interested to see your results, hope it 's all you expect.

Jan

Hi Jan,

Waiting for the next model is always a quandry. One reads the speculative gossip and tries to predict availability and finally when the manufacturer makes an announcement there's always a delay or shortage of supply.

Early 2006 I had raised enough money to buy a 1DMkIIN, I considered waiting for the MkIII and even though it was announced a couple of months ago (Feb) its unlikely that they will hit the streets until July (UK). At which time the demand will keep the price high.

The 1DMkIIN is a very capable dSLR, the mkIII is superior but when you consider that the price differential is £1000, I have to examine the logic. Although a serious pro who's livelyhood depends upon cutting edge technology probably wouldn't hesitate.

Similalry, the 5D was retailing at £2500 when released and no doubt its replacement will be of similar cost. The 5D is now priced at £1500 less £100 cashback, so for me it was a no brainer.

Its unlikely that the new 5D will be a quantum leap in terms of output, ok it may end up being faster (digicIII), weatherproofed and having a sensor clean system, but I look at this way, I can use the 5D now and benefit from yesterday's cutting edge technology for 40% less cost. In 3 years time I can then sell it (maybe) and buy the next model (but one removed) at a similar saving.

Hi John

You've made some very good points John, I think I may take the same decision as you and get the 5D before I go away, the saving on the purchase price is signifcant.

Thanks for helping my decision making.

5D update

I've spent all weekend shooting with my new 5D and doing a fair amount of pixel peeping. My conclusions are, it's indeed a great dSLR, the out of camera raws do seem more colourful that the 1DN and the pixel advantage is more than welcome. I definitely see less noise and increased DR, while images also appear sharper out of the camera. I don't believe its a substitute for the 1DN but I can understand why so many people have raved about them.

There's no doubt that dust is its biggest downfall, in fact I had to clean the sensor after only 500 frames, admittedly I must of tried half a dozen lenses on it.

I invested in a green clean vacuum system yesterday and after careful application, I resorted to two drops of eclipse fluid, a pecpad and spatula. The vacumm system worked ok for loose debris but IMO, don't waste your money. BTW, the wet pads provided with the green clean absolutely swamp the sensor with fluid, not something I would use again in a hurry.

On the lens front, I tried the 24-70 on the 5D and it worked without any focus issues, the 17-40 seemed on par with the sigma 12-24, although the sigma showed excessive edge softness at 12mm. The sigma's sweet spot seemed to be 15mm, with good corner to corner sharpness and much less distortion than the 17-40. I may well send the sigma in for a service and see if it can be improved upon.

I managed to borrow a 24-105 IS and was surprised to see so much vignetting compared to the other lenses. Has anyone else noticed this?

All in all, i'm very impressed with the 5D, especially its size and (lack of) weight. So one happy customer!

Hey John,

You were busy! <smiles> Good to hear that you are happy with your purchase decision.

As for the 24-105IS, if I am not mistaken this is the lense that came out with the 5D originally first, right?

I did hear quite a bit about vignetting, but some of the problems were related to an early production flaw, if memory serves. However, I remember people complaining about some vignetting later as well. But it is a while ago and was on a german forum.

I am sure others here who have that lense as well will join in.

As for cleaining, I am spoiled in that respect from my E-1, in 12 month I did not clean a single time, and I think this dust shaker should become a more manufacturer independant standard. It really works well and while sony tried to bring something, I heard they missed the point.

A fine camera in deed. It is about time that Olympus comes with the E1 successor news, otherwise I might end up with a 5D myself. <smiles>