Will Robb Photography

I’ve seen a lot of debate on forums about the canon EOS 5DmkII versus the canon EOS 7D and to be honest, I don’t really get why all the debate, both are good for different things. It’s like comparing a Range Rover and a Porsche, both are very good, but for different reasons. For a farmer who wants a car that can drive over fields, pull big loads and look good about town a Range Rover is an excellent choice, a Porsche would be no use. For someone wanting a speedy little car to whiz about town or the highways and catch a few eyes, a Porsche would be a much better choice than a big old Range Rover. If you had enough money and wanted a 4WD and a little sporty car, it’d be nice to have both cars wouldn’t it?

With that in mind, lets look at the 5DmkII and the 7D, both cameras I have owned and used a lot for work. Both cameras are for specific purposes, one isn’t really better than the other, so I don’t like the whole “versus” idea, instead I like to think they are for specific purposes and really compliment each other very well. Both are different cameras that are very good for what they are made for. Although the intended uses for each camera isn’t as clear cut as the car example above, the same principle applies.

Before looking more in depth at each of these cameras, lets think about the top end canon EOS cameras. At the top of the Canon EOS DSLR line you have 1D series, currently the full frame canon EOS 1Ds mk III and the crop sensor canon EOS 1D mkIV which will soon be merged into the canon EOS 1DX which is scheduled to be released March 2012. Next in line are the full frame canon EOS 5D mkII and the crop sensor 7D. Lets have a look at how the essentials specs compare (I’m just looking at still photos here, the video I’ll leave for someone else):

Canon EOS 1Ds mk III
*Released August 2007
*Full frame
*21.1 megapixels
*Dual DIGIC 3 processor.
*ISO 100-1600 (50-3200 with expansion)
*5 FPS
*Magnesium alloy very well weather sealed.
* Good to around 300′000 shutter releases.
*Priced about $8000 when released

Canon EOS 1D mk IV
*Released late 2009
*APS-H 1.3 crop frame
*16 megapixels
*Dual DIGIC 4 processor.
*ISO 100-12800 (50-102400 with expansion)
*10 FPS
*Magnesium alloy very well weather sealed body.
* Good to around 300′000 shutter releases.
*Priced about $6000 when released.

Canon EOS 1DX
*To be released March 2012
*Full frame
*18 megapixels
*Dual DIGIC 5+ processor (17 times faster than DIGIC 4.
*ISO 50-12800 (204800 with expansion)
*12 FPS
*Magnesium alloy very well weather sealed.
* Good to around 500′000 shutter releases.
*Priced about $7000 when released

Canon EOS 5D mk II
*Released late 2008
*Full frame
*21.1 megapixels
*DIGIC 4 processor.
*ISO 100-3200 (50-25600 with expansion)
*3.9 FPS
*Magnesium alloy somewhat weather sealed body.
* Good to around 150′000 shutter releases.
*Priced about $2500 when released

Canon 7D
*Released late 2009
*APS-C 1.6 crop body
*18 megapixels
*Dual DIGIC 4 processor.
*ISO 100-3200 (12800 with expansion)
*8 FPS
*Magnesium alloy somewhat weather sealed body.
* Good to around 150′000 shutter releases.
*Built in speedlite controller.
*Priced about $1700 when released.

Basically the currently available EOS 1D series cameras are the best canon EOS camera you can get, they are better built, will last longer, they outperform the 5DmkII and 7D in that respect, but when you look at the difference between them and the 5DmkII and 7D in terms of actual performance, the distance isn’t too far (many say the 5DmkII has better image quality than the 1Ds mkIII). when you look at price, the 5DmkII and 7D win hands down. Understandably, the release of the 5DmkII really cut into sales of the 1Ds mkIII. Think about it, you could get three 5DmkII bodies for the price of one 1Ds mkIII. I know what I’d prefer for that money. For the 1DmkIV versus the 7D it’s a similar situation, three 7D bodies or a 1D mkIV. All of these cameras are professional level gear, you look at any Sports competition and you see photographers with 1DmkIV’s and 7Ds, for advertising/portraits/weddings you see 1Ds mkIII and 5DmkII wielding photographers. Although the currentt 1D line up is the highest level of pro gear, the line between them and the lower end pro gear isn’t that blurred, hence the need for the 1DX to put the pro gear back on a higher level.

So, if you are looking at getting a 7D or a 5DmkII, you are looking at getting professional gear, whether you are looking at using these cameras for work or fun. For professional photographers or serious enthusiasts, two bodies are a must. Depending on what you are shooting dictates what you should get, although the difference isn’t cut and dry, each camera does very well in general for everything.

Weddings, photojournalism, portraits, products & travel. Anything where the best image quality is of most concern = Canon EOS 5D mkII

Sports, wildlife, fashion runway. Anything where being able to quickly and accurately focus on a moving object = Canon EOS 7D

Many photographers shoot over many of these fields, so in that respect it’s good to have both cameras. Up until August 2010 I was using two FF cameras, the 5DmkII and the 5D. Both great cameras, but as the 5D was getting old and I knew the prices were dropping I decided to sell and get a 7D body as I often shoot runway fashion and I thought the 7D would be a good option for me rather than just having two full frame cameras. So, for more than a year I was using my 5DmkII as my main camera, using it most of the time for portraits, event and wedding photography and the occasional product shoot. In all these shoots my 7D was in my bag “just in case” and for runway fashion it was my number one choice. However, last week I sold my 7D to get another 5DmkII, not because I think the 5DmkII is a much better camera, just that it’s much better for what I use it for. I’ve really enjoyed working with a 7D this last year and a bit, it served me very well and I was happy with what it did for me, but the time came for me to move on from it. Here’s what I learned from both the cameras though. Also, the example photos I give here are mostly photos I’ve used for work, whether it be in print, online or for private wedding/portrait clients. This isn’t a scientific approach using exactly the same lighting and lenses in a controlled environment with coloured charts, but in reality no-one really does this. We don’t spend our lives photographing under lab conditions, so this is a perhaps a bit more realistic.

Plus points of the 7D # 1: The 8 FPS and very quick autofocus of the 7D is essential for anyone regularly shooting sports/wildlife.

8 FPS isn’t something I often use. The fast autofocus was great for runway fashion as well, but seeing as how the models are mostly just walking directly towards me it wasn’t essential for me to have such good autofocus, so in that respect the 5DmkII was good enough for my needs. For sports though, where athletes are running in all directions on a pitch and you really need fast FPS, the 7D would be essential. I only ever actually used the 8FPS of the 7D once whilst testing it out. Here’s what it’s like:

Plus points of the 7D # 2. If you own a full frame already, the 7D makes all your lenses longer, a big advantage for primes and telephoto lenses.

For anything wide where I am using my 17-40mm F4L or 24-70mm f2.8L lenses, the 5DmkII is the best camera I have. It’s also great with the 50mm f1.2L, 100mm macro 2.8L HIS and the 70-200mm f2.8L, but the 7D added a whole new dimension to the set up. To be honest, I wasn’t a fan of using my two widest zooms with the 7D (wide with a full frame works better) but it’s 1.6 crop factor meant my 50mm lens became a 80mm lens, my 100mm lens became a 160mm lens and my 70-200mm became a 112-320mm lens. That’s like a whole pile of different lenses without buying them, just getting a new body. I recently used a 2X III extender with the 5DmkIII on the 70-200mm lens and I do think the image quality of the 70-200mm on the 7D body without an extender was better. The extra reach of theses lenses came in use for runway fashion with the 70-200mm and portraits with my 50mm lens:

Plus points of the 5DmkII, it’s great for travel.

For travel photos, the 5DmkII is my go to camera. It’s light weight (I use the battery grip most of the time but take it off for travel work). The full frame sensor makes for better image quality and seeings as how the wide L series zoom lenses work best for full frame, the 5D mark II wins hands down for me on that one.

Plus points of the 5D mkII # 2, it’s amazing for portraits and weddings.

As I said before, I used the 7D to get more reach out of my lenses, but this was perhaps only 15% of the time on portrait/wedding shoots. Personally I like to get lots of wide shots in these situations, so usually I have my 5DmkII with a 24-70mm f2.8L lens when I don’t have much time to mess around, but when time constraints aren’t so bad I love to have my 50mm f1.2L lens on as much as possible.

7D @ ISO 100

5DmkII @ ISO 100

Same image @ 100%

7D @ ISO 400

Same image @ 100%

5DmkII @ ISO 400

Same image @ 100%

7D @ ISO 640

Same image @ 100%

5DmkII @ ISO 640

Same image @ 100%

7D @ ISO 1600

Same image @ 100%

5D mkII @ ISO 1600

Same image @ 100%

7D @ ISO 3200

Same image @ 100%

5D mkII @ ISO 3200

Same image @ 100%

At ISO 100-640, the difference is minimal. The 5DmkII does give sharper images, but from ISO 640-3200 the differences do become much bigger.

Conclusions:

Above are general examples of the quality I get, I’m happy with the 7D up to ISO 640, but with my work I am often shooting over 1600 ISO and in those circumstances the 5DmkII outperforms. Once in the past, whilst shooting a wedding with both my 5D and 5DmkII the shutter on my 5D froze up. No problem, I had my 5DmkII and I used it alone and it covered all my bases with every lens. I would have preferred two cameras on the go, but as long as you have one camera working you can get the job done. I sometimes think “What if my 5DmkII stopped working and I was left with only the 7D during a wedding?” To be honest, I would probably get good photos, I’d shoot mostly with primes as they give better images, but for I would have less options open to me, especially at high ISO and at the end of the day it’s about giving the client the best I can with what I have and for me that means the 5DmkII, hence I went for the option of having two 5DmkII bodies. I don’t shoot sports, so the benefits of a 7D don’t apply to me there. Although I shoot a lot of runway, I find models don’t move so fast that I really need the mega fast autofocus of the 7D. More to the point, many of the shows are pretty dark and I end up shooting with the 5DmkII anyway, so other than 4 shows a year where the runway is super far away, the extra reach of the 7D doesn’t come into play that much (plus I just bought a 2XIII extender which will be used there). If however I was doing sports or wildlife photography, I’d definitely have a 7D in my line up. So overall I think both cameras are really great, the have raised the possibilities of what both professional and enthusiast photographers can achieve for a much cheaper price than the top of the range 1D series without the cost and minimal difference in quality. Moreover, the 5DmkII with a 7D is a pretty mean combination that any photographer would be lucky to have. However, for what I do, two 5DmkII bodies are of much more use so that’s what I now use and it gives me more peace of mind. In a year or two though once I am doing mostly weddings, I may be tempted to get a 1DX and keep my latest 5DmkII as a back up though