Canon EOS 5D 12.8 MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) by Canon
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Digital camera reviews of Canon EOS 5D 12.8 MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)
Digital camera Review: Cheap full frame access
Summary: 5 Stars
The price started dropping like a rock ever since Nikon full framers hit mass production and now it's almost down to EOS 20D level. The Canon is simpler to use compared to Nikons. Much less buttons & software wizbang, but as a means of getting a picture onto a full size sensor, they do the same thing.
When scaled down to internet resolutions, the benefit of full size sensors can't be beat. Shots at 1600 ISO are indistinguishable from 100 ISO at internet resolution.
At full resolution, there is more noise in the shadows than there was on the EOS 20D. They have to shrink pixel size even with the larger sensor to sell more to the armchair experts.
Digital camera Review: D300? 5D? Hard choice for every people
Summary: 4 Stars
Actually, at first, I wanna buy D300+17-55mm f/2.8G. I think the D300 is a really good camera with a lot of advanced function. But the problem is you have to deal with the crop factor, that's how your 17-55mm become 24-80mm. So when you join in the family of full size sensor camera 3 years later,(the ASP size sensor camera will definitely be disappear) you will find your lens which actually is the most important thing for you can not suitable for the full size sensor, like 17-55mm. Nobody will use 17-55mm on your D3 or D3 mark2, right? So, I change my mind. I choose 5D+24-70mm f/2.8G. That means I do not have to buy everything new after 3 years when I change into 1Ds mark3 or something else.
But, you have to know what is the meaning of 5D. 5D is 3 years old. Do not expect too much on some fabulous function. Please just foucs on the real image quality.
And do not wait for the 5D mark 2. Everybody knows that the price will exceed $3000 in the first 6 months.
Digital camera Review: Don't Be Fooled, the 5D is THE Way to Go
Summary: 5 Stars
There are tons of raving reviews about the amazing 5D, so no repeating all that. There is one reason the 5D is THE choice: the full frame sensor, hands down. The image quality is umatched and is super low noise BECAUSE of the larger sensor. You see it in the top end cameras costing up to eight grand, but the difference is, you get it for this incredible price. Sure, there are things that people aren't happy with on the 5D like menus and no weather sealing, but in the end, image quality is what it's all about. For landscapes and nature shots and anything else where the rich look of a medium format camera is desired, the 5D does it at a great price.
Important things to know:
-No pop up flash. You'd need to buy a real flash for it. Or maybe set the ISO to 1600 and get natural light images (yep, 1600, and it looks good due to: the full frame sensor!).
-Flash sync at 1/200, not 1/250. If you do sports photos and hook up to the wireless flash systems in arenas, this might be an issue. For everyone else, you may not notice.
-Get some big CF cards, the RAW files can get up to 15MB each.
-The JPEGs don't come out all that great. Be prepared to use the RAW files and your results will be phenomenal (note: the 5D has built-in "Picture Styles" for JPEGs... you may get good results with that. I only use RAW).
-No EF-S lenses on this camera. It only uses EF lenses (the better but more expensive ones).
I can't rave enough about the image quality on this 5D. To get full frame for this price is insane, I can't imagine using cropped sensor cameras ever again. BTW, your cropped sensor cameras (20D, 30D, 40D, etc) don't turn a 200mm lens into a 320mm lens, it just crops it. Big difference in the way the background looks. You can crop your 5D image to look the same and still have the image quality of the 10MP cropped cameras. Get the 5D, you won't be disappointed!
Digital camera Review: Don't forget the full-sized chip
Summary: 5 Stars
There might be controvery with this camera due to the age of its design but as a previous owner of a 20d, I can attest to the excellent quality of this box.
The pros: Picture quality is astounding, viewfinder is bright, and high ISO performance is excellent. Thanks to the full-sized chip, I've shot at 1000 without any problems and it should have very low noise at 1600. The full-sized chip also provides prospects of great "bokeh" (if the lens is good enough), which is the out-of-focus areas truly being out of focus (and less distracting).
The cons: Weight, older technology, and sluggish focus performance. I have found that if I turn on only one focus zone, it does much better. Of course, then I have to reposition the camera and squeeze the shutter release the rest of the way. Hey, I hear the 5d Mark II has the same problem, so I hear you'll need to go Nikon to avoid this. This is the obvious camera if you truly love your 24-70 L and 70-200 L 2.8 glass. If you have no lenses, many people on dpreview.com seem to say to go Nikon. One interesting comment there said that Nikon does better at the wide angles and have lenses that favor cropped viewfinders (smaller chips). On the other hand, they said that Canon has better teles and their lenses favor full-sized viewfinders. So even if I had it to do over, I'd probably go Canon.
Digital camera Review: Dream Digital for Wide-Angle
Summary: 5 Stars
If you also shoot wide-angle, welcome: This is our camera.
I've been a serious photographer since my teen years in the 1970s and early-on adopted the 24-mm wide-angle as my "signature" lens. Consequently, I was disappointed when the digital SLR revolution took off without regard to wide-angle lenses. A 1.6 crop factor is worthless for those of us who work in-tight and up-close. Personally, I haven't understood why the industry (Hello, Nikon?) adopted anything but full-frame sensors from the start ... or have yet to (Hello, Leica?). But for wide-angle shooters, a full-frame sensor is absolutely fundamental to the beast.
This camera, which I've had for over a year, is better than I ever anticipated. I am not a machine-gun firing in-the-rain sports photographer, so I can't speak to things important to those needs. But as a journalistic-style travel photographer, who captures the intimate joys of everyday life, I am exceptionally pleased with how relatively compact and light-weight it is (a tad heavier than my EOS film cameras; significantly smaller -- and much, much less expensive -- than other full-frame digitals). I am very pleased with how well it handles ISO's of 800 and 1600.
But, fundamentally, for me, it is the full use of my wide-angle lenses (especially the phenomenal Canon 24mm 1.4 "L" lens) that keeps me smiling with every trip of the shutter and every review of its results. Canon could have left me and a whole segment of its wide-angle shooters behind (in the manner that Nikon and Leica did), forever stuck with our film cameras. But Canon didn't. And not only that, they brought us along with an incredibly great all-around camera for ALL our lenses (including the fabulous shift/tilt architectural lenses that also can't be used with crop-factor sensors). And they did it at half the price that the cheapest full-frame Nikon goes for.
Whether you can or cannot afford the 24mm "L" lens, I also highly recommend the nicely priced, super-sweet 20-35mm EF zoom to go with this body -- for those who want and need their wide-angle lenses.
Thank you, Canon! (Good luck, Nikon and Leica.)