What do I buy? 5d vs 7d vs 10-22 mm lens

Gopal,

What is it that you’re dissatisfied with with your current setup? What do you wish you could do that you can’t? What makes you look at a shot and say, “If only…”?

Answer those questions and the solution to your dilemma should become clear. You might be better off spending the money on lighting equipment, or traveling to places to shoot, or workshops, or even something as off-the-wall as dumping everything you have and switching to large format film. Or, maybe, a different body or lens. Perhaps.

Cheers,

b&

7d + good wide angle. I own 5dmkII and for my partner I bought the 7d. The 5dmkII will give you tad more resolution finally, but the 7d is a more grown up cam in my humble opinion and will provide great image quality too + other nice advantages. I bought the 5dmkII but i would have bought 7d if it were on the market last year. The lenses will make a difference. You will feel like making the right decision with either cam however, so take it light!

Well, I started out thinking about upgrading my camera body for the following reasons:

1. I hrd the sensors on the 5d/7d is way better than 350d thereby getting better quality pics on the same lens. 2. Have a backup body in case I have the chance to do some wedding type shoots.

As I started to research I got caught up in the infamous full frame vs aps-c body debate. If I eliminate the option of buying the lens , I'm still confuse whether I should spend $800 extra for a 5d mark 2.

Lenses first. Do you have any specific reason to want a different body? Unless you can point to a feature—lower noise at high ISO, faster fps, more AF points, video, etc.—that you need, your time and money are much better spent practicing with what you have. "Take it to the next level" is a very vague goal; you can certainly improve your photography by learning more about photography rather than spending money on bodies you don't seem to know much about.

A body just records the image formed by the lens. Some bodies record that image in ways that make it more versatile, but forming that image is what is important, and that starts with 1. light, 2. composition, 3. the lens. The lens determines the transmission of the scene's color, contrast, detail, and field-of-view. The lens is also what actually focuses, and the lens is also (in the Canon system) what applies image stabilization.

Your lineup lacks ANY wide angle. 28mm on a 1.6 crop body (like your Rebel) is very close to "normal," i.e. a middle focal length. So certainly I would suggest that you pick up a general-purpose zoom like the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit lens ($150) to start with. Your 28-300L is a great do-everything lens for a fullframe body but lacks wide angle on a Rebel. And filling that gap with a 10-22mm is an OK idea, but using an ultrawide lens is very challenging and you're better off learning to see a given scene in a variety of standard focal lengths first, IMHO.

Also, for architecture you NEED a wide-angle lens. What does a 7D or 5DII have that you NEED?

Thx Hans. I like your approach. This way I can get a 7d plus 10-22 mm lens for the price of the 5d mark 2. I read that the video is better on the 7d as well. Not my primary requirement but it doesn't hurt either. :)

Ah, I see you posted a bit more detail while I was writing. "Way better" is subject to interpretation. They have better high ISO performance and higher detail, but do you really need either of those things? Or is technique what holds you back? Think about it.

The 7D is a better camera than the 5DII in virtually every single way except for sensor size. That sensor size means the 5DII has better high ISO performance; are you regularly shooting photos with high ISO that you intend to print at very large sizes? The sensor size also affects depth of field and therefore background blur with given subject framing; is this something you're having problems with? The FF also means a bigger viewfinder (but so does the 7D). Finally, the sensor size would make all your current lenses effectively "shorter" by 37.5%; is that what you want? If not, the 7D has weather sealing, faster AF, faster fps, better flash control, better video control, etc. etc.—pretty much every feature is as-good-as or better-than, and it's cheaper.

Personally I think that as an amateur who doesn't seem sure of the pros and cons of a new body vs a new lens, you are much better off saving your money and learning/practicing more (maybe get a new lens, as those are forever useful and hold their value better, haha). But if it was me, Hans's suggestion of 7D+wide makes more sense than 5DII for the kind of photography I do.

for food and architecture 7D will provide greater dof than ff. also, if you generally shoot in good light (low iso) then 7D may get the nod.
if you generally shoot in 'available darkness' go with 5D
all that being said, glass is ultimately the most important thing. i'd much rather shoot excellent primes on a crop body than all-in-one zooms on a ff. personally, i have no use for mega-zooms or consumer optics.

@ Gabriel - thx so much for your detailed feedback. You really got me thinking and I think this is going to be my final approach:

1. Get a wide angle lens for now and practice a LOT! 2. When I get to the stage that I can make some money, I will get the 7d. I think I'm more than convinced on the 7d vs 5d debate.

Thx everyone for your feedback

I would not buy an EF-S lens, which rules out the 10-22. I suggest keeping options open to a full frame camera in the future. I have a full frame body and a crop body and being able to use the same lenses on either body is extremely useful.

Generally, full frame cameras are more capable for typical wideangle subjects like architecture and landscape, and crop bodies are more capable for telephoto subjects like sports and animals in nature. Either can handle portraits, macro, and general photography well.

Since you are seeking a wideangle view, in particular, I suggest choosing the 5DII especially since you point out it is the same cost as a 7D and 10-22. Your 28-300 would then provide a wideangle view suitable for most applications. I suspect the 28-200 on the 5DII would provide similar image quality to the 10-22 on the 7D at the same focal lengths.

If your interest in high image quality continues then at some point you will want to supplement your 28-300 with some more high quality narrow range zooms or primes to add to your excellent 100 and 50mm lenses. There are better wideangle lens choices for full frame bodies than for crop bodies.

If you choose to go the route of the 7D at least consider full frame wideangle lenses like the Sigma 12-24.