Talk me out of it (ha!)

[rasputin]

I just got my 50D 6 months ago. It was a massive upgrade from my previous DSLR and I am very happy with it.

So why do I keep thinking about the 5D MkII?

Can someone with a 5D MkII please tell me that it's really noisy above ISO 50, that a pop-up flash is essential, that full frame pictures look distorted, and that the extra 28 grammes will cause my arms to dislocate?

[rasputin]

I don't have any good reasons for wanting to switch - mostly it's because I prefer what I see through the viewfinder when I use my 50e (35mm film SLR).

The FPS hopefully won't be an issue - I've only used high speed mode on the 50D once and it ate up my card far too quickly! And I only use the centre focus point so I doubt I'd notice any difference.

Would the difference in ISO 1600/3200 be easily noticeable between 50D and 5D-II? If it's just a marginal difference the price may be too high...

[rasputin]

All my lenses other than one (Sigma 18-50mm) will be fine.

RobDickinson said:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM

I rekon you have about 1.5 stops of usable difference between the two.

Good site, but I wish they'd show Raw shots processed the same, without noise reduction.

I might try to pop into Jessops some time and do my own comparison, and see how I get on with it...

[rasputin]

70-200 f4L, 85mm f1.8 and Tamron 11-18 (usable on full frame with no dark corners from 13mm) should all be nice on a 5D I reckon... Certainly look nice on my Canon film SLR!

Rofly - What would you say is the maximum ISO you're happy with on the 50D, and the 5DII?
Personally 1600 is the highest I'd use on my 50D and even then the keeper rate isn't high. 3200 is almost useless for me and 6400/12800 are for mucking about only - not even usable at web sizes. Would you agree with that?