Canon 1D vs 5D?

[will_]

I am after some advice, please.

I'm looking to purchase a replacement body having had my trusty but somewhat slow 600D for a few years. I have narrowed it down to the 5D (Mk II) or the 1D (Mk III) as they are roughly the same sort of price second hand (although the 1D has a higher original RRP which is interesting in itself) - circa £400-500.

I tend to shoot a mixture of static car photos, moving motorsport shots, kids and weddings.

My own research indicates that the 1D will be better for the "moving" shots (cars and kids) with a maximum shot rate of 10 frames per second. However, the 5D is "full frame" and therefore (put simply) will produce better quality images.

Does anyone have (a) any thoughts on the above and (b) any alternative suggestions?

Thank you in advance.

[Motoring Nomad]

I used to do motorsport photography a few years back and was using a couple of 1D MkII Ns and a 5D MkI. You're pretty much correct in what you're saying: I used the 1Ds for shooting action and the 5D for static stuff (pitlane work etc.). The full frame of the 5D provides a much nicer, cleaner image but it cannot get anywhere near the 1D when shooting action (and it's not just the frame rate - the focusing is much faster and more accurate).

The caveat to the above is that the glass you attach to the front of the camera is also extremely important!

[will_]

Motoring Nomad said:

I used to do motorsport photography a few years back and was using a couple of 1D MkII Ns and a 5D MkI. You're pretty much correct in what you're saying: I used the 1Ds for shooting action and the 5D for static stuff (pitlane work etc.). The full frame of the 5D provides a much nicer, cleaner image but it cannot get anywhere near the 1D when shooting action (and it's not just the frame rate - the focusing is much faster and more accurate).

The caveat to the above is that the glass you attach to the front of the camera is also extremely important!

Thanks - I have some fairly good lenses already but discard circa 75% of the moving shots because the AF isn't fast enough.

[toohuge]

I love the images from my 1d mkiii.

For action however - it’s not got the best af.... it’s a faster camera overall than the 5d Mk Ii and feels wonderful in the hand.

I use mine comfortably up to iso 3200 - if you’re below that you’ll be fine.

It is heavy mind ...

[DailyHack]

Been a 5d user for few years, 5d (I still have) and 5dmkii (the latter having around 160k shutter counts, so gets used alot, every day at the moment with work) Never felt the need to upgrade with work I do, mainly studio and documentary photography.

1D is a completely different beast if I am going to be honest, great for Motorsport and fast paced action (did a shoot other week, and hired one 1DX, it was big old girl to hold all day coupled with a 70-300L - Has great AF, with the 5d not so much - as been said above, good glass works wonders on these Full Frame sensors, I lean towards primes lenses nowadays.

Ergonomics comes into play aswell, the 5d feels so good in my hands, natural extension in my eyes.

Then again, i always have my 60d in my bag, attached to a 24-105L - love this camera aswell, very underrated.

Edited by DailyHack on Wednesday 16th October 15:59

[BlimeyCharlie]

The main concern of a 1D would be batteries.

I still use a 1DS MK2 and I had 6 batteries, mixture of cheapo 'replacements' and Canon batteries.

Needed to shoot a big job in the summer and wanted to use the 1DS as 'main' camera, but I discovered only 1 battery would hold a charge.

I did find a brand-new Canon battery for sale by a camera shop for something like £110, and glad I bought it. Then could just keep swapping batteries during the day and not worry about running out of power.

Might sell my 1DS as changing a few things with work, so let me know via Message if interested. They are great cameras and had mine years.

[Craikeybaby]

I had a 1Dmk2 for shooting motorsport for a few years, it was a great camera, but bloody heavy and the batteries were crap.

When I stopped shooting motorsport I replaced it with a 5D, which produced beautiful files, but was slow! Obviously the crop factor meant I needed to change some lenses around.

[will_]

Craikeybaby said:

I had a 1Dmk2 for shooting motorsport for a few years, it was a great camera, but bloody heavy and the batteries were crap.

When I stopped shooting motorsport I replaced it with a 5D, which produced beautiful files, but was slow! Obviously the crop factor meant I needed to change some lenses around.

Thanks, all for your responses - I'm no closer to making a decision, though, because I ideally want the speed of a 1D but the clarity and full frame of the 5D and I can't justify having both!

I am concerned that the 5D won't produce images which are that much better than my 600D gives, and might not really be worthwhile for the type of pictures that I take. On the other hand, the 1D is probably overkill, and will be a potential pain to use if it's too heavy or the batteries don't last.

Tricky decision!

[C&C]

will_ said:

My own research indicates that the 1D will be better for the "moving" shots (cars and kids) with a maximum shot rate of 10 frames per second. However, the 5D is "full frame" and therefore (put simply) will produce better quality images.

Does anyone have (a) any thoughts on the above and (b) any alternative suggestions?

Thank you in advance.

I realise that you did mention a budget of £4-500, but as an alternative suggestion, if you could stretch the budget a bit, have you considered a 5D mark 3?
There's one for sale on the Talkphotography classifieds for £700 at the moment, and I'm sure there will be others.

Reason for the suggestion is that it sits somewhere between your 2 original choices, and would certainly give the quality of full frame, whilst improving on the speed and focussing performance of the 5D2:

5D2
focus points: 9
max shooting rate: 3.9 frames per second

1D3
focus points: 19
max shoot rate: 10 frames per second

5D3
focus points: 61
max shoot rate: 6 frames per second


As an owner of both a 5D mark 1 and a mark 3, there's a world of difference in the speed of the mark 3, and the quality of the images is great.

Although I haven't tried a 1D3, the 5D3 doesn't seem to have any issues with fast focussing (with a reasonably quick lens), so trackdays and airshow photos have not been an issue. The fact it has so many more focus points than the 1D3 suggests it's a step up in terms of focus capability. It also has good low light performance both in terms of focus speed, and also produces usable images up to 12800 ISO..

In terms of shooting speed, 6fps is pretty fast - not sure 10fps would be a big advantage?

ETA:
Quote from the DPReview regarding the 5D3 focussing:

DPReview said:

And let's not forget that 61-point focus system from the 1DX - the first time Canon has put its top-spec AF sensor into a non-1-series camera since the film-era EOS 3.

Full review here

Edited by C&C on Monday 4th November 11:49

[Pinoyuk]

I looked at a few 5D’s and a 1D for sale at Aperture’s new shop in London today . For street work I will probably go for the 1d ability to really grab the shot . More surprised at how much you can get them for and guaranteed ! They had a good selection .Riding House Street is the location

[will_]

CC said:

Very useful stuff

Thanks - that could be a good shout but is quite considerable budget-creep! However it does appear to have the most useful elements of both.

[will_]

Pinoyuk said:

I looked at a few 5D’s and a 1D for sale at Aperture’s new shop in London today . For street work I will probably go for the 1d ability to really grab the shot . More surprised at how much you can get them for and guaranteed ! They had a good selection .Riding House Street is the location

Thanks, I will take a look

[Pinoyuk]

will_ said:

Thanks, I will take a look

They now only have the One shop. So phone first and check stock . They have a history of not been the fastest people to update their website etc :-) !

[will_]

will_ said:

CC said:

Very useful stuff

Thanks - that could be a good shout but is quite considerable budget-creep! However it does appear to have the most useful elements of both.

Thanks for all the help.

By way of update (because it's annoying when people ask for advice and then abandon the thread) I've bought a used 5D MkIII on the basis that it's a pretty good comprise between the two cameras I was looking at. I will report back how I get on in due course!

[Craikeybaby]

Sounds like a good choice!

[DailyHack]

Yep good choice, 5dmkiii is a fine camera and a proper workhorse, quite often rent these for work still when need a back up, then again my 5dmkii is a personal workhorse of mine, still produces lovely images.

Used my 5dmkii with my old faithful Canon 85mm 1.8 lens this weekend for a shoot in Cornwall, Padstow.

It's bruised and dented, with around 100k+ shutter actuations on it now, but it's still superb.

Edited by DailyHack on Tuesday 26th November 19:45