post your work and creations

[endersgame]

upgrading already? at this point, you may need to buy the best possible lenses to get the most out of the better camera..

[Fade to Black]

is that where cameras differentiate as they get better? that they accommodate the enhanced viewing quality enabled by better lenses with greater sharpness?

[endersgame]

well, it's always nice to have really good glass on anything. sharpness, contrast, less distortion shooting wide is stuff you pay more money for. the 400 is a cropped sensor. the 5d is full frame. i wanted to get the 5D when it first came out and read that the nature of the full-frame sensor shows a lot of the lens flaws near the corners of the frame. like shooting wide open on certain lenses, the corners let in less light (vignette) and other abnormalities. with the cropped sensor, the camera uses the sweeter part of the lens (center). getting better lenses may or may not solve these problems and you may not even notice it if you are not accustomed to seeing them..

but you still can't beat a full-frame camera, and the viewfinder is so much better on the 5D...

[lowrey]

looking to cop a 5D Mark II later this week and return the 400D, hopefully can try out more digital experimental photography then with more professional results.

honestly, unless you have a very specific reason why you need a 5D, I don't think you need one for this. a 400D and its successors are perfectly cabable of taking excellent (and professional) images, I'd rather invest in a good lense.

[endersgame]

ftb, i think you need to find out through producing work, which format and medium is suitable for your workflow. i am assuming you are photographing and viewing the pictures on screen at the moment. you'll probably need to make prints being a grad student (unless you are doing video installations). how large and how accurate you need these prints to be will determine what type of equipment you'll be using..

[Fade to Black]

i'm interested in the mark II (was recommended it by professor) because of its HD video capability as well, therefore it seems like the camera that would get the most mileage for my photo/video work at present.

enders - i hope to make some pretty big prints for studio this term, the mark II's 21 MP seems to be the ideal for this since i am not working in film.

next term im gonna try out some medium/large format film work as i'll be a bit more freed up and focused with regards to which courses im taking.

[lowrey]

just for comparison,the 500D and 550D also have the video cabability, and these will be cabable of taking very large images. but if the additional few MP is critical and the cost is not an object, then it of course makes sense to go with the 5D. however, to make use of the resolution you need to invest in some very good glass as well.

There is a lot more to print sizes than megapixel counts. any image can be blown up to a large size, and depending on the viewing distance, it can look relatively sharp. at 300ppi, a 20MP camera can produce 12x18" prints, which isn't exactly huge due to the resolution. on the other hand you can get a wall sized image out of a high quality 12MP camera with a good lens, and it will look reasonably sharp if the viewing distance is longer. Sharpness is of course essential with large prints - no matter how many megapixels you have, an image can still come out soft.

[Heirloom]

for really big prints it also has alot to do with noise levels if detail is crucial. I'd say you should follow lowreys advice. the 5D is alot of money, and you're better off investing it on good glass. to get the 5D and the cheaper lens is like putting dirty glasses on healthy eyes.

[Fade to Black]

thanks a lot for all your constructive and well-informed opinions. as they say the money is in my court, will mull it over.

[Tumnus Truck-Tour]

[Fade to Black]

i love these last two, and really believe you could do well taking them to a very large audience.

[Tumnus Truck-Tour]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9KfEY-FgXk

[mrbeuys]

thanks a lot for all your constructive and well-informed opinions. as they say the money is in my court, will mull it over.

Bit late but I went through the same motions recently. Unless you need the full frame of the 5D or shoot mainly stills I would go for the 550D or possibly the 7D ( although for the price it doesn't seem to give you much more ). The video is nearly the same but the 550/7Ds allow you to shoot at higher frame rate which the 5D doesn't do yet.
I got the 5D in the end but it's a lot of money for a very specific advantage. I would echo everyone else here and say you should invest in fast L lenses etc. If you are on a budget ( and who isn't ) that is definitely money well spent and will show in your pictures.

[Fade to Black]

thanks mrbeuys for the in depth response, but I ended up going with the 5D yesterday after a long chat with my cinematography teacher who's a respected DP in the region and he urged me to get the mark ii even for my student work purposes. After shooting for two afternoons on my usual photographic stalk posts am familiarizing myself with its operation and limitations; it is handling nicely if the full frame takes some getting used to, and I like the feel of it in the hand and it's smooth controls - i found shooting in situations with one hand to be easier than Ken Rockwell warned in his review. moving on to test some video on Monday. Like you guys mentioned, it comes down to the lens, will look further into that as the term progresses.

[mrbeuys]

As a good start I can recommend the 50mm 1.4 and the 24-70mm 2.8 zoom L lens.