Used canon EOS 50D for US$800, 5D for US$1,100 - good buy???

[cityscapelover]

hey guys,

available these used 2 models in canon EOS from a photographer -
- 50D 7 months old, US$800, looks very new
- 5D 1+yr 50k+ clicks old with the extra battery pack for US$1,100, looks quite used with some worn edges

i tried using both of them with a used 17-40mm F4.0L lens (fell in love with the lens - also available for sale, price to be decided tomorrow) - the 5D has awesome width and depth already, being a large-format camera - very tempting indeed. but being 50,000 clicks old and does look used, is it worth the price, since canon claims the life to be 150,000 clicks in all? or is the 50D better value for money? or a totally new one? of course, a brand-new 5D is out of my reach

would appreciate your expert comments - its my first slr and i have NO idea...

cheers
mitesh

[Colin Southern]

Hi Mitesh,

The 5D was more or less a "Full frame version of a 20D or 30D", so it's getting pretty long in the tooth now. It could certainly take a great photo, but unless you have a compelling need for full frame, then personally, I'd go for the 50D.

[cityscapelover]

i didnt specify my intended usage thinking it'll just flow from my other threads, like i'm the only one around here! - my bad.

my interests are landscape/outdoor/architectural photography - does that make a difference? NOT looking at portraits (tho i saw some pretty funny results with the 5D at close-up with the 17-40mm!), videography or sports photography AT ALL...

[Colin Southern]

Hi Mitesh,

To be honest, it doesn't necessarily make a big difference. Full Frame and Crop-Factor cameras are different, but one isn't necessarily better than the other - even for things like landscape. It CAN however mean that ultimately you end up making different lens choices; eg on a full frame camera you might use a lens like the EF 17-40mm, whereas on the crop-factor camera you might use a lens like the EF-S 10-22mm (which will give a slightly wider field of view).

[cityscapelover]

awwww u had me sold on the 50D with the 17-40mm F4.0L in my previous thread 'which camera...', then i checked out the 5D with the same lens - awesome effect. now i'm viscillating again between 50D / 17-40mm and 50D / 10-22mm - or are they both different lens and i need both for different purposes? like i said, i'm getting a 7 month-old 50D for US$800 and a used 17-40mm also for US$800...

[Colin Southern]

awwww u had me sold on the 50D with the 17-40mm F4.0L in my previous thread 'which camera...', then i checked out the 5D with the same lens - awesome effect. now i'm viscillating again between 50D / 17-40mm and 50D / 10-22mm - or are they both different lens and i need both for different purposes? like i said, i'm getting a 7 month-old 50D for US$800 and a used 17-40mm also for US$800...

A lot of people seem to think that "wider is always better" when it comes to landscape photography, but it really isn't most of the time. I wrote an article for Singh-Ray about this a while ago ... you might find it interesting to have a read of it ...

http://singhray.blogspot.com/2009/09...-for-your.html

[cityscapelover]

an eye-opener, that one thanx

[Colin Southern]

an eye-opener, that one thanx

With landscape one is far far far more concerned with field of view, not focal length

[Glenn NK]

Mitesh:

I just popped in here a bit late because I couldn't answer any of your questions. However, yesterday I spent 1/2 hour playing with the Canon TS E f/3.5 Mark II.

While I was there, I noticed the dealer had a used 5D for sale on commission. The price is $1,100 CAD. There are no obvious marks or wear spots on the body, and I have no idea what the number of shutter actuations would be. So it would seem the price quoted to you may be a bit high considering the appearance.

One thing I've noticed the past four years on the Canon forum, is that the 5D and now the 5DII are both favourites of wedding and landscape photographers.

If I was serious about a used body, I'd take one of my CF cards, put it in the camera, close the f/stop down to at least f/16 and probably f/22. I'd take a picture of the sky (keeping away from clouds and the sun). Then I'd "develop" the image in the computer and not only check for dust blobs (they can be easily removed), but more importantly for scratches on the sensor surface. This is much more of a concern that dust spots. Because if the sensor surface has been scratched, it will be an expensive fix.

When my 30D was relative new, I was obsessive about dust spots and cleaned frequently (I use Visible Dust products). However one day I experimented with a piece of lens cleaning paper wrapped around a piece of cardboard (using the proper cleaning fluid). I scratched the surface of the sensor.

It "only" cost me about $250 to fix.

If the 5D you are looking at has a sensor scratch, I wouldn't touch it.

Of course this applies to the 50D too.

To check for scratches, you will need some processing software. You can download a trial version of Lightroom no cost. Crank up the contrast as high as possible, and any dust spots or scratches will show up. But it's important that you shoot at a small aperture - f/16, f/22 or so.

Glenn

[Colin Southern]

It "only" cost me about $250 to fix.

You're lucky ... through a sad and sorry chain of events I messed up a $7000 sensor

Lucky for me Canon - with some special fluid they had to order, and after removing the sensor from the camera twice (using a $2,000,000 machine to re-align it) managed to fix it, and after someone pulled a few strings for me, only cost me $120.

Wasn't a good couple of weeks.

[Lornek]

A lot of people seem to think that "wider is always better" when it comes to landscape photography, but it really isn't most of the time. I wrote an article for Singh-Ray about this a while ago ... you might find it interesting to have a read of it ...

http://singhray.blogspot.com/2009/09...-for-your.html

I gave that article a read Colin, but the funny thing is that to my eye...that last pic; the ultra wide angle one, really takes the cake and to me was the most successful of all of them!

[Colin Southern]

I gave that article a read Colin, but the funny thing is that to my eye...that last pic; the ultra wide angle one, really takes the cake and to me was the most successful of all of them!

Well from a commercial angle, I can tell you that the last one has sold exactly ZERO copies