Best Full Frame DSLR under $2,500?

[niksa06]

Hi all,
I am looking to purchase a new full frame DSLR for the reason to be able to print large format pictures, i.e, poster size.

I was looking into the canon 5d mark II but I don't know if that is the BEST fit for me.
I need something that can be able to print formats to 36inches by 24inches (poster size).

So give me some insight on a good set and a good deal around Christmas time so I can talk my parents into buying one for me as a Christmas gift.

Thanks,
Nick

[Clactonian]

Nick, you don't say what you are looking to photograph and print to poster size, which may have a bearing on your choice.
I take it you are referring to Us dollars?

[niksa06]

I am looking to photograph scenery in my free time but also models and fashion photography.
My dad and brother are musicians and they would like some photos of them printed out in poster size for upcoming shows. With my knowledge in Photoshop, I would be able to do this for them, I just can't do that now with my nikon d60.

[Clactonian]

Your choice would seem to be from either the Canon 5D or the Sony 850. The latter has more pixels but is reportedly slower and noisier.
You don't say if you have any other Nikon lenses but the full frame Nikons apart from the D3X, which is much more expensive, have many fewer pixels, so would in any case probably rule themselves out.
Mind you Moose Peterson the well known American wild life photographer reckoned that he could produce poster sized prints from a Nikon D2H!

[niksa06]

That's what I was thinking of purchasing. Thanks for the suggestions Mike!

[Donald]

Is it a given that in order to produce posters at the size to which you refer, you need a full frame camera?

From where does the information come that you couldn't do this with a camera with a crop sensor?

[niksa06]

The resolution would be lost with a crop sensor camera. The largest I can print now with my nikon D60 is about 16in x 9in. That's fine, but when taking pictures of models for posters, it would come out blurry and not sharp.

[JonathanC]

I've done 20" X 30" with a Nikon D70s (6Mp), so you should be able to do that with a D60 (10Mp) easily.
The resolution is lost with a crop sensor how exactly? That would imply that the extra megapixels are somehow blurred together in anything with a crop sensor wouldn't it? I've not seen that, even at 12 Mp with my D90.
I'm not convinced that you need to spend all that money on a camera without more data.
It could be that you are looking for the better low light performance of the full frame sensor, is that it?
Seems like something way cheaper could be your way forward.

[Donald]

I've done 20" X 30" with a Nikon D70s (6Mp), so you should be able to do that with a D60 (10Mp) easily.

My point also. Which is why I was asking from where you got the information that you needed a full frame. Unless you're printing for obsessive pixel peepers, then I would have thought your D60 was perfectly capable of giving you the sizes you're looking for.

[mythlady]

I've done posters with my Canon Rebel, and they came out fine. Maybe not the level of fine art, but for posters . . .

[PopsPhotos]

Fellow down in Southern California did a 40" by 60" of a dragster taking off with his 6Mp D40 It came out quite well.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/Images/jp..._1409-1200.jpg

North Coast Photo lab. Motorsports photographer of the year Richard Shute.

I take my D40 and D70 images to 16x20 all the time.

Pops

[Glenn NK]

Whenever I read "what is the best . . . . . ", I think of a electronic music site I frequent. The host often gets the question, "what is the best sound card?", and the question drives him mad.

There is no one best anything, what is best is based to a large degree on a subjective evaluation.

What matters in photography isn't the camera, but the user. Read my sig.

I apologize for the rant, but the answer will be meaningless unless an extremely detailed list of requirements are provided along with the question.

Glenn

[rpcrowe]

Scott Kelby in, The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers explains a technique for producing poster size (24' x 36") prints from 6mp images using Photoshop. I am sure that the more recent Scott Kelby Adobe Photoshop books have similar information.

[Rob Douglas]

I've done 40"X60" prints of sports/motorsports shots taken with my Canon 50D using a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM & 300mm f/2.8 IS USM and they where tack sharp! Even my pixel peeking wife (my best & worst critic) was amazed. The image quality will also be greatly influenced by the glass you use.

[Howker]

At a recent Epson printer expo I saw there new wide format printer that has a continuous roll of photo paper print a 60" x 40" print taken form a RAW file using the new Nikon D7000. It was fantastic, pin sharp but the whole setup was strictly for the pro's & cost mega bucks! The point is the D7000 is NOT a full frame sensor camera.

[MiniChris]

I made a 13 x 19 color print the other day from a D7000 file and it was simply stunning. It was made on a Epson 2880 which is an 8 color printer. Pinpoint to the nth degree.

[Crovean]

I did a 20 x 30 using my iPhone.