The DSLR thread

[dinny_g]

A full frame Canon 6D which is now a bit long in the tooth.

MkI or MkII

I want a full frame body but can't justify a 5D for what I use it for. Is the MkII 6D any good ??

[GG.]

Mk I - I've had it since 2011. Can't quite believe it has been that long! It was (is) very good. Focusing not as fast as a 5D so if you're using it for a lot of action photography the 5D is the one to get.

I do prefer the slightly larger grip on the 5D series so I would have plumped for that but the extra price was too much at the time. I'm now in a quandry as to whether to updgrade to a 5D as the MkIV is now long in the tooth and its not clear whether a MkV will be introduced or whether they'll phase out in favour of their mirrorless line.

[dinny_g]

I think I need to scratch the old skool full frame itch before I inevitably switch to mirrorless. But I can't justify £2.5k for a body.

I re-started out on DSLR years back with a 700D but have always tried to spend money on the lenses and ensure they're EF mounts (including a 70-200 F2.8l IS mk II) - I just never got around to the body upgrade.

[Orange Cola]

[mention]dinny_g[/mention] my 90D turned up this morning and I’m the 20 or so shots I’ve taken on it already with just one lens I can tell a big difference already. I plan on picking up a 24-105mm F4 Lens now.

[dinny_g]

Nice...

what was your decision process behind choosing that particular body ??

[Orange Cola]

I’d just knackered the SD card slot on my 700D which rendered it dead. I recalled at the time I bought it I had the option of spending more and getting a wireless model, but didn’t think I’d need it Then the repair quotes are coming back high, plus all repair places are shut for the foreseeable.

I wanted to go full frame eventually but that’s a long way off and likely second hand especially with mirrorless making a big change to cameras, so I set out to replace the 700d with something that would work with all of my kit. I’ve been on a few courses and although I enjoy the 700d I have hit limitations I know don’t exist with other cameras, some of it functionality and some of it quality in picture. I set out looking for the modern equivalent replacement and then looked for the best crop frame (APS-C) camera I could find and compared the two. Although expensive I felt the reviews and functionality of the 90D warranted the extra spend given I was looking at 60-70% of the cost on something lower in the range anyway. The reviews described the 90D as having a lot of full frame camera functionality and quality and that an amateur or semi-professional user wouldn’t necessarily need to go up to full frame with a 90D.

After a play around on a walk this evening I feel I’m now getting the most out of my lenses with a marked improvement in quality already and I’m keen to buy a full frame lens next, likely the 24-105mm f4. I’m also trying a lot of different types of photography from cars, scenery, moving objects, astronomy and the 90D is a good all rounder with fast focussing, a high MP sensor, loads more focal points (45 up from 9...), more ISO options, better quality sensor, 100% view finder, wireless capability (for when I kill the SD card slot...), better button layout etc etc.

It also appears a company called HDEW are a decent place to buy from and can save you a packet if you don’t mind grey imports which are still warranted locally by the supplier rather than Canon (but still an official canon lens)

[GG.]

Also look at DigitalRev if you want an import. My 6D and 17-40 L were from there. It got stopped on the way in for duty and they paid it! Can't say fairer than that.

Other option particularly for lenses is buy second hand. As long as they're well looked after they will last almost indefinitely. Same can't be said for shutters, etc.

[Matty]

I've got a D5100, but it just never comes out the box any more. Pictures are brilliant, but not enough that it's worth lugging a bag around when I can just pop my phone out for a quick snap.

[KiwiDave]

[mention]Orange Cola[/mention] One of my two roles is running the imaging team at one of NZ's biggest museums producing work like this. Currently have three photographers but many of the staff there also do imaging as part of their work day to day and I manage the whole equipment inventory.

Other half of the job is archiving and preserving all the data forever.

[KiwiDave]

[My go to is a 35mm 1.4 which is actually even wider - maybe something like a 24mm on a crop body.

Yeah for my personal stuff the majority of my images are shot on a Canon 35 f/1.4L (which I'd like to upgrade to the MkII but I rarely actually ever shoot stuff for myself any more so not much point). I find that lens on a FF body has a sweet spot - the thing you're focusing on needs to be roughly 4-6ft away and there's another worldly sense of three-dimensionality from it. Also makes a banging landscape lens.

[dinny_g]

Whats your view on the 6D Mk II Dave ??

Bit long in the tooth now maybe and due a MkIII - 3 years old now

£1000 is with my price range for a FF but not £2500 for the 5D

[GG.]

[My go to is a 35mm 1.4 which is actually even wider - maybe something like a 24mm on a crop body.

Yeah for my personal stuff the majority of my images are shot on a Canon 35 f/1.4L (which I'd like to upgrade to the MkII but I rarely actually ever shoot stuff for myself any more so not much point). I find that lens on a FF body has a sweet spot - the thing you're focusing on needs to be roughly 4-6ft away and there's another worldly sense of three-dimensionality from it. Also makes a banging landscape lens.

Yep its a beautiful all rounder. Apparently the mkII (not sure if you've used it?) is sharper but bokeh perhaps not quite so good so not sure if it will have lost some of the magic.

[Orange Cola]

[mention]KiwiDave[/mention] wow, that’s quite a good job you’ve got there I take it NZ is going well?

[mention]GG.[/mention] thanks, I’ll take a look but I quite like the idea of a grey import that’s already in the UK with a UK warranty

[dinny_g]

All of my kit was bought from Hong Kong (apart from the 70-200). Covered under warranty but any claim would have to be sent back to Hong Kong for maintenance.

Then we had a house break-in and all my kit was stolen. thanks to the Insurance claim, all my kit is now UK supplied and covered by UK Warranty.

Every cloud...

[JonMad]

A friend has just got a 90D and is pleased with it. Similarly he wanted the fast focusing, as he does a bit of bird photography.

It also appears a company called HDEW are a decent place to buy from and can save you a packet if you don’t mind grey imports which are still warranted locally by the supplier rather than Canon (but still an official canon lens)

I looked at HDEW for an 80D. Way cheaper than Amazon. Not decided to go for it yet, though I'm getting more and more errors (requiring a switch off/on) with my 40D. Though I only paid £100 for that from a friend some 6 years ago, including 3 batteries. And that was to replace a 30D that I bought from someone on here 10 years ago, sorry I can't remember who that was

Great product shots from your colleague there [mention]KiwiDave[/mention].

[Orange Cola]

I’ve just ordered a bag for my camera after being woken up during the night by the cat tripping over it whilst it was sat on a large flat table with loads of space around it. Clumsy fucker

[KiwiDave]

Thanks for the comments gents - if any of you are interested, main thing to note with our work is we shoot it as per old school film - as in it's correct in camera with zero post production. Done for reasons of preserving the digital files forever basically. So all those product shots are achieved through lighting and technique only.

6DII is essentially a 5D MkII in drag with a few of the features taken off in a less rugged body. You'd maybe remember the 5D MkII essentially re-wrote the rule book for cameras in being the first usable DSLR for filming. I had one on order when released but found it to be an excellent sensor in a shit camera so waited and waited and bought a MkIII when they came out. So in short, 6D2 - good sensor even now in a reasonable but not amazing camera, but that is in context to other FF cameras. Still kick the shit out of any crop cameras.

It's worth noting we have probably somewhere in the region of about 600k GBP in equipment and cane choose anything we want really - we still choose to use Canon over all the other options as the lens range is exceptional (we run all of the new L series TSE lenses for instance and no-one makes anything else like it) but also because they're still about the only company who open sourced their SDK so there are millions of apps that work with them. In a high production environment those things are worth ANY differences you might see in other systems. Plus in NZ, they're the only company with onshore support.

[mik]

main thing to note with our work is we shoot it as per old school film - as in it's correct in camera with zero post production. Done for reasons of preserving the digital files forever basically. So all those product shots are achieved through lighting and technique only.

[Orange Cola]

[mention]KiwiDave[/mention] that’s quite something, it seems everyone is into post processing these days.

What differences do you notice between APS-C and FF? Then within the FF cameras what do you notice again?

Is it worth going second hand on an older FF compared to brand new?

[GG.]

The big one you notice immediately is that for any given focal length and f stop (comparing like for like adjusting for the crop factor), you get much shallower depth of field with a FF DSLR.