When I was getting Hannah's camera, the 3D Mk II was on the list (but a bit pricey, TBH). Her reaction was that it's too heavy & the balance felt wrong. But she was brought up with (and still had) film cameras, so heaven knows what she was used to...
What she discovered was that a slightly older body (30D) felt a lot more like she was used to, and it's a damned good camera with good enough spec. Certainly not up to the 5D Mk II on spec, but the pics are just as good in anything but the most extreme conditions - which we've yet to find... (ISO 640/800 is fine on the 30D, but when you get to 1600 there's a little grain - which personally I like. With the 5D Mk II you can probably get to ISO 3200/6400 before seeing a similar effect)
Downsides with a 5D Mk II (IMO) are: full frame means no magnification (its useful sometimes, and also it means not all lenses will fit it - the more expensive ones probably will though). Also, 21MPix means file sizes will be huge - affecting both memory card and computer storage. You can print 3Mpix to A3 and not see any degredation, so why do you need more than 6-10? (Unless you're cropping in, to get more detail in something too far away). Good sides: full frame means low light performance is better. It's the first (IIRC) Canon with decent frame rate / video. And, of course, it's built properly and is a bloody decent camera... (Not as good as Nikon, of course, but... *ducks*)
Seriously, though, I'd consider second hand. These things are built to last, and second hand through a dealer gives you a reasonable warranty. It also means you can select a shop with a variety of bodies (online stock listings are great), and try them out with your own lenses (to check all the functions work - some older / non-Canon lenses don't autofocus, or it's manual aperature, etc). That means you get a body that fits your mitts and your bits, and that you're comfortable just picking up & using...
When I was getting Hannah's camera, the 3D Mk II was on the list (but a bit pricey, TBH). Her reaction was that it's too heavy & the balance felt wrong. But she was brought up with (and still had) film cameras, so heaven knows what she was used to...
What she discovered was that a slightly older body (30D) felt a lot more like she was used to, and it's a damned good camera with good enough spec. Certainly not up to the 5D Mk II on spec, but the pics are just as good in anything but the most extreme conditions - which we've yet to find... (ISO 640/800 is fine on the 30D, but when you get to 1600 there's a little grain - which personally I like. With the 5D Mk II you can probably get to ISO 3200/6400 before seeing a similar effect)
Downsides with a 5D Mk II (IMO) are: full frame means no magnification (its useful sometimes, and also it means not all lenses will fit it - the more expensive ones probably will though). Also, 21MPix means file sizes will be huge - affecting both memory card and computer storage. You can print 3Mpix to A3 and not see any degredation, so why do you need more than 6-10? (Unless you're cropping in, to get more detail in something too far away).
Good sides: full frame means low light performance is better. It's the first (IIRC) Canon with decent frame rate / video. And, of course, it's built properly and is a bloody decent camera... (Not as good as Nikon, of course, but... *ducks*)
Seriously, though, I'd consider second hand. These things are built to last, and second hand through a dealer gives you a reasonable warranty. It also means you can select a shop with a variety of bodies (online stock listings are great), and try them out with your own lenses (to check all the functions work - some older / non-Canon lenses don't autofocus, or it's manual aperature, etc). That means you get a body that fits your mitts and your bits, and that you're comfortable just picking up & using...
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