7D II OR 1D IV a do-all camera?

You said you shoot sports and BIF. The 5D3 has a smaller buffer than the 1D4, which could be limiting if you do a lot of continuous shooting.

Since you shoot subjects at a distance, you might want to consider this...

The 7D2 has a smaller fov than the 1D4 (1.6 vs 1.3 sensor size).
A 400mm lens on the 1D4 would produce the same fov that a 520mm lens would on FF.
A 400mm lens on the 7D2 would produce the same fov that a 640mm lens would on FF.

This may or may not be important for your type of shooting.

If you crop the 1D4 image until it has the same fov of the 7D2 (any mm lens), you'd be left with a 10.6mp image.

If you can get a 1D IV jump on it. I bought mine new and it is irreplaceable for what it does in IQ for Birds in Flight.

The 7D is a great camera in a smaller lighter package, I don't see anything in the 7D II threads that shows IQ to be any different than the original 7D, and I'm finally getting to the point where I can definitely see that operator experience and skill makes the difference. I'm almost at the point where I would say get what you want and grow with it. That's my first recommendation: that a person take a camera and 'make it improve' for results. If you are already accomplished and your work shows it, get the 1D MK IV, you've earned it.

The 1DIV is my go to camera except for portrait or landscape, which I do infrequently, where the 5DIII is my choice.
My 7D has just sat in the bag the past few months.

One nice thing about the 7D2 is that it's super quiet. For work I use a 1D3 and that beast has turned heads more than once in quiet settings, not to mention the pro golfer who pretty much wanted to kick my a** after missing a putt. And I was a good 40 yds. away... lol

The quiet shutter does appeal to me.
I was shooting eagles this morning and an eagle perched on a deadfall tree in the middle of the river a good 110 yds from me would look at me every time my 70d's shutter would smack and I know it's not as loud as that found on a 1d4.

I use 1Dm4 for everythinggggg...it's been through everythinggg

5Dm3 is great too though....


7Dm2 is ...."I don't want to go broke."


1Dx = you'll have for the next 15yrs lol.

merp wrote in post #17299880
I use 1Dm4 for everythinggggg...it's been through everythinggg

5Dm3 is great too though....


7Dm2 is ...."I don't want to go broke."


1Dx = you'll have for the next 15yrs lol.

Thanks for the input, what all do you shoot with the 1d4?

merp wrote in post #17299880
[..]
1Dx = you'll have for the next 15yrs lol.

LOL. Or, it'll take me 15 years to pay the balance on my credit card.

The ability and quality of the 5D3, and to a lessor extent the 7D2 are about the only things that make Canon's decision to drop the 1D line tolerable.

For so long we had the 1D at $4.5K and the 1Ds at $7k. The 1D line really did it all for a lot of people. The 5D/5D2 offered FF, but with crippled feature set. The 7D brought features but with 1.6X.

The 1DX is really just a 1Ds with the speed of a 1D, but the price of a 1Ds.

Fortunately, you really can do pretty much everything that the last generation 1D and 1Ds were capable of with the 5D3....and the 1D4 is still very much relevant.

I also have both and most often reach for the 1D.

On holiday, I take a Pana GX1

OK... an ignorant question: I know the 1D IV is a great camera for wildlife and sports. What lenses would one use for landscapes, etc.? As you can see in my signature, I have a couple very nice landscape lenses that are designed for crop cameras like my 7D 2.

JVthePT wrote in post #17298026
I am contemplating selling both my 70D and 6D for a do-all body. I shoot sports, wildlife BIF (eagles mostly), portraits and some landscape (not much, though).
I get frustrated with the small buffer on the 70D, the poor ISO performance and on the 6d the lack of AF points and the very slow FPS cause me some headache.
I would really like a single body solution. I will consider the 5D III but the slow FPS seems like it would frustrate me.
Any thoughts?

IMHO The 5D3 is the most flexible camera Canon makes. I don't shoot a lot of sports, but wildlife, leaning towards birds is my main subject matter. There I find the 5D3 FPS to be more than adequate. almost perfect.

Of the two you mention, I'd likely go for the 1D4, but I have yet to get my hands on the 7D2, so I am not yet a viable judge. I base it solely on my preference for the 1.3x crop.

Phoenixkh wrote in post #17309393
OK... an ignorant question: I know the 1D IV is a great camera for wildlife and sports. What lenses would one use for landscapes, etc.? As you can see in my signature, I have a couple very nice landscape lenses that are designed for crop cameras like my 7D 2.

Having shot 1D 1.3x series almost exclusively since 2004ish, I use a number of affordable lenses for these situations.

When you say landscapes, do you mean "wide angle" The 17-40mm is a great affordable L wide angle zoom that does good work on 1.3x sensors.

for portrait work the 85mm f/1.8 and 135L are excellent. Also the 28mm f.1.8 is very useful.

The 40mm pancake makes a decent portrait lens too.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17309423
IMHO The 5D3 is the most flexible camera Canon makes. I don't shoot a lot of sports, but wildlife, leaning towards birds is my main subject matter. There I find the 5D3 FPS to be more than adequate. almost perfect.

Of the two you mention, I'd likely go for the 1D4, but I have yet to get my hands on the 7D2, so I am not yet a viable judge. I base it solely on my preference for the 1.3x crop.

Funny you say that as I'm really strongly considering going with a 5d3. I'm just not sure I want to give up that FF goodness and go exclusively with a crop sensor. I really love the IQ and low light performance of my 6d.