1ds MK II or 5D MK II to go with 50d

I currently have a 50D and have got the go ahead from my wife to get a second body. Most of my pictures are of wildlife, landscape and portraits every now and then. I have about $2500.00 to spend. I am open to other cameras also. I have read many threads but haven't found one to pair with my camera. Lets here what you people think.

Thanks Darren

Live view is pretty invaluable. I have a 5D2 and the IQ is subjectively better than that of a 1DsII. I am; however, looking to add a 1DsII to my kit.

wfarrell4 wrote in post #13336810
Live view is pretty invaluable. I have a 5D2 and the IQ is subjectively better than that of a 1DsII. I am; however, looking to add a 1DsII to my kit.

I think live view is subjective as well, as I haven't needed it with my 1dsII, and never use it with my 7D. I think the 4 main selling points of the 1DsII is the superior AF system, better build quality, the weather sealing, and the cheaper price.

If you don't need video, live view, crazy high ISO, or a smaller body the 1DsII is the way to go IMO. Also, for what its worth, I use ISO 3200 with mine and am perfectly happy with it.

5d Mk2 both have Digic 4 processors and colours will match better.

As much as I love 1 series bodies I have to say that depending on what glass you have and how close you are to a canon service center the lack of micro adjust on the 1Ds has me leaning to the 5D.

i love mine to death, however, size, weight and battery life, along with slow buffer are starting to wear on me, as is the small LCD. I just don't feel like giving up the superb AF. But lately, I have been thinking trade.

With the 5d2, you can rack up the ISO that an older 1dsII will not be able to pace. HDSLR is another great feature the large sensor 5d2 does very well. Ability to MA is important to some folks.

Rumour has it that one of the contributing reasons why the 1dsIII has slow sales (apart from the price of course) is that the 5d2 is so good IQ wise, that there's very little point in getting a 1dsIII.

^ I think the price has a whole lot more to do with the slow sales of the 1dsIII then the image quality of the 5D2.....

Definitely 5D2... Self Cleaning Sensor (a big factor for me, I often have to shoot in dusty conditions), Micro Adjust, Live View, 21MP/14 bit vs 16MP/12 bit, Digic 4 vs dual Digic 2 processors, option to use grip... (or not, if you're going hiking with the camera). ISO 25600 (though honestly I rarely use above 6400, unless I'm going to convert to B&W) vs 3200. 2"/230K LCD vs 3"/920K LCD. 2008 model vs 2004 model.

5D2 and 50D compliment each other very well... Controls, layout, menu are very similar. Just few quirks (the replay button on one is the same place as the erase button on the other... I worried about that, but never actually had a problem switching back and forth between them). MGiddings is right, default color rendition of 50D and 5DII is very similar. At times I shot with 50D and later during post processing mistakenly thought I'd shot with 5DII until I checked the EXIF.

On the other hand, the 1Ds2 is built like a tank, has a much better AF system for moving subjects, has 100% viewfinder vs 98%, dual memory card slots (though one is CF and the other is SD) and is more customizable. It also has 1/250 flash sync vs 1/200, and +/- 3 stops of Exposure Compensate vs +/- 2 stops.

The 1Ds2 has 200K rated shutter and the 5DII has 150K... Not all that different.

1Ds2 uses a 21 zone metering system, 5DII uses a 35 zone. The 1Ds2 has slightly smaller spot meter area: 2.4% vs 3.5% of viewfinder area.

Scanning over the specifications (at the Canon Camera Museum), 1Ds2 appears to have AF point linked spot metering too... That was a feature I really enjoyed having on my old EOS-3 and haven't had on any model since (7E, A2E, 10D, 30D, 50D, 5DII, 7D). Essentially, rather than simply being locked just at the center, spot metering "follows" the selected/active AF point around the viewfinder area... On EOS-3 this wasn't available for all 45 AF points, was only possible when limiting the camera to using 13 AF points via a custom function (I'd assume the 1Ds2 is the same). I loved this feature though.

5DII has video capability, too... if you need it.

All very good points. I thinks i will have some thinking to do. The one problem that has bothered me with the 1ds II was the age of the technology. Most likely would not be a factor for what i shoot but still a thought in my head.