50D + 17-55 vs 5D + 24-105

Just a couple of quick comparison shots now that I have both of these.

Here are a few things that stood out to me after a few days of the 5D and a year of the 50D: The 5D combination feels more solid all the way through, from the thunk of the mirror to the turn of the zoom ring. The 50D combination is faster, both in frame rate and aperture. 24mm on the 5D is noticeably wider than 17mm on the 50D. The 5D shots are a little sharper and have better detail. Image stabilizers are just amazing on both lenses. The 50D is no slouch with noise control. I've never thought twice about using it at ISO 1600, and ISO 3200 looks good in the right light. The 5D is a little cleaner at 3200, and is certainly better at 6400.

5D & 24-105, 70mm, f/5.6, 1/15

Wow, thanks for posting the ISO samples at 6400. I know that the 5D would be better at high ISO, but I didn't think it'd be this noticeable. I'll be buying my 5D2 in two weeks; looks like I won't have any regrets.

Great comparison! Just curious though, did you manually set the white balance or leave it on Auto? The 50D seems warmer as a whole.

artemisn wrote in post #13426012
Great comparison! Just curious though, did you manually set the white balance or leave it on Auto? The 50D seems warmer as a whole.

Auto white balance, although tungsten would have been more appropriate.

Here's the "real" shot with the 5D: ISO 100, f/14, 20 seconds

This confirms my experiences with the 40D/10-22 and 5D/17-40. The 5D combo was a bit sharper and looked a bit nicer in general, even at low ISO's. The differences became more apparent as you cranked up the ISO a bit. But, even though there were some differences, I was surprised at how little there actually was at lower ISO's (I mostly shoot low ISO as a landscape shooter) compared to what you read about on this forum. So, I sold the 5D combo and kept my 40D.

In fact, it wasnt until I was able to afford some ZE glass that I re-bought another full frame body because even for a landscape shooter, the differences between the two formats were not as striking as some of the threads on this forum might have you believe. However, my ZE 21 puts any other lens Ive used to shame and it is more than enough justification for my move to FF where it wasnt as warranted the first time I tried it with just a 17-40.