Pro advice needed

I am thinking seriously about upgrading from my Canon 50D to a 5D because of its 21 mp's and its video capacity.
Ninety percent of my photography is outdoor wildlife.
Any advice regarding pro's or cons of doing this will be greatly appreciated. I do have to say so far I have heard nothing of a negative nature about the 5D.

Best to you,

Spinner

You will have to buy longer lenses. The 5D2 is full-frame, 50D is APS-c. To get the same field of view on the 5D2 you will need a lens 1.6 times longer than on the 50D. That can get expensive.

I assume you mean the 5DII rather than the 5D, which is 12mp. For wildlife you would likely be better off with a newer crop camera like the 7D. The extra "reach" you get with your longer lenses is a benefit and the enhanced focusing system is a plus on the 7D as well. The 5DII focusing system is better suited for portrait and landscape work.

I just recently sold my 50D. It was a fantastic camera! I used it along side of my 5DII. If I were shooting wildlife, I would reach for the 50D before the 5DII just for the crop. I also preferred it for sports shooting with the extra reach and the higher frame rate. The only reason I got rid of it was because I needed an even faster frame rate for equine sports. I went with a 7D. If wildlife is your thing, I think you should keep the 50D unless you can afford a 1D Mark IV.

Bob

I've moved from the 30D to the 5D2and the return to full frame is heavensent. Because my lens choices were made back in the days of 35mm film I've not needed to change any of my glass.

I also found the switch remarkably easy, unlike the nightmare time I had switching from a Nikon FA to Canons Eos-3.

I guess most of it's been said, but I'll offer my $0.02 in too.

There's no doubt that a full frame camera can be used for great wildlife photography but it requires long lenses. I know a semi-pro wildlife photographer working in South Africa, who uses a 1Ds3 (very similar sensor to the 5D2) ... she mostly uses a 300/2.8 or 600/4 and frequently adds a 1.4x. This suggests that "getting close enough" can need a lens of around 800mm focal length on full frame. The same effect can be had using a 500mm lens on a 1.6x crop.

Since a lot of wildlife photography is done at dawn and dusk when focus is difficult, I would be more inclined to go for a 1D3 rather than the 5D2. If you were thinking of 5D3 I would probably stick to that selection rather than a 1D4 - essentially because the autofocus system and resolution are comparable and you trade off versatility against frame rate.

Sorry it is the 5D11 I am interested in. I have listed the equipment I am now using below and still will use the lenses I have on the new body. Frankly I cannot afford to be buying new glass when there is nothing wrong with these in fact their all new.
Perhaps its not worth it????

Spinner

Canon 50-D
Canon IS L Series Lenses
70-200
100-300
Canon 1.4 Extender
Sigma 150-500 F5-6.3 DG OS HSM

If you're a wildlife shooter, I think you'd be better served with a 1DIII or 7D so you don't lose that crop factor.

Spinner, I do alot of wildlife too. I was shooting a 7/5D2 combo. However, what I found was that while FF is awesome, for someone that focuses on widlife, it just doesn't work. So my 5d2 is for sale and I am adding a second 7d.

It would, IMHO, be a bad idea to give up your crop for FF. Learn to get a little closer. 10 yards would make a bigger difference than having to crop.

What's your current longest lens? If you have a 400+ it will be expensive to compensate for the crop factor, if you are 300 or under without a TC than lenses like the 300 f/4 and 400 f/5.6 are fairly affordable and you can add the 1.4 TC.

I'd say the best wildlife camera right now is the 7D (well maybe the 1D because of the speed, but the 7D is much cheaper and still does 8 fps and has a great AF system, plus it's a 1.6 crop with an awesome sensor). Get one of those.

gonzogolf wrote in post #14677841
I assume you mean the 5DII rather than the 5D, which is 12mp. For wildlife you would likely be better off with a newer crop camera like the 7D. The extra "reach" you get with your longer lenses is a benefit and the enhanced focusing system is a plus on the 7D as well. The 5DII focusing system is better suited for portrait and landscape work.

+1!

At this point after all that has been said here and research done elsewhere it looks like the 7D is the way to go for my needs.
I appreciate the advice everyone and thank you for posting.

Spinner

Spinner of Tales wrote in post #14679308
At this point after all that has been said here and research done elsewhere it looks like the 7D is the way to go for my needs.

good move (unless you're willing to upgrade the lens) and accept the inferior AF of the 5D2
(but I'm not a pro so take this advice with a grain of salt)