Dedicated wildlife set-up, 7d or 5d3 ?

I am thinking of going from my 7d to a 5d3, has anyone else done this and regretted it ?
The reason is, i am wanting to do more with my new 400mm f5.6 lens and 1.4TC.
I know without a TC i will loose reach going FF instead of a crop sensor, but will i loose IQ by cropping my images to achieve the same results ?
I will also gain on auto focus by going to the 5d3 with my TC.
Looking through the 5d3 section and comparing them with 7d images the 5d3 look much cleaner, better colours and sharper.
I have a 60d for everyday use, which i find often produces better quality shots than my 7d does.
Thanks.

Cropping and resizing that crop will produce lesser iq but using a 1.4x will create either an equal or better result.

Heya,

Pixel density matters here. Cropping for the same field of view should be a last ditch effort.

Also, don't confuse camera output quality with people's post processing. You'd have to compare SOOC images for "better color, sharper, cleaner." Unless you're talking about ISO, that is definitely cleaner on the 5D3.

Very best,

This shows what 2 stops difference looks like between the 7D and 5D3. The 5D3 is a bit dirtier at 6400 than the 7D at 1600, just a tad, so I think it is about 1 2/3 stops better.

you could always go for a good 2nd hand 1D MKiv

I tried full frame and missed the reach, the MKiv's 1.3 crop is much better, the AF is excellent and 10fps is insane.

Thanks guys, some good info coming in.

bx338 wrote in post #16759958
I am thinking of going from my 7d to a 5d3, has anyone else done this and regretted it ?
The reason is, i am wanting to do more with my new 400mm f5.6 lens and 1.4TC.
I know without a TC i will loose reach going FF instead of a crop sensor, but will i loose IQ by cropping my images to achieve the same results ?
I will also gain on auto focus by going to the 5d3 with my TC.
Looking through the 5d3 section and comparing them with 7d images the 5d3 look much cleaner, better colours and sharper.
I have a 60d for everyday use, which i find often produces better quality shots than my 7d does.
Thanks.

Post some examples of shots you've been disappointed with from your 7D, maybe you can get some advice on how different settings can improve things for you. What ISO's are you using ? Only low light high ISO shots will show much of a difference. With wildlife reach is everything, a TC will will work on your 400/5.6 with high contrast targets in good light if you tape the pins. http://www.michaelfurt​man.com/taping_the_pin​s.htm

As MalVeaux has already pointed out, don't compare someone else's finished product shot to yours. They may be way more accomplished than you in post processing giving you false hope about an upgrade.

Have you mfa'd your lenses on the 7d?
For that shot , you would want spot AF, to cut thru the branches, what AF mode was used?

It is very clear on that shot that the bird is outside the focus area, and instead the leaves/branches in the front are in focus. This is either a MFA lens thing, or the incorrect AF mode was used (like all points, etc). The last thing I would bring up is that I am not convinced 1/500th at 400mm on an 18mpx sensor is fast enough to stop all blur, even with IS. You may want to run your shutter speed up a bit.

The 40D image isn't particularly clear either. The same problem most likely occurred here, 1/125 at 560mm is entirely too slow for shooting wildlife.

In summary, with the 7D:
- turn ALO off
- MFA your lenses to your body
- Make sure your shutter speeds are at least 1/(1.6 x focal length), even with IS, especially due to the 18mpx dense APS-C sensor
- When shooting birds in the middle of leaves and branches, go to spot AF

I have both the 7D and the 5D III. From my experience, I like the results I get from the 5D III with the 1.4 III TC a bit better. The sharpness is still there and I can crop tighter. I know that the general consensus is that a TC will degrade sharpness, but I'm not having that problem. The only issue I can think of is that the TC combo doesn't auto focus quite as fast and is limited to f/8, so that's something you may want to consider. And before the 7D owners get up in arms, yes, I've taken many pleasing photos with the 7D + 100-400 combo.

I call that exact thing out in my mini review between the 7d and 5d3.

I changed from 7D to 5D mk111, the 7D was excellent up to 800, when I went up to 1600 I was never happy of the noise, processing it gave me loss of detail.
Full frame, cropping and the 1.4x should be OK, for those very long range shots where you have good lighting I would use your 60d.

Post processing is definitely an art that has to be developed and tools used are very important, much like the actual photography itself. Here is a 100% crop from a 7d at 6400. Bottom is camera jpg, middle is a tweaked raw to jpg, top is processed.

Thanks for the info, im fairly new to photography so still a lot to learn.
At the moment we are stuck with cloudy days and bad light (that explains the shutter speeds) so i cant give a good example to show you, these were just two quick grab shots in my garden.
Please could you explain ALO & MFA ?

Auto light optimizer - I find it produces noisier images at least in my workflow.

Micro focus adjustment - tweaking AF values per lens on your 7d or 5d3 using well lit controlled testing conditions