Help with arithmetic - 5D - 1DIII - 40D

Objective: I have a 5D I love landscapes but also love birding. With the 5D this doesn't compute unless I spend £3 grand on a fast prime telephoto (+ TC).

Idea #1 is: Sell 5D and get a 1DIII 1.3 crop which will take my (100-)400 to effective 520mm and with 1.4 TC to effective 728mm and keep autofocus. Probably my lens won't do well with a 2xTc, so I'll stop at that.

Whilst this would sacrifice landscape FOV it might be a reasonable compromise?

Idea #2 is: Keep the 5D (with resale price plumetting and all) and get a 40D 1.6 crop which will give me effective 640 and with 1.4 TC effective 896 taped pins for AF as with the 5D and I read of probs on 40D with this.

Idea 1 is much more expensive but weather sealing and great frame rate is a big plus for me (though the 40D is no slouch here).

Am I mad, just plain stupid or what? If it's a no-brainer which way to go please let me know.

Jamie

1D3 would find the middle ground between FF and 1.6x crop factors, give you higher frame rate than 40D, great high iso noise performance, and weather sealing.

But I love my 40D .

shoshone wrote in post #4465145
Objective: I have a 5D I love landscapes but also love birding. With the 5D this doesn't compute unless I spend £3 grand on a fast prime telephoto (+ TC).

Idea #1 is: Sell 5D and get a 1DIII 1.3 crop which will take my (100-)400 to effective 520mm and with 1.4 TC to effective 728mm and keep autofocus. Probably my lens won't do well with a 2xTc, so I'll stop at that.

Whilst this would sacrifice landscape FOV it might be a reasonable compromise?

Idea #2 is: Keep the 5D (with resale price plumetting and all) and get a 40D 1.6 crop which will give me effective 640 and with 1.4 TC effective 896 taped pins for AF as with the 5D and I read of probs on 40D with this.

Idea 1 is much more expensive but weather sealing and great frame rate is a big plus for me (though the 40D is no slouch here).

Am I mad, just plain stupid or what? If it's a no-brainer which way to go please let me know.

Jamie

Maybe keep the 5D and pick up a used 20D?

Bob_A wrote in post #4465194
Maybe keep the 5D and pick up a used 20D?

That or

just crop the 5D image. The crop factor has been talked about in many thread to not make that big of a difference and you can just crop the 5D image to make it 1.6x or 1.3x

Now if it is FPS you want, then I would move to a different body.

I use a 5D with 24-70 f2.8 for landscapes and photos, and a20D with 70-200 f2.8 IS with a Canon 2x doubler with great results. I have sold several pictures taken with each. The autofocus works with this setup on the 20D. No taped pins, no problems. I use a third 20D to swap other lenses on for macro and such.

Grentz wrote in post #4465253
That or

just crop the 5D image. The crop factor has been talked about in many thread to not make that big of a difference and you can just crop the 5D image to make it 1.6x or 1.3x

Now if it is FPS you want, then I would move to a different body.

Done that but you know despite the 12.8 on the 5D....I think the crop sensors to a better job right there on the sensor than the PP I've done on the 5D. However maybe others do better?

Sasquatch41 wrote in post #4465342
I use a 5D with 24-70 f2.8 for landscapes and photos, and a20D with 70-200 f2.8 IS with a Canon 2x doubler with great results. I have sold several pictures taken with each. The autofocus works with this setup on the 20D. No taped pins, no problems. I use a third 20D to swap other lenses on for macro and such.

However the 20D with a 100-400 +1.4 would call for pin taping, let alone a 2xTC surely? IIUC only a 1 series body will autofocus this lens with a 1.4.

First off, not sure anyone has been happy with the 40D 100-400L, TC, and taped pins, so that is a no go area.
If you are thinking about a 1D MK3, then you can prob just about afford it, so go for it, the 100-400 on a 40D in poor light is a no go for birding, but on a 1dMK3 you can shoot and get good results at 1600 ISO.
Funny I was really worried about the difference in the crop over a 40D and 1D MK3, and actually using them it has not effected me to much shooting football, though birding you may miss it a little, still the 1D MK3 is a great all rounder you will not be disappointed

Why not pick up a used 1d classic for around $800 or so to see if you really need high FPS and weather sealing? If it's not to your liking, you can easily flip it and not really loose $$.

I'm happy with my 40D 100-400 + 1.4Kenko TC with taped pins... a little slow on focus at times but not often in good light which you pretty much need for the 100-400 anyway...

I've also just tried the Sigma 80-400 with taped pins and the Kenko 1.4 TC and it works very well even in low light at the short end and works at the long end (400) in overcast daylight (Australian summer, so not dark) - it can hunt a bit but it seems okay for still shots. It has difficulty at the long end in low light, but as Monty said, these slower long lenses aren't really useful in low light in any case.

I tried it with the centre focus point only in one shot mode, and I haven't tried AI Servo.

So the only point I'm making is that the taped pins work on the 40D (on mine at least), possibly through the 1.5 firmware update - I didn't try with the 1.3 firmware but I read that others had trouble with it then.

A 500 f4 would be a much better option than the above, but it is a bit costly for me atm

Check eBay for 1D Mark II's. I just picked one up for $1700. I'm hoping it will be a great birding camera. 45 point focus. It will still focus the 100-400 with a 2x on it. Amazing build quality. Weatherproofing. Hard to beat it for only a few hundred more than a 40D.

I would go for the MKIII, you won't be able to stop using it.

Try looking for a 1d MARK IIn maybe $2600 then look at BH for their used 300 F2.8 for 2700!!!! Both 4 litlle more than the MARKIII body.

monty28428 wrote in post #4465644
I'm happy with my 40D 100-400 + 1.4Kenko TC with taped pins... a little slow on focus at times but not often in good light which you pretty much need for the 100-400 anyway...

Have you upgraded your firmware, maybe the latest firmware upgrade made a difference?