The best canon for wildlife

Which do you think is the best canon for wildlife and why?

They're all good. Each as their own plusses.
If you're in the market, do you have a budget?

This is a very broad question some indication of price range would make things easier. Its a bit like asking what is the best car for driving on country roads.

It was meant to be a poll but the poll hasn't come up. It was between 40D, 50D 1Dmk2/mk3 1Dsmk2/mk3

Well since Anke and Neil are too pansy to give you a straight answer (:p jkjk) I'm gonna just jump into the ring and say 1D Mark III.

My vote would be the 1D MKIII

ICee wrote in post #7678008
It was meant to be a poll but the poll hasn't come up. It was between 40D, 50D 1Dmk2/mk3 1Dsmk2/mk3

Ahhh, in that case the 1D Mark III for quick fire at fast animals/birds and the 1Ds Mark III over my other shoulder for the slow stuff

Perry Ge wrote in post #7678020
Well since Anke and Neil are too pansy to give you a straight answer (:p jkjk) I'm gonna just jump into the ring and say 1D Mark III.

Hey, If i was not going to sit on the fence, my anatomy would have been designed differently.

I will go with the 1Ds MkIII with the proviso that you also have the right glass to go with it (ie all ranges up to 600 mm and fast)

If we take price out of the mix, it would have to be a 1.3x crop IDS II or III body with some long white primes.

If it is something I have to pay for, then 50D with a 100-400L

The 1DsIII is half the fps of the 1DIII. It would depend on the type of wild life, but in most situations, I think the 10fps would be preferable over the extra megapixels.

griptape wrote in post #7678257
The 1DsIII is half the fps of the 1DIII. It would depend on the type of wild life, but in most situations, I think the 10fps would be preferable over the extra megapixels.

The really good guys rarely use the "Spray & Pray" facility.

IMO you cannot take money out of the equation.

Wildlife photographer #1 has:
1D MkIII and ES 500mm f/4.0L IS USM he spent $9,600

Wildlife photographer #2 has:
40D, ES 500mm f/4.0L IS USM, ES 400 f/5.6L USM and ES 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM he spent $9,489

Who has the better kit?

neil_r wrote in post #7678378
The really good guys rarely use the "Spray & Pray" facility.

The OP never said he was really good.

I'm not one to use the spray and pray method myself, as I grew up shooting film and learned not to press the button until I was really ready to take the picture. But for sports and some wildlife (birds especially), spray and pray will give most people better results than waiting for the perfect moment (otherwise, why not just recommend a Hasselblad H3D?).

Also depends what kinda wildlife and where you're shooting. All round I would say a fixed mk III, for a number of reasons, but I also agree with Neil that the spray and pray isn't the way to get consistently good wildlife shots. Nevertheless, good FPS used well in the right situation can be valuable.

neil_r wrote in post #7678378
The really good guys rarely use the "Spray & Pray" facility.

I tend to only use about 5fps at the most. I have a 1Dmk2 and a 40D but feel as if I could use more pixels. I could get a bigger lens but I don't want the extra weight but was thinking of more mega pixels to give more chance to crop.

I'm thinking aloud here and any ideas are welcome.

Iain.