Whaaa? Nikon D2x? Wait a second, Canon 5D?

Ok, big dilema here.

Due to an unfortunate event with my wife and my 1D MKII, it no longer works. Good thing it is insured and will be getting something to replace it. Sadly, I've been bitten by the pro-body bug and really fear buying a non-pro body. Maybe I'm just shallow.

Anyway, I'm looking for non-biased advice from the group here as to my options. My photography is typically wildlife, i.e. going to Yellowstone to take pictures of buffalo, wolves, bears, etc. I also enjoy greatly taking wide angle landscapes though.

My current Canon glass:
Canon 20-35mm f/2.8L
Canon 50mm f/1.8
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L
2x Extender

Now, the 1D2 has been pretty good to me if not a tad bit noisy for my tastes. I really like super crisp, sharp images.

So, could anyone give some advice on these choices? I do not want to spend more than $1500. Probably around $1000 will be more likely. If I could afford it, I probably would go 5D Mk II, but don't say that, I'm not spending that money.

1. Canon 5D Classic - Full-frame, may help my landscape photos, but loses pro body and is a meager 3fps

2. Canon 1Ds Classic - Keeps the pro-body but doesn't seem like people still like this model

and also:o:o:o the scariest option,

3. Sell all Canon gear and buy a Nikon D2x or D2x(s) - Keep the pro body, get an awesome line of old MF nikors but will I lose in the long run with telephoto for wildlife?

Please give me your most helpful advice. I may post this on other forums so don't be alarmed. I'm also open to other ideas as well.

Help me out!!
Aaron

5D (2)

I'm biased .

how about 1D Mark II N ?
i got the 1D Mark II and really liked it . Just a bit ,..... noisey

Used 1D III prices have dropped remarkably in the last little while - can your budget stretch that far? A very, very fine camera for the money.

Why not a 1ds mk2 ? Some can be found cheaper then the 5d mk2s.

Might dig one up for a lil over 1,500.

1DsII's and 1DIII's go for closer to $2000, and the OP isn't spending that much.

1DIIN or 5D. Any noise advantage the 5D has will be lost if you crop, so go with the one that suits you better. Maybe just get another 1DII and put the extra few hundred towards a longer lens?

Oh, and if you think the 1DII is noisy, I would avoid the Nikons.

akeefer wrote in post #10316090
I'm looking for non-biased advice from the group here as to my options.

Good luck with that

Uhmmm... sorry for not offering help but I'm sure a lot of folks here are very curious about that incident, come on share it with us, did she drop it, hit you with it, ... ?

I'm not sure what the draw to a D2x is? I could see one of the more recent Nikon bodies, but there is a reason why so many pros moved to Canon before Nikon released the D3/D700.

I would not expect any improvements in noise moving from a 1D MKII to a D2.

The good news is that with your lenses, you can pretty much pick any option....

Since you don't have any of the "top of the line mega expensive staying with canon just for this"-kinda lenses (35L, 85L, 135L, 200L F2 etc), you don't really have to worry about missing lenses in your line-up with Nikon. However, I can't seem to find any reasons that make a D2X better than a 1DII or even a 7D for that matter.

I am incredibly biased, but canon seems to have the more interesting bodies at the moment with the 5D2 and 7D. The D3x could beat the 1DIV though, but I guess both of these are outside your budget...

If it were up to me, I'd go for a 7D of 5D2 if the budget allows it'(but then again, I've never been drawn to the 1.3 crop format). If it didn't fit in the budget, probably another 1DII or 5D2.

So again, does the 1ds classic not interest anyone?

Story is:
Wife uses my camera for her job (newspaper journalist). She took it to the bathroom with her, hung up the lowepro bag on a hook, which it fell from. It hit awkwardly and now the vertical shutter button is smashed in, neither LCD work, focus screen fell out and won't stay in any longer, plus it makes some weird noises when on. At least she has insurance and hopefully can get something for it. Good news I guess is it was a pretty high mileage one to begin with. 200k+ shutter.

Thanks everyone!

If you thought the 1DMkII was a tad noisy, the D2x will be a BIG disappointment to you. The jump from 8Mp to 12Mp isn't worth all the downsides of switching to a D2x.

Sounds like you want a 7D.

There are many wideangle lenses that are available for aps-c, and on the longside, your 70-200 will go farther. It has high fps, comparable AF to your 1D2 and has one of the better weathersealings on the non-pro canon bodies. It has twice the resolution of your 1D2 so feel free to crop away plus better noise performance uncropped. Sell that 20-35 and pick up a tokina 11-16 and sounds like you're set (minus the pro build). They're running around 1400$

akeefer wrote in post #10317267
So again, does the 1ds classic not interest anyone?

I actually used to have one and if you search my posting history you'll see that I rated it higher than the 40D that I owned at the same time. My opinion is that it still is a great camera and it's only because the technology has advanced so fast that people think it's not...

I wouldn't shoot Nikon with anything before a D3/D700, I wouldn't shoot anything Canon after the 1D Mark II n.
Take that for what it's worth