# Is Canon 5d mk 1 still a good camera?



## arjay27 (Jun 12, 2014)

Hi I'm still own a canon 5d mk1 and i'm thinking if do i need to upgrade to 6d? well, i can't afford the 5d mkIII. 

but still my question is should i get a 6d or keep using my 5d mk1 and save money to buy a mkIII?

Thanks


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## bsb03 (Jun 12, 2014)

Is the Mk1 limiting you in any way? The Classic is still a good camera.


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## Rienzphotoz (Jun 12, 2014)

6D is a definite step up from the 5D MK I ... you will notice significant difference in high ISO noise, better image quality and many modern features ... Get the 6D, you will like it ... of course 5D MK III is the best "all arounder" full frame camera on the planet, if you are willing to spend the money, go for 5D MK III ... but do know that 6D is far superior camera than the original 5D.
Happy shopping.


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## eha (Jun 12, 2014)

I have a 6D _and_ a 5D classic. There's absolutely no doubt the 6D is a fantastic camera. It's smaller, lighter, faster, has better AF, and goes to ISO 25,600 before expansion. However the 5D classic is a wonderful backup camera. Used at ISO 800 or lower, there's no practical difference in IQ. Theoretical differences, yes, but I bet you can't tell which is which in any prints.

My advice is, get the 6D and keep the 5D classic as a backup  Having two bodies is great for bringing two lenses if you don't want to carry a bag.


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## HoodlessShooter (Jun 12, 2014)

There is no reason to purchase the 5D3 unless you are shooting Sports/Wildlife or if you wanted to shoot video. The 6D is an excellent stills camera and you will find it a nice step up from the 5D in every way (with the one exception that you might miss the joystick).


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## sdsr (Jun 12, 2014)

HoodlessShooter said:


> There is no reason to purchase the 5D3 unless you are shooting Sports/Wildlife or if you wanted to shoot video. The 6D is an excellent stills camera and you will find it a nice step up from the 5D in every way (with the one exception that you might miss the joystick).



What's more, in at least one area of image quality - revealed noise when lightening shadows - the 6D beats the 5DIII.


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## arjay27 (Jun 12, 2014)

Thanks for all the advice. i'll get a 6d and mk1 as a back up!


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## Sporgon (Jun 13, 2014)

Ignoring the obvious differences between eight years of tech, the original 5D is still relevant at ISO 100-400. Even 50, where the overexposue by 1 stop reduced works well on the mki.

The big difference is in tonal gradients / transition. Here the 6D is excetionally smooth and film like, and the 5D is relatively harsh. This is even more noticeable in Ooc jpegs whereas the Ooc jpegs from the 6D are really good.


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## tomscott (Jun 13, 2014)

HoodlessShooter said:


> There is no reason to purchase the 5D3 unless you are shooting Sports/Wildlife or if you wanted to shoot video. The 6D is an excellent stills camera and you will find it a nice step up from the 5D in every way (with the one exception that you might miss the joystick).



Certainly not true.

The 6D is great if your a landscape shooter or place your focus point in the middle of the frame, but if your using fast glass like F1.2-2.8 you might struggle to get focus with focus recompose methods to have any focus point other than in the middle of the frame. I wouldn't say the 5DMKIII is the go to camera for sports or wildlife, it can be used but the buffer and FPS aren't really suited thats where the 1DX comes in.

The 5DMKIII is the perfect wedding/journo/commercial photographers tool.


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## 7enderbender (Jun 13, 2014)

Rienzphotoz said:


> 6D is a definite step up from the 5D MK I ... you will notice significant difference in high ISO noise, better image quality and many modern features ... Get the 6D, you will like it ... of course 5D MK III is the best "all arounder" full frame camera on the planet, if you are willing to spend the money, go for 5D MK III ... but do know that 6D is far superior camera than the original 5D.
> Happy shopping.



Not sure this is good advice. It depends on shooting style and priorities. I personally wouldn't look at the 6d as an upgrade at all. Slower sync time and maximum speed would be way more important to me than any more or less useful high ISO figures. Add to that the form factor and you lose my interest in the 6d before even discussing any AF issues.

It's kind of like when I compared my mark II with the mark iii and actually shot both side by side. I found no reason to upgrade for what I do. The results were for all practical purposes identical. Even the faster AF on the mark iii did not make any difference. 

But that's me and everyone has different priorities.


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## Sporgon (Jun 13, 2014)

7enderbender said:


> Not sure this is good advice. It depends on shooting style and priorities. I personally wouldn't look at the 6d as an upgrade at all. Slower sync time and maximum speed would be way more important to me than any more or less useful high ISO figures.



I am puzzled by people's concern with the one sixth stop lower flash sync on the 6D. Firstly one sixth difference is irrelevant anyway, but more so because secondly we have access to hss anyway, and if you use one of the powerful speedlites you can hss bounce flash with ease. I have mine permanently on hss; if shutter speed is below 1/200 ( or 1/180) then it automatically uses normal flash anyway. 

Also although the AF on the 6D 'reads' the same as the 5D mark one and two it is more precise and positive. There is some significant difference between the 6D and the 5DII. I'm not sure of the technical details but the 6D will lock with a single movement when the 5DII hunt for a split second.


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## sdsr (Jun 13, 2014)

tomscott said:


> HoodlessShooter said:
> 
> 
> > There is no reason to purchase the 5D3 unless you are shooting Sports/Wildlife or if you wanted to shoot video. The 6D is an excellent stills camera and you will find it a nice step up from the 5D in every way (with the one exception that you might miss the joystick).
> ...



Maybe I'm just lucky, or am focusing on easy targets (I hardly ever photograph things that are moving, for example), but I find it just as easy to focus even in very low light with fast lenses wide open using outer focus points on my 6D as I do on my 5DIII (though of course the 5DIII has the advantage of having far more focus points to choose from). If you're saying the 5DIII is better than the 6D I won't dispute that, however (not that I have much first-hand experience either way).


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## AshtonNekolah (Jun 14, 2014)

I notice everyone talking about one hardware is better than the other, which really has more to do on how a person uses there camera, true the new bodies are really neat but good light and subjects equals to great images not a body only but if you want a new body cause you want some extra stuff anything in the rage of 70d, mk3, 6d are all great bodies from what you had previously. buy what you can afford if you want to stick with ff get a ff if you want a crop get a crop and be happy anything 18pm and up will give you great resolution sizes and quality.


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## neech7 (Jun 14, 2014)

HoodlessShooter said:


> The 6D is an excellent stills camera and you will find it a nice step up from the 5D in *every way* (with the one exception that you might miss the joystick).



Every way? Can the 6D do 1/8000 second shutter speed? Can the 6D flash sync at 1/200 sec?


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## Khalai (Jun 14, 2014)

neech7 said:


> HoodlessShooter said:
> 
> 
> > The 6D is an excellent stills camera and you will find it a nice step up from the 5D in *every way* (with the one exception that you might miss the joystick).
> ...



Just paper "underspecs", not field relevant IMHO. 1/160s sync is more than adequate and barely a difference from 1/200s. Same with 1/8000s vs. 1/4000s shutter. Unless you are using e.g. 85/1.2L wide open in bright sunlight, it's not an issue (and even 1/8000s might be inadequate and call for ND filter in this particular example).


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## Marsu42 (Jun 14, 2014)

arjay27 said:


> Thanks for all the advice. i'll get a 6d and mk1 as a back up!



You should really write what you shoot (is there an English verb for this that doesn't also mean kill something?!) with what lenses or all advice can only be off the mark. 



eha said:


> has better AF



... and that's saying something 



7enderbender said:


> Slower sync time and maximum speed



I agree that Canon took the opportunity and crippled the 6d, but in all honesty 1/180s is not that much slower than 1/200s and personally I only need 1/8000 for bracketing - 1/4000 stops all action I can think of. It might be different for very fast lenses in bright light, but then again you'd need a nd filter anyway.

The real annoyance about the x-sync speed is that you need to set the camera to 1/2 expo steps or you're at 1/160s x-sync which really hurts.


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## sagittariansrock (Jun 21, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> (is there an English verb for this that doesn't also mean kill something?!)



Shoot should only mean photography IMO, at least in times of peace 

OP, I have noticed the 5DIII is much more forgiving to over-saturation than the 5Dc. I always have to keep on the histogram with the 5Dc, since if something is blown out, it is gone. Also the sensor of the 6D is twice a high in resolution- you can barely crop with the 5D. Live view is an excellent feature that I miss.
Having said that, I will probably prefer a used 5DII for $1000 than a 6D for $1300. Unfortunately, all the used 5DIIs seem to be available for not less than $1300, so go figure!


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## Marsu42 (Jun 21, 2014)

sagittariansrock said:


> Having said that, I will probably prefer a used 5DII for $1000 than a 6D for $1300. Unfortunately, all the used 5DIIs seem to be available for not less than $1300, so go figure!



That doesn't mean anything, subjective demand is no indicator for technical superiority. The dslr crowd in general is rather conservative and old-school, also look at the prices for older L lenses that are rather mediocre by today's standards.

I put a lot of time deciding between 6d and 5d2, and the 5d2 is more "pro" as in full mag body, higher shutter rating, 1/8000s shutter, 1/200 x-sync and cf cards, but otherwise the 6d is the more modern and superior camera: http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=12582.msg226467#msg226467


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## sagittariansrock (Jun 22, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> sagittariansrock said:
> 
> 
> > Having said that, I will probably prefer a used 5DII for $1000 than a 6D for $1300. Unfortunately, all the used 5DIIs seem to be available for not less than $1300, so go figure!
> ...



I can understand people not wanting to sell 5DIIs they purchased for 2.5K below 1200-1300, but what surprises me is the market tolerating those asking prices. 
In fact, you are right- the fact that people for whom money is not an issue asking whether they should buy an old 5DII or a new 6D should have tipped me off.
Having said that, I purchased an old 5DII today- money is an issue for me. That 300 dollars makes a difference to me.


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## ishdakuteb (Jun 22, 2014)

i personally believe that it is still a good camera, but we, most of the time, want use and buy a better... once budget is not an issue.

take a look at below video, this photographer (i believe that he is a high end fashion photographer), one of those that i like most, is still using his canon 5d mark i. pay attention to lenses that he uses also as if you wish... has watched his videos for a while and still enjoy with every single new comings...

note: one of his cheapest lenses is 50mm f/1.8 and i think he does own 5d mark ii too...

G-FORCE | Image Campaign


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## Etienne (Jun 22, 2014)

I've owned the Canon 40D, 5DII, 5DIII, and I've used the T3i, 60D, 5Dc, and 6D quite a lot. I can say the 5DIII is by far the best of all these.

The 5Dc produces beautiful shots up to ISO800, the 40D was a work horse, and the 5DII was great, and the 6D is pretty much the same as the 5DII with a few extra goodies. But the 5DIII is pretty damn good at everything from video to sports to landscape to portraitsl the ergonomics are awesome, and it's built like a tank. It stands out above all in this category. The only better camera to the 5DIII is the 1Dx, but you got to pay and you have to carry a much bigger camera. Overall, I would ditch the 5Dc for either a 5DII, a 6D, or a 5DIII if you can cough up the cash. Then wait for the next generation.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 22, 2014)

arjay27 said:


> Hi I'm still own a canon 5d mk1 and i'm thinking if do i need to upgrade to 6d? well, i can't afford the 5d mkIII.
> 
> but still my question is should i get a 6d or keep using my 5d mk1 and save money to buy a mkIII?
> 
> Thanks


 
There are some really useful features on the newer bodies. I had the 5D, two 5D MK II's, and two 5D MK III's as well as two 7D's. Any of the FF bodies were head and shoulders better IQ than the 7D.
1. AFMA. Tweak your AF system to match each of your lenses. It might not be apparent on the 12 MP body, but with more MP, you will want more accurate autofocus.

2. Live View can be very useful, I use it a lot. Others may not, it does depend on the user.

3. The ability to crop with a higher MP sensor is improved, I seem to do this a lot.

4. I do think that IQ improves as well, particularly the reds.

5. The improvement at high ISO's has been discussed.


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## RLPhoto (Jul 9, 2014)

5Dc is a fine camera but I wouldn't upgrade unless you have your lenses lined up first. It's better money spent on glass first then when you have your lenses ready, the 6D/5D3 will be waiting.


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## JohanCruyff (Jul 9, 2014)

RLPhoto said:


> 5Dc is a fine camera but I wouldn't upgrade unless you have your lenses lined up first. It's better money spent on glass first then when you have your lenses ready, the 6D/5D3 will be waiting.


...and if you wait until 2015, you could be possibly able choose to upgrade to a used 6D/5D3 or to a new 6D2/5D4...

That's what is happening to me: I can't convince myself that I *need* a new Full Frame body, so I'm keeping my 5Dc plus my EOS M when I need to shoot videos or to travel light.


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## Marsu42 (Jul 9, 2014)

JohanCruyff said:


> That's what is happening to me: I can't convince myself that I *need* a new Full Frame body, so I'm keeping my 5Dc plus my EOS M when I need to shoot videos or to travel light.



The 5d3 has full res raw video capability (with Magic Lantern) so that's a decisive feature added, of course apart from everything else ML offers as it isn't available on the 5dc.

Otherwise only upgrading a body after knowing what exactly the required improvement is imho is the best advice. Much more sense putting $$$ into lenses and esp. lighting gear (1x 600rt = €500 ...). It's easy to test-drive a new camera nowadays either via rental or in a shop, if it doesn't immediately deliver the "that's worth a couple of thousand $$$" impression the money might be better saved.


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