I am getting ready to upgrade from my 7D and 50D. Prior to the new cameras I was considering replacing the 50D with a 5DMkII, mostly for landscape and such.

But know I am wondering what others see as the best body for wildlife/nature, and why. Especially now that the 5D MkIII is in the picture, that seems to do both.

Advantages:
7D - reach
1D MkIV - focus speed and frame rate
5d Mk III - focus speed, ISO, detail
Disadvantages:
7D - noise
1D MkIV - weight, cost
5D MkIII - cost, loss of reach

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts,
Anthony

1DIV seems to be the best for it's high ISO performance, high FPS, and crop factor. At least that's what I see being used the most for wildlife in the forums.

That's out of my budget so I'm using the 40d right now. May upgrade to the 7D in the near future.

The 5D3 is also great but the frame rate is somewhat slow. Might be okay if you aren't into BIF.


Another possibility is the 1D Mark III. Maybe you can start a poll and see what people think.

7D

1DMIV

I'd most like to have the 1DIV, but I use a 7D and 1DIII at the moment.

I have the 7D and love everything about it with the exception of the noise in low light. If I had the option to get a 1DIV, I would not hesitate. Price is my hurdle. When you do this simply for the enjoyment and not for the money, price is always a consideration.

1DMKIV.

I had both a 50D, & 7D; sold 50D and bought a second 7D, but my decision was much about lenses & budget.

I would have bought a 5D for Landscapes, to pair with my 7D, but I had sold my Wide Angle FF Zoom, & bought an EFS 10-22 for the APS-C bodies; so "upgrading " to a 5D for Landscapes, though a good idea, would have required the purchase of 24-105L or equivalent, which was out of budget for me, at the time.

As to "reach", & I A Focus accuracy, it's down to the 7D, or 1D-4.

Depends on what lenses you have, can afford to get, and care to tote.

Leigh

www.leighwax.com

1DMKIV!!

Slow/no action: 1DsMkII
Fast action/very low light level: 1DX
------------------------------

Sample: handheld 1DsMkII + 800L.

Well I'll no doubt be using the 5D III more and more going forward, but currently I tend to favour 1D IV, but if I know reach is an issue, I'll grab the 7D. The camera is capable of excellent results and when it all comes together noise is not an issue below ISO 1600.

Pixel Perfect wrote:
Well I'll no doubt be using the 5D III more and more going forward, but currently I tend to favour 1D IV, but if I know reach is an issue, I'll grab the 7D. The camera is capable of excellent results and when it all comes together noise is not an issue below ISO 1600.

It's a tough call for the OP. Overall the 5D3 does most things better than the 7D but the 7D sure does have more reach and for wildlife reach always seems to be at a premium.

When you are 100% reach limited, the 5D3 noise advantage over the 7D actually becomes fairly small, especially if the subject isn't really dark in tone and it has some good contrast on it and the 7D actually never has a noise disadvantage compared to the 5D2 when 100% reach limited.

But the 5D3 AF does seem to be better for random sports like soccer and football for sure and the video is much better and the UI is nicer and when not distance limited the IQ is better. 7D AF seems fairly decent for surfing though and it might be decent for BIF(?).

great capture petkal. You really need to create a photoblog somewhere on the net

rprouty wrote:
1DMIV

Amazing camera

1D4; I've had better results with it than my 5Dc and 50D.

datousteve wrote:
great capture petkal. You really need to create a photoblog somewhere on the net

Thank you, Steve, but I think the last thing the internet community needs is yet another old hack's blog.

What aperture were those shots captured at? The dof was well planned.

datousteve wrote:
What aperture were those shots captured at? The dof was well planned.

They were both shot at f/8, which generally speaking doesn't give much DoF in the case of 800L, but at that distance it was adequate for smaller herons. No planning, just kinda intuitive fumbling with the dials.

I use a 5dii

My vote is 1D4. I have owned a 1D2n & 7D and currently own a 5D2 and 5D3. I've been known to shoot birds, bear and whales. Both the 1D2n and 7D were my critter cams but I wanted more MPs than the 1D2n provided and I never could bring myself to like the files from the 7D sensor. I sold the 1d2n for the 7D and then decided to jettison the 7D in order to afford a 5D3. I've been using the 5D3 for whales and bears this summer and I have to say I do miss the fps and extra "reach" of the 7D for fast action stuff. The 5D3 is a nice camera with nice files, great AF and decent fps but it's not quite a great wildlife camera. I plan on pricing out used 1D4s next spring to use as my critter cam unless Canon has a 7D2 available with new sensor tech or Nikon introduces something interesting (I also shoot with a D800e). In all likelihood however, I'll probably opt for a 1D4.

Good luck!