Friday Frenzy: Canon 5D Mark II vs Canon 7D - Which One For Weddings?

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Yes, it is Friday Frenzy around here today.  I know a lot of you are looking forward to receiving your copy on my wedding book.  Good News! We just received 500 copies of my "Captured By The Light" wedding book show up on our doorsteps this morning.  It looks like I'm going to be autographing a lot of books over the weekend. And, it looks like we will be shipping on Monday!! THANKS again for all your patience and understanding as we prepare the books for shipment.

Also, it's official. My book is also shipping from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Peachpit.  Amazon's stock went up yesterday. Heck, maybe it’s because of my book sales ;~)

Remember, you can order an autographed copy from our Digital Resource Center [link] or a regular copy (unsigned) from your favorite bookseller by using the widget on the right ->

Hey, and don't forget to sign up for the free "Captured By The Light" webinar too.  You can do that by hitting the link on the right or by clicking here. I'll be walking you through some of my favorite sections of the book. We've got nearly 150 signed up so far and the room will hold up to 1000, so don't be shy - come on by.

I have to admit, this is all pretty exciting.  Again, my thanks to Scott Kelby for his encouragement and support through the entire book writing process.

OK, time to get on with today's post.  Here we go.

Canon 5D Mark II vs Canon 7D - Which One For Weddings? 

This question keeps popping up on the Skribit widget on the right - yes, I do review each suggestion - and take note of all your emails suggestions as well.  So today I thought I'd discuss the issue in depth.

Hit the "Read More..." link below for the rest of the story.

I bought the Canon 5D Mark II right after it came out back in October 2008.  I loved the much higher resolution sensor (21.1mp), high resolution LCD screen, the new super high ISO's, and the video capabilities.  The camera is currently selling for $2,500 and worth every penny.

I also purchased the Canon 7D the day it became available back in September 2009. I liked the much higher resolution sensor (18 mp), high resolution LCD screen, the new fairly high ISO's, and again the video capabilities.  The camera is currently selling for $1,600 and in my opinion is a "steal of a deal"!

Having said that, let me give you my impressions of both cameras as tools of the trade for shooting weddings. Now I have been a BIG fan of the 40D since it was released.  It was a great wedding camera - accurate LCD screen, decent resolution, decent low noise characteristics, fast and easy to use.

So, right off the bat, I loved the new higher resolution LCD screens on both cameras. It was driving me crazy to shoot both the 40D lo-res LCD along with the hi-res 5D Mk II LCD so I jumped on the 7D when it came along to make that frustration disappear.

Camera resolution is not that big of a deal for me. How many mega-pixels do you need to shoot a wedding?  I think the "sweet spot" is about 10mp anyway. That said, resolution does come into play for family portraits when the final print could be 30x40 inches. 

The 5D is the perfect tool for the portrait photographer, but I really don't need 21.1 mp for weddings.  The fact of the matter is that I usually shoot the 5D Mk II at medium RAW anyway, reserving the higher res setting for large groups only.

I also thought the 5D Mk II's low light focusing was better and faster than the original 5D.  Oh, and I love the video capabilities of the 5D Mk II as well. What a cool feature for any wedding photographer.  Now I can grab snippets of the day for my Animoto shows.

I also loved the 3 custom setting I could use to basically give me 3 cameras in one.  I covered that in a previous post right here.

The high ISO capabilities of the camera blew me away.  I could actually get by shooting at ISO 12,800, albeit a bit noisy but nothing NIK Dfine 2.0 couldn't fix. But, you know, those new high ISOs let me capture images I couldn't get before.

The higher ISOs also let me shoot my routine candids at a ISO 800, 1000, 1200, and 1600.  And you know what that means - less flash power needed for each shot which translates into MANY more shots per charge.  I don't even go through a set of batteries these days on a job and I typically shoot A LOT of images.

And lastly, I loved the super wide angle view I could get with my full frame 12-24mm Sigma lens.  A full 122 degrees rectilinearly corrected view - WOW!

Needless to say, the 5D became my wedding camera of choice for a number of months.

Finally the Canon 7D came out last September - I jumped on it. I couldn't wait to put that baby through it's paces. Well, I've been shooting with it for about 5 months and I'm loving it. Here's why in no particular order.

1. Less mega-pixels - remember my 10mp "sweet spot" - 18 megs is plenty big for wedding photography.  Medium RAW gives me 10.10 Mega-pixels (3,888 x 2,592), equal to the 40D's 3888 x 2592 pixel count, uhmmmm...

2. Nice bright hi-res LCD - I'll never go back to the lo-res version on earlier models.

3. The 7D has those 3 custom settings on it too - three cameras in one again.

4. High speed continuous shooting at 8 fps.  Hey, I don't use it often, but it's nice to know I have it when I need it.

5. I love the video options and, the on board mic is better than the 5D Mark II.  The 5d Mark II's internal mic would always pic up some weird internal noises that the 7D does not.  An outboard mic is best, but in a pinch the 7D's mic works just fine.

6. Pop up flash.  OK, I know what you're thinking, "Ziser, get real.  Who uses a pop up flash for a wedding?"  Well, it not for weddings that I want the pop up flash.  I want it for my vacation pics;~)

7. I like the magnification 1.6x factor.  Here is another point where folks think I'm crazy.  What I am is practical.  Now my 200mm lens becomes a 320mm optic and my 300mm lens becomes a 480mm lens - pretty cool for super close up wedding candids.

8. I really like the new button layout on the 7D especially on the video side. Now it's a "piece of cake" to go from still mode to video mode almost immediately and have things in sharp focus.  I'll have to cover that in an upcoming Technique Tuesday.

9. OK, I'm waxing enthusiastic over the 7D, aren't I?  Well, I do love the camera.  I just wish it's noise characteristics were as good as the 5D Mk II's.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still fine with the 7D's lower noise characteristics and I still routinely will shoot the camera at ISO 800, 1200, and 1600. The 5D Mk II is better in the noise department though.

10. I love shooting the 18-200mm IS lens on the 7D.  It's a great all purpose combo for my flash wedding candids.  Remember though that I have room lights set up at my events.  That's why I can get away with using it as my candid lens too.

Somebody's going to call me out for the optically quality of this lens and that I should be using something sharper.  The fact of the matter is that most of the images taken with this camera/lens combo are only going to made into 8x10's maybe 10x10’s at the largest - the 18-200mm IS lens is plenty sharp for that. Hey, I'm just  practical.

Hey gang, that pretty much wraps it up.  So which camera do I prefer for my weddings. Well, both of them.  That's why I own both of them.  OK, now you're going to twist my arm - "OK, Ziser, if you could only get one of the them, which one would you select first?"

I would opt for the Canon 7D first - fitted with 18-200mm IS lens.  Next pic up the 10-22mm wide angle. Now you're covered from 10mm to 200m of focal length.  Take the 1.6x magnification factor in and you'll go from 16mm to 480mm - WOW!

Hey, did you hear that Canon's coming out with a Rebel T2i [link] that uses the same 18mp chip as the 7D, hi-res LCD viewfinder, external mic connection, and shoots HD video too and all for $799$ Too bad it doesn't have an on board sync connection.

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OK gang, that does it for me today.  Sorry for the late post.  We had a few meetings and appointments today I needed to tend to AND all the books arrived.

I'll plan to see everybody on Monday, all the pixels willin'. And, just remember that unlike snowflakes, every pixel in your digital camera is exactly the same;~)

Have a great weekend everybody,  -David