Canon Camera Body? (1 Viewer)

Not plugging a bird photography forum, but if you go to Birdphotographers.net you will see that more and more people use a 1D MkIV now. Sure, some 7Ds out there, but if you are serious, then the 1D should be your first choice IMHO. Best of luck. (oh and the 500/4L IS is a kick-ass lens as well!)

mr_birdman said:

Not plugging a bird photography forum, but if you go to Birdphotographers.net you will see that more and more people use a 1D MkIV now. Sure, some 7Ds out there, but if you are serious, then the 1D should be your first choice IMHO. Best of luck. (oh and the 500/4L IS is a kick-ass lens as well!)

Click to expand...

Yep, I am sure many of us already visit that site but it seems to me that money is no object for most folks there. It is also worth noting that even Art Morris will readily use the 7D when he is reach limited. BTW, Art's lens of choice for birding is now the 800/5.6 and not the 500/4. Also, somewhat controversially, he has ditched the 100-400 in favour of the 70-200/2.8 MkII + 2x tc, he reckons it is far better IQ - this is not the opinion of most folks who have done the comparison from what I can gather.

Roy C said:

Yep, I am sure many of us already visit that site but it seems to me that money is no object for most folks there. It is also worth noting that even Art Morris will readily use the 7D when he is reach limited. BTW, Art's lens of choice for birding is now the 800/5.6 and not the 500/4. Also, somewhat controversially, he has ditched the 100-400 in favour of the 70-200/2.8 MkII + 2x tc, he reckons it is far better IQ - this is not the opinion of most folks who have done the comparison from what I can gather.

Click to expand...

Roy, in addition I see Art posting many pictures showing he is using the 1.4 tc with that 800mm lens. So even the 800mm is not enough on the 1D IV.

As many people say you can rarely have enough focal length.

Roy C said:

Yep, I am sure many of us already visit that site but it seems to me that money is no object for most folks there. It is also worth noting that even Art Morris will readily use the 7D when he is reach limited. BTW, Art's lens of choice for birding is now the 800/5.6 and not the 500/4. Also, somewhat controversially, he has ditched the 100-400 in favour of the 70-200/2.8 MkII + 2x tc, he reckons it is far better IQ - this is not the opinion of most folks who have done the comparison from what I can gather.

Click to expand...

Indeed. It's all very well saying get a 1D Mk IV but when you look at the price tag...it's ok for those who are loaded, or who have sympathetic bank managers. :eek!:

Anyway, if I could afford a 1D Mk IV, I wouldn't get one, I'd put the money towards a 500mm f4, or 300mm f2.8 + 2x tc instead and stick with my 7D. One thing I like about the 7D is the crop factor.

To be fair, Sam did ask about the Mk IV in his original post...

True, Keith, he did.

thanks you everyone for your comments. it deffo looks like the 7D, you are right with the 1d4, it is just too expensive and not worth the £2500 extra than the 7D. Ill start saving for the 500mm or 600mm.

Thank you
Sam.

You won't regret the 7D, Sam.

SheffBirdingSam said:

thanks you everyone for your comments. it deffo looks like the 7D, you are right with the 1d4, it is just too expensive and not worth the £2500 extra than the 7D. Ill start saving for the 500mm or 600mm.

Thank you
Sam.

Click to expand...

To go a little against the grain!
Try the 7D vs the 1D4. Forget pixel densities and crop factors, simply take images with both and the size/crop them to give the same field of view. I think you will find the 7D to be an excellent camera especially considering it's price! The 1D4 however gave me better images which is why I bought one, but then again at the price it dam well should do! I was lucky in that I already had most of the long glass I wanted (300 F4 IS & 600 F4 IS) so that wasn't a consideration. I simply found the sharpness, colour, high ISO, and general IQ to be a notch up on the 7D (but not by much!).
You have to decide which is more important - glass or camera? It's a difficult decision as a better camera will improve all your existing lenses, but then if your existing lenses will not do what you want then perhaps you should go the glass route?
I suggest you find a good camera shop that will let you try them (if they won't let you then take your Credit Card somewhere else!) and see how YOU feel about each camera before YOU decide, they are both very good just different.
P.S. Don't discard a used 1D3, a friend has one and I am impressed, but the rear screen is poor so don't judge by this.

Roy C said:

As far as I am concerned for bird photography the 7D is the best thing since sliced bread, especially if you are reach limited. If you can frequently get very close to your birds then maybe the 1D3 would be a nice option.

BTW and contrary to popular belief I find the 7D takes heavy crops very well if you nail the shot (focus and exposure). As has already been said the 1.6 crop and 18mp is akin to a lot of extra teleconverter reach IMO.

Click to expand...

oh Roy man, stop it!!! You are tempting me to spend a small fortune on a 7d

Love my 40d at the moment but for birds the 7 d sounds so much better. I too have the 100-400 nad a 1.4x Kenko which I never use to be honest because of the slow focusing.

Went to the South Lakes animal park and got some great (for me) shots with my 40d, need more pixels though for heavier cropping