photo geeks... I need some advice! dSLR, zooms, and Alaska!

Background... 7-10 years ago, I was very into photography... mostly when my kids were little. I have a Canon 5D mk II, 50 mm 1.4 prime and an 85 1.8 prime. I have one other lens, but I can't remember what it is because I never use it.

Now that my kids are older, aren't cute little babies/toddlers, roll their eyes when I try to take pictures, and iPhone photos have gotten so much better, I rarely pull out the old dSLR.

That said, we are cruising to Alaska next month. I KNOW my iPhone is not going to cut it there.

I pulled out my 5D mk ii to discover that the main wheel on top was not working. I called a camera shop to see what it would cost to fix it, and the estimated cost was $150-$200 plus shipping to Canon. I didn't think it made any sense to put $200 into a 10 year old camera with 10 year old technology, so I made the decision to buy a new, lighter, smaller dSLR to replace it.

I had tentatively decided on the Rebel t6i with the 18-135 kit lens. It has a lot of similar stats to my old 5D but just not full frame. It is lighter, smaller, and has wifi connectivity, so I was feeling excited about it. I figured the 18-135 would be a good all purpose lens plus give me a little bit of zoom for Alaska.

Before I clicked "buy" though, I decided to take another look at my 5D. After messing around with the wheel for a while, it seems to be working again. It must have just been dusty, and I worked the dust out.

So... now I'm back to making decisions all over again!

I had already budgeted for the t6i with 18-135, so I could go with that... consumer level camera, but that's probably fine for me now. lighter, smaller, and wifi.

Or, I could keep the camera I already own (free!)... professional level, but big, bulky, old, and no wifi, and just buy a new zoom lens for the trip. If I do that, I can do the 18-135, 75-300 (4-5.6), 70-300 (IS 4-5.6), 55-250 (IS 4-5.6), or anything else in the sort of $100 - $300 general price range.

Help!! I had my decision all figured out, but now getting my old camera functioning again has gotten me all confused! And if you recommend I keep my old 5D mk ii, which zoom?

Also, we are planning a helicopter excursion in Skagway. It says you can bring a camera, but no bags, so I can't figure out what I would do for a lens in that case. A smaller prime? A zoom? That was part of the appeal of the 18-135 was it gave me a bit of a range.

Would love any and all advice! I honestly don't think I need a professional level camera any more, but it seems sort of silly not to use it when I have it, I guess.

A few options

• Rent a long zoom EF mount lens [about 400mm at the long end, with image stabilization] The Sigma 'bigma' 150 - 600 rents for $65 / 7 days
  
• Buy/rent a long zoom range bridge camera - large sensor like a Panasonic FZ2500, or small sensor like a Nikon P900, and use the SLR for inside and people centric shots. [FZ2500 rents for $79 / 7 days]
  
• Get a new kit - Canon EF mount would be preferred as you have some nice lenses - This could be smaller/mirrorless [EOS M series, with a EF adapter]
  

Bring extra batteries - and you may want a [rented] second camera body as well

Considering the age and already demonstrated mechanical issues with the 5D, I think your best bet might be the Rebel and the 18-135. The 18-135 would be ideal for a flightseeing tour and for wildlife, consider strongly Old Bear's advice about a lens rental. The 100-400 zoom would cover any bear or whale tour and renting would be less than buying a cheaper telephoto that may not see much use later.

Sell your 5D to KEH to subsidize the new camera and you end up with a much smaller kit that will travel better than your 10 year old behemoth.

Dave

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Keep 'em coming! You are right pierces... the wheel issue may just be the beginning of the old 5D showing its age. I would hate for it to have additional problems mid-Alaska trip! And TheOldBear… I hadn't even seen the EOS M series before. Those are pretty neat and worth considering too. I'll look into rentals. My husband used to have the 70-200 2.8 (he had a couple of the big white Canon zooms), and it was always too heavy for me to really use at all... so I'm hesitant to get anything too big/heavy.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Keep 'em coming! You are right pierces... the wheel issue may just be the beginning of the old 5D showing its age. I would hate for it to have additional problems mid-Alaska trip! And TheOldBear… I hadn't even seen the EOS M series before. Those are pretty neat and worth considering too. I'll look into rentals. My husband used to have the 70-200 2.8 (he had a couple of the big white Canon zooms), and it was always too heavy for me to really use at all... so I'm hesitant to get anything too big/heavy.

If you are considering the EOS M, be aware that there are only a few native lenses for the mount. Your 50mm and 85mm primes will adapt to it but will negate any size advantage. I have shot with the Sony A6000 and A6300 and recommend the E-Mount Sonys with no reservations. I just sold my old DSLR and lenses to KEH to subsidize anew purchase and found that dumping a system for a new one isn't as hard as people think.

Click on the link in my signature and look at the galleries under Travel > Cruising. Anything after 2014 was shot with the Sony APS-C compact mirrorless cameras.

Dave

If you are considering the EOS M, be aware that there are only a few native lenses for the mount. Your 50mm and 85mm primes will adapt to it but will negate any size advantage. I have shot with the Sony A6000 and A6300 and recommend the E-Mount Sonys with no reservations. I just sold my old DSLR and lenses to KEH to subsidize anew purchase and found that dumping a system for a new one isn't as hard as people think.

 

Click on the link in my signature and look at the galleries under Travel > Cruising. Anything after 2014 was shot with the Sony APS-C compact mirrorless cameras.

 

Dave

If you take the drastic step of starting fresh [Over on DP Review this is a symptom of 'Gear Acquisition Syndrome'] either a long zoom fixed lens camera [sony or Panasonic] or a mirrorless interchangeable lens system [Fuji, Panasonic, Olympus, Sony...] would be worth considering.

All the systems have partisans, but today the good news is that for the vast majority of photographers, subjects and locations the photo hardware is not the limiting factor in getting pictures that are 'keepers'.

The interchangeable lens advantage [sLR or Mirrorless] over fixed lens superzoom only seems to start after acquiring / renting multiple lenses.

'Gear Acquisition Syndrome'

A disorder that can ruin fortunes and marriages!

My relatively mild symptoms of G.A.S. mysteriously disappeared recently and I sold all of my A-mount cameras and lenses. I only have a handful of commonly used lenses now and am only lacking a good telephoto...which I am still waffling on based on uncertain projected use.

Moving completely to the Sony mirrorless system has spawned my new favorite equipment quote,"I now have a travel kit that weighs as much as a small dog instead of a fat child."

Selling stuff I don't use and buying stuff I will feels pretty responsible!

:)

Dave

I also wouldn't risk the old camera failing on the trip. I'd look at a good body that meets your projected needs and rent an 18-400 for the trip thats compatible.

Also, the 18-135 is an EF-S lens and won't work on a 5D. Essentially, look at a photo of the lens' mount: if you see a white square, you need a camera with a white square on its lens mount (which doesn't exist on a 5D). If you see a red dot, that'll work on any EOS SLR/DSLR.

A disorder that can ruin fortunes and marriages!

 

My relatively mild symptoms of G.A.S. mysteriously disappeared recently and I sold all of my A-mount cameras and lenses. I only have a handful of commonly used lenses now and am only lacking a good telephoto...which I am still waffling on based on uncertain projected use.

 

Moving completely to the Sony mirrorless system has spawned my new favorite equipment quote,"I now have a travel kit that weighs as much as a small dog instead of a fat child."

 

Selling stuff I don't use and buying stuff I will feels pretty responsible!

 

:)

 

Dave

We are looking at Alaska for 2020 - so I have some time to plan & acquire or rent some hardware. I have Micro 4/3 gear, so for Alaska I will be looking at a modest expansion [weather sealed body & zoom lens, like an Olympus EM5.2 and the 12-100 + the Panasonic 100-400. This setup [plus my current entry level body & lenses] should be compact and versatile - a pity batteries and chargers tend to be different for different bodies, I tend to bring three batteries per body

While the 5D is a great camera, there are probably multiple reasons it hasn't been used much, and if it's showing problems, I'd say it's time to explore the entire landscape.

I never went to Canon's professional series, but had a rebel for a number of years. It took up space when traveling, and kind of got left behind...

I picked up a Sony a6500 a few months ago, along with three lenses (so far), and am happy.The Sony native APS-C lenses are generally smaller and lighter than the Canon lenses, I find it much easier to carry the kit when traveling. As an example, B&H has the a6500 with a 18-135 zoom, plus a (cheap and too small) camera bag and a 64GB SD card for $1498. That's going to be a LOT smaller and easier to carry than your 5D, and the sensors and processors have gotten incredible in the last few years. You can also buy adapters that would allow you to use that 85 f/1.8 prime.

Hopefully, we're not adding to your confusion, but you have a lot of options depending on what you want. I will warn you that much as I love the Sony, it's a menu driven camera and there's a learning curve. But, it's small, lightweight, and frankly very good. Having said that, I didn't exhaustively compare the alternatives; the Sony just felt right at the time.

Adding to my confusion a little, but this is all great information! I'm so out of the loop, that I didn't even know these small mirrorless options existed. That may be the route I need to go. I'd love to have something smaller, lighter, and more portable, but I really like the ability to change lenses. I think I'll head out this weekend to touch and feel some of these to figure out what I want to do. Thanks so much!

The Sony mirrorless market has really taken off. Many pro borders have jumped ship on Canon and Nikon and the super telephotos (600mm, 500mm, 200-400mm) have really tanked as a result. The mirrorless often can offer a faster FPS, completely silent shooting, lower noise, in camera stabilization to name a few of the benefits. Negatives is that Sony’s Lens line is more expensive and not as robust as Canons. That being said the Rebel will be great for telephoto shots because it’s 1.6x crop factor. Combine that with s cheap telephoto and daylight and you can get some good wildlife shots. The negative is your landscapes may suffer as you won’t have quite the wide angle. You could get the ef-s 10-22mm lens to supplement. The 5D mk ii is a great camera and I had it for years till I moved to the III and now the IV. The main negative with the II is the AF is marginal at best compared to today’s camera. It still takes great pics. If possible I would go two body and use the 5D mk II for landscape and the Rebel for wildlife.

The combo of my Canon 60D and Tamron 18 - 270 served me well in Alaska. I also had a bridge camera with a 40X zoom that I used on the ship.

Remember if looking at and considering the 'mirrorless' camera options that they come in different sensor sizes just like DSLRs - actually even moreso. There are the Micro 4:3 sensors that are a bit smaller than APS-C cameras, with all lenses shooting at an equivalent '2x' crop (a 35mm lens has the framing of a 70mm lens), there are APS-C sensor cameras just like with DSLRs, that will have the typical 1.5x crop factor (or 1.6x crop factor in Canon's version)(35mm lenses has the framing of a 52mm lens)...and then there are full-frame sensors just like your 5D (35mm lens is a 35mm lens).

You'd run into the same thing if you picked up a Rebel DSLR body - they use APS-C sensors, and would have the 1.6x crop factor. With Sony & Fuji APS-C mirrorless systems, you'd have a 1.5x crop factor...the Canon EOS-M system is the same as the Rebel, and then Sony makes full-frame sensors in their A7xxx lineup, ranging from 12MP to 42MP resolutions...these would behave just like your 5D, where whatever lens you stick on the camera has that native focal equivalence, no crop-factors or conversions to consider.

Sorry if that's already something you knew and was obvious - I still like to remind some folks about the sensor size, especially if they bought a full-frame sensor many years ago and haven't really paid much attention to the market. The smaller M4:3 and APS-C sensors today are probably better overall than what full-frame sensors were capable of 5 years ago as far as dynamic range, noise, high ISO, etc as sensor-tech has come a long way...and all of these sensors are significantly bigger than what's found in point-and-shoot cameras and phones.

Remember if looking at and considering the 'mirrorless' camera options that they come in different sensor sizes just like DSLRs - actually even moreso.

Adding illustration to your words, Justin.

The Panasonic GH is one of the more popular 4/3 cameras. The Olympus models are somewhat smaller.

Dave

Adding illustration to your words, Justin.

 

 

The Panasonic GH is one of the more popular 4/3 cameras. The Olympus models are somewhat smaller.

 

Dave

To be fair - the GH5 / GH5S are quite large [lots of space for controls, big body for large batteries and heat sinks] actually larger than Fuji XT or the Sony A7/A9 bodies.

My ***** 10.2 body is small enough that some folks complain it is too small for comfortable handling.

To be fair - the GH5 / GH5S are quite large [lots of space for controls, big body for large batteries and heat sinks] actually larger than Fuji XT or the Sony A7/A9 bodies.

My ***** 10.2 body is small enough that some folks complain it is too small for comfortable handling.

Reference for your words:

Note: the battery life in the GH5 has about the same CIPA rating as the A6300. Most of the additional bulk is for the heat-sinking you mentioned since the GH5 is primarily known and sold for it's video capability.

Sensor size reference:

Dave

I thought I would update this thread post-purchase and post-cruise! Based on all of your advice, I decided it was time to ditch the old 5D and start with something new. Several of you mentioned the mirrorless cameras, and after a bunch of research, I decided to go that route. I just couldn't resist how small and lightweight they are! I was originally planning on a Sony, but after spending many hours in Best Buy playing with them, I just felt much more comfortable with the Canon since I've been using Canon for so long. I'm sure I could have adapted to the Sony, but I didn't have a ton of time to learn something new. I got the Canon M50 with the two-lens kit. I loved it on our Alaska trip. It was so small and lightweight to hang around my neck or have the bag slung over my shoulder. The kit lenses aren't the highest quality, but they did the job for what I wanted. Thank you so much for all the advice. I knew absolutely nothing about the mirrorless options before posting here. Thank you!!

Glad to hear it worked out for you. And I think I warned you the Sony menu system could drive you crazy if you were used to Canon. But sounds like it worked well for you.

Thanks for posting your results.

Dave your sensor graphic would be good to put in the P1000 thread.

framer