Best Canon Body for c£800?

[dr_gn]

All,

I'm thinking of trading my Canon M5 and lenses in for something with better autofocus, and something that's more balanced with the Canon 100-400 L series lens. Main use is for airshows, motor racing, wildlife (mainly seabirds) and - occasionally - astro (Milky Way).

I really want a Canon R7 (which I rented last year) since it was pretty much perfect, especially in terms of balance, focus speed and tracking for aircraft at airshows. However there aren't many (any) available used yet, and I can't really justify the cost new.

I'm looking for the best used or new body for the above subjects. I'd like to stick with Canon so I can use their 100-400 EF-L series lens (which I've also rented a couple of times). Happy to consider other systems, so long as the 100-400 class of lens is comparable quality and price.

According to online quotes, I can get just over £600 for my current kit:

Canon M5
EF-M 18-55
EF-M 22
EF-S 55-250
Ssamyang 12mm f2

Starter for 10:

EOS 7D Mk.2 - c.£400 used,
Canon 100-400 L, used c.£1000,
Ssamyang 12mmc. £220,
General Purpose Lens 18-55 c.£60. = £1680.

P.Ex all my stuff -£600 = £1080

So to meet the £1500 budget, there'd be another £420 available for a potentially better body.

One downside of getting rid of the M5 is it's very small and light, and is great in combination with the Ssamyang 12mm f2 lens when used on a star tracker.

There are three or four events in July this year where ideally I'd have all this in place - I can't justify renting the kit so many times, and I'm fed up knowing that the pictures I take with my existing kit are to an extent compromised by gear (the images I took with the R7 and 100-400 last year were by far the best I'd ever got - the autofocus especially being superior to the M5).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[tog]

If you want to stay mirrorless you can get a brand new R10 for £800, or if you want full frame you could find a 6D MkII.

EF lenses work perfectly adapted to RF.

[Tony1963]

I never get this “better balance” thing.

Small lens? Hold the camera body and use fingertips for the lens.

Long/heavy lens? Hold the lens at the centre of gravity (of the whole assembly) and use the other hand just to steady it all and for buttons etc.

[dr_gn]

Tony1963 said:

I never get this “better balance” thing.

Small lens? Hold the camera body and use fingertips for the lens.

Long/heavy lens? Hold the lens at the centre of gravity (of the whole assembly) and use the other hand just to steady it all and for buttons etc.

Maybe not balance in terms of weight, but balance in terms of how the combination feels to operate.

With the large 100-400 L series lens supported in the left hand, the M5 feels like your holding a golf ball in the right hand. With the R7, the feeling was definitely more 'balanced' in terms of feel. All the relevant buttons on the R7 felt far more intuitively spaced than the M5, where everything is much closer together.

[Byker28i]

7d mk2 or maybe the 5D mk3 are around the same price. You can use a 2x convertor with the 5D and the 100-400

[dr_gn]

Thanks all.

How about the Sony A series bodies, and a used Sony 100-400?

Main thing is fast autofocus and tracking, with in-body stabilisation also a nice to have.

[Craikeybaby]

Other than astro, what you are shooting points to carrying on with an APS-C camera. Using the full frame options 6D/Sony etc your subject will not fill the frame as much with the same 100-400mm lens. Although there are longer options that may be suited. You could get something now, then upgrade to the R7 when they are available in your price range, but if that is the end game, I would want to get a native lens for that system, rather than using an adaptor. My concern with the Canon APS-C R bodies it that there is not great support for lenses, you mainly have access to the full frame R lenses, which are bigger than necessary for the smaller sensor - one of the benefits of mirrorless systems is that they are meant to be smaller! Fuji have got a great range of APS-C mirrorless lenses, including a 100-400, but unless you are buying their latest (out of budget) bodies, the autofocus lags behind Canon/Sony.

Another option your may not have considered is an MFT body, the sensor is smaller still, but will the well-regarded MFT 100-400mm lenses you get an even longer equivalent focal length,

[dr_gn]

Craikeybaby said:

Other than astro, what you are shooting points to carrying on with an APS-C camera. Using the full frame options 6D/Sony etc your subject will not fill the frame as much with the same 100-400mm lens. Although there are longer options that may be suited. You could get something now, then upgrade to the R7 when they are available in your price range, but if that is the end game, I would want to get a native lens for that system, rather than using an adaptor. My concern with the Canon APS-C R bodies it that there is not great support for lenses, you mainly have access to the full frame R lenses, which are bigger than necessary for the smaller sensor - one of the benefits of mirrorless systems is that they are meant to be smaller! Fuji have got a great range of APS-C mirrorless lenses, including a 100-400, but unless you are buying their latest (out of budget) bodies, the autofocus lags behind Canon/Sony.

Another option your may not have considered is an MFT body, the sensor is smaller still, but will the well-regarded MFT 100-400mm lenses you get an even longer equivalent focal length,

Thanks. I’ve been advised that cropping a full-frame image to the equivalent of a crop sensor image can be as good or better than using a full frame lens on an APS-C sensor.

I think really I’m stuck with Canon or Sony, because all other 100-400 lenses I’ve seen are slower (plus I know the Canon lens is pretty good for what I want). I guess a used Canon L 100-400 (c.£1k) will be the biggest investment I’ll make in this process, so at least it should be OK for whatever Canon body I end up with now or in the future? I’ve used one on both my M5 and rented R7 with good results.

Is there some issue I remember hearing about the Sony full-frame sensor eliminating stars as noise on Astro photographs (or did I imagine it)?