Upgrade done!

Well after a long and difficult (mental) process. I’ve finally upgraded. After reading several reviews on the EOS 50D, especially the review at dpreview.com, I came to the conclusion that the EOS 50D was not the way to go. It is a very nice camera, no question about it, but it has too many minor flaws.

The question of course was where to turn. Nikon, or maybe Pentax? Of course it meant that I had to sell all my “old” lenses, and not having a backup camera in form of my trusty EOS 20D, or keep all my lenses, and work with two different systems (at extra cost).

Enter the much awaited Canon EOS 5D Mark II. After looking at the specs I knew this was the camera for me, but I was still waiting for the review from dpreview.com, so far in vain. I know Canon have had trouble keeping up with demand, and it have been difficult to get hold of a production model, but it still surprises me that the good people at Dpreview.com hasn’t put out a review yet. Luckily others have had their hands on a production model, and the reviews from these people have been very favorable. Especially the accounts from Christian Fletcher has been of high importance, since he for one is one of my favorite photographers and second because he specialize in landscape photography, of which category are the majority of the more “serious” photos I make.

I’ve also many times over the past years regretted that I didn’t go for the old EOS 5D instead of the EOS 20D. Although the EOS 20D has served me very well, a full frame DSLR has been on the wish list for a long time. There’s also the HD video capabilities of the EOS 5D, although I’ve never been that interested in video, the results from the likes of Michael Fletcher and Vincent Laforet are very intriguing.

So, a no brainer it would seem… Well not quite. Yes the camera is about all I’ve ever wished for and more – if we for a moment forget the existence of such a thing as a digital panoramic camera – but the price tag for the EOS 5D is also twice that of the EOS 50D, hence the difficult decision. You can’t really describe the mental process of making such a decision – Well I can’t. So I won’t attempt to do so, suffice to say it took me the better part of 3 month to reach the final conclusion. I was going to go for the EOS 5D.

Next hurdle was what my wife would say to that decision. I was fully prepared to make my case in front the boss, forgetting what an absolute wonderful wife I have. She didn’t even lift an eyebrow (well maybe she did, but it was very discreet). I should have known that she wouldn’t oppose it, she has always been very supportive and encouraging of my passion for photography.

Okay, so all set ready to go buy the camera. First checking the prices in Australia, Singapore and USA, all countries I will be visiting within the next 6 month. As usual I didn’t see any significant lower prices compared to the lowest in Denmark. I would also like to have the camera in hand a few weeks before going to Australia, so that worked out fine.

…Now, where to get it? First I tried Photografica (properly my favorite photo store in Copenhagen), but they had a waiting list of 40+, on recommendation from my wife I tried Foto/C, and yes they had one coming in the next day that wasn’t promised to anyone – that camera is now in my camera bag.

~ by sorenjohansen on February 11, 2009.