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Cameras

Canon 5D

7owners with an opinion
60%of verdicts positive
3/0positive/negative since 2024
0happy after 3+ years

Praised for design and performance; criticized for ease of use and portability.

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What people wrote

Likes it
I got a Sony RX-100 for trips, I recommend it, the image quality is great and it has quite a bit of zoom (though I forget the exact lengths). I also have a 5D, and the 95% of the difference between the 5D and the RX-100 is the increased ergonomics, so if you aren't shooting seriously/professionally, you don't really have to bother with anything above a cheap, good Sony.
Likes it
I just want to say "thank you." I run Magic Lantern on my Canon 5D Mark III (5d3) and it is such awesome software. I am a hobbyist nature photographer and it helped me capture some incredible moments. Though I have a Canon R7, the Canon 5d3 is my favorite camera because I prefer the feel of DSLR optical viewfinders when viewing wildlife subjects, and I prefer certain Canon EF lenses. More here: https://amontalenti.com/photos When I hang out with programmer friends and demo Magic Lantern to them, they are always blown away.
Neutral
I used to do a lot of shooting with my Canon 5D. I had thousands of dollars in various lenses, plus some specialized flashes, etc. It took great pictures, but all that gear was bulky and heavy. 99% of the time I wasn't taking pictures with the intent of blowing them up to poster-size prints, or selling them to major publications. I was just taking pictures to document and share elements of day to day life. (You probably see where this is going). Smartphone cameras have kept up well enough with most consumer needs that it would be really hard to justify carrying a dedicated camera. Further, that camera would need to have all of the features of a smart phone camera (eg: filters, touchscreen, lightweight editing, etc. As you also pointed out) that it makes it unlikely to exist in a practical manner. I will say I'm slightly surprised we haven't see an external "lens and sensor only" gadget that pairs with a phone. Use this gadget to capture a better raw image, and then use the phone to do everything else. Could be a USB/cable tether, or even some form of wireless (bluetooth is probably too slow though?). tl;dr - I'm not carrying a dedicated camera around, no matter how much better the images might be.
Likes it
Nikon d850, their top model and one of the best slr's ever made came out in 2017. My most used digital camera is a Canon 5d from 2005, I prefer it over my much newer Fuji XT3 most of the time because of its colors. (And one of my most used analog cameras is a 1939 Leica)
Doesn’t like it
Conversely a phone will get you "acceptable" quality very reliably, whereas something like my Canon 5D (outdated now I know) always felt like a complete wildcard, and since I don't know photography, not worth the hassle at all. Which is to say: my phone will reliably get me a perfectly good image even blown up in size for viewing - which is to say, no blurriness under most conditions. My 5D wants me to account for all sorts of stuff, and then I still wind up with a blurry image or can't tell if I got the focus dead on for sharpness or a dozen other things. I think that's largely because the post-image review on dedicated cameras sucks , whereas phone screens are high resolution with pinch-to-zoom so you can actually inspect the output quite quickly. I am very surprised no one's cottened onto making a higher-end camera which slots a phone right onto the back so you can real-time view what you've just taken a picture of to check it came out okay, because it's the biggest flaw.
Neutral
I have a Canon 5D Mk III, 5-6 lenses, maybe 4 flashes, umbrellas, stands, a background, etc.. I gotta sell it but keep procrastinating.. 99% of the time these days I just want to not carry stuff and use my iPhone 13 Pro, because 99% of the time nobody cares if I use the fancy camera stuff and the hassle and workflow is a PITA compared to just using the phone. My previous phone was an iPhone 8+ and it kind of started this and then the 13 Pro really really kicked it into gear with having the 3 lenses. It got hard for me to justify not shooting RAW if I was using all that expensive gear, and then I'd have to sit there wasting time "processing" files to justify using all the fancy gear. I came to really hate that time in front of the computer. (This is after about 15 years of doing it.) Actual compact cameras forget about it.. the last few generations I had weren't even as good as the phones, because they almost always had crappy zoom lenses. 3 Prime lenses on a good smartphone beats almost all the zoom compact cameras until the zoom compact cameras get annoying to carry. The phone cameras also have a massive advantage that people are not threatened by them and act more naturally. If you mostly value your pictures of people in your life this is a big advantage. For me some of this is the ebb and flow of hobbies, but I really don't care about the snob value of the image attributes only possible with a DSLR/MILC anymore. Sony/Minolta one this game by getting their camera t…
Doesn’t like it
I moved from an original Canon 5d to the X100F a few years back. The immediate improvement in AF was jarring. So was the output straight from the camera. Then there was the incredible size- I could just slip it into my jacket pocket. I moved up the the X100V when that came out to try and get even better AF performance (most pictures are of my busy kids) and it has been a worthy upgrade. Since then I’ve tried an X-T3 and an XPro2. I fairly quickly sold both. The XT3 is just too big for me to want to take out. The XPro2 is smaller but still much bigger than the X100. As hard as I tried to justify spending more money, the X100v is basically perfect for my needs. A Leica Q2 is on my wishlist but I wonder if it too would feel too big to take with me most of the time. It’s true that the best camera is the one you have with you and because of the size of the X100, you can basically have it with you all the time.
Likes itDoesn’t say they own it
DSLRs always lap mirrorless cameras for battery life. There's practically no battery drain when its on until you actually shoot the shot since you are taking in light with a passive prism to compose your shot, versus the sensor having to be on and a display somewhere being powered with the mirrorless camera. Sony A7 shoots like 400 shots per charge. 5d mk4 lasts for twice as many shots otoh.
Likes itDoesn’t say they own it
Good. Honestly DSLRs have gotten "more than good enough" for just about anything you'd throw at it 15 years ago. Newer DSLRs might be a little stronger in lower light but not by as much as you'd expect. Video capabilities are also a lot better in the new ones, but if you don't care about that, there isn't much you are losing buying a camera like a 5d mkiii (or even an older 5d) today. Unless maybe you are a pixel peeper.