Consolidating two camera systems - will EOS 5D, 5DS, 7D or 80D be a better fit for our purpose?

Question

My significant other has a Canon EOS 600D, I have a Sony NEX 7. We would like to consolidate, i.e. purchase one (better and more up to date) camera we share. We've had a discussion about which system to go for, and she's made it clear it's important to her to stick to a camera with mirror and she prefers the handling of the Canon, which means staying with Canon and getting rid of the Sony and the E-mount lenses.

I'd like to surprise her with a new camera for Christmas, but am unsure which EOS model would be the best fit for our requirements. I have looked at the 80D, 7D mark ii, 5D mark iv and 5DS in detail. I would expect a new purchase to carry us through at least the next 5 years without getting the feeling we should upgrade again.

Our main use cases are:

1. For her job, she frequently has to take pictures of building sites and the interior of houses and flats. She's always complained about missing a wide angle lens (we will get one). A tripod is used about 60% of the time for these pictures.

2. Also for her job, photos taken by us frequently end up in newspaper adverts and large banners hung outside building sites. While the 18 / 24 megapixels of our cameras have so far been sufficient for the purpose, I suspect having more will enable her to be more free in her ad / banner designs.

3. During our travels, we take pictures of landscapes, people, plants and animals. We do occasionally have posters printed of photographs we like and hang them in the office.

4. While high speed photography has never been really important for us, there's a fairly good change that nephews/nieces will be around soon, and while toddlers usually aren't lightning fast, it would be nice to have a speedy auto focus and serial rating.

We own the following lenses: EF-S 55-250, EF-S 18-55 and SEL1855, SEL16F28, SEL30M35, SEL18200 - the SELs we will get rid of and purchase corresponding EF/EF-S lenses (I'm going to miss the SEL18200 though).

The 80D and 7D mark ii are the cheaper ones I've looked at. I believe they would still cover quite a lot of our requirements. What deters me is that 5D and 5DS seem to have much newer technology, and I'd love to have a full frame camera. The 5DS and 5D are on par in terms of price, and it's obvious that the much higher resolution of the 5DS would allow huge posters/ads/banners - yet it is marketed as a specialist camera and I wonder what the drawback is. The 5D seems a good choice - but then there's the doubt about the lower resolution compared to the 5DS.

I would much appreciate an answer telling me which model would be best choice for our specific requirements - I do realise that this question is somewhat open to opinion, yet I hope I've made the situation clear enough to allow for factual answers (and avoid getting the question closed).

It has been suggested that this is answered by another question, which provides a general overview of the differences between EOS cameras. While this is helpful information, I fail to see how it answers my question, which is which of four models most accurately fits my specific requirements.

Answer 1

EOS 80D and 7D mkII are APS-c cameras; so while you can go wide angle, the best way to go wide is a Full frame camera. The cameras mentioned above have a crop factor of 1.6.

FULL FRAMES if you can afford, will certainly be better for the taking photos that are wide-angle. However, the full-frame camera will most certainly need a lens or two, as you don't have an FX lens. I suppose since you're already looking into 5D series, money isn't that big problem.

Resolution beyond a point won't matter, 50 MP 5DS will be dragged down by the printer used by the newspaper press, for that the 600D is already more than you need.

For 5D mk IV vs 5DS, there is the Pixel size ; same sensor size and lesser pixels, keeping all things means the pixel size on the latter is greater which in turn allows it to capture more light

Since one of your requirement is indoor,better low light performance can be a factor.

Answer 2

From your comment, you say that the main things you want from a new body are improved autofocus speed and improved image stabilisation. My view is that you almost certainly want to be getting better lenses, rather than a new body.

Image stabilisation: this is easy. Canon's image stabilisation is implemented in the lens, not the body, so changing body is going to make diddly squat difference to the image stabilisation you get.

Autofocus speed: the two lenses you are using are the kit lenses. You don't say if they're the STM versions or not, but it doesn't make much difference as they're both versions are slow focusing. Replace the 18-55 with (for example) the 17-55 f/2.8 and you'll discover your AF performance is much quicker without changing a thing your body. As an aside, if you did go for the 5D or 5DS, you'd have to be buying new lenses anyway as EF-S lenses aren't useable on full frame cameras.

Answer 3

The 5D MkIV is the best all-around camera in your list and will hold up the best with age.

You have cheap lenses so you would want to upgrade those regardless of which body you buy. You might keep the older 600D and lenses as a backup though.

If you can afford it, the 5D MkIV and "L" lenses are the best that Canon makes. A complete outfit could run you US$10,000 though.

5D MkIV

16-35mm f/2.8L III

24-70 f/2.8L II

70-200mm f.2.8L IS II

(for example)

Add in fast memory cards, extra batteries, Canon Speedlights, a good carbon fiber tripod, and insurance for it all.