How good are canon 100d and 1200d

Hi all. Next year I will be doing a trip of a life time, 2 week cruise in Alaska followed by 6 weeks touring the states.

I have a canon 5d mk1. Sigma 17-35, Canon 24-105L and a 70-300l. I shoot mainly landscapes, old buildings, holidays and if the chance comes up wildlife. I do not print many photo’s as I prefer to compile slide shows.

I started to look for a back up to my 5d (10 years old) and looking at the specs of the canon range of cameras it made me think how out dated the 5d was. I have been looking at the 100d and the 1200d and they seem to be higher spec that my 5d. At the price they are selling for I could afford to trade in my 5d and buy two new cameras.

I am not tech minded, but have been into photography for 40 years. The question is would the 100d or 1200d outperform my old 5d with regards to quality of photo’s.

Whatever I do, I want to end up with two camera bodies that are reliable.

Regards Phil

Not a simple comparison. You are comparing an older full frame pro-level model, to modern basic entry level cameras.

So they will have very advantages.

The 5d will have much better build quality. It will have certain features considered more "pro" -- For example, a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000, while the others will be limited to 1/4000.

Being full frame, the 5d will give you narrower depth of field than those APS-C cameras.

Though being much newer, the older 5d, being full frame, should continue to have at least slight image quality advantages..... kinda...

At comparable ISO, the 5d will have lower noise. But, the newer cameras will have higher maximum ISOs. So for example, the maximum ISO on the 5D is 3200 --- and images still look pretty good at that ISO. The Canon 100D will have a higher potential maximum ISO, but the 5D 3200 will look better than the 100D 3200.

Of course, the 100D has higher resolution. And to some extent, that can make images look better. The 100D and 1200D will also have video features, have better LCD screens, be smaller and lighter.

In many ways, you are comparing a used 2007 top of the line luxury car, to a brand new budget compact. That old luxury car may be more comfortable, have a more powerful engine, etc... While the new budget car will have better fuel economy, WiFi/Satellite radio, etc.

Here is the image quality comparison between the 5d and 1200D... As you can see, the 5D retains an edge, but it is slight.

Look at the 6D. It's the new entry-level full-frame camera, so your lenses will "look" like you're used to seeing on the 5D. Basic AF (like the 5D), not super speedy (like the 5D), but a good little camera.

Honestly, I suspect you'd find that the 6D becomes your primary and the 5D moves to backup. Nothing wrong with that in my book.

Id be looking at a Full frame if it were me.

Thanks for the replies. I have had a chat with my local photo shop and he is going to loan me a 6d for a couple of days. He also said I could give the 1200d a try out. So I am going to take him up on his offer this coming weekend. I will be interested to see how they match up against my 5d.

While price is not an issue, I do envy people in the states, you seem to have good prices for new camera's. Here in the UK the 6d works out $300 more than in the states.

Regards Phil