I want to downgrade

My canon 5D is clearly overkill for my primary use - macro through a dissecting microscope. I hardly use any of the functions and it's too big & heavy for my current set-up. It's time to sell or swap it for something else. Any suggestions for something smaller and lighter? I want to stick with canon as I love my MPe-65 lens.

The 5D II sounds perfect..

But more seriously, I would go with a 40D. Not a lot smaller, but cheaper. And it has live view which is wonderful for microscope work.

Having live view again would be fabulous. Smaller is important though. My wrists are seriously screwed up right now so weight is an issue.

The 40D isn't smaller than the 5D really. The Rebel Xsi is supposed to have all the image quality but at a smaller size and lower price. Perhaps give it a try at Costco and see if you like it?

Cheers

James

at the risk of stating the obvious - you'll lose the full frame capability. But the 50D and the 40D are great cameras... The Rebel series are significantly smaller and lighter. All should work with your existing lenses.

Best of Luck,

Robert

the crop frame cameras will result in longer working distance with the 65, but the 40D and 50D aren't really different in size than the 5D. The Rebels offer the same advantage in working distance while being smaller and lighter and probably don't have any real disadvantage for your purposes, although i'd assume you want the highest resolution available.

Thanks guys. I figure 90% of usage for my camera is on the microscope, 5% on a camera stand with the mpe-65 and 5% regular shots so working distance isn't a big consideration. James recommended a Rebel too, the Xsi, so I'm going to take a look at that. Having live view for scope work is a real plus.