My first digital camera was a six-megapixel Canon EOS 10D, which I bought in 2003 for the princely sum of $3000, the most I have ever paid for a camera, even to this day. However, that six-megapixel 10D convinced me that the future was digital when it proved itself capable of making a 16x20 print as good as my medium format film Pentax 6x7.
I used the 10D for a year or two, but was never quite happy with the autofocus, so I moved on to the next generation 20D, which had an eight megapixel sensor and was a much-improved camera in every way.
In 2006, I ponied up $2600 for a new 5D. It was a good deal, because most places were selling the 5D for $3000 at the time. It had all the good features of the 20D, plus a new twelve megapixel CMOS sensor and more.
That camera was my constant companion for the next seven years as I photographed architecture, weddings, portraits, and commercial assignments, carried her to Israel in 2010; as well as rambling around Georgia for several years, culminating in a week-long drive around the perimeter of the state, making many of the photographs that would become my limited edition book Georgia: A Backroads Portrait.
I had a good selection of lenses for the 5D, but most used were the 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 USM and the 70-200mmf4L
Sadly, by 2013 my friend was becoming too heavy for me (she hadn't gained weight, but I was 76 by this time) so I replaced her with a smaller, lighter Canon EOS 6D with twenty megapixels and automatic sensor cleaning. (Dust on the sensor was an ongoing nuisance with the 5D.)
The 5D at work: Face-off in south Georgia. Highway 122, Ware County.
Greatly loved by photographers of all kinds, but especially wedding photographers, the 5D has gone through four editions. Each edition was improved in various ways over the previous ones, but yet, like an old girlfriend you can't forget, the original 5D still has her charms.
She is a true classic.
Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/
Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia
are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal
address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943
Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how
you would like your book inscribed.
Photography and text copyright 2025 David B.Jenkins.
I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.
A beautiful i age you made.
ReplyDeleteYep, the good old 5D was/is a wonderful camera. The rubber parts get quite sticky now on mine.
Thanks for your comment, Reinhold. Yes, the rubber parts can get a bit sticky after 15 or 20 years.
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