What Canon camera to buy, 5d or the 40d?

I WANT TO START SHOOTING PHOTOS OF CROCS AND OTHER game park ANIMALS. Do you think I should get a 5d with a 300mm canon prime 2.8 or a 40 d with a 70-200 2.8 canon? Considering poster size.

I need to buy a new setup for wildlife and weddings both. Should I get the:

1.) canon 40d and 70-200 L 2.8 is lens cost: $2,513

or

2.) canon 5d and 300 prime L 2.8 is cost: $6,000
plus I would need the 70 - 200 2.8 is L also for an additional $1500 for a total of $7500

The second option only gives me an extra zoom range of 100mm which I don't need if I get the 40d body because it would give me good range with option number one.

The difference in cost is about $5000 but what do I get for that if anything???

I need great detail to sell but most prints are 8x10 anyway.

Which is best?

Thanks for you expert advice.

It depends how much of a telephoto zoom you want of your subjects. A full-frame sensor, such as what the 5D has, (which is what makes the camera so much more expensive) would make everything more wide-angle, so a lens you use such as a 300mm, would not appear to be 300mm but perhaps 200mm if you were used to shooting with a non-full frame sensor like that in the 40D. A full frame sensor is the equivalent to a 35mm SLR. (So a full frame sensor is a disadvantage for telephoto but an advantage to wide angle photos.)

One other detail you may want to take into consideration is the FPS (frame per second) rate. The 40D can take up to 6.5 FPS whilst the 5D can only shoot at 3FPS. Would this be important when taking action shots of a croc?

Another note is that the 40D has an inbuilt flash while the 5D doesn't. You may need to factor this into your equation as well.

Both the Canon 40D and 5D are great cameras, but it is up to you as to which one will suit you best. If it were in your position, I would go the 40D because it would give me a bigger zoom capability, its cheaper and it shoots at a faster frame rate, even though it has less Mega-Pixels than the 5D.
However, either of these cameras would easily be able to capture high-quality poster sized prints, and most definitely 8x10 prints.

I hope this helps.

12.8 MP vs. 10.1 on the 40D. There are other feature differences to be considered of course, plus the price difference. I'd go for the 40D for the applications you are considering unless you absolutely just have to have the 5D. Good luck shooting crocs.

Well the 5d has a full frame sensor that alone is enough to buy it over the 40d.

Tricky question to answer. For weddings I would go with the 5D hands down. Outstanding image quality and the low light performance just can't be beat.

For the wildlife photography, the 40D is probably your best bet. The crop factor will come into play giving you an equivalent focal length of 320mm on the long end of the 70-200.

For what you would lose on the wide end with the 40D, I'd get the excellent Canon 10-22 EF-S zoom. You'd still come out ahead of the 5D/300Prime combo price. For that matter, get them all: 40D AND the 5D, plus the 70-200, 10-22 and a 1.4X extender. That should only run you about $5400 right now on Amazon. :)

If I had to get one it would be the 40D. Cheaper for what you are wanting to do, plus the technology is a little more advanced.