$3300 is a lot of money for a camera, even a very good camera, but having said that, if this the price range you have available this is one heck of a camera for the money.
So with digital SLR cameras available for less than $800 why would someone pay 4 times that for one? The answer in realistic terms is quality; the 5D will do things that a lesser camera cannot. The most noticeable difference before you even start to use it is the weight, even though it is billed as one of the smallest and lightest it still feels remarkably solid. The second thing you notice is the larger than usual (2.5” instead of 1.8” on the 20D) LCD screen on the rear of the camera.
The huge difference once you actually start using the camera is that, unlike the 20D, the 5D has a full frame sensor. What this means in simple terms is that the sensor is the same size as a 35mm negative. This translates to all your lenses that you may have bought for a Canon 35mmm SLR having the same focal length on the 5D as on the film camera. Earlier cameras such as the Rebel and the 20D had a slightly smaller sensor which lead to focal lengths having to be multiplied by 1.6; this made buying a wide angle lens an expensive proposition. The full frame capability will give the ability for existing 35mm users to move all their equipment across to digital without any change in how it operates. As a long time 20D owner however, it has made me take a serious look at getting a better telephoto.
The next major difference is that at 12.8MP it sports more than half as many pixels again over the 20D. The file buffer is improved over the 20D as well in that the 5D has a 60 frame capacity more than twice that of the 20D, although it can only hit 3fps maximum. This may be a drawback for some sports photographers, but it has not proven a problem for me yet as most of my work is portraiture and landscape.
In use the 5D is solid, well built and instills a feeling of quality. Image quality from the large format sensor is incredible and the enhanced (9+6 point) autofocus capability keeps images well focused. Interestingly the LCD display now incorporates several other useful features such as the ability to show where the autofocus locked in an image.
The 5D is close to being king of the hill in terms of digital SLR performance. One neat extra that has recently been made available is wireless network adaptor letting you shoot in the studio directly to a PC.
