Upgrading my body: 1ds or 5d?

[BonjiB]

Ok. It's been a while since i've posted but I'm at a crossroads and need some advice. I'm getting the photobug again and I'm wanting to upgrade my body. I'm currently shooting professionally with a 20d and a battery grip to make me feel good about myself. It's been doing the job fine but business has kicked up and i feel like it's time to upgrade to the full frame world and gain some additional functionality and quality out of my body. I've been buying lenses knowing one day i'd make the jump to full frame so I'm all set there. My question is... do i buy a used 1ds or a used 5d?

My work is mostly weddings but i use my camera for everything. I'm looking at a used 1ds (not the mark II or III, just the 1ds) which is 11.something megapixel but what attracts me to it is the more advanced focusing and metering system it has. That's one thing that can be very frustrating with the 20d is the lack of focus speed when it comes down to it and it's terribly inaccurate automatic white balance. I'm looking between these two bodies as they are about the same price used now. Unfortunately the 1ds mkII is just a little too far out of reach right now (i've been sinking most of my cash into lenses.)

I was comparing this body to the 5d which can be picked up used for about the same price as the 1ds. My question is for those that have used both: which one is a better pick? I know the 5d has newer technology in it as far as the sensor and all that goes but there has to be a reason the 1ds is still worth as much as it is. so...

To those who have used both or at least know enough about them to make an accurate comparison: Which camera should i upgrade to for my line of work, the 1ds or the 5d?

Also, I'm open to other suggestions but please don't suggest something that costs more than say 1200-1300 dollars because i just don't have it in the budget right now and i do want to bump to full frame so please no crop sensor recommendations either. I'm primarily interested in the difference between the two cameras i've talked about in the post. Thanks.

[photograham]

Personally I think either one is a good choice, the 5d has been great for me lately.
http://www.snagpic.com/users/img/3726/n09x0302vnsn/clear.gif

[BonjiB]

Well. I made a stupid and spent 1000 more than i wanted to and sprung for a 1ds Mark II. I figured the MKII would be my next logical upgrade after the 1ds and i'd lose some money in the sale of the 1ds when it came time to upgrade later on so i went ahead and set myself up for hopefully many years. What i was reading about the 1ds's image quality and iso performance compared with a 5d didn't make it sound as appealing as the 5d in that respect but i REALLY wanted the superior metering, white balance, and autofocus performance of the 1 series. So the only LOGICAL solution was to suck it up and buy a 1dsII. Also another deciding factor for me was card write times, buffer size, and startup time on the 1ds. I read a lot of complaints about the 1ds regarding the small buffer, slower write and startup times and i need a camera that's as fast as i am. If i didn't feel like the focusing and white balance system in my 20d was so crappy... i would have gone with the 5d hands down. But the 5d has similar "prosumer" features as the 20d so i said screw it and went all out. Well, as all out as my budget will allow. Hope this post helps someone.

Prolly not though since i didn't go with either of the two cameras i asked about. lol

[Csae]

So let us know how the 1ds M2 goes for you :) and Congrats.

[BonjiB]

All I can say is moving from a 20d to a 1ds II is like night and day in handling, quality, accuracy, etc. It was funny, i picked up my 20d a couple of days ago after having used the 1dsII for a while and the control layout seemed foreign and inferior. Even the build quality seemed cheap after becoming accustomed to the mkII (and the 20d is no inferior piece of equipment by any means.) The biggest hurdle i had to overcome with handling was learning that i have to hold a button and turn a dial to do anything... once you get that down the controls on the 1dsII are where it's at. Another thing i didn't think about was the file sizes being twice as large... have to buy more memory (crap.) Oh... and my lenses act like they're supposed to now, no focal length multiplier. I had forgotten how wide 24mm really is on FF.

Auto focus is spot on accurate and insanely fast. Metering and white balance is far better than on my 20d and if it misses it's very easy to dial in a compensation. It's not a huge deal for me since i shoot raw+jpg but i like to get things right the first time to avoid "fixing" in post.

I'll just say this... buy a 1ds II (or III) if you can.