How about the Canon 5D Mark II

September, 2013 Note that in the virtual traveller review, the author says that he has a 35 by 51 inch print taken with the original (12.8 megapixel) 5D that he finds plenty sharp. So why do we need 21 megapixels?

The original Canon 5D is a full frame digital camera in a camera body with a conventional size and shape. The original 5D (the 5D classic) was a 12.8 megapixel camera that was introduced in 2005. It is still (as of 2011) very well regarded

The 5D Mark II is a 21.1 megapixel camera with a number of features (live view and sensor cleaning, not to mention movie taking) not present on the original 5D.

I have heard several people say that when they got their 20D, they were able to get rid of their 35mm film cameras, and when they got their 5D, they were able to get rid of their medium format cameras (hasselblad's were mentioned in this regard).

Some people complain about the autofocus system in the 5D. I have never found anything to complain about, but:

If you want a 5D with a better focus system, take a look at the 5D Mark III or perhaps the 6D, or even the 1Ds Mark III.

The Sensor

The sensor has 6.4 micron pixels (compare to the 8.2 micron pixels on the original 5D). It is 21.1 megapixels rather than 12.8 megapixels.

Build quality

The 5Dii is by no means weather-sealed at the same level as a 1D body. People have reported fairly benighn exposures to moisture as having a bad effect on the camera. The Canon white paper says that "the 5D Mark II now has dust and water resistance almost equal to the EOS-1N. This is an odd statement (comparing it to a film SLR from the 1990's), but it may mean something to somebody.

The cemera has a steel chassis and a magnesium alloy cover (not just plastic as some people surmise). This makes it stout, but not exceptionally rugged.

The shutter is rated for 150,000 actuations.

Video

As of 2013, I have yet to ever capture video with my 5Dii. But the 5Dii will do it (and do it in 1080p). This seems to be thanks to the DIGIC-4 chip. The 1Ds Mark III has the same sensor, no DIGIC-4 chip, and therefore no video.

Reviews

I find it funny that Nick Devlin in the "field review" on one hand admires the 5D mode changing knob, but then complains that it gets changed accidently. To me, the 1D mode changing via button and wheel fixes this, but that is exactly what he says he doesn't like. What can we do? In the same spirit he admires the small 5D body, but then admits that he rushes out to put a grip on it.

He makes an comment about Canon lenses and the 5Dii, namely that few lenses can deliver images that have detail on a par with the resolution of the sensor. He says that the 70-200 f/2.8 L will do it. He was disappointed by the 24-70 f2.8L under 50mm.

He says, "The 5DII produces cleaner high-ISO files than we have ever seen before, shots up to 1600 are remarkably clean."

He was getting over 500 shots per battery -- in Antarctica. Ken Rockwell says he gets 1000 to 1500 shots on a battery. The battery is supposed to give about 800 shots.

The 5Dii offers two super high ISO settings (12800 and 25600), which are best reserved for emergency use only. Similarly ISO 6400 is usable, but best avoided.

I find the TDP review irritating in that he is endlessly comparing the 5Dii to the 5D and the 1DxIII. This is fine if you are familiar with those other cameras, but what I want to know is how how high an ISO I can use routinely without significant noise.

What I believe at this point is that there is really no real difference between ISO 400 and 800, so you may as well use ISO 800 as a routine hand held ISO setting. There is certainly no concern about using ISO 400. A bit of noise shows up at ISO 1600.

Firmware 1.0.7 fixes the "black dot" issue with bright areas (my camera has 2.0.8).

Autofocus

This is the weakest aspect of the 5Dii, and the mystery is why Canon didn't equip this camera with a more sophisticated system like other models available at the time. There are 9 focus sensors. Only the one in the center is a cross type. The two sensors above and below the center are sensitive to vertical lines only. The six sensors left and right of center are sensitive to horizontal lines only. There are also 6 hidden sensors clustered near the center sensor.

They are doing the job for me, I usually set up the camera to use only the center point.

The EOS Utility

This whole saga deserves its own page, but here it sits for now:

I lost (misplaced) the disk that came with my camera. It is not as simple as just downloading the utility from the Canon website. See this link for details.

And now for something different: picture styles

I have been comparing the JPEG images from my old 20D (as well as those from my new 5Dii) to a point and shoot camera I have (a Panasonic LX3). The amazing thing is that I really like the images from the LX3, and by comparison the images from my DSLR are much more bland. So I decide to look at the JPEG processing settings in my camera to see what might be done.

This leads to the discovery of what Canon calls picture styles

Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Digital Photography Info / tom@mmto.org