5DII - is now the time to buy new?

[tbm]

Thought I'd poke my head round the door after a long time away from the forum - was never a prolific poster so I don't expect anyone to have noticed my absence

Anyway, purely by chance I noticed today that according to Camera Price Buster, the price of the 5dII has dropped from the ~£1500 it has been for years to £1250. Did a quick google search and my suspicions were confirmed that it's been discontinued.

I currently have a 40D, 10-22efs, 17-55efs, 70-200/2.8L plus a few cheapish Canon primes, one 430EX and one 580EXII. Ever since the release of the 50D, I've felt that Canon's newer crop bodies have nothing to offer me. While the 40D has been a reliable and dependable tool, I've always felt the pull of full frame for the shallow dof and better low light capabilities.. and have always assumed that the only upgrade to the 40D I would ever consider would be full frame.

I'm not a pro (and nor do I wish to be, although I've shot the odd paid wedding / event in the past) and think that £1250 on a new body might be somewhat frivilous (especially since I haven't shot a lot recently, having been preoccupied with other interests).

On the other hand, I get the feeling that snapping up one of the final 5DIIs at a reduced price might be the most cost-effective and sensible path to full frame ownership - the Mk1 is a bit long in the tooth now and still commanding around £500 for old, used examples.

The Mk2 will obviously continue to be available used and seems to be going for around £850-£1k at the moment - not a whole lot less than the new item, and I suspect prices may stay fairly stable if the remaining stock of new items sells out quickly.

The Mk3 is around £2300 new, and I doubt will ever drop to prices low enough to be a viable purchase on my budget - besides, I'd be more than happy with the feature set on the 5DII.

There is of course the 6D, although this is still £1600 and doesn't appear to have the build quality of the 5DII (although I've not researched it in great depth).

At the moment a new 5DII seems like a very tempting proposition. The only other caveat is that I obviously couldn't use my efs lenses on the full frame body and to replace them with L equivalents would cost in the region of £3k. That said this cost could be partially offset by selling the efs lenses and there would not neccessarily be any urgent need to buy such glass since I do have 35 and 50mm primes.. although lacking wide and standard zooms would render the new full frame setup less versatile in terms of focal length than my current setup.

So what do people reckon? Would purchasing one of the last new 5Ds now be a shrewd move towards full frame, or a frivilous waste of money on outdated technology? Do we think they might come down further in price before stocks run out?

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated

 

[Dave-G]

I'm just going through the exact debate with myself I think I am going to get end up getting one just because I can't see myself being able to afford a mark 3 any time soon and I have always wanted full frame.

 

[philthejuggler]

I bought a 5DII earlier in the year for £1250 and have been very impressed with it - I'd go with it.

Phil

 

[HoppyUK]

It's a bargain.

 

[Dave-G]

Just one thing (just noticed your current kit) I don't think the 10-22 and the 17-55 will work with a full frame will they?

This is the issue I have with my current 10-20mm sigma.

 

[modchild]

As Dave says, the 10-22 and 17-55 wont work with a full frame so you'd need to take that into account as to whether it's worth the change of body types. If you do go full frame and you have enough saved up for a 5D2 already you should think about selling the above lenses and putting it towards a new 5D3 instead. A new 5D3 can be got from Hdew cameras in the UK for £1895 http://hdewcameras6-px.rtrk.co.uk/canon-eos-5d-mark-iii-body-961-p.asp and the 5D3 can be had for £1125 http://hdewcameras6-px.rtrk.co.uk/canon-5d-mark-ii-digital-slr-camera-body-196-p.asp I can highly recommend Hdew cameras as a retailer, I bought a 5D2 with 24-105 f4L kit and a 5D3 body from them and their service was excellent.

I had a 5D2 from november 2011 to march 2012, but sold it to get the 5D3 instead. While the 5D2 is very good overall it's not a patch on the 5D3 for features. The IQ is similar but the rest of it is incredible compared to the MkII.

 

[BacktotheFuji]

The 6D is built very well (less creaks than my original 5D) and can be had for £1260 if you're prepared to buy from Panamoz. High ISO is amazing.

The 5D II is now discontinued, so if you really want a new one, you'd best buy now

 

[wibbly]

I've recently moved over to full frame with a 5Dc from a 40D and love the difference full frame makes.

If I had the spare cash to throw at one of the final 5d2's at that price I certainly would go for it. Second hand values are reasonable strong here in the classifieds if you do your homework, so at £1260 or so, they're a great price and not likely to be around for long at that price.

 

[tbm]

I'm just going through the exact debate with myself I think I am going to get end up getting one just because I can't see myself being able to afford a mark 3 any time soon and I have always wanted full frame.

Thanks - my thoughts exactly. It looks like now might be the best time to get into full frame on a budget; since I can never see the 5D III's new price falling this far (although thinking about it the 6D might.. hard to do any comparitive research though as dpreview has yet to review the 6D). Have you reached a decision yet?

I bought a 5DII earlier in the year for £1250 and have been very impressed with it - I'd go with it.
Phil

It's a bargain.

Thanks for the encouragement gents - it's hardly doing my prospective bank balance any good, though

Just one thing (just noticed your current kit) I don't think the 10-22 and the 17-55 will work with a full frame will they?

This is the issue I have with my current 10-20mm sigma.

As Dave says, the 10-22 and 17-55 wont work with a full frame so you'd need to take that into account as to whether it's worth the change of body types. If you do go full frame and you have enough saved up for a 5D2 already you should think about selling the above lenses and putting it towards a new 5D3 instead. A new 5D3 can be got from Hdew cameras in the UK for £1895 http://hdewcameras6-px.rtrk.co.uk/canon-eos-5d-mark-iii-body-961-p.asp and the 5D3 can be had for £1125 http://hdewcameras6-px.rtrk.co.uk/canon-5d-mark-ii-digital-slr-camera-body-196-p.asp I can highly recommend Hdew cameras as a retailer, I bought a 5D2 with 24-105 f4L kit and a 5D3 body from them and their service was excellent.

I had a 5D2 from november 2011 to march 2012, but sold it to get the 5D3 instead. While the 5D2 is very good overall it's not a patch on the 5D3 for features. The IQ is similar but the rest of it is incredible compared to the MkII.

Thanks chaps - yes, I'm aware that neither the 10-22 nor the 17-55 will fit the full frame body; this is one of the binds as I see the natural replacements for these lenses to be the 16-35/2.8L (or 17-40/4L at a push) and 24-70/2.8L (or 24-105/4 at a push)- the cost of the f/2.8 lenses amounting to around £2700, that of the f/4 lenses coming to around £1300 which is obviously as much as / double the cost of the camera that I'm deliberating over.

I suspect I could get around £1k through flogging the 10-22 and 17-55 used which would partially offset the cost of full frame friendly glass.. obviously at the cost of the functionality of my crop stuff (at the price used 40Ds are going for it's worth far more to me as a backup body).

Thanks for the links modchild - I appreciate your argment re. the 5D III; however it's simply well out of my price range. Paying £1200 for a 5D II would be a bit of a leap of faith given the amount of photography I've done recently - in my case spending any more would be a waste of money IMO.

The 6D is built very well (less creaks than my original 5D) and can be had for £1260 if you're prepared to buy from Panamoz. High ISO is amazing.

The 5D II is now discontinued, so if you really want a new one, you'd best buy now

Thanks - I haven't really given the 6D a lot of thought as I can't find a whole lot of information on it - that will be today's task, though

As an aside I'd like to discuss the discount sites like Panamoz, hdew cameras and some ebay sellers. IIRC Camera Price Buster only lists UK retailers selling official UK stock; their cheapest Mk2 body atm being around £1200 ex. postage. Then there the other shops linked to above (as well as some ebay sellers) offering the Mk2 for as little as £1090. I assume I'm correct in thinking that these items are "grey" imports with an additional 3yr warranty tacked on since the Canon warranty is only valid in the country in which it was intended to be sold.

On the face of it, assuming that the warranty is at least worth the paper it's printed on, the imports look like a better deal - cheaper initial price and 3yr warranty as opposed to the manufacturer's 1yr.

Has anyone bought from any of these suppliers and had to make a warranty claim? Was it straightforward and ultimately satisfactory?

I've recently moved over to full frame with a 5Dc from a 40D and love the difference full frame makes.

If I had the spare cash to throw at one of the final 5d2's at that price I certainly would go for it. Second hand values are reasonable strong here in the classifieds if you do your homework, so at £1260 or so, they're a great price and not likely to be around for long at that price.

Thanks - that's what I was thinking

Well, after doing a bit more research it appears that a lot of suppliers have cottoned on and have dropped their prices. There are now four "legit" retailers offering the 5DII at £1250 on Camera Price Buster, with the cheapest being Ace Cameras at £1200. If you're prepared to buy a grey import these can be purchased for anything between £1090 and £1190 from ebay or some of the shops linked to earlier in this thread.

I think I should have a little while to deliberate before stock runs dry (and prices might even fall a bit further) so I'll give it a couple of sleeps and see what my gut tells me in a few days. Thanks to all those who've contributed, and I welcome any more thoughts

 

[HoppyUK]

<snip>

Thanks chaps - yes, I'm aware that neither the 10-22 nor the 17-55 will fit the full frame body; this is one of the binds as I see the natural replacements for these lenses to be the 16-35/2.8L (or 17-40/4L at a push) and 24-70/2.8L (or 24-105/4 at a push)- the cost of the f/2.8 lenses amounting to around £2700, that of the f/4 lenses coming to around £1300 which is obviously as much as / double the cost of the camera that I'm deliberating over.

<snip>

In terms of equivalents, the f/4 full-frame lenses are closest to f/2.8 on crop format. The crop factor not only works on focal length, but also depth of field and effective ISO - all driven the the size difference.

So, if you take your 17-55 2.8 for example, the equivalent to that on full frame would be 27-88mm in angle of view terms, and f/4.5 in depth of field terms. And in exposure terms, because the full frame sensor collects more than twice as much light (2.56x more, crop factor squared) you can run higher ISO for the same noise level - 100ISO effectively becomes ISO256.

Hope that makes sense - it works like that both in theory and practise

BTW, there are lots of threads on buying grey imports - see the Photo Shopping forum on here.

 

[BacktotheFuji]

Quick comparison of the benefits of each model:

5D II

1/8000 maximum shutter speed as opposed to the 6D's 1/4000
Heavier
21MP v 20MP resolution
Cheap!

6D

Lighter
More sensitive centre point (-3EV)
GPS
Wi-Fi for remote shooting, picture playback and publishing to social media
Better high ISO performance
No obvious banding issues when exposures are pushed
Auto ISO with minimum shutter speed setting
4.5 v 3.9 fps shooting speed
Weather resistant
You can, er, rate your pictures...

 

[Jackwow]

If Canon have stopped making the 7D II then they will only be available new as long as the existing stock lasts, so sounds like now is the time to get it.

I bought the 6D today (kit with 24-105L). I have 7D, EFS 10-22, EFS 15-85 and EF70-300L. I plan to keep the 7D and the 70-300 but eventually sell the 10-22 and 15-85. Will also buy a fast prime.

 

[jockwav]

If i was looking to change my camera it would be the 6D as i think it would do everything that i would need.
I don,t see anything wrong with the build quality,do people want to throw their cameras around.:shrug:

 

[Throttle]

The 6D does have less controls has no joystick control and missing function buttons on the rear not saying the 6D is a bad camera they look very good

I love my 5D2 but im selling it too upgrade to the 5D3 i want improved autofocus and better high iso yet with same controls i get on my 5D2

 

[tbm]

In terms of equivalents, the f/4 full-frame lenses are closest to f/2.8 on crop format. The crop factor not only works on focal length, but also depth of field and effective ISO - all driven the the size difference.

So, if you take your 17-55 2.8 for example, the equivalent to that on full frame would be 27-88mm in angle of view terms, and f/4.5 in depth of field terms. And in exposure terms, because the full frame sensor collects more than twice as much light (2.56x more, crop factor squared) you can run higher ISO for the same noise level - 100ISO effectively becomes ISO256.

Hope that makes sense - it works like that both in theory and practise

BTW, there are lots of threads on buying grey imports - see the Photo Shopping forum on here.

Thanks - yes, I'm aware of the effective differences in aperture etc with respect to the sensor size (although haven't thought about it for a long time ). Accepting slower lenses on the basis that the dof will be similar removes one of the reasons I'm looking to upgrade to full frame though (better subject separation). Plus, it appears that the 5DII will produce "acceptable" image quality to ISO6400 (two stops faster than the ISO1600 I consider my ceiling with the 40D) so going with slower lenses and higher ISO in practical terms would only give me around a 1-stop advantage.

Thanks for the guidance about grey imports - I'll have a read

Quick comparison of the benefits of each model:

5D II

1/8000 maximum shutter speed as opposed to the 6D's 1/4000
Heavier
21MP v 20MP resolution
Cheap!

6D

Lighter
More sensitive centre point (-3EV)
GPS
Wi-Fi for remote shooting, picture playback and publishing to social media
Better high ISO performance
No obvious banding issues when exposures are pushed
Auto ISO with minimum shutter speed setting
4.5 v 3.9 fps shooting speed
Weather resistant
You can, er, rate your pictures...

Thanks for the comparison - having done a bit of similar research myself the 6D seems like much more of a contender than I initially gave it credit for - on the face of it it seems much like a slightly feature-stripped 5DIII...

The following features compared to the 5DII certainly make me sit up and take notice: Better focussing in low light, better high ISO noise performance, better weather sealing..

If the 6D is going for around £1600 now (or as little as £1300 on some of the grey sites) it might make a better purchase than a 5DII once prices have dropped a bit further (although at the £1600 price point it'll probably be a good seller once the 5DII stocks have been used up, so might not drop in price until a successor is announced and that could be another 4yrs based on the 5D life cycle).

If Canon have stopped making the 5D II then they will only be available new as long as the existing stock lasts, so sounds like now is the time to get it.

I bought the 6D today (kit with 24-105L). I have 7D, EFS 10-22, EFS 15-85 and EF70-300L. I plan to keep the 7D and the 70-300 but eventually sell the 10-22 and 15-85. Will also buy a fast prime.

Good work - I'm certainly intrigued by the 6D now

Sounds like a good plan, although I think I'll find it hard to say goodbye to my 10-22 - tis a cracking lens

 

[tbm]

If i was looking to change my camera it would be the 6D as i think it would do everything that i would need.
I don,t see anything wrong with the build quality,do people want to throw their cameras around.:shrug:

The 6D does have less controls has no joystick control and missing function buttons on the rear not saying the 6D is a bad camera they look very good

I love my 5D2 but im selling it too upgrade to the 5D3 i want improved autofocus and better high iso yet with same controls i get on my 5D2

Thanks for the thoughts - we were all evidently posting at the same time

On paper the 6D certainly looks very promising; the only thing I don't like about it is that it appears to be an obviously, artifically "cheapened" 5DIII with some glaring and purposeful omissions evidently designed to push people towards the more expensive alternative. The 1/4000 max shutter speed, 1/180th flash sync and lack of joystick (!) really illustrate this.

I didn't know about the joystick actually - in spite of all the other improved features that might actually be a deal breaker for me since I really love the feature on the 40D..

Throttle - how do you find the AF on the 5DII? I remember this was criticised on the original 5D, and is reputidly the same setup on the II. Have you had any experience with how it compares to the AF on the 40D? I suspect they might all use the same system.. would certainly have reservations if the AF is lower spec on the 5D II than the 40D, though..

IMO the AF on the 40D can hunt occasionally in difficult situations, but is pretty good on the whole.. so comparable or better would be the order of the day

 

[Nod]

If the 5Dii offers all you want and need and the iii offers nothing extra of particular interest to you, I would go for the ii now rather than risk the last remaining stocks disappearing before you get your paws on one. You could wait and see if the price drops any further but that does run the risk of the stocks running out.

ETA... May well be worth popping into your local Jessops with a printout of the Ace Cameras page showing that cheapest price - IIRC, Canon have a large stake in Jessops and Jessops can usually offer the best deals on Canons as a result.

 

[Dave-G]

Well I bought mine from WEX, it came today . Yes it would be nice to have a 5d 3 but the 2 has oodles of image quality which is what I am after. I had no issues with my 50d for focusing and the 5D2 should be the same or a tiny bit better from what I read.

I just need a replacement wide angle lens now! I'm still happy, I have a camera that I wanted really badly for ages at a relative snip of a price.

 

[seriousrikk]

I had no issues with my 50d for focusing and the 5D2 should be the same or a tiny bit better from what I read.

Sorry to dissappoint, the 5D2 is not ahead of the 50D in the autofocus department - especially as the light levels start to dip.

While the 5d2 does have the assist points round the centre point, it lacks the full set of cross tyep sensors the 50D has and the assist points only work in the AI servo/focus modes

 

[Dave-G]

I'll just have to see how I get on I guess

 

[drexyl]

All of the 5D qualities are in the final images it produces.

It never fails to impress me.
I own a 1D mkiv , 7D & a 5D MKii & on image quality alone I still think the 5D MKii comes out on top.

 

[Jackwow]

On paper the 6D certainly looks very promising; the only thing I don't like about it is that it appears to be an obviously, artifically "cheapened" 5DIII with some glaring and purposeful omissions evidently designed to push people towards the more expensive alternative. The 1/4000 max shutter speed, 1/180th flash sync and lack of joystick (!) really illustrate this.

I didn't know about the joystick actually - in spite of all the other improved features that might actually be a deal breaker for me since I really love the feature on the 40D..

Do you even need a shutter speed of 1/4000 never mind greater?

Sure it doesn't have a joystick, but from my very limited experience with the 6D what they have replaced it with is every bit as good!

 

[tbm]

Well I bought mine from WEX, it came today . Yes it would be nice to have a 5d 3 but the 2 has oodles of image quality which is what I am after. I had no issues with my 50d for focusing and the 5D2 should be the same or a tiny bit better from what I read.

I just need a replacement wide angle lens now! I'm still happy, I have a camera that I wanted really badly for ages at a relative snip of a price.

Good work - glad you 're happy with it - which WA lens are you going for?

Sorry to dissappoint, the 5D2 is not ahead of the 50D in the autofocus department - especially as the light levels start to dip.

While the 5d2 does have the assist points round the centre point, it lacks the full set of cross tyep sensors the 50D has and the assist points only work in the AI servo/focus modes

IIRC the 50D's focussing was upgraded from the 40D's; so the AF on the 5DII could be considered to be comparable to the 40D..?

All of the 5D qualities are in the final images it produces.

It never fails to impress me.
I own a 1D mkiv , 7D & a 5D MKii & on image quality alone I still think the 5D MKii comes out on top.

Thanks - after all it is the final image that matters (although obviously decent general camera functionality helps too )

If the 5Dii offers all you want and need and the iii offers nothing extra of particular interest to you, I would go for the ii now rather than risk the last remaining stocks disappearing before you get your paws on one. You could wait and see if the price drops any further but that does run the risk of the stocks running out.

ETA... May well be worth popping into your local Jessops with a printout of the Ace Cameras page showing that cheapest price - IIRC, Canon have a large stake in Jessops and Jessops can usually offer the best deals on Canons as a result.

It's not really a case of 5DII v III for me - I could afford either (although the money ought to be directed towards more noble persuits) however I can barely justify the cost of the reduced 5DII, so unfortunately the III is totally out of the window.

In my case it's "can I justify chucking £1250 at a body that I might not use a lot and while superior in isolation to the body I have at the moment, will offer reduced versitility in terms of focal length range compared to what I have now, until I'm prepared to sink at least a further £1300 into full-frame compatable lenses"

Sadly I think the answer is "no" - I could justify the cost of the body, but really can't see the outlay on lenses being viable in the near future unless I get a huge spurt of enthusiasm (pretty much all I've shot in the last year has been mundane white background shots of stuff for sale and a mate's post-wedding celebrations after having my arm twisted).

A lot of really well paid photographic work would help, although this is highly unlikely as I have no taste for weddings and we all know how well paid amateur photographers are generally..

Thanks for the Jessops suggestion - I did actually pop in there a couple of days ago (although didn't think about requesting a price match) - despite their website being bare they did have a 5DII marked up at £1300

Do you even need a shutter speed of 1/4000 never mind greater?

Sure it doesn't have a joystick, but from my very limited experience with the 6D what they have replaced it with is every bit as good!

I probably don't (or at least very, very rarely) need that speed, no.. however I don't like the idea of something having "native" features removed specifically because they might draw consumers away from a more expensive product - seems very backward and cynical to me.

To be fair I've not tried the 6D joystick alternative so can't fairly judge it.. again though I think my point above still stands.


I've noticed that Ace Cameras appear to have sold out, so the cheapest "legit" price is now the £1250 offered by several other retailers.

Unfortunately I'm erring more on the side of giving the 5DII a miss.. based mainly on the requirement mentioned above for the further (not inconsiderable) investment in more glass to make the whole lot as versatile as my current setup.

I did consider buying one and just sticking it in the cupboard; only bringing it out to use for specific tasks with the appropriate primes I have (love the concept and purity of full frame with a 35/2 prime); although this could end up being a fat waste of money depending on how much the body depreciates over the coming years (however the 5D seems to have faired reasonably well considering that my 40D has lost around 2/3rds of it's original value in the 5 or so years I've owned it).

Bottom line is; I still really don't know - damn my indecisiveness :bang:

 

[tbm]

Right, after all that I've just ordered one


In the end I figured this has to be the best value opportunity to go full frame there will be for a while. I had a quick look on ebay and there are a couple of used Mk2s with bids at around £900 and £1k; so worst case scenario I can't see me losing a lot if I needed to get the money back for any reason. Given the price drop I can't see Mk2s being around long at the reduced price; this coupled with the relatively low depreciation of the Mk1 leads me to think the Mk2 should hold its value reasonably well.

Plus it's my birthday :razz:


After a bit of research I ordered from HDEW Cameras for £1125.00 + £9.99 postage - a big thanks to modchild for pointing me in this direction

I gave HDEW a call with a few questions. The chap I spoke to was very helpful and keen to differentiate their cameras from "grey" imports; in that while not "official" imports as I understand it, the bodies are UK spec so come with a proper UK battery charger and presumably correct documentation.

In addition, on account of this being a UK spec body the first year's warranty is the proper manufacturer's item with Canon, and the remaining two years of the extended three year warranty are through the retailer (which is apparently executed by "Canon approved" agents).

So the way I see it; the body is UK spec, was £115 cheaper than through any of the "official" retailers, retains the manufacture's warranty and has an additional 2yr warranty to boot. What's not to like?

Thanks to all who've contributed thoughts and advice - I'll keep the thread updated and hope that it might be of use to anyone else finding themselves in a similar situation

 

[jockwav]

That seems a great price for that camera,well done hope you really enjoy it when you get it.

 

[CleanSlateMusic]

I snagged the last one from Ace Camera's. Can't wait to get my filthy little mitts on it.

 

[farrance]

I've just bought my 5D Mk2 for £750.. the image quality still makes me giggle.. absolutely astounding value for money.

 

[seriousrikk]

IIRC the 50D's focussing was upgraded from the 40D's; so the AF on the 5DII could be considered to be comparable to the 40D..?

40D still had all 9 as cross type same as the 50D. I remember when I moved between the two there was nothing in it. I would put the 5DII between 30D and 40D in terms of AF peformance. Much the same as the original 5D

Still no slouch in good light, so unless you plan on using it heavily when the light drops you'll be fine. I used to use my 20D for whippets and greyhounds in action!

 

[tbm]

That seems a great price for that camera,well done hope you really enjoy it when you get it.

Thanks - appreciate your encouragment

I snagged the last one from Ace Camera's. Can't wait to get my filthy little mitts on it.

So it was you! Tbh this seller running out of stock was one of the determining factors in my ordering one today.. it seems (although of course might not be the case) that they're selling fast. Hope you enjoy your new toy

I've just bought my 5D Mk2 for £750.. the image quality still makes me giggle.. absolutely astounding value for money.

Excellent - looking forward to the arrival of mine now! That said there's not a lot to shoot round my way so I'm hoping that a new toy will spur me into going out and finding something to take photos of

40D still had all 9 as cross type same as the 50D. I remember when I moved between the two there was nothing in it. I would put the 5DII between 30D and 40D in terms of AF peformance. Much the same as the original 5D

Still no slouch in good light, so unless you plan on using it heavily when the light drops you'll be fine. I used to use my 20D for whippets and greyhounds in action!

Thanks - I've read up on the subject a bit (much as I'm a fiend for reseach and techy stuff, it's all starting to wash over me now). It appears that many of the criticisms of the 5DII's focussing system are with respect to the location and sensitivity of the outer AF points.. I'm firmly in the "centre point and re-compose" camp, so I'm hoping I won't notice much difference in performance.

Realistically as long as it's comparable to the 40D I'll be happy since I've generally found the 40D's AF to be pretty good (I don't really shoot any fast moving stuff).

Will post some thoughts once the camera's arrived and I've had a chance to play with it

 

[tbm]

A quick update for anyone following the thread for feedback on HDEW Cameras.

I received an email this morning stating that my order status is "paid, now processing", and that my camera should be dispatched in 3-5 days. I've read on the internetz and also suspect that HDEW hold very little / no stock and buy in to order.. so this dead period is presumably to allow them to source the body.

Given that the camera is now discontinued this makes me a little uneasy about reliability of supply. Also I've read that the bodies come supplied a "lens kit" box (since it works out cheaper to buy the two together and split them), and I've also heard of a few people getting non-UK chargers with adaptors (although I was told it would all be UK spec).

The box is no big deal (happy to swallow the wrong box for a saving of £100+), if the charger / instructions end up being foreign spec I'll have a word with them, and of course if they're out of stock I'll spit the dummy - hoping this won't be the case, though

I'm not at all criticising / complaining about owt at the moment; just getting a touch paranoid while I wait

 

[dubzter]

A quick update for anyone following the thread for feedback on HDEW Cameras.

I received an email this morning stating that my order status is "paid, now processing", and that my camera should be dispatched in 3-5 days. I've read on the internetz and also suspect that HDEW hold very little / no stock and buy in to order.. so this dead period is presumably to allow them to source the body.

Given that the camera is now discontinued this makes me a little uneasy about reliability of supply. Also I've read that the bodies come supplied a "lens kit" box (since it works out cheaper to buy the two together and split them), and I've also heard of a few people getting non-UK chargers with adaptors (although I was told it would all be UK spec).

The box is no big deal (happy to swallow the wrong box for a saving of £100+), if the charger / instructions end up being foreign spec I'll have a word with them, and of course if they're out of stock I'll spit the dummy - hoping this won't be the case, though

I'm not at all criticising / complaining about owt at the moment; just getting a touch paranoid while I wait

I got my 60d from them, it came in a kit box, UK manual but the charger came with a third party adapter. I have no issue with this as all the chargers are multi voltage anyway.

 

[tbm]

I got my 60d from them, it came in a kit box, UK manual but the charger came with a third party adapter. I have no issue with this as all the chargers are multi voltage anyway.

Cool - it seems that there seems to be a bit of variation between the supplied manuals and charger spec - makes me wonder about the intricacies of the supply chain..


Anyway.. today Christmas came late; the camera arriving at my place of work about 30 minutes ago

In summary, after the ordering from HDEW I got a "paid, order processing" email the following working day (I ordered after they'd closed). This suggested 3-5 working days until the camera was dispatched.

I was slightly irritated that in the time my order was being processed the price of the body had dropped from £1125 to £1099.. I'd decided that if I wasn't contacted by last night (end of the 5 day period) that I'd email them asking where the body had got to and asking them to honour the new price as a gesture of good will.

This turned out not to be necessary since last night I got an email stating that the camera had been dispatched

As expected / promised the camera came in a kit box (no big deal) which also contained amongst other things the correct UK spec charger and proper European instruction manual. So barring the price niggle I'm very pleased with my dealings with HDEW

I've had a quick look at the body and all seems good, the charger is sat next to me blinking away and I've brought my other gear / lenses so I can have a play later.

 

[justinminns]

Now does seem a good time to buy a mk2, I've always wanted one for landscapes and at £850 for a mint used example I could afford to keep my 7D as well so any AF issues aren't a problem!

 

[tbm]

Now does seem a good time to buy a mk2, I've always wanted one for landscapes and at £850 for a mint used example I could afford to keep my 7D as well so any AF issues aren't a problem!

It certainly appears that way - from your camera info it looks like you've acquired one rather swiftly


I've now had chance to set the camera up and have a little play - battery charged, CF card, lens and strap fitted.. The menu is practically the same as the 40D, so the image quality and other preferences took next to no time to set.

It did take me a while to set the AF to the centre point, since it was all of 5yrs ago when I last did this on my new 40D

In the hand the camera feels instantly familiar and very similar to the 40D (if a little more chunky).

I've currently got the 50/1.8 fitted and it's brought home to me how much wider everything is on FF. I'm wondering how I'll feel about lugging the 70-200 around now it's effectively 1.6 times shorter.

The viewfinder is big and bright, but not so much as to appear startlingly different to that of the 40D. I was disappointed to see that there's a bit of contamination on the focussing screen - have tried blowing it out but I suspect it's on the top. When I've done a bit more research I'll probably have the screen out and clean it.

The larger file size is brought home by the fact that the camera is only predicting 282 images at ISO 500 on my 8Gb card.. so I'll probably have to invest in a 16Gb item soon enough.

I'm tempted to have a wonder around the village at lunchtime and try the camera out; although I'm a bit concerned that the utterly mundane subject matter might take the gilt off my new toy.. so might wait for some more interesting opportunities.

Not sure when I'll get the opportunity to use the body in anger, but I think I've decided against playing about / test shooting at home - it feels so similar to the 40D in use I have no need to familiarize myself with the controls and ergonomics. Kudos to Canon for their consistency.

I do have a DIY 52mm variable ND filter to fit my 50 and 35mm lenses (currently the only standard / wide glass that'll fit this body) so I might go out at the weekend and try some long daylight exposures somewhere with a lot of people / movement. Another little bonus is that this camera has an IR receiver; so I can once again use the RC2 remote I bought for my 350D. I never got round to buying a wired remote for the 40D on account of their cost.

So nothing new or groundbreaking in my experience, however I hope my ramblings might be of some use to those looking to step up to the 5DII from the 40D

 

[dkh]

I would just go out and shoot. Photograph familiar scenes and work out how the camera delivers - pretty soon you'll find that higher iso's are much more usable in comparison to a 40d (easily get to 1600 and up to 3200 once you know how to keep the images clean and noise free).