Canon 5D MKII Pro's & Con's

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highlander_photo

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Hi All,
I'm thinking :thinking: of investing in a new Canon 5D MKII, does anyone have one that could share their experiences with it. Does it have any limitations that cause you issues or is it all singing all dancing wonderful piece of kit?
Any reviews would be very gratefully recieved.

Thanks
 
The only shortfall I've ever heard is with the AF system (which I think it pretty much identical to the original 5D). But if you're happy with the 5D you're using, I doubt you'd notice (after all, it's not designed for sports etc..).

How come you're upgrading? What are you finding your 5D doesn't do for you? Or do you just have a bit of a hankering for a new toy :D

Chris
 
highlander_photo said:
Is the AF system slow as suggested ealrier?
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Sorry, I think I've given the wrong vibe there! I don't mean 'slow' I meant slower than a 1 series! Which is why 5Ds are usually more suited to portrait, studio photography etc where you don't need to perfectly track something moving at a million miles per hour or you get no money!

I'd just like to add that I've never used one, so take this with a pinch of salt, it's just what the reviews say!
 
Price is a big drawback! £200 for a battery grip and £70 for a battery... you need to have some serious money for extras :)
 
I've had my 5DII since Christmas. I upgraded from a very high mileage 20D and my initial reaction was disappointment but I've grown to love it!

The exposures were a little wild, occasionally an image would blow out for no apparent reason. Asking around this is a trait shared with the 40D onwards and once I switched away from Evaluative metering it has been fine.

The red channel seems to overexpose without clipping indication leaving lurid yellows and a loss of detail. I've had this with huntsmans jackets and sunrises. The 20D probably did this too but I never spotted it, so there may or may not be a change here. I've learnt to chimp and use a hefty dose of underexposure when a problem occurs.

The biggest disappointment was image quality; it just wasn't as good as I was expecting. One reason turned out to be a soft copy of the 24-105 which was fine on the 20D but soft on the 5DII, especially at the edges. However, after much soul searching the biggest problem was my technique which simply wasn't up to taking critically sharp images when 21Mpixels are viewed at 100%. The 5DII has made me re-evaluate everything I do and I've raised my game so much I can barely bring myself to look at images over 18 months old.

One area the 5DII seems to excel in is low light. Auto ISO goes as high as 3200 and I've found that one of these will print to A3 with no noise reduction! The 100% view is a tad grainy but it's fine when 'only' used at A3. 6400 is still fine at A3 and I'll happily use it when I need to. If you print 6x4 at various ISO and throw them on the table you won't be able to tell which is which except for the ones taken at H1 and H2; the colour accuracy seem remarkably unaffected right up to and including 6400. Unless I'm in full manual I tend to leave it in Auto ISO as it does the job perfectly and the hit rate of sharp shots with no motion blur has changed the way I photograph!

My photo guru upgraded from her 5D to a 5DII and she's very happy. The low light performance and sheer amount of captured detail still leaves her speechless.

I can't compare focussing with 5D or 1-series but in my experience I've found the left focus spot is much more reliable in low light which is the one that matters to me!
 
This talk of focusing issues has got me curious. If you have people walking towards you can the autofocus keep up with them? Similarly if people are walking briskly across the frame from right to left, will the auto focus track them ok?
 
Stunning low light performance - amazes me sometimes if its set on Auto ISO - so little noise - example - quick 'no brain in' gear check shot done this morning @ ISO 1000. (No PP or crop - just straight off the card).

20090804-_MG_5804.jpg


Not had any probs on autofocus tracking - but I shoot mainly landscapes.

Slightly clunky menus - but if you used Canons before you are used to that!

Worth the £s??? Its probably about £450 over priced I personally think. Excellent tool though.

Rog
 
DuncanDisorderly said:
I've had my 5DII since Christmas. I upgraded from a very high mileage 20D and my initial reaction was disappointment but I've grown to love it!

bla bla bla bla bla.....
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Duncan, I for one will say thank you for a very informative and useful post.
 
Minor niggle for me having briefly used one is that I don't like the position or build quality of the battery (or card, can't remember which) door. It sits right where your hand goes, and because of the build of that bit (on the one I used anyway) it feels flimsy, and squeaks. As a say, minor annoyance, but one which I feel could have become a problem for me given the quality and ergonomics of other similar cameras from other manufacturers.
 
py6km said:
It sits right where your hand goes, and because of the build of that bit (on the one I used anyway) it feels flimsy, and squeaks
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Maybe just a one-off.. it looks the same to me as the card door on the 5D, which never caused me concern.. if anything a bit better made as it has weather-sealing. Mine is rock-solid when it's closed.

A.
 
CSB said:
This talk of focusing issues has got me curious. If you have people walking towards you can the autofocus keep up with them? Similarly if people are walking briskly across the frame from right to left, will the auto focus track them ok?
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I don't have a 5DII but I did have a 5D "classic" for a while and although not as good as my 1D, the AF delivered me plenty of bird in flight shots so I think a lot of people worry more than is necessary.
 
duncan, out of interest, what do you meter with then ...
 
Morning!
I've read about squeaky battery doors etc but unless I'm missing something trivial but annoying to some people, mine is fine.

I've switched to center weighted metering. It's not perfect but it is predictable. For example, if I have a dark subject against a light background I know it will overexpose and can lock the exposure against a mid-tone in the scene or compensate as appropriate; with matrix metering it's flip a coin as to whether it will expose high or low and odds on it will still need a tweak.

One of the biggest matrix metering oddities was brown seaweed on black granite which would end up with half the screen flashing with clipping alert, even in the center - it sometimes took 2 stops underexposure to stop the clipping - center weighted copes with this fine just needing a tad of underexposure to cope with the fact that it is supposed to be a dark subject.

Seldom mentioned, but 40D users who have borrowed my 5DII always comment that the viewfinder is lovely and bright. I guess I've got used to it! Also, for tripod work and shooting at night the quick set is an absolutely wonderful feature! Contrast detect AF in Live View is pretty special too, it's slow but SO good.
 
My SWPP mentor has just been shooting with one in Paris and is hugely impressed with it. (and it takes a lot to keep that man happy!)

He normally shoots with Nikon and when asked what he thought of the 5DII he shook his head and said "WOW!" He's been a professional fashion/portrait/wedding tog for nearly 30 years.
 
Thanks all for your comments, and reviews. I shall seriously consider the 5D MKII and have a look into accesories and prices, just a shame the pound is so weak right now and everything costs so much. But on the other hand from all your comments it sounds like its worth the money. Your all stars cheers for your help
 
ive not found any bad points really in the half a week ive had mine.
The battery door does feel a little flimsy compared to the 400D which is odd, but it closes nice and tight.

Oh yeah one downside, only 290 pictures at full raw on an 8gb card lol But then thats not really a downside just a shock.
 
DuncanDisorderly said:
However, after much soul searching the biggest problem was my technique which simply wasn't up to taking critically sharp images when 21Mpixels are viewed at 100%. The 5DII has made me re-evaluate everything I do and I've raised my game so much I can barely bring myself to look at images over 18 months old.
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I'm puzzled by that comment. The pixel density on the 5D2 is no greater than with the 30D. Viewing images from either at 100% should surely reveal weaknesses in technique equally. I can understand the 5D2 revealing problems with corner sharpness in glass, but technique?

If you want a camera that will expose poor technique I think you should try the 50D. That requires a much steadier hand and far more precise focusing if those tightly packed pixels are to add value. I should know. I've got one, and shooting my 1D3 is a cinch compared with the 50D. The 50D is merciless with shoddy shooting. Any blur/shake/misfocus is easily exposed when pixel peeping. I would think the 5D2 would be a stroll in the park by comparison.
 
ding76uk said:
How does 5DII autofocus compare with 40D? Am looking to upgrade and get me one of these bad boys, so as I have never used 1D was wondering will I notice a difference in autofocus?
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its not as good in low light or in tracking as the 40D. its one of the only things that disapoint me about the camera but I knew that it would be like that before I bought it so no suprise.
 
rgrebby said:
ive not found any bad points really in the half a week ive had mine.
The battery door does feel a little flimsy compared to the 400D which is odd, but it closes nice and tight.

Oh yeah one downside, only 290 pictures at full raw on an 8gb card lol But then thats not really a downside just a shock.
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Have you shot any video with it yet? Any chance of some full size clips please?
 
CSB said:
Have you shot any video with it yet? Any chance of some full size clips please?
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that can be tricky to post up :) 1 minute takes 40megs or so...if I dont forget I can try to upload one over the weekend from recent championships.
just have to say that quality is brilliant...for sound you need external mic. and either you have steady hand or you have to use tripod :) ..or IS (my lenses dont have it ;) )
 
rgrebby said:
are the limits on time true?
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havent tryied to film for so long:D
longest was my friends final recital in Viola and it was around 12-15min(?) and it ate 2GB :)
 
rgrebby said:
are the limits on time true?
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4G or 29mins 59 seconds.

In reality, you'll hit 4G in about 4 minutes.

But in the REAL WORLD, you should never try to shoot continuous video for that long anyway, they will come out crap. A good video require editing, just turn on the TV, watch any program/shows/movies, there are cuts and edits every few seconds. Your mind will get bored quite quickly without edit, editing is vital to a good video.

Unless of course you have a good reason to shoot a really long continuous shot.
 
tdodd said:
I'm puzzled by that comment. The pixel density on the 5D2 is no greater than with the 30D. Viewing images from either at 100% should surely reveal weaknesses in technique equally. I can understand the 5D2 revealing problems with corner sharpness in glass, but technique?
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That's a darned good point and I'll try my best to answer.
I got the 5DII when it was still hard to obtain and there were very few around. Another forum asked me to run a test comparing the 5DII against the 20D as they have very similar pixel densities. The conclusion of my test was that with top quality glass you do get slightly sharper pixels. This interesting conclusion could be down to lots of factors but, there is no doubt sensor technology has come on a long way since the 20D.

Assuming the images are used without cropping, then zooming to 100% on the 20D doesn't actually zoom in very far, my screen is HD resolution and I'm probably looking at about half of the image. But on the 5DII zooming 100% shows only a tiny part of the original image. If the two images are printed to the same size then 100% crops cannot be meaningfully compared. I've found that viewing 5DII images at 50% gives a far more representative way of viewing when selecting images for printing at 'only' A3.

Hence when preparing for A3 printing, viewing 5DII images at 100% is bad karma compared to the 20D. However, if the image is critically sharp viewed at 100% then I know it will be capable of printing WAY beyond A3.
 
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