how fast is the 5D Mk2?

Carl911 · 29 Oct 2009

I have sort of touched on this before but was wondering if anyone here is using the 5D Mk2 and has taken some sports pictures such as a car going by quickly and what results you have from it on multiple firing.
I occasionaly like to take action shots where the wheels and background have blur and the car stays sharp. This usually takes a few multiple shots to catch the right frame one.
How does the 5D cope compared to my 40D which can shoot more frames per second.

Carl

Arkady · 29 Oct 2009

With practice you can do that with one frame...the blurring you mentioned is achieved by choosing the right shutter speed, not by how many fps the camera shoots...
Practice...

pragmatist · 29 Oct 2009

When the birds are not playing ball at Landguard Felixstowe i sometimes snap the speedboats and pilot boats going back and forth and can tell you the 5D mk2 is up for the challenge every time

c_robinson · 29 Oct 2009

www.rally-shots.co.uk the more recent (and to be honest the majority of) shots on Jay's site are shot with 5D MK2, makes me laugh when looking at his shots hearing people saying the 5dmk2 auto focus isn't upto motorsports!!

jbanbury · 30 Oct 2009

Cheers Charlie.

Just to reiterate Charlies comment, I use a pair of 5DMKII's for motorsport. I also have a 1D MKIII which since the purchase of the 5D's is resigned to a doorstop.

henryf4 · 30 Oct 2009

jbanbury said:
5D's is resigned to a doorstop.

You have a a very expensive doorstop.

To add something of value to this thread. 5d fatest shutter speed is 3 frames per sec and Arkady made a very valid point about the shutter speed.

andrewc · 30 Oct 2009

henryf4 said:
You have a a very expensive doorstop.

Maybe its an expensive door.

foggy4ever · 30 Oct 2009

Carl911 said:
I have sort of touched on this before but was wondering if anyone here is using the 5D Mk2 and has taken some sports pictures such as a car going by quickly and what results you have from it on multiple firing.
I occasionaly like to take action shots where the wheels and background have blur and the car stays sharp. This usually takes a few multiple shots to catch the right frame one.
How does the 5D cope compared to my 40D which can shoot more frames per second.

Carl

I shoot a lot of motorsport and prefer to shoot single shots rather than bursts, it improves your shooting skills and gives me more satisfaction when I get the shot Any body can point a camera and fire a burst of 6 shots and pic one. I do keep it on continuos just in case as I captured this. I had a chat with a motor sport pro recently and he also tries to get the shot without firing a burst. Although I might be in the minority as at some of the meetings I have attended this year it sounded as I was surrounded by machine guns

Scott

jbanbury · 30 Oct 2009

henryf4 said:
To add something of value to this thread. 5d fatest shutter speed is 3 frames per sec and Arkady made a very valid point about the shutter speed.

It's actually nearer 4fps ... 3.9 to be precise.

Shooting with a 5D you generally relay on your timing rather than the 'spray and pray' method.

Kerioak · 30 Oct 2009

I used one for polo this year and found that although I took a lot less pictures than usual I had a lot more keepers

pete.rush · 30 Oct 2009

foggy4ever said:
I shoot a lot of motorsport and prefer to shoot single shots rather than bursts, it improves your shooting skills and gives me more satisfaction when I get the shot Any body can point a camera and fire a burst of 6 shots and pic one. I do keep it on continuos just in case as I captured this. I had a chat with a motor sport pro recently and he also tries to get the shot without firing a burst. Although I might be in the minority as at some of the meetings I have attended this year it sounded as I was surrounded by machine guns

Scott

The main problems with the fps crowd is shutter lag. Camera's like the 5D, 40D, 50D etc can't handle a burst of images and guarantee every shot in the sequence to be sharp, but as Scott said, you not learning anything about technique, composition using the spray and pray method, you just making sound effects for a war film.

pragmatist · 30 Oct 2009

jbanbury said:
Cheers Charlie.

Just to reiterate Charlies comment, I use a pair of 5DMKII's for motorsport. I also have a 1D MKIII which since the purchase of the 5D's is resigned to a doorstop.

Sold my 1D mk3 after i got the 5D mk2 and so did a friend of mine

jon- · 30 Oct 2009

This is a really interesting thread. I've been tossing up between the 5d MKII as I love shooting people, but I often find myself at motorsports. I figured the 1d MKIII would be the best compromise (second hand), then just tonight i started thinking about a 1ds MKIII (again, second hand) and now I'm back thinking about a 5d MKII.

I really need to shutup and migrate to the darkside for the d700.

Carl911 · 30 Oct 2009

foggy4ever said:
I shoot a lot of motorsport and prefer to shoot single shots rather than bursts, it improves your shooting skills and gives me more satisfaction when I get the shot Any body can point a camera and fire a burst of 6 shots and pic one. I do keep it on continuos just in case as I captured this. I had a chat with a motor sport pro recently and he also tries to get the shot without firing a burst. Although I might be in the minority as at some of the meetings I have attended this year it sounded as I was surrounded by machine guns

Scott

thats a fair point.
I guess it's a lazy way of shooting, just relying to some degree on the camera catching enough shots so as to almost gaurantee one good shot out of the bunch.
As you say, practice makes perfect. From my own experience the most important factor is placing yourself in a position where you can start to focus on the car as it approaches you then get that money shot as it passes.
It's good to see that excellent results are possible with the 5d then.
Imj pretty much sold on this camera now. Just got to pay off my last purchase then ill be investing.

Carl