Quick review of the 5DMkii

[sinuhexavier]

OK first gripe about the 5D mkII...

Batteries??? ******?

I shot 45 minutes of video today, trying different lenses and lighting.

Battery dead. No way to hard wire. No batteries available for purchase... Anywhere.

So stupid.

 

[Michael Slade]

I have heard on the timelapse forum that when you shoot a lot of video with these cameras (5DmkII or D90) that the chip starts to heat up and you introduce a lot of noise. It's one of the complaints with the RED camera too.

Are you seeing anything like that?

 

[sgt rock]

5dmk II

i have had mine on backorder since february and will not get it till april- i placed my order through the military exchange and also avoided the sales tax...i have checked a few other places and most stories go that april is a big ship date??

 

[Rob O]

OK first gripe about the 5D mkII...

Batteries??? ******?

I shot 45 minutes of video today, trying different lenses and lighting.

Battery dead. No way to hard wire. No batteries available for purchase... Anywhere.

So stupid.

Yup. A pair of used ones hit the buy/sell forum on FM last week and they were gone within minutes; a precious commodity those things. I was going to order a couple extras for the impending 5D Mk II order, but, on top of being ridiculous expensive, they're no where to be had (new or used it seems).

Back up batts are a regular necessity ... made even more so with LiveView and HD video. Batteries would last seemingly forever on my 30D; on the 50D I'll burn through them in no time when using LiveView. I have three and it's sometimes just enough.

 

[Robthebrit]

I have heard on the timelapse forum that when you shoot a lot of video with these cameras (5DmkII or D90) that the chip starts to heat up and you introduce a lot of noise. It's one of the complaints with the RED camera too.

Are you seeing anything like that?

I have heard that too from a number of sources although I have not confirmed it. I also heard live view causes the same problems because the sensor is powered up all the time.

 

[Rob O]

I have heard that too from a number of sources although I have not confirmed it. I also heard live view causes the same problems because the sensor is powered up all the time.

Indeed ... this is one of the primary reasons cited for video on the 5DII being limited to 12 minutes.

 

[go4aryd]

Does anyone have any feedback on the dynamic range of the 5D vs the 5DMII? Is there any significant improvement? (yea, I know it is a little subjective, but with no specs whatcha gonna do).

 

[Robthebrit]

Don't have any side by side tests but the 5D is 12 bits per channel and the Mkii is 14bits per channel. Whether these extra bits are used to extend the range [same visual distance between two adjacent colors but the low and high ends extended] or extend the accuracy [low and high ends stay the same and the extra data is used to create a smaller distance between the two] is unknown to me.

I have an original 5D and a mkii, I could take the exact same raw image on both and see if we can figure it out.

Rob

 

[go4aryd]

If that could be done at the same resolution/size a subjective comparision would be very easy with the right image. Maybe compare the 5D raw to a 5DMII sRaw1? Hmm..

Maybe look at the converted jpegs as welll due to channel loss.

 

[Robthebrit]

I'll give it a try this weekend, I'll take a few different bracketed shots and we'll compare them.

Rob

 

[Michael Slade]

There is also a firmware upgrade for the MkII coming up soon. Might be worth it to shoot some test shots now and then after you upgrade your firmware.

 

[Rob O]

Just picked up my 5D Mk II. w00t! Battery is charging ... then it's out for a test drive.

 

[go4aryd]

Sweet - let us know all about it!

 

[cowboy4x4]

Dave I called the camera shop I deal with and they will have several next week she said body only $2,699.00..... with the 24-105 lense kit $3,499.00they will call me when they come in. I'm looking at them as well..... Thomas

 

[sinuhexavier]

I have heard on the timelapse forum that when you shoot a lot of video with these cameras (5DmkII or D90) that the chip starts to heat up and you introduce a lot of noise. It's one of the complaints with the RED camera too.

Are you seeing anything like that?

Sorry for the tardy response, just got back from visiting that great state of yours.. Thankfully they haven't introduced the internets to most of the areas I frequent.

I haven't seen that yet... Overall I'm pleased with it and it will suit my purposes once I get some batteries... And I did find that it does have an AC adapter... $150+ ouch...

We have worked with the RED camera and can tell you I will never use it again. The amount of post processing and BS costs to get it to look decent we could have just shot 35mm film. No Joke. The mkII isn't trying to be a motion picture camera and that is an important difference in the two cameras.