bajasurf
Explorer
Luminous Landscape field review of the Canon 5D Mark II:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/5DIIreview.shtml
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/5DIIreview.shtml
Canon 5D Mark II Field Review
- Thread starter bajasurf
- Start date
esh
Explorer
Have to agree with a lot of what was written. I am somewhat surprised at his comment about Canon needing to make better lenses. Given a normal amount of light, my 17-40L, 70-200L (f/4 non-IS), and the kit 24-105 f/4L IS all perform solidly. Only when I get into low light conditions do I find myself relying on on the IS of the 24-105.
I shot about 1000 frames in a variety of conditions on a 10-day trip to Germany. There are shots I got with the new 5Dmk2 that my 20D would have never touched. There are a ton of shots I took at 3200 ISO that came out well. Wish I'd remembered a head for the tripod I'd brought along. :snorkel:
Although I never looked at the feature seriously, the HD movies I got are great, especially on the IS lens. They look professional. I only wish I'd started playing with that feature earlier into the trip.
The buffer is great, write speed seems great (using 300x Transcend 4G cards), auto-focus is adequate (this is not a sports body, just as everyone's been saying), screen is outstanding, menuing is excellent. Can't wait to play with the micro focus adjustment. Live view was even handy a few times.
Going to have to invest in an external drive, though. 24-30MB files are a bit chunky.
Completely pleased with this upgrade from my 20D. The 17-40 is born again under full frame and the 24-105 completely replaces my Tamron 28-75.
I shot about 1000 frames in a variety of conditions on a 10-day trip to Germany. There are shots I got with the new 5Dmk2 that my 20D would have never touched. There are a ton of shots I took at 3200 ISO that came out well. Wish I'd remembered a head for the tripod I'd brought along. :snorkel:
Although I never looked at the feature seriously, the HD movies I got are great, especially on the IS lens. They look professional. I only wish I'd started playing with that feature earlier into the trip.
The buffer is great, write speed seems great (using 300x Transcend 4G cards), auto-focus is adequate (this is not a sports body, just as everyone's been saying), screen is outstanding, menuing is excellent. Can't wait to play with the micro focus adjustment. Live view was even handy a few times.
Going to have to invest in an external drive, though. 24-30MB files are a bit chunky.
Completely pleased with this upgrade from my 20D. The 17-40 is born again under full frame and the 24-105 completely replaces my Tamron 28-75.
sinuhexavier
Explorer
"It’s kind of the like the difference between a police-issue Ford Crown Victoria and a Chevy Lumina."
What a weird analogy...
What a weird analogy...
dhackney
Expedition Leader
This very much resonated with me:
"Specifically, I was very disappointed in my choice of taking a 100-400mm zoom instead of a fixed 400mm f5.6. Fully 85% of my keepers from this lens were shot at 400mm. At that focal length, the 100-400mm simply doesn't have the gas. Notwithstanding its branding as an “L” lens, it's just not up to meeting the resolution challenge"
I just experienced the same thing while shooting with a 1DmkIII. I can only imagine his disappointment with the 5DmkII's resolution.
I also share his general disappointment with the current crop of L series zooms.
"I was also disappointed by a lot of the shots taken with the 24-70 f2.8L under 50mm."
I have not experienced his specific challenges with the 24-70, which performs admirably at my lower resolution limits. I find the 28-300L to be marginal in just about all focal lengths and apertures at my working resolution, so it would probably be torture with the 5DmkII.
I came out of our year in South America seriously pondering going back to shooting primes, which is pretty wacky since I shoot 100% non-studio.
I initially went with Canon because I preferred their L glass over Nikon's crop at the time. I'm hoping Canon can make the lens development investments necessary to keep up with their bodies.
This also resonated, and brought a grin:
"While we're at it, how about some focus sensors on the edge of the frame, and not just the edges of the middle? Four points in the 1/3 corner intersections would be nice, and oh-so compositionally convenient.
Of course, only real photographers would know this, and since Canon is still putting a “Direct Print” button on a 21MP full-frame camera, I can only assume that real photographers are in short supply in the design and specification departments."
This review was helpful. I will probably still end up with a 5DmkII, since there are times out here where a smaller body would be very convenient and enable shooting situations that would otherwise be precluded. If I do so, I will be more informed and prepared after reading this.
Thanks for posting this link.
"Specifically, I was very disappointed in my choice of taking a 100-400mm zoom instead of a fixed 400mm f5.6. Fully 85% of my keepers from this lens were shot at 400mm. At that focal length, the 100-400mm simply doesn't have the gas. Notwithstanding its branding as an “L” lens, it's just not up to meeting the resolution challenge"
I just experienced the same thing while shooting with a 1DmkIII. I can only imagine his disappointment with the 5DmkII's resolution.
I also share his general disappointment with the current crop of L series zooms.
"I was also disappointed by a lot of the shots taken with the 24-70 f2.8L under 50mm."
I have not experienced his specific challenges with the 24-70, which performs admirably at my lower resolution limits. I find the 28-300L to be marginal in just about all focal lengths and apertures at my working resolution, so it would probably be torture with the 5DmkII.
I came out of our year in South America seriously pondering going back to shooting primes, which is pretty wacky since I shoot 100% non-studio.
I initially went with Canon because I preferred their L glass over Nikon's crop at the time. I'm hoping Canon can make the lens development investments necessary to keep up with their bodies.
This also resonated, and brought a grin:
"While we're at it, how about some focus sensors on the edge of the frame, and not just the edges of the middle? Four points in the 1/3 corner intersections would be nice, and oh-so compositionally convenient.
Of course, only real photographers would know this, and since Canon is still putting a “Direct Print” button on a 21MP full-frame camera, I can only assume that real photographers are in short supply in the design and specification departments."
This review was helpful. I will probably still end up with a 5DmkII, since there are times out here where a smaller body would be very convenient and enable shooting situations that would otherwise be precluded. If I do so, I will be more informed and prepared after reading this.
Thanks for posting this link.