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Canon EOS 5DMkII - first impressions

NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
edited February 18, 2009 in Cameras
I know I'm late for the game, but I finally got my hands on this baby last Thursday. Over the weekend I had two shoots, bringing the frame counter to about 400 (yeah, I know, been slow lately, don't shoot as much). Can't really post much results yet, since they are a) not-processed, and b) purely GoFigure/18+ material, but here's some (mental) notes...
  • Form factor (weight/shape). Not much different from 50D. Didn't really notice the difference. I'm missing the grip though, since 95% of my studio shooting is in Portrait mode. Will try to get one asap, and this time probably the one with transmitter.
  • I'm so glad menu system and CFs are almost identical with the 50D. There are probably 3-4 differences total. So I set both cameras in front of me and "copied" every setting from my 50D to my 5D2. Took me about 15 minutes or so, and I was all set.
  • I was soooooo glad to find out that a) there are no "silly" modes and b) there are 3 custom settings again. 50D really pissed me off when they sacrificed one of those...
  • I learned that I need to be very careful with the viewfinder. All the "tens" (20D...50D) had some wiggle room, i.e. the actual frame was slightly lager than a VF view. Not anymore. 5D2's VF seems to match the frame pretty much 1:1. I lost a few nice frames to that effect, but I think I learned my lesson by now.
  • ISO... Wow! :huh 3200 is pretty much as clean as it gets. 6400 totally usable. H1 and H2 naturally add noise, but come on, you can barely see at those levels any way...
  • Old-fashioned side-layout for buttons (instead of bottom-one for 50D) makes me think for a second which button to press. I'm sure it'll grow back, but 3 days is not enough:-) And yes, the Picture Styles button now seems to become a pet peeve, taking place of the infamous direct print one, which in 50D/5D2 seems to play a nice role of LiveView most of the time. Does somebody NOT shoot RAW still? Arrgh...
  • Full frame finally made 50mm totally usable for my small studio, and, by God and Glory, I'm having fun with 50/1.4, which seems to become my "prime" lens in all senses of this word. I tried 70-200, too, and I love the feel of it, but it's just a tad too long to operate with full height images at my typical distance. I can do it, but I need to press my back flat onto the wall, which is not very comfy, especially since I shoot from a low position most of the time. So for now - 50 it is!
  • I *love* the sound of 5D2 shutter! Kinda brings back "ole gud" film days
  • I noticed that the auxiliary focal points are far less reliable in a low light situation than a central one. I mean - FAR less. 40D/50D is slightly better in that respect. There was a difference, but it wasn't so dramatic. 5D2 couldn't focus on a 4 stop contrast difference, what's up with that? :scratch Yes, it's wasn't a sharp edge, but the central point caught it up nicely.
  • I don't think my 50D will see much of the inside studio from now on. I'm still gonna use it for outdoors, astro/selenophotography and especially events, where I'd need second body, but that's about it.
  • And I guess my 1Tb drive will end up sooner than I thought:-)
"May the f/stop be with you!"

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    ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 23,904 moderator
    edited February 16, 2009
    Nik, congratulations on the new camera and thanks for the mini review. clap.gif
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
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    catspawcatspaw Registered Users Posts: 1,292 Major grins
    edited February 16, 2009
    bought another 1 T drive the other day because of exactly this and the new photos my D3 is bringing in .... yay harddrives! ;)

    thanks for the review Nik -- I might be from the 'other' camp but I love learning about the choices out there regardless of what I have in my hands.
    //Leah
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    NeilLNeilL Registered Users Posts: 4,201 Major grins
    edited February 16, 2009
    Gave me a feel for the camera. Thanks, Nik!

    EDIT: And I'm glad you didn't mention that abomination video!
    "Snow. Ice. Slow!" "Half-winter. Half-moon. Half-asleep!"

    http://www.behance.net/brosepix
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    SchnauzerSchnauzer Registered Users Posts: 253 Major grins
    edited February 16, 2009
    Have you used the micro-adjust yet Nik? My 85/1.8 was always so - so. With +5 or-5, can't remember which, its now a really nice lense. I did almost all of mine using Bart's target. Most only needed +/- 1-3. Really made a difference.
    RON
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    dlplumerdlplumer Registered Users Posts: 8,081 Major grins
    edited February 16, 2009
    Congrats Nik. Good review. I'm glad you still like your 50Drolleyes1.gif
    Dan
    http://danielplumer.com/
    Facebook Fan Page
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    NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited February 16, 2009
    Thanks guys and gals! thumb.gif

    Re: Micro-adjustment.

    I run my simplified ruler test the first thing I got home with it. I used the edge of the knife for the focusing point. From what I could tell the focus is spot on for both of 50/1.4 and 70-200/2.8 IS, which are two lenses I'm gonna use it with primarily. I didn't check the 100mm macro yet, but thus far I didn't see any indication of misfocusing on the camera part.

    Re: video.

    I must confess: I enabled it and tried it. It does work. I have no intention to use it in a near future, but who knows, maybe with all the video features in PS CS4 (and newer) I'll start doing some videos, too (educational, and such)...headscratch.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
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    ZanottiZanotti Registered Users Posts: 1,411 Major grins
    edited February 18, 2009
    Nik:

    Congrats on the newest toy!

    How are handling the much larger file sizes? Do you see an increase in workflow time? Does all you stuff still work ok?

    I have been thinking about the MarkII, but with having Lightroom 1, and CS3, I would need to upgrade at least on of those to handle the new set up. Also the much larger files will make uploading to Smugmug longer, opening and saving longer and what not. Yes, I know I could down rez to SM easily enough, but dont really feel like adding even another step in the work chain.

    Your thoughts?



    Z
    It is the purpose of life that each of us strives to become actually what he is potentially. We should be obsessed with stretching towards that goal through the world we inhabit.
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    NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited February 18, 2009
    Zanotti wrote:
    Nik:

    Congrats on the newest toy!

    How are handling the much larger file sizes? Do you see an increase in workflow time? Does all you stuff still work ok?

    I have been thinking about the MarkII, but with having Lightroom 1, and CS3, I would need to upgrade at least on of those to handle the new set up. Also the much larger files will make uploading to Smugmug longer, opening and saving longer and what not. Yes, I know I could down rez to SM easily enough, but dont really feel like adding even another step in the work chain.

    Your thoughts?

    Z

    Thanks Z!

    File size increase is definitely noticeable. However, since I don't use LR (which I deem to be extremely slow) and use PS CS4, it's not that bad even on my 4 year old Dell XPS with 2Gb of RAM (much better than CS3). However, I do plan upgrading my computer to something more decent (ballpark: 64-bit OS, quad core, 8Gb RAM, dual video card) and then hopefully Adobe will bring the new version of PS that will be capable of using all this power.

    And of course, the new boost mode of Star*Explorer makes upload to SM a pure breeze mwink.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
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