The Canon 5d is a remarkable camera, but as with all things in the world of digital photography, an upgrade was inevitable.  Web forums have been abuzz since 2007 speculating on features and price.  Despite over a year of these rumors, Canon managed to surprise most when they finally announced it’s successor ... not only would the new 5d Mark II offer 1Ds Mark III quality for under $3,000, but would it would also include full 1080p video recording capabilities, bringing new possibilities for all kinds of photographers.

As typical with most Canon releases that interest me, the 5DMk2 shipped in the winter - I received mine in early December.  I’m not much of a cold weather person, and after clearing snow from my driveway 3 or 4 times a week, it’s difficult to motivate myself to hike around in the white stuff and test a camera out.  By the time I headed to California for a Christmas break, I was fighting some serious pain issues ... after 9 holes of golf my vacation turned into me sitting on the couch alternating between ice bags and heating pads, and downing 4 Advil every 8 hours.  I managed to tag along with my kids while they played golf one day so I could get a few images, but just holding the camera up was challenging.  (As it turned out, I have 2 herniated discs and a bone spur in my neck, which has been pinching the nerve to my left arm.  Fortunately this has responded to physical therapy quite well, and I’m much more comfortable now).

I have a couple of shoots planned in the next month or so, and the 5D Mark II will be replacing my 1Ds Mark III as my secondary camera.  In addition long time friend and business associate Randy Collier will be with me, using the new 5D Mark II as his primary camera.  So more to come.

Green Flower

Canon 5d Mark II with EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM at 150mm, 1/80th at f/10, ISO 800

The 5DMk2 is like the offspring of  the 50d and the 1Ds Mark 3 (which itself is due for an update).  It offers the resolution and image quality of the 1Ds Mark III (it may actually slightly beat that image quality in some cases), adds many of the new features now standard on all of Canon’s upper end line up, such as improved LCD, sensor shake dust removal, easier to navigate menus, all in a lighter and easier to handle body style.  Throw in the ability to record full 1080p high definition video (which many will never use, but the technology is certainly exciting), and you have a very appealing package.  And all of this can be had for under under $2,700 dollars US ... hard for any serious photographer to pass up.

Does it live up to the hype?  Personally I would say it does. Certainly the few snaps on this page don’t prove anything (except that I actually used the camera), but working with these images in Lightroom, I do not feel they are any different than the files from my 1DsMK3.

Digital Photography Crossroad ...

With the introduction of the 5dMk2 as well as the Sony a900, I believe we have arrived at a key milestone in the development of digital photography.  These cameras break (and eliminate) the price/quality barrier ... to achieve the highest image quality in the dSLR space no longer commands a several thousand dollar premium. When selecting one’s system of choice,  it is becoming more about other features (such as ruggedness, lens selection, weight, ease of use, price) rather than image quality.  For most people the capture quality between the 1Ds Mark 3 or the Nikon D3x  and  the new 5dMk2 or the Sony a900 doesn’t produce enough of a visible difference on final prints to set the higher priced cameras apart. 

                

The exciting thing to me is the camera body itself becomes less limiting to more photographers ... you have more freedom to crop, and if you happen to take that once in a lifetime image, you can actually make a big print worthy of viewing to hang in your office lobby.  Or better yet, sell it to someone else to hang in their lobby.

Digicam convergence continues ...

In my 50d article I discussed how dSLR shutters no longer perform the same function they historically have, and indeed may serve no purpose in the actual exposure of the image.  The 5dMk2 shutter system appears to be similar to the 40d/50d.  It’s unclear exactly what is going on and what “electronic” first curtain means.  It is obvious from live view there is no physical first curtain, since exposure begins with no visible mechanical activity in the camera body itself.  Watching with no lens, the closing of the shutter appears much too slow to be functioning as the end of the exposure.  Taking pictures with a flash at above rated speeds does not result in the same type of image of previous 35mm style shutters.  The image is blocked on one side only, and as you increase shutter speed, you get less and less image... but their is no “slit” where both the top and the bottom are cut off.  The transition area indicates whatever is blocking the sensor appears to be much further away than the shutter ... dare I say it’s the mirror assembly?  The shutter doesn't work the same when not in Live View, but it still doesn’t make sense from the perspective of a traditional 35mm focal plane shutter. To use a flash while in Live View you must disable quiet mode, and here the shutter works similar to when not in Live View.  More evidence the “shutter” really isn’t a shutter is the camera can actually sync at 1/8000th of a second with certain flash units ... something physically impossible with a traditional 35mm focal plane shutter. Does it matter?  Not really ... results are what counts.  Just call me curious on this one.

Features (or lack thereof ) worth mentioning...

Again Canon feels mirror lock-up, a valuable feature for many photographic applications where maximum sharpness is critical, is not important enough to justify a dedicated button.  In my case whenever I would be using mirror lock-up I also use Live View at 10x magnification and manual focus.  In Live View the mirror stays up to start the exposure, meaning this is very similar to mirror lockup.  In fact, in quiet mode 1 or 2, it is better than mirror-lock up because there isn’t any mechanical activity of the mirror or the shutter to begin the exposure at all ... it just begins to capture data.  Energizing the sensor for LIve View might result in heat, which in turn may increase noise, but to me it seems unlikely enough heat would build up in 30 seconds of Live View to increase noise. So currently I personally use Live View rather than mirror lock up now, so perhaps this missing function just doesn’t matter anymore. I have an idea for a way to test whether heat buildup from Live View results in more noise ... I’ll post the results if they seem to offer any insight. (Check this article for what I found “Does Live View increase noise?”)

Resolution

The capture is a little soft, but considering this was hand held by a guy that could barely lift his left arm at only 1/60th of a second it’s not bad.  I am 425 yards away from that little 1.5” golf ball, yet I can see it on the green. (pretty nice shot by the way - golf shot that is).  I’m about 700 yards away from the clock in the tower, can you tell what time it is?  Sure, this might not matter in an 8x10, but personally I don’t know before I head out on any landscape shoot how big I might want to make the images I am about to take, and if my budget is going to limit me, at least the new 5dMk2 (and the Sony a900 for that matter) has lowered that threshold.  This image looks pretty sweet as a 16”x24” print, with plenty of nice detail for a viewer to enjoy if they choose to do so.

I see all kinds of chatter on the internet about mega-pixels and how they don’t really matter ... I’m sure there are web articles out there about how 21 mega-pixels don’t offer any real improvement in quality.  I’ve been shooting the 1Ds Mark 3 for over a year now, and I’m pretty familiar with what my 5D was capable of.  I kept the 5D as an emergency backup, but it’s headed to eBay.  In fact, the 1Ds Mark III may be headed to eBay as well.

NOISE

Nikon really raised the bar with the D3 and D700 when it comes to high ISO noise performance.  It’s not that Canon hasn’t been trying to improve noise for a long time, and to be honest this isn’t a feature most photographers use frequently, but it does indicate how good the sensor technology is.  One question many have about the 5dMk2 is whether it raises the bar (for Canon at least) in this area?  If so, it actually may offer better image quality than the 1Ds Mark III.  I couldn’t help myself ... I had to run a few tests to see.

I’ve felt the 1Ds Mark III at ISO 400 was quite good, and even usable to IS0 800.  At 1600 it begins to get a little questionable. If you enable extended range you can choose “H” for your ISO, which is 3200.  (Why not just call it that?).  The 5D Mark II ISO range is from 100 to 6400, with the addition of extended range levels of H! and H2 ... 12,800, and 25,600.  That extends the 5D Mark II 3 stops above the the 1Ds Mark III.  Can you use them?  Not my call ... you would have to decide for yourself.  But it’s an image ... in very little light. Run the image through some noise reduction software ... and perhaps it’s better than not taking it at all.

To get some idea, I set up the 5dMk2 and the 1DsMk3 in my “noise testing” location, pictured here.  This big plant in my living room works pretty well to show noise back in the shadows. 

I always do this too quickly. I didn’t get the 1Ds Mark III focused on the same point but the noise comparison is still pretty valid, so I didn’t redo the test.  The white square shows the section I used for the 100% comparison sections, with no sharpening or noise reduction applied during the RAW conversion or in Photoshop.

They appear pretty much the same through ISO 400, but it appears the new 5D Mark 2 is about 1/3 to 1/2 stop better at ISO 800 and 1600.  I didn’t shoot the 1Ds Mark III at 3200 ... I may redo this test and shoot the entire range of both cameras when I get a chance. 

AND IT DOES MOVIES !

So what’s the deal with the movies?  The quick answer is it does some pretty terrific video ... google “5D video” and there’s quite a few samples out there.  Very handy and loads of fun.  You just have to be in live view, then press the button in the middle of what I call the “thumb wheel” to start video.  This isn’t a camcorder however, and focusing seems to be the biggest challenge.  Make sure the camera is focused before you start (focusing in Live view can be a little slow).  Once you start recording it appears you are better off to focus manually ... hitting the focus button often causes the lens to track completely out of focus and back in.

You can actually fire off a shot while taking video.  The video pauses and captures the image ... with a very slight delay, then begins recording again after another slight delay.  When watching the video there is a slight “pause” where the capture was taken.  I can think of several ways to use this feature (we’re doing some studio training videos right now).

I’ll be using the camera quite a bit more in the next month or two, and I’m planning on seeing how it stacks up against the 50d and perhaps the old 5D.  My primary camera remains my Hasselblad and PhaseOne P45+ back, but I’ll definitely be using this new camera from Canon more.