Canon 5D mkII – short review from a happy user
I used to be a very dedicated photographer a few years back, when I was a student. I had a good, classic camera – the Canon AE-1 – and som really good lenses, including a canon 50mm f1,4 and a 14mm wide angle. I shot mostly black and whites and did my own processing and printing.
When digital came along I kind of lost interest. Quality of digital was low and the prices were high. I decided not to buy a new camera until the quality was good enough to make me retire my old film camera.
Well, that is not totally true. Some years back I got the CAnon Powershot Pro-1 to use for some photo journalistic jobs I use to do back then. But a couple of monts ago I got the new Canon 5D mkII – my first DSLR. The reason I bought this camera was that I never liked the cropped sensor on most other DSLRs.
So what makes the new 5D so special? Well, for one thing it has a full frame sensor, meaning that your old 50mm lens still will give the same image as it did on a film camera. I was also intrigued by the promising video capabilities shown by Vincent Laforet in his short film «Reverie», filmed entirely with the new 5D. And as a fan of shooting in natural light, the low noise of the sensor was a final argument for buying the camera.
Build quality
The main difference with my old photo equipment and my new stuff, is build quality. The old AE-1 is made of metal, and so are the lenses. New cameras are a different story. Even though the frame of the 5D is made of magnesium alloy, most other parts are plastic. It feels more solid than the 400D I used to borrow to cover my digtal needs, but I stil wouldn’t trust it to hold up after a drop to a hard floor. Especially the mode selction whell and the on/of buttons are a bit to fragile for my wishes. If they break, only time will tell I guess. I have more problems with my EF non-L lenses from Canon. They are made of the cheapest plastic and feels like simple toys.
In use
I shoot manual – always. What I didn’t like with other digital DSLRs was that you had to hold down modifier buttons to change aperature. The 5D (and other more expensive Canon cameras) gives you one thumb wheel dedicated to aperture and one index finger wheel for shutter speed. This works flawlessly. The camera also has dedicated buttons for ISO, AF-drive and white balance. This meams you can do all your necessary adjustments without ever taking your eye from the viewfinder. That is one thing I really love with this camera. It is also pretty big, and it doesn’t feel like a toy when you hold it. I have big hands and love big toys, perfect.
Noise characteristics
I mostly do my shoots in natural or ambient light, and this camera promised to be very good at that. I took the camera to some really dim locations and started testing it. I shoot ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 – really high numbers. My main problem was focusing. The camera had problems and I sometimes had to revert to manual focus. This was helped by the big, bright viewfinder (although not as big and bright as on the AE-1), but focusing manual on modern cameras is not easy without a split screen matte screen. The images, however, turned out really good. I shoot RAW and the little noise I could see, was actually pretty nice looking – like you get on analog film – not the multicolored dots from cheaper digitals.
Video that rocks!
Anyone who has tried to make images from a modern, even expensive videocamera,look good, has been frustrated by the often flat looking colors and the vast depth of field produced. Well tis camera captures video at 1080p with all the quality an DOF that a good, full frame DSLR and good optics can give you. Video from the 5D mkII simply looks stunning! You have limited control over settings, hopefully remedied by a future firmware update from Canon, but it is still easy to get truly cinematic results. If in doubt, check out Vincent Laforets «Reverie», «Aneurysm» and others on Vimeo and Youtube. Here is a little film I put together while shopping with my girlfriend one Saturday afternoon (please turn on high quality «HQ»):