Canon 5D mkII – My take – part 1

Sun Down Panoramic – Canon 5D mkII, originally uploaded by tony.eckersley.

I remember on a normal Sunday back at the end of September reading Gizmodo and being intrigued by a post talking about the “Canon 5D Mark II’s Mindblowing Full HD Video.” It had been a few days prior when I started reading about the successor to the widely popular Canon 5D, a camera I very much pined over for a long time before settling on the cheaper Canon 40D and decided to spend extra cash on lenses. Besides, I wasn’t sure full-frame was worth the extra money at that time, despite loving the feel of the camera, it’s view finder, and it’s build when playing with it. Plus, at the time I needed to upgrade my DSLR (after my Rebel XT died), I felt there was going to be an update to the 5D soon and I didn’t want to shell out money on something that would be replaced. I learned that lesson from Apple…

Click the jump to read on

Anyway, the update came later than I think most people expected, and hit me with specs I pretty much expected – a whopping increase in Megapixels, LiveView, new processor, etc etc. But there was that one thing I wasn’t expecting. Full HD Video? Initially this put me off. I had read all about the Nikon D90’s video mode and saw it as a gimmick to be fair. It just didn’t seem that practical, despite the use of creative lenses to gain DOF not usually possible with consumer level video cameras… So, I mostly looked past this feature and began pining again, looking at the “pre-order now” button at Amazon and Adorama. $2799 is a lot of cash for a toy that I don’t use professionally, just as a hobby, and I could invest that right? Make some money in the stock market or something? Oh who was I kidding, the economy was tanking, banks are going under, people are loosing their jobs… But I decided to leave it for now. I thought, “if things get better, I may pre-order one, I have time, it’s not like they will sell out.” Then, a few days later, that article appeared…

What Vincent Laforet created with the Canon 5D mkII was immense. I was sold. Instantly. And I had only seen 3 screen grabs! I don’t know what happened to me. After Laforet’s post, I truly believed this camera really is a “game changer” to quote Laforet. I loved everything I read. I know Vincent Laforet is an amazing artist and I loved reading his blog during the Olympics, but he really inspired me in a way no other photographer has done before which, to be honest, baffled me – it had been a while since I had been hit with so many ideas, and I felt the potential. He made me feel the connection between still and motion video – something I have always had an interest in before, but never had the means to do. After reading the comments on that specific post about the 5D mkII, I knew this was going to sell out very quickly. In fact, Amazon stopped taking pre-orders, so I grabbed my debit card and went to Adorama and ordered the Body only (I had the 24-70mm F/2.8L).

Then I introduced my wife to the “game.” My wife, Danielle, is an aspiring screen/play writer/film maker/documentary maker, is afraid of my hobbies . They are expensive – and I hear “you don’t need that” a lot. I simply showed her Vincent Laforet’s article. Her reply, “We have got to get this camera” and immediately her pen and paper came out to start budgeting for a documentary we plan of filming in New Orleans. I had already bought it, but whatever! It was the easiest sell ever. And I was right to pre-order as soon as I could. Pre-orders went through the roof before people even saw Laforet’s video. And as soon as it was released on the Tuesday after the big hype, people began speculating Spring 09 before they are widely available.

Fast forward to thanksgiving, a tradition I enjoy as a British guy living in the USA, I was beginning to get tense, much like a child at Christmas. It was insane! I was calling Adorama, confirming my order, trying to track one down locally, getting jealous of the Chinese who already had plenty in their hands populating Vimeo with fantastic videos – I just couldn’t wait. Then on the Saturday after Thanksgiving I got the call saying it was going to be shipped Monday or Tuesday! YAY. I was psyched.

As soon as I held it in my hands I knew it was worth it. I popped on my 24-70mm and immediately knew full-frame was finally for me. So, lets take a moment to “review” it after a month of shooting with it. Below is my first ever shot with it

Canon 5D mkII, originally uploaded by tony.eckersley.

My background

I love photography. I have always believed in the importance of self-expression, especially through imagery. People are able to convey their personality through countless outputs, from the more modern idea of blogs to photography to story telling to poetry. Capturing our uniqueness and expressing our beliefs, culture, or feelings, helps people fight the inscrutability of the world around us.

Keswick – Canon 5D mkII, originally uploaded by tony.eckersley.

I have been shooting for around 3 years “seriously.” And by that, I mean, non point and shoot holiday snaps. I don’t really class my self as an amateur, but I guess a term I like is photography enthusiast. It’s my main hobby outside of my professional life. Most of my shots are for my own artistic enjoyment, nothing more, nothing less. I also love to share my images on photo sharing sites like Flickr for others to enjoy.

I have had experience with a range of Canon DSLR’s such as the 1Ds MkII, the 40D, 5D and Nikons such as the D70s and D200. I lean towards Canon as I feel more comfortable with their hardware and glass. I am definitely not a fanboy, as I truly see the weaknesses of Canon

The Body/Menus

I always felt comfortable with the 40D, and the 5D mkII feels very much the same. Its obviously very well built and feels very sturdy and strong in your hands. Or so it should be… Mine has a terrible squeak at the bottom where the battery and the CF door is. It is only noticeable with heavy lenses, like my main shooting lens – 24-70mm. It really bugs me. Really really bugs me…

The button layout I think is great, yet I know it annoys some. I much prefer the buttons being on the left side unlike the 40D, whose buttons are on the bottom. I love the wheel for selection usage as well as the little joy stick. Everything else feels very natural after shooting with a 40D for 14 months.

I do like the menus and their general user interface, and have always found Canon’s menu design to be very easy to use. It still amazes me however that Canon chooses to keep “print order” on these cameras. I am sure they are almost never used…? I really like the combination of using the front and back wheel to set certain settings, such as the exposure compensation – that works really well for bracketing shots quickly. I also welcome the addition of the battery info menu offering some great information when it comes to battery usage. I am also making good use of the “my menu” setting as a one stop place to find all the menu items I tend to change. I also see this as being an easier way to find the mirror lock up, which I know certain reviewers* have scarfed at. *http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

LiveView

The screen is absolutely beautiful. The high resolution really brings home the benefits of having a screen in the first place. It really is crystal clear and the detail is outstanding. Whether I am reviewing an image, and zooming in to 100% to check the focus, or if I am composing a scene and finding the correct exposure, it has become a feature I would never want to be without while shooting digitally. It took me a while to adjust to its “auto brightness adjust feature.” I was convinced that some of my shots were under exposed in one scene in low light situations – a complaint I have read in other reviews.

I love the AF-ON in combination with LiveView. It allows me to really pinpoint my focus and my metering much easier than my old work flow. However, I am sure this is a personal preference and some many professionals do differently. I will also say, as much as I love this feature, it’s one I will use only in certain situations – for example, the studio, where I can see in real time where my real focus point is and really nail it first time. Zooming in to check your focus points is also surprisingly good – miles ahead of LiveView on the 40D. LiveView is certainly not going to replace the view finder, and nor will I ever find myself using it more than the viewfinder, but it has become a tool I wouldn’t want to be without. It’s especially great for tripod use, low to the ground shots and really nailing exposure are metering.

West Coast Sun Set – Canon 5D mkII, originally uploaded by tony.eckersley.

View Finder/Focusing

Enough about LiveView, lets talk about the View finder. For me, shooting with the 5D mkII was what can only be described as a “reverse culture shock.” You know, you travel somewhere, feel great, fit right in with the way of the land, and it only hits you when you get home how different/cool everything was? That’s what shooting with the 5D mkII was like for me. I remember picking up my 40D after shooting a few hundred shots with the 5D mkII and just being annoyed. The view finder was so small, so dark, and just not as useful as what I just got used too. This is one of the main reasons I love full frame DSLR’s. The View finder on the 5D mkII is just gorgeous, just like the 5D, but even better. Big, bright, easy to compose with – it just feels ‘right’. I would love to comment on different focusing screens, but I have no experience here. I also experience no tinting like I did with the 5D I had shot with. That one had a slightly greenish/yellow tint. There is a 2% increase in frame coverage that’s worth mentioning (up to 98% from 96%). I don’t easily see the difference, but yet others can – I guess it’s kind of subjctive.

Focusing was a bit of talking point upon spec release of this camera. People were frustrated with the non increase in focus points when Nikon had released the D700 with its “Fast, accurate 51-point AF system.” I can see people’s frustrations to be honest after seeing how fast the D700 could focus and how little shots were out of focus (especially with moving subjects thanks to it’s 3D system). It seemed like such an obvious update to everyone. Well, at least I can say it is better than the 5D, especially in dark situations, and the hidden assist points do seem to help, but it’s not perfect. It is also fast, and it most situations I found it to be as fast as the D700, but just not quite as accurate on moving subjects. I also have had very little luck when using AI SERVO focus mode as I just cannot seem to get it to work right, where as my 40D I seemed to do ok. I also have huge problems when using the far right AF point selection. It simply does not work for me, with any of my lenses. This is one of the reasons why it is going back to Canon. Maybe my AI SERVO issues are related?

On a more positive note, focusing around the center point is wicked fast and almost always giving me desired results. I just feel I have to work harder to keep focus…

ISO/Exposure

A big talking point with some of the newer DSLR’s are tthe sensors ability to emit low noise at higher ISO. This is definitely something that blew me away with the 5D MkII and was massively impressed with the demo shots up to ISO6400. I do shoot a lot indoors and find myself boosting the ISO up just to have a faster shutter when photographic people, and this is where I really reap the benefits of the 5D mkII. ISO6400 is the ISO1600 on the 40D in terms of noise. That’s a massive increase. I can’t believe how comfortable I am shooting at ISO6400 indoors. Finally Canon have caught up to Nikon when it comes to noise!

We can build a fire…, originally uploaded by tony.eckersley.

Granted, there are hundreds of ISO shoot outs online, each one swayin a different way, but I don’t care. I am extremely happy with the results I am getting. And, heck, I will even shoot at ISO25600 and convert to Black and White

Auto ISO is also surprisingly useful. I mainly control ISO manually, but Auto mode can be useful. The 5D mkII attempts to always use the lowest ISO it can to correct exposure, and in doing so, will keep the shutter at 1/Focus Length (Obviously, depending on your shooting mode). It seems to be a feature implemented for the video mode too. As I don’t shoot in auto much, I can’t really comment, but from what I have read there are limitations, such as the maximum ISO it will go to is 3200 and not functioning in any manual mode. Nikon seem to hit the nail on the head with this as you can set a minium shutter speed or aperture and let the ISO do the rest.

I am very happy with the 5D MKII’s evaluative exposure and it preserves shadows and highlights very well. I also find that RAW recovery can help me save scenes where I have exposed incorrectly.

Image Quality

Ok, this has been covered to death, and lets face it, I am not going to cover anything ground breaking, so let it be said this camera produces the best digital images I have personally able to produce. To summarize, resolution – amazing, color – excellent, sharpness – fantastic.

Without a doubt, the best image quality from any Canon camera I have ever shot with. I can’t really comment against the Nikons as I don’t have a library of images to compare against. There are plenty of other sources for these.

Canon 5D mkII test shots, originally uploaded by tony.eckersley.

Video

Video is stunning. In fact, what else can I really say that hasn’t been said before? If you haven’t read Vincent Laforets post about the video mode, please do, as he does it more justice than elsewhere that I have read.

Manual focusing is fine for the most part, and while there is a certain auto focus feature while shooting, it is quite frankly, a waste of time. It does take some practise to manual focus, but it really is not as daunting as some feel it is. Video is also a little more forgiving when it comes to being slighly out of focus due to lots of movement, but there are times where it can be used quite effectively – I mean just look at some scenes in Prison Break season one.

I do want to purchase a RedRock DSLR Field Cinema Bundle for my more serious film shooting, but expect some more blog posts on that in the future. Here is the focus attachment which I hear is just fantastic. You can actually see Vincent Laforet using a similar set up here

My favourite thing about the video is the endless creativity you can achieve with the lenses available for Canon cameras. The Depth of field is just insane, especially if you use an 85 F/1.2 or even the 24-70mm F/2.8. See my example here:

Taking the raw .mov files direct from the CF card is also such a great addition to the work flow replacing the tiresome “watch as you record on to you HDD” method I have always had before. I love being able to just drag my H.264 files in to Final Cut Pro and start editing. It took me 40 minutes to cut this video:

I do have some issues. No 24/25p? No manual control? That is criminal on such a great camera. I am sure 24/25p is coming in a firmware update, but manual control is just crazy! It is such a wanted feature too, and it seems such an oversight to not have it in. Ultimately, the camera chooses the “right” settings for you based upon the situation the camera reads. In dark places, the aperture will most likely be wide open with a shutter speed of 1/125 and a highish ISO. Outside, in daylight, you will get F16, 1/125 and ISO100. People have also discovered that the camera only really chooses 4 aperture settings, and the electronic shutter speed will only register at 1/25 to something like 1/125 (just as Canon’s site says). Luckily, there are some hacks. See mine here where we can use the “twist off method” where an aperture has been pre set, and you twist the lens of its contacts and allowing the camera to choose the shutter and ISO for you. This results in much higher shutter speeds also. People using manual Nikon glass also use this method where they use their aperture ring to select their desired aperture. So, Canon, please give us this control…

Also, be careful about stuck/hot/dead pixels. Look how big they show up in the video mode:

Such a shame…

Ultimately, the 5D mkII is not here to replace video cameras, not in anyway. It simply adds a new tool to create fantastic motion video in new creative ways, and for many professionals to add new services to their businesses. I am all for this technology.

Finally

I am more than impressed with the Canon 5D mkII, more so than any other camera I have ever used. It is a great advancement from the great 5D in almost every way (bar focusing) and has become a tool I can fully trust out in the field and feel comfortable shooting in certain situations (read, darkness) I never could before. I also really embrace the convergence of motion and still photography, and while I read some people unable to accept this, I really see this being the future of how we shoot now. This camera has truly allowed me to explore other creative projects outside of my normal every day shooting, and I just can’t understand why people have issues with that? It seems bizarre to not be excited by the ability to continue creative expression through more mediums.

I am not going to mention the black dot issue really as I am sure there is a fix in the works, and it is evident on older Canon cameras anyway (apparently). Besides, I blame the Christmas trees! But in all seriousness, I don’t have the issue so I can’t really comment on it’s effects on me personally.

I am also not going to actively compare it to other brands as to be honest, I really believe each brand has their own place in the market for each class. Canon just works better for me. Each brand has their strengths and weaknesses, and each seem to better their weaknesses and increase their strengths with every model revisions, and I am glad that they push themselves this way as it is almost always better for the consumer. And lets be honest, there are just too many factors to consider before you can label one camera better than another.

But, for those wanting to enter the full frame market with a professional body DSLR, this is a great place to start. It is a great camera for almost all situations (not sport, damn you 3.9 fps) but the movie mode makes it stand out in it’s class for me personally.

Sundown over Wastwater – Canon 5D mkII, originally uploaded by tony.eckersley.

If you want to buy one, I recommend B&H or Adorama!

5D Mark II Body at B&H Photo

5D Mark II Kit at B&H Photo