Canon EOS 5D Mark II

The wait is now over. Loads of people have been waiting for this camera for far to long but now Canon reveals the beast. And I must say it is kind of a beast with some very nice specifications especially considering the price.

Specifications:

• New 21.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor with improved EOS Integrated Cleaning System (E.I.C.S.)
• New Full HD 1080 resolution movie recording
• 3.9 frames per second continuous shooting
• High performance DIGIC 4 providing superb image quality
• Maximum 310 large JPEG images in a single burst with a UDMA card
• 3.0” VGA (920k dots) Clear View LCD
• ISO 100-6400 (expansion from 50 up to 25,600)
• 9 AF points + 6 Assist AF points
• Improved menu system including Quick Control Screen for more direct access to common settings
• Automatic peripheral illumination correction, utilising detailed EF lens information to optimise JPEG images straight out of the camera
• Magnesium alloy construction with additional environmental protection
• UDMA memory card compatibility.

Hands on:

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a preproduction model September 18th. I was not allowed to put my own card in and bring home some pictures 🙁 but I had a good play with the camera.

AF
The new af on the 5Dm2 has a more snappy feel to it than on the old 5D. Locks on faster even in very low light. I only used it with the L glass so that of course helps but it had a good feel to it. I did not have anything but a walking person to test the servo on but that worked just fine in a semi dark room. But again not a real in depth test.

LCD
The new LCD is a dream come true in my eyes. The display is really good you can chek your sharpness and noise levels on the screen. Its nice and bright and the new anti coating is really effective and beets the crap out of the old Canon models.

ISO
This is a big jump for Canon. Nikon took over with the D3 but now Canon is with no doubt back in the game. As far as I could judge this little devil is on par with the D3. Keep in mind we are talking 21mp here. This combination will give some really clean prints for sure.

Weather sealing
Canon has improved the weather sealing on the 5Dm2. How much water and dust this new sealing will hold out is yet to be found out. No doubt its better than the old one but I still don’t get the feel I have with the 1D series.

HD Video
Video on a still camera now what is this about. In my eyes its a brilliant idea and will no doubt sell cameras. The highend amature will love this for the ease of use and all in one device for family vacations.
But I know that loads of news papers has already put down orders on the 5dm2.
Its a brilliant solution for them. Video is more and more normal on the web and loads of journalist is already dragging along a camcorder besides their dslr. This will bring it all together in one device.

All in all
This looks to be a winner for Canon and I sure they will sell loads and loads of this new “star”. I put down an order on it and I am looking forward to getting it. Will be a nice supplement to the 1dsm3 and the new high iso capability will be a dream when shooting concerts.

1Ds MarkIV – I can only conclude that we will very soon see a this camera. Canon has now released a camera with a very low price that actually beats the 1dsm3 on image quality. This can not stand and I believe we will see the new top of the line camera already at Photokina.
Pictures