Canon 5D MkII: Professionalism for amateurs!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Excellent dynamic range, low noise, well-built, professional quality, HD video

Cons: Needs expensive lenses to get best results

The Bottom Line: 

Full-frame, high resolution photography is here at last for both serious amateur and professional alike.

Author's Review
In writing a review of this stunning camera, I don't want to offer you simply a repeat of all the technical details that you can read on a thousand websites including Canon's. I want to offer you my own thoughts as a neutral user of this product. If you're expecting complex charts and statistics, please look elsewhere. This is a review for people who want to get beneath the blurb and find out what a normal human being thinks of it!

Initial thoughts:

When i first heard that this camera was coming out, I was a Canon 40D user contemplating the purchase of a 10-22mm wide lens. As that lens only works on APS-C sensor DSLRs, I had a decision to make: stick with my 40D (cracking camera, see my other reviews) and buy the EF-S lens or stick with the wide lens I already had (17-40mm L series) and wait to buy the full-framed sensor 5D Mk2.

As I had yearned for a FF DSLR but simply couldn't afford the price of a 1D MkIII, this pushed me over the temptation edge and I went for it. The figures all looked great, a 21MP camera, FF sensor, ISO50-25,600.... and even the completely unwanted (at the time!) HD video facility which i scorned as being out of place on a professional level camera. But see my comments on this later!

Out of the box:

When I took the camera from the box, I wasn't surprised to find it felt extremely solid and well made. I have used Canon for many years and have come to expect this. Indeed, not only did it feel solid, it felt GREAT! It fits into my hand like a glove, everything falls immediately to thumb or finger and it is entirely intuitive to use for anyone used to Canon's dual scroll-wheel system.

I put the battery in (after giving it a charge!) and WOW.... what a display! Being used to a 230K pixel screen on my 40D (which had looked fine till that point!) seeing a 920k pixel screen absolutely blew me away. I took a few test shots to view and the screen showed them so sharp it almost made my eyes bleed! I twisted the angle to silly angles but still no problem at all viewing it. It's beautiful!

A Sterner Test:

Ok, so much for initial impressions, all of which were entirely favourable. But what about getting out there and using it in the real world? I had read about the disappointment of 9 AF points and only 3.9 frames per second so would this inhibit me after my 40D's 6.5 FPS?

Well, frankly I usually kept my 40D on the slower 3.5 FPS setting as the 6.5 was just too fast for me. I don't do a lot of fast sports photography so really don't need that level of speed. Some will and they have to decide if they can get by with a bit slower.... i most certainly can. I had occasion to take a few shots of the Red Arrows and 3.5fps was absolutely fine - and they move pretty quick!

What about the AF points? Well, 9 focus points is only part of the story, there are 6 more AF-assist points that you can't see but which definitely work well: the AF speed is terrific. It fair jumps into focus and when using AI Servo locks onto a moving target and keeps it in focus even when it is moving straight towards you.

I should point out that I am using it with L series lenses and frankly wouldn't recommend anything less. At this level of camera, there is no point at all in having 21 megapixels and then sticking a cheap lens on the front that can't resolve even half that number. This is a professional level camera and needs professional level optics. If not you are doing the equivalent of going for a free dinner at the Gherkin and ordering a sandwich!

I have the 24-105mm f4 IS L, 17-40mm f/4 L and 100-400mm IS L and the quality of pictures surpasses anything I have ever achieved before.

Landscapes have fantastic colour reproduction, RAW produces well defined skies without burnt-out highlights, portraits produce better bokeh (BG blurring) because of the FF-sensor, skintones are beautifully natural.

Live View:

I also have the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens and use this in Live View mode. This allows you to use the screen rather than the viewfinder to set up your shots. I use manual focus for this as do most macro photographers but Live View with this superb screen takes my shots to another level.

Not only can I view the image in much higher resolution, thus making focusing easier, I can zoom in up to 10x, move around the screen to whichever part I want to focus on and then to focus to a critical degree that ensures sharpness which is as good as it gets. Frankly I doubt you could focus any sharper with the naked eye.

Viewfinder:

I had read about the 98% coverage of the viewfinder which is an improvement on the 40Ds 95% but I hadn't expected it to look any different, the coverage only being noticeable when you look at the actual photo. However, what I did find was how much bigger and brighter the viewfinder is because of the full-frame sensor which allows for more space. It is much easier to look through and all the information you need is shown inside the viewfinder so there is no need to take your eye away from the finder.

The adjustments you might want to make, such as the AF mode, the ISO etc still use three buttons along the top of the camera but Canon have done something eminently sensible here: the three buttons now have a ridged front edge to the panel which makes it much easier to know exactly what button you are pressing even without looking. I find this extremely helpful as I like to get my eye to that viewfinder and keep it there!

HD Video:

As mentioned before, i was boringly cynical about this extra feature and didn't think i would use it much. How wrong I was!

As a professional, I regularly do the ubiquitous wedding photos and am able to deliver excellent quality photos to my clients. But now, I can do more....

I take video clips of the key moments in a wedding, the vows, the signing of the register, the cutting of the cake, etc. To the first clients I had after I bought this camera, I offered them 'something extra' for no extra money. In other words, I wanted to try it out and if it worked I would know in future.

To cut a long story short, what I presented them with on returning from their honeymoon was a DVD I had put together. It started with a short video clip of the groom and then the bride arriving at the church. A nice bit of music to back it up went down well. I then showed ten stills shots as a slideshow. Then another 90 seconds of video showing the vows. Then more photo stills. This went on so that they finally ended up with a professional looking video to show their family and friends. With 6 video clips interspersed by a total of 50 photos in grops of 10, the show lasts about 15 minutes, well within the attention span of even the kids!

Were they pleased? You bet they were. I told them it was a free gift for allowing me to try it out but they said 'Ok, we'll get orders for copies of the DVD. Would a tenner a time be acceptable?' I thought I might be in for an extra £50 here but when their friends all saw the original, they got 25 orders for their own copies so I made an extra £250 on top of the normal job! I also had a DVD to show as a portfolio item and this has won me loads more work.

The quality of video is outstanding, even better than most camcorders could ever achieve because the quality of Canon lenses working with the full-frame sensor of this beautiful camera simply has to be seen to be believed.

Conclusion:

Canon say this is the next step down from their professional 1-series camera range. I accept that the 5D is not built like a tank like those but it is built extremely well and for most non-paparazzi snappers, this is a top quality build that will last them for years.

The photos have an amazing dynamic range with loads of detail in the shadows and in the highlights, the noise in the range I use - up to ISO 3200 - is simply not noticeable so gives me extra valuable stops that allow me to shoot even in low light with top notch results.

One word of warning: this isn't a camera for beginners. If there are imperfections in the way you shoot, they will be found out. However, your photography will improve quickly if you are serious about getting the best possible results.

For enthusiasts and professionals, it is not too much to say that this camera will redefine the way you work and the shots you will achieve.