Canon EOS 5D Mark 2 Review
Introduced as a Prosumer D-SLR, the Canon 5D Mk2 camera has aged a bit over the years but still is a favorite for professionals all over the photography industry, considered to be the best image-maker of its class. In reality the quality of pictures is difficult to quantify; pictures appear a far more acurate representation of the photographed subject.
Viewfinder
Big and bright, the viewfinder is competent. The 5D Mk 2 even beats out the old class favourite view-finder on the 1Ds Mark 3.
LCD
The LCD screen is clean, bright and is easy to view the pictures shown on it. Canon also included a new display lighting feature, using an ambient sensor that adjusts light based primarily on the ambient lighting in the area. Though it can be a tiny bit unusual to look at the image change before your eyes, it still is a neat feature. If the feature annoying in the sunshine, you can simply switch it back to manual lightness.
Memory
Photographers who aren’t used to the high level of 20+ megapixels may need to purchase a further 8 or 16 GB Compact Flash Card. The previous will offer you room for approximately 300 photographs or 24 minutes of Full-HD hi-def 1080p video.
Auto Focus
Matched against the original 5D the Mk 2 has certainly improved as far as the auto focus is concerned, particularly in the centre point. Indeed, there’s a bit of an issue with the spacing with the 9 automatic focus points as it can be a bit narrow, nevertheless it is easily overlooked; the center point is consistent, as long as you are not attempting to take images without lighting, e.g. in dark bars or caves.
Frame Rate
Indeed, 3.9 FPS this isn’t by any means a fantastically fast rate of shooting, nevertheless it still works well. Tested with both the SanDisk Extreme IV and Lexar 300X cards, it has been verified this camera does shoot at the advertised rate. Given that you are not the sort to take photographs at the rate of a machine gunner, you could have no problems at all.
Details
It is true to tell that both the sharpness and resolution are extremely similar between the Mk2 and the prior leader, the 1Ds Mark III. Given they use the same sensor technology, this naturally is logical. Nonetheless comparing the photographs still shows a slight difference, maybe because of a new anti-alias filter tint — the pictures snapped with the 5D Mk2 seem to be a bit brighter without displaying a slight blue look like the 1Ds Mark III. However, the resolution seems to remain the same.
Video
Arguably one of the more fascinating — and perhaps even debatable — features available on the 5D Mk2 camera is its capacity of recording HD videos in full 1080p resolution. This is something that has definitely sparked some buzz through the whole industry of photography. It appears that a number of photographers are not happy with the arrival of combo cameras such as this, but if you’re a keen film maker, this could definitely be something that you find handy and within your budget.
To supply a brief background on the video issues: For the longest time, having the ability to achieve a “film like” depth has been a bane to the independent filmmaker. Years ago, those that were capable of using macro lenses and machining could adapt by making motion pictures with a 35 mm depth of field with the appropriate lenses on their own prosumer/consumer level camcorders. This ended up spawning a sector that inspired quite a good number of corporations to provide its clients a much more desirable commercial choice of adapters, though they still were never perfect, leading to a considerable amount of light loss. With Canon presenting its combo cameras, independent filmmakers can now enjoy new cameras with bigger sensors and much better noise performance.
The only real downside is that it implies filmmakers are indeed limited just to a single shooting mode. Put simply, the camera will limitingly dictate the ISO range, shutter speed and the aperture in which you will be shooting your movie in. However, you get the extra bonus of having a two stop correction range, and you are capable of locking exposure.
In addition, it is only possible to shoot 12 minutes of recording at a time at 30 frames per second, and due to the design choice for the CMOS sensor, you need to be careful when you’re panning your shots; sudden changes can cause diagonal lines that should otherwise be vertical.
In spite of these two negatives, the film mode still does have quite a good number of strengths, including a full frame depth of field, an. Fantastic performance under dim light that rivals considerably dearer cameras, a high quality video codec that offers a extraordinarily workable set of photographs, as well as a light and compact form for a camera. It’s also important to note that this is a rather cheap camera considering the other choices available.
Final Thoughts
The present day is indeed an interesting time for photographers of all sorts. In fact , it was not that long ago that a camera similar to the 5D Mark2 would cost an arm, a leg and one’s soul. Now it looks that Canon has really become hip to the sector of 20+ million pixels, and this camera offers a generous sweet spot in terms of resolution. Even within the line up of other Canon cameras, the 5D Mk 2 does very well. Even with the restrictions so far as the HD video mode are concerned, it’s still a fantastic bargain for the cost. Whether you are new to the field or an old pro trying to find something handy, this may be the camera for you.
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