Canon EOS 5D Mark II: The Good, the Bad.

Judging by my traffic, and forum chatter, nothing is more popular in DSLRs right now than the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. I mean just look at the sexy photo above, really, isn’t that all you need to know? OK, maybe you need to know a little more, or more likely you need me to tell you what you already know. As a Nikon owner this camera absolutely sickens me. It has thrown a wrench in my well laid out (as of last week) plan of purchasing a Nikon D700. I might still get it, but now I’m really going to have to convince myself to not wait for a Nikon response, or worse make a (gulp) switch to Canon. Here’s how I see it:

The Good:

• 21 megapixel Full Frame Sensor: Potential for serious detail, and the full frame size brings the obvious advantage of removing crop factors, and bringing cleaner, crisper image quality. The sensor is similar to that found in the 1Ds Mark III, but might actually be better due to improvements such as gapless microlenses. Essentially you are getting a “flagship” quality sensor for $2600.
• DIGIC IV: Pushes 14 bit, 21 megapixel files through at almost 4 FPS. That’s not bad. DIGIC IV promises the best image quality thus far in a Canon EOS camera body ( As I recall, there wasn’t anything wrong with the IQ on the original 5D) and it also looks to boost ISO/noise performance considerably, speaking of which…
• ISO Sensitivity: The 5D Mark II has a calibrated range of 100-6400 with expansion covering the 50-25600 range. 1600 is the new 400 when it comes to ISO, and I’ll guarantee the new 5D provides excellent ISO 1600 images with deterioration from there. Getting clean ISO 1600 images is a huge boon, and would provide big advantages in low light and situations where stopping motion is a concern.
• 920K LCD: I’ve seen the LCD’s on the D300 and D3 at the local camera store and the hi resolution makes a huge difference in reading your menus, taking advantage of live view, and viewing your captures. The new 5D takes it further adding an additional 2 coats which reduces glare and provides 160 degrees of viewing angle.
• Viewfinder: 98% percent coverage vs. 95% on the D700.
• 1080P Video: The game breaker. Not on the 1Ds Mark III or the D700. It will have its disadvantages, but the heck if I can’t find a creative way to use this. Also interesting is the ability to capture stills while shooting video.

The Bad:

• ISO Sensitivity: Hey wasn’t this just in the “Good”? Well the thing is, I want the D700 for its ridiculous ISO performance, above and beyond what might be needed. I’m sure the new 5D will be good at handling noise up to and including ISO 1600, but early indications show some banding at 6400. It may be the amount of pixels, or it may be the EXPEED processing, or both, but the D700 is going to win the ultimate ISO image quality battle.
• AF System: No contest. The 51 point AF of the Nikon D300, D700, and D3 has a tremendous advantage over the 9 point (and 6 invisible!) largely just carried over from the original 5D. Might be a non-issue for most photographers though base on your shooting style.
• 3.9 FPS: The D700 has a definite speed advantage, presumably because the files are only 12 megapixels. The big speed advantage doesn’t come without the purchase of the battery grip, so the 5D isn’t doing that bad considering the size of the files.
• No Pop Up Flash: D700 has the built in flash which can be used to trigger other flash units.

Obviously the good outweighs the bad, and that’s what makes the 5D Mark II so compelling, because when you factor in one final feature, the pricing at $2700, the new 5D is very hard to resist. Sticking with my plan to get the Nikon D700 just got a lot harder.

You can order the Canon 5D Mark II now at:
Amazon (body only $2700 or with EF 24-105 L IS for $3500)
Adorama (body only $2699 or with EF 24-105 L IS for $3499)

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1. 

   Michael Sihelin says:

   October 31, 2008 at 11:30 pm

   You did not mention dust and molisture sealing. I presume they are equal in both model.

   reply
2. 

   Patrick says:

   October 31, 2008 at 11:46 pm

   I’m thinking they aren’t exactly equal, I’d suspect the weather sealing is somewhat better on the D700. I remember hearing on a podcast the 5D MK2 could take a little rain—can’t find it though…

   reply