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The Transition: From Nikon to the Canon EOS 5D Mark II

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Posted by Patrick on Jan 9, 2009 in Cameras, Software

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Juno* (click to see original size via flickr)

Well I’ve had a little bit of time to play with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II now, and in almost every way it has lived up to all my expectations. The image quality is fantastic, it handles quite well, the ISO performance is a revalation for me, and in pretty much every way it blows my Nikon D80 out of the water. Though it has served me well, I’ll probably soon bid it farewell.

The transition from Nikon to Canon has been pretty smooth, though what was instinct before is now a bit more fumbled. The layout is just different enough to throw you off your game a bit, but it is logically laid out and in a couple of weeks I should have it all down. I plan on giving a thorough review soon, in the meantime I just wanted to share some initial impressions.

Out of the box, the 5D2 is a bigger camera than the Nikon D80, I’d say roughly 125% bigger. Despite being bigger it doesn’t feel all that heavier. In fact, it feels about the same (though my 18-200mm rarely leaves the D80 and that plays a “heavy” role). In your hands the 5D2 fits pretty good, however the grip isn’t as pronounced as the D80, my middle finger ends on the camera surface instead of curled around the grip (by just a hair), otherwise if feels great.

Build quality is excellent. The camera feels tight and well made. It isn’t quite “tank-like” but it is clearly a step-up from the Nikon D80. Only the cheap memory card cover spoils the exterior, but I can live with it.

Setting up the camera is intuitive and simple. Canon has done a great job with the menus, and I find it easy to scroll through and select or deselect the options. Shooting with the 5D2 has been great. Set to fire continuously the 5D2 shoots at 3.9 FPS, which is a 1 FPS faster than I’m used to. It feels fast enough to me, in fact it feels very responsive, but for others I realize the 3.9 FPS might be a limitation. The AF works fine, most of the problems I have with it are user created, in that I haven’t quite mastered selecting AF points without lowering the camera, but that will come. However, I can attest that the AF does have trouble focusing in low light. It isn’t a big deal, but it will on occasion hunt in a darker setting. One more gripe, white balance isn’t that accurate in artificial light, especially in tungsten settings. I’ve seen this mentioned in some reviews, so I hope it isn’t me, but the D80 did much better at AWB in artificial light. I shoot RAW so it isn’t a big deal, but if the 5D2 has flaws these are the biggest 2.

Now for the best part, the image quality. IQ is excellent, yes the megapixels really do help. I’ve spent several evenings now just looking at the detail captured, and the difference from the D80 (as you’d expect) is just night and day. Also night and day, ISO performance. ISO 1600 is just fine, and in the right settings, 3200 is fine too. This opens the door to taking a lot more shots than I did before, and the keeper rate is dramatically improving. I can’t stress enough how nice it is to shoot available light without hesitation, and like the results. I couldn’t do that before, now I can.

I’ll save the rest for a more proper review, but yes the LCD kicks some serious you know what, movie quality is amazing with some big caveats, the file sizes are big and take a toll on Lightroom, the battery lasts forever, and the Canon 50mm f/ 1.4 is a nice piece of glass.

Finally, I’ll just add that if you are in the same boat I was in, wanting better ISO, curious about full frame, make bigger prints, and shoot nikon…. you don’t have to wait. Trust me, you’ll love the 5D2. If you already shoot Canon—I don’t know what you’re waiting for. Get the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

Get the Canon EOS 5D Mark II at Amazon body only $2700 (Order from Amazon, not 3rd party), Adorama body only $2699, or from B and H for $2699.95.