Canon 5D MkII Announced

[DougPaul]

I only wish they'd compared the 5D Mark II to the Rebel Xsi for me!

Just stumbled over a comparison of the (old) 5D with the EF 24-105L lens and the 40D with the EF-S 17-85 lens. Not exactly what you are looking for, but hopefully similar enough to be useful.

http://bobatkins.com/photography/digital/eos5D_eos40D_24-105_17-85.html
also
http://bobatkins.com/photography/digital/eos_5D_vs_eos_40D.html

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

Black Dots

A problem has been discovered where black dots can appear just to the right of small overexposed spots. Not an issue for most pics, but it might show in night shots which include lights or a sun reflection off a shiny object in an otherwise ordinary pic.

http://bobatkins.com/photography/digital/eos_5D2_black_dots.html
http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/slrs/5d-mark-ii/black-pixels.htm

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

Luminous Landscape now has an article comparing the high-ISO noise of the Sony A900, Canon 5D MKII, and the Nikon D3x.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/big-three.shtml

Happy pixel peeping...

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

Canon has posted a firmware update (v 1.0.7) which is supposed to fix the black dot problem. http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/c...ategoryid=215&modelid=17662#DownloadDetailAct

Doug

 

[Brambor]

I upgraded my firmware although I never really encountered this problem. Much to do about nothing but it is still nice they addressed the complains of the pixelpeepers.

 

[Tim Seaver]

Field Report #1

The "Quick Control Screen" has become one of my favorite features for working with the camera under cold conditions, which really proved it's worth on a Presidential Traverse last Saturday. This screen allows you to see most of the important camera settings without having to look through the viewfinder or at the top LCD, a big plus when it's windy and you are trying to work quickly.

I was also very impressed with the cameras cold weather operation - shooting almost 200 images in single digit temperatures, and 3 video clips ( one by accident, a 14 minute video of the inside of my lens cap), the camera still showed 75% of it's battery life, although that was when the camera was back in a warm environment. I carried the camera with a 17-40L zoom in a Lowepro Toploader 65 AW with two hand warmer packs in the top internal zippered pouch, which seemed to do a good job of keeping the camera at a reasonable operating temperature. No problems with moisture or fogging on this trip, but the air was pretty dry.

The cameras low light performance is pretty amazing, holding up much better quality at high ISO than the old 5D. The last few frames I shot of the moon rising behind Eisenhower were at ISO 2000, and although some noise is certainly visible in the RAW image, it cleans up quite nicely.

Pictures Here

 

[MichaelJ]

The 5d mk II is now the first digital camera used for the official presidential portrait.

Tim, do you carry the top-loader pack on your side or chest?

 

[Tim Seaver]

Michael, I carry it on my chest. I have one 1 1/2" strap with a buckle that passes through the slot in the back of the case, which I put on before getting my pack on. Once I have my pack on, I then clip the two side rings on the case to my sternum strap to keep the camera case from sagging and interfering with my legs. Without the waist strap, the camera case will swing in a pretty annoying fashion.

This particular case is a bit too big, but at least it's easy to toss the camera into. The biggest drag is that the zipper winds around the side close to your body, so it takes some practice to kind of "flip" the case forward to access the zipper ( and you can't leave it semi-open, as there are no snow "flaps")

Someday, somebody will make a case that is designed for this kind of usage - why there isn't one out there already is a mystery to me!

 

[MichaelJ]

I took a similar approach with a smaller case and the 300D when we backpacked Colorado a few summers ago (yes, I promise to finish the pics and post them soon!) and I had that annoying swinging. I'm glad you've got a solution to it! I'll keep this in mind when I try to take the 40D hiking.

I actually didn't have a problem with working the zipper, and appreciated that it opened "away" instead of toward me.

Also, here are some supporting links: the new presidential portrait, and the article about it going digital with the 5D MkII.

 

[DougPaul]

Ken Rockwell has published some interesting comparisons of the Nikon D3X and the Canon 5D MkII.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d3x/sharpness-comparison-5d-mark-ii.htm
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d3x/iso-3200-5d-mark-ii-d3.htm
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d3x/iso-6400-5d-mark-ii-d3.htm
http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/slrs/5d-mark-ii/iso-25600-d3.htm
http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/d3x/sharpness-comparison.htm

There are additional comments in his "What's New" page, 09 Jan 2009 -- 14 Jan 2009. http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/00-new-today.htm.

He observes that Canon's noise reduction significantly degrades fine detail when producing JPEGs in camera. (ie the D3X's JPEGS are better than the 5D2's.) The 5D2's raw is similar to the D3X's JPEG. So if you want the fine detail from a 5D2, shoot RAW.

Doug

 

[Tim Seaver]

So if you want the fine detail from a 5D2, shoot RAW.

Hardly surprising. Ken has a strange obsession with JPG which has always puzzled me. But hey, if you have $8000 to spend on the Nikon so that you can shoot JPGS, all the power to ya!

I personally would prefer to use the $5400 difference on travelling expenses.

 

[DougPaul]

Hardly surprising. Ken has a strange obsession with JPG which has always puzzled me.

Yeah--I think he just wants to keep it simple and spend more time shooting and less in front of his computer (and he seems to have a new fascination with film, too). Whatever keeps you happy...

But hey, if you have $8000 to spend on the Nikon so that you can shoot JPGS, all the power to ya!

I personally would prefer to use the $5400 difference on travelling expenses.

Guess we will have to wait for someone to publish some raw-to-raw comparisons... Not that it really matters to me--I don't think I could justify the $2600 let alone $8000 at this point.

Doug

 

[darren]

That quick control screen looks awesome - especially if you are shooting on a tripod with a remote release. No more having to get up to look at the top of the camera to check settings. I'd really like to have that feature. Man, you guys are killing me. Unfortunately my new gear storage facility (garage-zilla) has emptied my bank account so it will be a while before I get a new camera.

- darren

 

[Billy]

For those who own a canon 5d mkii

The "Quick Control Screen" has become one of my favorite features for working with the camera under cold conditions, which really proved it's worth on a Presidential Traverse last Saturday. This screen allows you to see most of the important camera settings without having to look through the viewfinder or at the top LCD...

I was lucky enough to temporarily play with a 5D yesterday. After it was pulled from my greedy hands, I was left with two quesitons:

1) What's the difference between the "ON" position and the "/" postion (which is just barely visible in the bottom right of Tim's photo)? The manual said the "/" position allows one to use the big dial with the Quick Control Screen...but I was also able to do that with the camera in the regular "ON" position. So what specifically does the "/" position do that can't be done in the "ON" position?

2) When shooting video with this camera, how does it track focus? You can of course AF or manual focus on the subject before starting to video, but once the video begins, how is the focus maintained if the subject moves toward/away from the camera? Real video cameras track focus, how (if at all) does this one do it?

 

[DougPaul]

2) When shooting video with this camera, how does it track focus? You can of course AF or manual focus on the subject before starting to video, but once the video begins, how is the focus maintained if the subject moves toward/away from the camera? Real video cameras track focus, how (if at all) does this one do it?

There are two different kinds of through-the-lens autofocus systems used in digital cameras: phase detection and contrast measurement.
* Phase detection:
Phase detection requires special small sensors which cannot be located on the main imaging sensor--thus light only reaches these sensors when the viewing mirror is down. This technique is fast and accurate, but requires calibration. It is used in many DSLRs.
* Contrast measurement:
Contrast measurement uses the fact that the contrast (and the high frequency energy) in an image is greatest when it is in focus. The camera scans the focus until it finds the setting with the greatest contrast and it does not require calibration because it uses the main imaging sensor. It is generally slower (and cheaper) than phase detection and is used in many P&S cameras.

Since phase detection requires that the mirror be down (in viewing position) in a DSLR, it cannot be used while shooting movies. Contrast measurement, however, uses the main sensor and can be done at any time, including while shooting a movie.

I believe that the 5D Mk II uses phase detection and not contrast measurement and therefore cannot track focus while shooting a movie. A movie camera which uses contrast measurement would be able to track focus while shooting. (Some P&Ses which, in theory, could track focus while shooting a movie do not include the feature.)


If one used a fixed beam splitter rather than a movable mirror in a digital camera, it would be possible to use either focusing system. However, the beam splitter would always direct some light away from the main imaging sensor which would damage low-light performance.

See, for instance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autofocus

Doug

 

[MichaelJ]

Hah! As a 40D owner I can actually answer this one with no uncertainty.

This controls the interaction of two controllers on many Canon dSLR cameras: there is a dial with a button on the rear face, and there is a dial that's directly under your forefinger by the shutter button.

Now, you use either dial along with the various buttons on top to change drive mode, autofocus mode, ISO, etc… You can also use either the rear dial, forefinger dial, or joystick to navigate the on-LCD menus (though you can only format the card by using the rear dial's button, not the joystick button). None of that changes with On vs. _/.

What does change is shot control, i.e., what happens the rest of the time when composing a shot.

When in "on" the back dial does nothing. You can set shutter speed for Tv (shutter priority) & M (manual) modes, or aperture for Av (aperture priority) mode, with the forefinger dial. You cannot set aperture for M mode.

When in "_/" the back dial does aperture in M mode, and exposure compensation in Av, Tv, or P (program) mode.

In either setting, the forefinger dial allows selecting different equivalent exposure combinations of shutter and aperture in P mode.

There may be an obscure use I'm forgetting, but these are the most obvious. Some models of camera have instead of Off-On-_/ two different switches, one for power and one to lock the rear dial.

I've never had a need to lock out the rear dial; I generally just use _/ mode whether I'm shooting manually or not.