Canon 5D mk II official owners/users thread, anything related to the 5D2

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All this talk about the D700.. I thought us 5D mk II owners needed to rise up and make our voices heard!! :D

OK its AF isn't the best out there, but we love it all the same for its gorgeous image quality and colours.. and it does video :p

A.
 
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but I do miss a built in flash though :love::)

Actually I like the fact that Canon didn't put a flash in. I've always thought they're a bit flimsy, although I must admit I've never used a SLR with a built-in flash.

Back in the 90's, Nikon didn't include flashes in their serious amateur/semi-pro SLR's.. times have changed I suppose!

A.
 
5dII is awesome hows about some tips ?

missing that third of a stop of flash sync from my 50d, means I use 1/160 in the studio or 1/200 with hotshoe flash :(
 
Got my mk 2 a few hrs ago to replace my out of action 5d's ....

sat watching the Olympics ...

Found this looking round , Links straight to the pdf manual .. It can take a minute for it to link in ..

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/lit_files/101.pdf

clients round later for portraits , so I'll have a proper play with it then ..

Rog (y)
 
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D700 doesn't do 21mp. Which gives you an 8mp crop format camera as well :)

What we really want is the 5D2's sensor in a 7D body. That would be special. I think it might be called the 5DMk3.

And Nikon don't do anything like the 24-105L all-in-one super-lens.
 
D700 doesn't do 21mp. Which gives you an 8mp crop format camera as well :)

What we really want is the 5D2's sensor in a 7D body. That would be special. I think it might be called the 5DMk3.

And Nikon don't do anything like the 24-105L all-in-one super-lens.

I am in the lucky position of having a 24 - 105L , + i am looking forward to using the 21mp with these

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

fingers crossed i don't blow this one up ... :LOL:
 
I must admit, coming from a 30D previously, the best thing I like about my 5D2 is the 24-105 I got with it! Brilliant lens.

I very nearly got a D700 as I thought the 21mp on the 5D2 would annoy me with it's mammoth RAW files, but now I've got it, I'm glad I did. The cropping power and detail resolution is incredibly useful :)
 
Had mine for a while and use it mostly with pre-existing 24-70 or nifty fifty.

The output is amazing - I know people say that it's the brains behind the camera that makes the shot, but it does so much to help - principally because of the quality of the varying ISO settings.

I deliberately didn't use a flash for many months when I first got it, in order to maximise its low light ability with fast glass. Now, a few months after getting myself a 430EX II, it's like playing with a brand new camera all over again!

Also, people say that the megapixels don't count. Well, for slight cropping purposes and maintaining the integrity of the shot when doing fancy editing, personally I think it makes a big difference, but hey ho, that's me!

5D Mk2 FTW :)
 
Had mine for over a year and it was slow to grow on me but I now love it.
I upgraded from a 20D and already had a 24-105 and 70-200 f4 IS - but have added a 24mm TS-E which is an amazing lens.
It's been a good year and my 5DII has allowed me to capture some amazing images which would not have been possible with the 20D.

Check out the comparison shots against the 7D in this review and you will feel much better that you made the right choice!
Poor bloke repeated the tests four times as he couldn't believe the results.
I've seen similar difference shooting waterfalls with 40D users; dramatically different amounts of texture in the whites despite using the same framing and exposure.

Been totally reliable apart from one glitch, it locked up and wouldn't even turn off. Battery out for a few mins sorted that out.
 
Crossed over from a Nikon APS system which I part exchanged for the 5DII kit. Pictures with the 24-105L are absolutly fantastic, having the extra megapixles is great for wildlife photography being able to crop and still retain great picture quality.

To take advantage of what the camera has to offer you really need good glass, which is expensive when looking at 'L' series lenses, but the images they produce are well worth the outlay.
 
Nice idea on tips sharing :)

I've not used mine nearly as much as I should have in the few weeks I've owned it. Thinking that I've got the still use fairly easily sussed I've been experimenting with the video.

So far I've bought a hotshoe microphone.... That means I can have IS on and not hear lots of whirring sounds on the video and the sound is stereo. Sound is now good enough. No plans on external audio recorder type things.

I've realised I need to understand the jpeg settings even though I only shoot raw. The jpeg settings and picture style apply to the video recording and the default settings have clipped blacks etc.

Video focus is by guesswork. You can start off with a focus lock on the subject but if it moves you have to manually refocus. There is a contrast based focussing you can use mid shoot but it is slow and unreliable.

My eyesight close up isn't good enough to focus by looking at the screen on the back. I have an old loupe type thing that was made to let you look closely at the screen on an old camera. Pressing it to the screen on the 5D2 gives me a camcorder eyepiece type view and makes manual focus a lot easier. just need to work out a clip on clip off mount now.

The prettiest video so far seems to be with my 50mm 1.4 not the 24-105.

Video processing is another major learning curve that I've not yet tackled properly. Making the camera mov files into a different format mov file does make them play nicer and is said to make editing easier. Something to do with converting it to all full frames instead of one key frame and a series of changes only frames as compressed by the camera. Could be talking nonsense here... as i said lots to learn :)
 
I have had mine for a couple of months now, and use it with the 24-70 which I deliberately chose in preference to the 24-105.

Really happy with it. Kept my 40D as a backup, but I haven't used it since I got the 5D.

And I haven't even looked at the possibility of shooting video with it yet.
 
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Check out the comparison shots against the 7D in this review and you will feel much better that you made the right choice!
Poor bloke repeated the tests four times as he couldn't believe the results.
I've seen similar difference shooting waterfalls with 40D users; dramatically different amounts of texture in the whites despite using the same framing and exposure.

A good review. :)
 
Nice idea on tips sharing :)

I've not used mine nearly as much as I should have in the few weeks I've owned it. Thinking that I've got the still use fairly easily sussed I've been experimenting with the video.

So far I've bought a hotshoe microphone.... That means I can have IS on and not hear lots of whirring sounds on the video and the sound is stereo. Sound is now good enough. No plans on external audio recorder type things.

I've realised I need to understand the jpeg settings even though I only shoot raw. The jpeg settings and picture style apply to the video recording and the default settings have clipped blacks etc.

Video focus is by guesswork. You can start off with a focus lock on the subject but if it moves you have to manually refocus. There is a contrast based focussing you can use mid shoot but it is slow and unreliable.

My eyesight close up isn't good enough to focus by looking at the screen on the back. I have an old loupe type thing that was made to let you look closely at the screen on an old camera. Pressing it to the screen on the 5D2 gives me a camcorder eyepiece type view and makes manual focus a lot easier. just need to work out a clip on clip off mount now.

The prettiest video so far seems to be with my 50mm 1.4 not the 24-105.

Video processing is another major learning curve that I've not yet tackled properly. Making the camera mov files into a different format mov file does make them play nicer and is said to make editing easier. Something to do with converting it to all full frames instead of one key frame and a series of changes only frames as compressed by the camera. Could be talking nonsense here... as i said lots to learn :)

I agree - using the 5d2 with 50mm 1.4 for video is great, much better than the 24-70 2.8L. I have just started using Pinnacle studio 14 for editing which seems to work fine with these huge MOV files.
 
This thread has been an interesting read. Just been offered the opportunity to buy a 5DmkII second hand. I have no other details yet...just waiting for the call or email with a price! No idea how much I should be spending or offering...as very few advertised anywhere. Will be back to ask your advise if that's ok - They also have a couple of lens and a set of Bowen studio lights for sale...could be just what I need...but depends on the price!
 
Crossed over from a Nikon APS system which I part exchanged for the 5DII kit. Pictures with the 24-105L are absolutly fantastic, having the extra megapixles is great for wildlife photography being able to crop and still retain great picture quality.

To take advantage of what the camera has to offer you really need good glass, which is expensive when looking at 'L' series lenses, but the images they produce are well worth the outlay.

Agree, the extra MP DO make a difference for the ability to crop, but also in retaining superb detail in images. :)
 
I am often surprised at what photography kit goes for on Fleabay. I am getting a 5DII soon but would not get one off ebay. I have had a quote from Kerso and am happy with that. I will follow the ebay one out of interest. My guess is 1350-1400!

Cheers,

Dunc
 
I came from a 20D to the 5dm2. Finding myself needing to up all my equipment- hard drives/pc, lenses etc
I went from a 350D to the 5D2. The only lens I continue to use from the 350D days is the 90mm Tamron macro lens, it still seems to produce great results even on the full frame body. I also had to upgrade my PC, editing the mighty RAW files in Photomatix and Photoshop took a painfully long time previously, much better on a Core i5 now :)

As others have said the ability to crop is one of the biggest wins with this camera. I've only really started to crop a lot more relatively recently, not sure why it's taken me so long.

I'd really like to purchase a few more lenses now to complete my Canon 50mm 1.4, 100-400, 24-105 and the Tamron. I'd like a 135mm f2 & 70-200 F4 IS and if money was no object, I'd also love to play with the 24mm TSE :)
 
What we really want is the 5D2's sensor in a 7D body. That would be special. I think it might be called the 5DMk3.

Completely agree, I'd buy one tomorrow if they brought out a MkIII. I'm still finding it hard to resist the MkII!
 
I am often surprised at what photography kit goes for on Fleabay. I am getting a 5DII soon but would not get one off ebay. I have had a quote from Kerso and am happy with that. I will follow the ebay one out of interest. My guess is 1350-1400!

Cheers,

Dunc

Bought for £1962.50 from the Canon Outlet, I have bought from the Canon Outlet (on the advice of a Canon employee) and would again.
 
I went 350D -> 40D -> 5D2. Absolutely love it and the 24-105.

Low light/high ISO capability constantly amazes me. AF has never been an issue.

I almost bought a 7D but for what I shoot I'm so glad I didn't. Not a bad camera by any stretch but the 5D2 is better for me.

The only downside is that the RAW file sizes can be monstrous which prompted a PC upgrade to cope with PP.
 
The only downside is that the RAW file sizes can be monstrous which prompted a PC upgrade to cope with PP.

I'm using Dell's bottom-of-the-range Inspiron laptop for processing my 5D2 RAW files - it's now around 18 months old. However I had it tricked out with 4gb RAM, and also downgraded it from Vista to XP.

I can process the RAW files in Photoshop CS4 absolutely fine without the hard disk thrashing - the only thing is processor-intensive operations like complex filters might take a few more seconds than on a top-of-the-line processor. But it's perfectly usable. Memory is the most important thing to have lots of.

A.
 
What's the score on spare batteries for the 5D2? Are there any third party ones about that also do the chip-trick?

What cards are you guys using?
 
Kingston Elite Pro 16 GB 133x is the way to go for cards with 5dmk2. Reasonably priced and work perfectly for stills and video

Don't bother with a spare battery as battery life on the 5dmk2 is so good

For advice on video check out: http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/category/filmmaking/page/4/

this blog contains all you really need to know about the editing side of things when it comes to video
 
Well I bought a canon spare battery, saved me a few times. At the time 3rd party batteries were just arriving and the price difference was small, so went for a Canon
 
I have a Canon spare battery, and use 8GB Kingston Elite Pro (the cheap ones ;)). I think the battery power could be better, although I have never been caught out due to carrying AAs.
 
I'm using Dell's bottom-of-the-range Inspiron laptop for processing my 5D2 RAW files - it's now around 18 months old. However I had it tricked out with 4gb RAM, and also downgraded it from Vista to XP.

I can process the RAW files in Photoshop CS4 absolutely fine without the hard disk thrashing - the only thing is processor-intensive operations like complex filters might take a few more seconds than on a top-of-the-line processor. But it's perfectly usable. Memory is the most important thing to have lots of.

A.

Be quiet, my wife might rumble that it was an excuse... ;)

Admittedly the i7 920 with 6GB of RAM may have been a slight overkill....*

*This has been entered for the understatement of the year award, 2010.
 
What's the score on spare batteries for the 5D2? Are there any third party ones about that also do the chip-trick?

What cards are you guys using?

I have several spare official Canon ones and use Extreme IV 8GB CF cards..

They've never let me down! :)
 
I use one of these - in the UK £7.99 including charger / car charger - works a treat. When used in the body theres no capacity shown on the display but when its in the grip works fine. As has been said the battery last for ages for for £7.99 you may as well have a spare even if you never use it !
 
Far as I know there are no 3rd party chipped batteries so I gave up and bought a Canon one. there is also a rumour going round that the camera records the use of non canon batteries for warranty purposes.

I took a chance on a Hama branded 16Gb CF from Mymemory. Supposedly 200x speed which is 30Mb/s Sandisk extreme III speed. From testing it, it is a slower than an ex3 for writing to the card (but fast enough for the 5D2) but is significantly faster than an ex3 for reading the files back off to a computer....... but only with a UDMA card reader. using my old card reader it is slower both ways.

So 5D2 tip... get a UDMA card reader (mines a Lexar that cost £20) as the read speed is way faster than Sandisk card readers.
 
I use one of these - in the UK £7.99 including charger / car charger - works a treat. When used in the body theres no capacity shown on the display but when its in the grip works fine. As has been said the battery last for ages for for £7.99 you may as well have a spare even if you never use it !

So do these display the power when inserted in the grip, as I keep my grip permanently attached? :)
 
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