Canon 5D mkII AF performance???

redmonkee

redmonkee

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PHILIP
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Hi guys i'm really considering getting one of these beauties having sold one of my 1DmkIII bodies.

But the thing holding me back are the negative reviews of the camera's AF performance. Now I don't need it to shoot sports or anything as my other 1D mkIII will be for those situations.

But is the 5DmkII really that bad with the outer AF points? I'll be using it mainly for landscapes and portraits (portraits being with the 85mm 1.8 for shallow DOF so really would like to be able to use the outer points as opposed to centre point and recompose method)

Any comments greatly appreciated and if you have any images showing AF performance that'd be great :thumbs:
 
The main problem I've found with the outer points is that they are not cross type and depending upon the orientation of your area of contrast on the subject they can literally fail to see anything at all to focus on. A good example is the mortar between bricks. You'd think the contrast there would be perfect for AF, but some of the points can't see vertical mortar joints and other can't see horizontal ones. When you re-orient the camera of course all these handicaps swap round. That means you might have to move around the subject to pick up on something which the camera can see. Often that's not a problem, especially if you don't need instant spontaneous performance. Sometimes it might be.

Another concern is the placement of the outer points. They really are rather close to the centre of the frame and you may well still find the need for focus/recompose even when doing your best to pick the most suitable AF point.

If it's any consolation the centre AF point performance is very good, and for those shooting action the invisible assist points can be a very handy additional feature (over xxD bodies).

Having said all that, in practice I have only once found myself let down completely by an outer point when trying to shoot a real life subject - that did require me to pick an alternative location upon which to focus - and apart from that only when AF testing with a brick wall as a target when the limitations of the linear AF sensors made themselves plainly evident..
 
I part-exed my 7D for a 5D MKII for the IQ and have been amazed. No problem with AF. I have to work with the camera but I didn't want a quick snapper and normally for this it's the centre point I go for anyway.

Any (very occasional) issues with AF I just switch to MF or focus on centre and recompose. Or because the IQ is so fantastic I can crop to my hearts content later on.
 
I've never had a problem focussing for landscapes.
Portrait / Concert photography I've always used the centre point and recomposed; means I don't have to keep juggling focus points switching orientation or worry about the outer points being not quite where I want the subjects eyes.
 
I've experienced focusing issues during weddings first dance, where I've opted to not use a flash, relying on high ISO and wide aperature lenses, only for it to fail to focus when using outer AF points (centre again was fine) - but really does effect when using shallow depth of field - focusing using centre point, and then recomposing, means that the focal point can swing out of depth of field.
 
The centre point is fine, the outers can be next to useless in low light where there's not much contrast. At least that's on my 5D I.

Is there any difference at all between the 5D I and the 5D II AF? I think I read they were the same?
 
Truth is, a great deal of people who talk about how hopeless the AF on a 5DII is have never used one, they're regurgitating what they've read on the internet.

I used mine shooting downhill mountain biking - dingy forests, very fast and erratic movement, and it still outperformed me. If it can do extreme sports, it can do landscapes and portraits :D

As has been mentioned about, the AF points are pretty close to the centre of the frame which may hinder you, depending on your shooting style. I never found it too much of an issue though.
 
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