5D MKII Review

I just picked up a 5D MKII last week, and I thought I'd take a minute and write down a few snippits of what I like about the 5D, and what I don't like about it. I bought this camera to primarily serve as a backup camera and to make use of the video aspect. The 1Ds MKIII will still be my primary camera. I'm reviewing this c amera in the respect that I would normally go out and shoot. So my review won't be too techy.

So what DO I like about it?
•The color and image quality are great, and as good or better as my 1Ds MKIII. I think there's a little more range, but the images look great.
•The screen is huge and crystal clear. Images look beautiful on it!
•The GUI has a little bit better graphics
•The video straight out of the camera is pretty amazing. Still learning how to maniuplate it. (Laforet has some great posts on this) it's pretty spectacular.
•the ISO in the normal range reaches 6400 and can be expanded to 25,600
•3 sizes of RAW files-Great if you're shooting things that don't need to be at the 21mp size

What DON'T I like about it?
•The focus compared to the 1D/1Ds series cameras sucks. The focus points are really small so it makes it harder to focus. If you've got an 20/30/40/50D or old 5D camera, you probably won't really notice a difference. I think this is where the price point comes in and you jump to the higher end Pro cameras.
•To open the 5DMKII files in Capture One you have to have the newest version which is only supported by Mac OSX leopord.
•The body feels light. Compared to the 1DsMKIII, it feels like a toy. Feels weird to grip, but I will have to get a battery grip to balance this out. (this doesn't really matter though)
•Shutter sound is not as beefy.

Overall, the 5D MKII is a steal. To get into a full frame great camera for $2700 is dirt cheap! Basically disposible.

Here's a couple recent shots:

 

Comments

[craig]

I only had mine a week, just got out monday to the motocross track for a few snaps, focus blows (just like my old 5d)...no comparison to my 1ds2 for focus, but the files are quite nice, hi-iso is quite nice and build quality is nicer than old 5d.
Still will not rely on the 5d2 for the money shots.
Here is a link to my few test shots at moto with it
http://craigglaspell.com/5d2test/

Thanks for your review.

Nick-delete post if you don't want links away from here, apologize in advance.

[Bruno Senna]

i'm dying to go full frame!!!!

[aaron lam]

Haha... I certainly wouldn't call $2700 disposable. Thanks for the mini-review... you answered my own question: AF speed.

[Bill Basket]

So what is the fate of your trusty old 1ds mll?

[Asics Onitsuka Tiger]

mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I'm more of a visual learner,I found that to be more helpful.

[Ken Griffey Max Fury 2012]

Life such as sea, tolerance for the boat, boating on the sea, we know the sea wide; life as a mountain, tolerance for the tracks, follow tracks climbing, we know the mountain's tall; life Cantabile, tolerance is the song, and music and song, we know the song the sounds.