Canon EOS 5D Mark II January 12th, 2009 | by David Elrich
Full Review
Features and Design What’s in the Box Canon EOS 5D Mark II
The Canon EOS 5D Mark II is a hefty D-SLR and it’s easy to tell—and feel—this camera uses a lot of metal alloy in its frame. Similar in size to the older 5D, the camera is in a different league in terms of weight and build when compared to Canon’s more affordable Rebel XS and XSi. This one measures 6 x 4.5 x 3, tipping the scales at 32.2 ounces with the battery and card; add a lens like the 24-105mm IS available in a kit and it hits 55.4, close to 3.5 pounds. Serious stuff.
The 5D is dressed in black like almost every D-SLR (other than Pentax’s new white K2000). A textured finish touches most of the surface, giving it an attractive, subtle look. The front is dominated by the lens mount, and this one uses EF glass, so there are loads to choose from. Since this is a full-frame D-SLR, meaning the sensor is close to the size of a 35mm film frame, there’s no digital factor (or crop) so the focal length of the lens you attach is what you’ll actually get. This is very important for anyone who uses wide-angle lenses. The $999 24-105mm edition Canon supplied delivers the numbers stated—not 36-157.5mm. As devotees of wide-angle shooting, this is a true blessing.
On the front, you’ll also find the lens release and depth-of-field preview buttons, self-timer lamp and remote control sensor. There’s a DC coupler cord hole in the grip, in case you buy that accessory. The most unusual item is the microphone, neatly tucked under the 5D logo for recording video soundtracks. It’s mono, not stereo, immediately pointing out the difference between the memory capturing capability of this device as compared to any high-def camcorder which has a stereo or 5.1-channel surround mic. We didn’t expect perfection on the first round, but definitely make note. If you want to go through the hassle, there’s a mic input so you use an optional stereo mic, but expect your rig to look like something carried by a SWAT team sniper. There are a few judicious logos with nothing blaring “this is a 21.1MP camera”. The pistol grip is a good one, and it has the shutter button and jog wheel to make menu adjustments. As always, you should definitely do your own hands-on test—especially if you’re thinking of dropping $3K for a camera.
The top is nicely laid out with a large LCD status display, key image controls, the viewfinder assembly and limited function mode dial. Like other uber D-SLRs such as the recently reviewed Sony A900, there is no pop-up flash, just a hot shoe atop the viewfinder. This is an accessory you’ll have to buy, unless you only shoot in available light. Since this is highly unlikely, figure on spending around $250 for a decent Canon Speedlite 430EX II. The status display is a good one, and you can quickly see your settings; a nearby button lights it up when you’re shooting in the dark. Three buttons give access to metering/white balance, AF/drive and ISO/flash compensation. By either turning the jog wheel on the grip or the larger control dial on the back, you can easily make adjustments. The options here are pretty standard, other than ISO which hits an amazing 25,600 with a basic range of 100-6400. The mode dial is fairly limited—no scene modes such as portrait, landscape and so on. There is creative auto (CA) also found on the EOS 50D, which tells you how to blur the background (change the aperture) or darken or lighten a shot (exposure compensation). One would think the buyer of this camera would know such things but who knows? Beyond this are full auto, aperture- and shutter-priority, full manual, bulb and three custom settings.
The rear real estate is huge, and the 3-inch LCD screen doesn’t overwhelm it in any way. The screen is rated 920K pixels, about the best in D-SLR land these days. The viewfinder is surrounded by a rubber eyecup and diopter control. The viewfinder has 98% coverage, which is good but not nearly as fine or as bright as the 100% of the A900. Surrounding the LCD are the usual buttons you’ll find on any D-SLR—menu, playback, delete and so on. There’s also one for picture styles to adjust the feel and tone of the image. To the left of the viewfinder is the Live View key (more on this in the Performance section). To the right is a 4-pinhole speaker, a multi controller joystick, and the large control dial with center set button. There are also AF-ON, AE Lock, AF point selection and power on/off keys. There’s a lot to absorb but the owner’s manual does a good job walking you through them. And if you’re really into the technology of the 5D, Canon has a white paper to check out.
Two rather flimsy rubber doors on the left side cover the various ports and connections, including HDMI, PC and remote control terminals. On the right side is the CompactFlash card slot. Since this camera is UDMA compliant, you should definitely purchase a 4GB or greater card of this type. On the bottom is the tripod mount, and battery compartment.
Nothing unusual here. You’ll get the camera body, battery and charger with various caps, a strap, USB and A/V cables along with a pocket guide and 228-page owner’s manual. The EOS Digital Camera Solutions Disk (ver. 19.1) has ZoomBrowser EX 6.2, Digital Photo Professional 3.5, Picture Style Editor 1.4, PhotoStitch 3.1, EOS Utility 2.5 and WFT Utility 3.3 for the PC and similar software for the Mac. These help you manage and edit your images and “develop” RAW files, handle wireless transmissions, and control the camera remotely. A software instruction manual is on another CD-ROM.
Once the battery and card were loaded, it was time to shoot some stills and HD video.
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