Canon 5D Mark II notes
by AFS on Dec.02, 2008, under cameras
I just got the Canon 5D Mark II, along with the 24-105 kit lens. Of course the look and feel of this camera is 99% the same as the Mark I.
However, the LCD is just silly good. Very bright, sharp, sharp. It really helps to see what is in focus at a glance.
Viewfinder: The 5D Mark II’s viewfinder is definitely larger and brighter, and more neutral. The mark I looks yellow/greenish in comparison.
AF is superb so far. Even with the 85mm 1.2 wide open, every image is sharp – indoors, outdoors, and with moving subjects. This is a stunt which even my 1Ds3 has a hard time pulling off. And the AF is working very accurately in the near dark.
The outer AF points are working very well at 1.2 too.
Upon plugging the camera in to the computer, the Direct Transfer window pops up on the LCD, and you can chose New Images and they start transferring to the computer. This is very slick, but it transferred a bunch of images which were already transferred yesterday as well as the new ones. Maybe I’ll have to resort to actually reading the manual 
AWB: the auto-white balance seems great too. I have shot in several weird colors of florescent and the shots look very nice. It’s hard to believe.
Overall sharpness of the files as seen in DPP is great, as expected. The camera tethered to DPP 3.5.1.0 with no problems.
Sound: About the same as the original 5D. It’s not louder or quieter, just different, IMO.
Worthy upgrade from Mark I? We’ll see…
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Here are 3 snaps shots – RAW. They are available for 7 days only.
*Please do not repost links to these RAW files anywhere else on the web.*
Feel free to post converted jpegs though.
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/630551722/f91e327524c717e3914e04efec79ed80
There will be more RAW files posted this afternoon.
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This is a sample image showing the Highlight Tone Priority feature…
5D2 with Highlight Tone Priority off and on.
It has been said that HTP causes noise problems, but I find this issue to be very minor. This is the shadow ares of the same file, with no N.R applied:
5D2 HTP shadows, no NR applied
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A couple samples, ISO 200, HTP enabled:
a few more images: first one daylight, the last two strobe
color test 1
color test 2
5D2, daylight portrait
AF worked very well for grab shots of birds
85mm 1.2 at 2.0
River in moonlight, 3200 ISO, 35mm lens.
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December 2nd, 2008 on 11:39 am
Sounds good, looking forward to your pics…Thanks Ron
December 2nd, 2008 on 11:41 am
So you know, these first few are just snap shots. I should have some photos of models up this afternoon.
December 2nd, 2008 on 4:46 pm
HTP on really kicks butt for the top of the radiator…wow.
thanks for posting!
December 4th, 2008 on 9:43 am
Hi Ron,
Thanks for your generosity. About the files: all I can say, the files are even more addictive than what came out of the original 5D. With the 5d I always lured for the clarity of the Kodak 14n files, but the 5DII even surpasses that. Quite an achievement. The pic with the policecar for example, it’s more than ever as if you are actually there in the scene, not only seeing it on the monitor screen. I guess Canon made the perfect camera. Any pro would be a fool not to use it.
Kind regards.
December 5th, 2008 on 5:29 pm
I agree, there is a great deal of clarity and abundant detail as long as the files are exposed correctly. This is really quite a deal for $2700.