5D II, hit or miss?

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Archive 2008 · 5D II, hit or miss?

Adam L
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p.10 #1 · 5D II, hit or miss?

Tim Speciale wrote:
amoergosum wrote:
timnosenzo wrote:
Adam L wrote:
Good luck to all the 17-40 owners.. you're gonna have to upgrade your lens as well.

How do you mean?

Because apparently once sensors start out resolving lenses, the quality of images from those lenses magically drops below it was before. The FM logic seems to be that if you have a bad lens on a good sensor you get a bad image. but if you have a bad lens on a bad sensor you get a good image somehow. It's ok, i don't exactly get it either.

Not at all. It's common sense isn't it?
You have a lens that can resolve 16mp max (let's just say). You mate it to a sensor with 21mp. Doesn't that tell you the lens won't be able to resolve the entire sensor?
It's not magic, and I'm not just making anything up. I know a couple of landscape photogs who have noticed the drop in IQ using the 17-40 on a 1Ds III, and upgraded to the 16-35 II to combat this.
Remember, the 16-35 II was DESIGNED with high resolution sensors in mind. Canon know this is an issue. If they do, surely I'm not making this up...

Sep 19, 2008 at 04:35 PM

LewB
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p.10 #2 · 5D II, hit or miss?

I want a full frame compact camera, and I'm invested in the system so it's this or an original version of the 5D. For me, at least the minimum of weather sealing and dust reduction are the key new features. The 21 MP/1080 resolution are icing, hopefully well delivered. 12.8 meets my needs as it is. 3.9 FPS is fast enough for me. More critical to my needs is that the camera be fast in responding to my own inputs.

I don't think I'll find the movie mode that important, but it's good to have, I guess. I'd just as soon not lug around any added complexity (or weight) for the audio support. I wouldn't want to lug a 1D around even if I got it for free given my needs, but the notion of great IQ (hopefully) coupled with good build will seal the deal assuming they deliver on that. Otherwise, I'll be bottom fishing for an old version 5D. I expect the new camera will be well received, and I think the price is competitive and reasonable given the alternatives on the market.

Sep 19, 2008 at 04:57 PM

Desmo
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p.10 #3 · 5D II, hit or miss?

prof_fate wrote:
Yohan Pamudji wrote:
Same. Exact. AF. They didn't bother to even make the outer AF points cross-type. Wha, wha, whaaaat

all points are cross type like the 40D, with the center 'additionally sensitive with 2.8 or better lenses' - meaning X and + like the 40D.

From the 5DII website: "Nine AF points — eight horizontal-line sensitive at f/5.6 and one cross-type, vertical-line sensitive at f/2.8 — combine with six invisible Assist AF points to provide speedy and precise focusing of even fast moving subjects."

Only the center AF sensor is cross-type.... same old AF....

Sep 21, 2008 at 01:35 PM

michael49
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p.10 #4 · 5D II, hit or miss?

rhorta wrote:
.It is a shame that Canon failed to significantly improve / change the AF system (especially the number of AF points and their spacing).

This is the one thing that really dissapoints me about the 5DII.

The "centrally focused" AF points of the 5D makes using AF at the edge of the frame very difficult (which I do frequently), especially with fast lenses where focus-recompose just doesn't work.

Even stills like this can be challenging with the lack of AF points closer to the edge of the frame....

This image is copyrighted by the owner

A few AF points at the edge of the frame would have made much happier. Seems like this should have been a given with the 5DII.

Am I the only one who cares about this? Perhaps I'm the only one who commonly puts their focus point at the edge of the frame and doesn't rely on MF.

One thing I don't understand though - will Digic IV have any impact on AF performance?

Sep 21, 2008 at 01:56 PM

gabimaster
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p.10 #5 · 5D II, hit or miss?

all the sites and the "CANON-people"confirms that all AF points are "cross-type" at apertures "f/5.6 and faster" and the center AF point gets even more precise at apertures f/2.8 and faster.SO THE ALL 9 POINTS ARE CROSS TYPE!!!!!!!!

Sep 21, 2008 at 07:18 PM

lexvo
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p.10 #6 · 5D II, hit or miss?

There's a Canon alternative for those who want less than 21MP and great AF: get a secondhand 1DsII

(the only drawback is you don't have a small body).

Sep 21, 2008 at 07:27 PM

gabimaster
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p.10 #7 · 5D II, hit or miss?

I saw 40 seconds ago the 5DII's web site and indeed is writen there that 8 of the AF points are horizontal senzitive at f/5.6 and smaller(this means that at apertures 5.6 and wider,until 2.8 these 8 points are becoming or are acting like "cross-type"points

??) and 1 is a "cross-type" at all apertures until 2.8 when becomes a vertical senzitive point

THAT'S NOT WHAT I READ BEFORE IN ALL STATEMENTS made by "Canon people".

Sep 21, 2008 at 07:35 PM

Steve Spencer
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p.10 #8 · 5D II, hit or miss?

No, you are confused. The center point is a cross point and has extra sensitivity at apertures of 2.8 and wider. The other 8 points are not cross point and function on lenses 5.6 and wider. Here is a cut and paste from the Canon website:

9 AF Points (1 Cross Type) + 6 AF Assist Points

Sep 21, 2008 at 07:45 PM

gabimaster
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p.10 #9 · 5D II, hit or miss?

Yes,you're right ,STEVE SPENCER, just checked now,only 40D and 50D are the only 2 models from all models that are using the "9 points AF sistem" that it has all 9 points being "cross-type" points. ONLY 40D and 50D,but I don't understand why they didn't put the same AF sistem in the 5DII? Maybe they think that the 5DII owners don't need some extra-precision!!!!!!!!!

Sep 21, 2008 at 08:09 PM

michael49
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p.10 #10 · 5D II, hit or miss?

gabimaster wrote:
Yes,you're right ,STEVE SPENCER, just checked now,only 40D and 50D are the only 2 models from all models that are using the "9 points AF sistem" that it has all 9 points being "cross-type" points. ONLY 40D and 50D,but I don't understand why they didn't put the same AF sistem in the 5DII? Maybe they think that the 5DII owners don't need some extra-precision!!!!!!!!!

This was quite silly of Canon, IMO. I just don't understand their thinking here.

Sep 21, 2008 at 09:03 PM

Jonathan Knight
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p.10 #11 · 5D II, hit or miss?

http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/

According to one of the most respected journalists in the country, this camera will change everything.

"It has the potential to change our industry." - Vincent Laforet

I'll take his word over you guys', no offense.

Sep 21, 2008 at 09:18 PM

gabimaster
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p.10 #12 · 5D II, hit or miss?

The difference between D700 and 5DII is only 250$; indeed,the IQ is in favor of CANON (by a little,not more),but in all other aspects,D700 offer some more(especialy THE AF sistem).The only thing that stops me from changing the brand is that I shoot mostly(95%) of the time in JPEG,and Jpegs taken with NIKON cameras are terribly soft;2.even if Nikon pushed very high the ISO values,the EXPEED processor is washing so hard the images that it become some pictures with terrible lack of detail(it's more important to make a sensor that produce pictures with very low noise than to "extract" it after with the processor-like NIKON does).But I'm very tempted to switch the brand if Nikon will improve their sensor quality(I mean Sony).

Sep 21, 2008 at 09:35 PM

gabimaster
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p.10 #13 · 5D II, hit or miss?

I have no doubts ,Jonathan,that 5DII is an EXTREMELY CAPABLE DSLR in the IQ side,but for a photographer need a good AF sistem(which 5DII has for non-moving subjects or slow moving subjects) for fast moving subjects tracking.

Sep 21, 2008 at 09:45 PM

Jeff
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p.10 #14 · 5D II, hit or miss?

cineski wrote:
All this talk of cropping ability......whatever happened to people getting it right in camera? Even kinda getting it right in camera only takes minor cropping.

You've touched on the exact reason why they are moving toward video in still cameras: Amateurs using the shotgun approach will have a better chance of getting that 'one-in-a-million' image! Set the camera to AF and auto-bracketing, quickly spray the whole field of view in front of you, cherry-pick the keepers, crop a little and you're good to go...

Sep 22, 2008 at 01:12 AM

rceres
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p.10 #15 · 5D II, hit or miss?

The new IQ value king

Sep 22, 2008 at 01:43 AM

Jeff
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p.10 #16 · 5D II, hit or miss?

Jonathan Knight wrote:
http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/

According to one of the most respected journalists in the country, this camera will change everything.

"It has the potential to change our industry." - Vincent Laforet

I'll take his word over you guys', no offense.

My main question with how impressed VF is with the video capture is this: What happens when the sensor heats up? I'd guess that the image is degraded, just like using Live View at high ISO on my MkIII. After a few minutes of constant use, the image starts to dim (in non-changing light), and noise increases significantly. I have a hard time believing they've somehow solved this problem completely, unless the sensor is somehow optimized specifically for video.

Laforet simply acts like someone dicovering video for the first time (albeit high-quality, 1080p video). It may change the way he works, but I'm not sure how it's going to change the industry regarding high-resolution photography. I agree that for photojournalists who don't print large, it could be a very important thing. Not for me, though, video is very difficult and time consuming, and I suck at it!

Sep 22, 2008 at 01:49 AM

simonella_viru
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p.10 #17 · 5D II, hit or miss?

Sep 22, 2008 at 01:53 AM

citro
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p.10 #18 · 5D II, hit or miss?

Cowardly point of view: I think a honest answer to "Is 5D II a body worth it's price?" is thinking about this: what was the price of 5D at the time of its release and what are the pluses (tech wise) the MK2 brings. Compare this with the evolution of other Canon bodies: 30D - 40D - 50D, 1D(s) MK2 - 1D(s) MK3.

This mostly translate to: wait untill some early adopters try and review some real world products

Sep 22, 2008 at 12:55 PM


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