danmitchell Offline Dedicated FM Upload & Sell: Off
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p.3 #19 · 5D Mark II in stock anywhere? | |
bobbytan wrote:
My thoughts exactly. There are all kinds of issues with the white dots, squeaky door, it's water-damage prone, and the camera cannot focus reliably enough to save its own life - and yet it seems that demand is far outstripping supply .... 4 months after it was first released .... and when the economy is at an all time low and most people think more than 12 megapixels is complete overkill. What's happening here?
What is happening here is forum spin.
There is no "white dot" problem. There was a very rare though confirmed "black dot" problem that has been resolved by the firmware update on currently shipping cameras.
The "prone to water damage" story goes back to one incident on an Antarctic expedition on which there were a number of failures of some of the very first 5D II cameras. It never did quite become clear what happened, and many report that their 5D Mark II bodies seem to work about the same as their 5D bodies in wet conditions. (I used mine to shoot three rainy days of a professional bicycle race without any hint of a problem.)
I have no idea where you come up with the "cannot focus reliably" business. Most 5D II users that I've heard from report pretty much the opposite - this camera is capable of producing some very excellent resolution.
For my part, I did not intend to upgrade to a 5D II - my plan was to continue using my fine 5D for another year or so. Circumstances intervened and it turned out that I ended up with a 5D II. I am typically pretty skeptical of the claims of "astonishing improvements" when a new camera is introduced. It is my experience that improvements are more often incremental and in many cases are not all that significant. So I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that I can see clear improvements in the quality of my prints at 12 x 18 size.
Finally, keep in mind a few typical forum "sports" that skew reports on equipment:
- People are far more likely to post about a perceived problem than they are to post that "everything works just like I thought it would." This leads to a misleading imbalance of negative reports.
- Quite a few of the negative reports are based on improper technique or (to be direct) ignorance. One of my favorite examples is the folks who post that "my 5D produces sharper 100% crops than my 5D II!" Well, duh. You are looking "more closely" at a smaller section of the image on the 21MP 100% crop.
- The world is full of skeptics. Heck, I introduce my own fair share of skepticism into the world every day! Some get some joy out of looking for conspiracy or incompetence "under every rock," and seem to turn every negative report and observation into a scandal.
I've used mine to shoot a variety of subjects: the above-mentioned sports, landscape and nature, people and events, night photography. The camera has performed as I expected it would and better.
Dan
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