photogenix
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 p.117 #5 · Canon 5D Mark II master thread | |
Well I've just come back from the 5D Mk II launch in Melbourne, Australia (at Michael's Camera and Video on Elizabeth St) and there were some Canon reps there. They had the only two bodies (cameras, not reps!) which are in Australia at the moment (and one is staying there until the end of the month). Note that, of course, they were pre-production models.
They haven't had the camera for long so some information was scant and some actually possibly incorrect. For example, the presentation said "21.1 Megapixels. What does this mean?" and the first dot point said "More colours" (WTF?). I guess details will be refined as they come out of the wash.
Comments and observations :
* The back LCD (on manual brightness) has plenty of brightness headroom. The gig started at 7pm so daylight wasn't an option but the auto brightness is a nice touch.
* The top LCD has more info and is slightly (nicely) wider, and the illumination button has joined its 3 brothers rather than on the side. I guess they had to do that to fit a bigger top LCD. The backlight doesn't seem as bright (shouldn't be an issue, maybe even an advantage) and the readout is a little finer, more delicate, I think I prefer the bolder numbers on the Mark I for my eyesight.
* The power switch is stiffer, narrower, and generally more tactile
* They didn't have a grip so I can't comment on that. I wish they did. I didn't realise how much I liked my 10D's grip until I got one for my 5D. I really dislike the latter, my finger joints don't match its folds and it's the Volvo of grips (ie: boxy).
* I saw some HDMI output on a 40" Sony XBR LCD (I own a 46" and so I'm familiar with the device), including output while it was in LiveView mode (not a serious demonstration but it popped up for a tick).
* Video specs still say 30p but the desire for 25p (especially where artificial light sources use 50Hz power) has been noted. Having said that, sample video taken there under half-lit domestic halogen lights showed no noticeable flicker on playback. How it would handle fluorescents (which can change their colour through an AC power cycle) is at this point anyone's guess.
* Minimum spec for video is a Class 4 UDMA card. Personally I reckon if you're gonna get this baby, you'd treat yourself to a nice sized UDMA card anyway (and the CF interface seems to make good use of it, buffer clears heaps faster and therefore gives much longer bursts)
* USB2 speed, for those who use it, is supposed to be 50% faster than the Mark I. In my opinion, I'll still prefer a $10 card reader, thanks.
* Noise reduction is claimed to be 30% better than the Mark I. Not sure what method was used to quantify that. Normally I prefer to deal with noise as both chroma and luma separately, but chroma noise characteristics on both Mark 5's seem pretty well tamed to begin with.
* The break in video when a still is taken, often quoted as 1 second, is in fact 0.44 seconds. I guess this feature will polarise a few people (personally I'd rather it didn't interrupt video).
* No official news on more IS lenses, which will be a must for those keen to try video without shake. I'm thinking of buying some Manfrotto shares 
* AU pricing will not be announced until ~ Novemeber 1st and first shipment they are still saying will be late November (hopefully in time for my new baby!). No October 18 dates or similar here. Seems they are waiting for currency fluctuations to settle a bit more. "Indicative pricing" is vaguely pitched at the AU$4299 mark but it sounds like they are far from comitting to a price with current volatilities. It did sound more certain however that only one shipment will occur in 2008, matching what many US (etc) dealers are saying.
* Apparently it is not quite the same AF module as the 5D Mk I. Apparently not just the centre AF point is cross-type, but also the one above and the one below it? This is not what I've read elsewhere, so who knows. Also apparently the AF module has something to detect the direction of light to assist with contrast AF. Both these changes sound a bit funny to me, so don't expect many AF changes until it starts to flow through more official channels.
* It is anticipated that eventually 3rd party batteries will come out on the market, but to have the extra functionality from the embedded chip in them (for battery condition, serial number etc), it is expected that will be in the Canon-only domain.
* The presentation said that ISO 50 is available for the least possible noise. This is interesting because, as I understand it, with the Mark I, the ISO 50 is actually a software kludge that actually reduced dynamic range as a side-effect and I have read that its most optimal ISO is 200 (perhaps 125 but not 100). So not sure if this is uninformed marketing spin at this point.
Yes, I got to hold one, and with a 200f2 lens which to be honest left me with a bigger impression, but that is no reflection on the body!
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