I bought mine from Kenmore Camera after reading this thread. Bear in mind that I had already been on backorder with J&R for two weeks. I read this thread, called J&R to find out where in the stack I was. They told me I was 25th in line (after 2 weeks!!!) and no idea when my order would be filled. The telephone rep did place several calls to try to acertain when they could fill my order. Each time she called me back with no real information. So I called back to cancel my order. J&R offered to lower the price by like $40 or something pointless like that. After hanging up with them I called Kenmore and my order shipped that day! Thanks Kenmore! My package arrived here in Vacaville, CA on Thursday and the townsfolk rejoiced. Not to be too hateful... but if Kenmore can fill an order this easy... J&R can piss up a rope.
Sgt_Jamez wrote:
I bought mine from Kenmore Camera after reading this thread. Bear in mind that I had already been on backorder with J&R for two weeks. I read this thread, called J&R to find out where in the stack I was. They told me I was 25th in line (after 2 weeks!!!) and no idea when my order would be filled. The telephone rep did place several calls to try to acertain when they could fill my order. Each time she called me back with no real information. So I called back to cancel my order. J&R offered to lower the price by like $40 or something pointless like that. After hanging up with them I called Kenmore and my order shipped that day! Thanks Kenmore! My package arrived here in Vacaville, CA on Thursday and the townsfolk rejoiced. Not to be too hateful... but if Kenmore can fill an order this easy... J&R can piss up a rope.
Yeah the sales rep at Kenmore expressed the exact same sentiment. So I have a battery grip with only one battery... maybe that's why all my shots are tilted to one side??
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?
rsg_1 wrote:
Out of stock again at B&H. For a camera that's been so disparaged by many, its amazing to see it selling out at the major etailers.
I'm surprised nobody commented on the $2,300 price. Not that I have any affiliation with that fleabay seller or Live Cashback, but I'm tempted to give it a shot.
I was just hoping somebody else already had, and was going to post "it worked out fine for me", lol.
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?
I'm actually a bit surprised by this and its making me wonder. Obviously demand is outstripping supply but that doesn't necessarily mean demand is huge, it could be that supply is miniscule. Anyone have any numbers for how many bodies are actually getting sold? Any comparisons to the same time frame after the 5D release?
I wouldn't be surprised if it was selling at hotcakes, anyone who is happy with a 5D will probably be very happy with the 5D2. However something doesn't smell right here.
I agree, as a 1Ds2 owner if I didn't need a full-frame body with Liveview for alternate lens use I wouldn't even consider it. Someone I know has gone through two 5D2 bodies and he called them "garbage", but said the body might still be ideal for my particular need.
Aravind, are you insinuating that Canon is creating an artificial short supply ? Just kidding.... It seems the big stores didn't get enough supplies while tons of smaller stores get them more. Most peopole tend to go with the big stores first, such as B&H, Adorama, Amazaon, etc.
Drew_Persson wrote:
I'm surprised nobody commented on the $2,300 price. Not that I have any affiliation with that fleabay seller or Live Cashback, but I'm tempted to give it a shot.
I was just hoping somebody else already had, and was going to post "it worked out fine for me", lol.
$2300 for brand new 5D2?? Just don't be surprise if you receive a piece of brick or rock in the shipping box instead, and good luck trying to dispute any transaction with those vampire from paypal.
Yep, I received almost $1,000 total from five Cashback rebates so far. There's a $200 rebate limit per fleabay transaction, so the current 9% is more than enough for a 5D2 body. (Several of my cashback rebates last fall were 30%, which was awesome for $700-ish items.) Just comes down to finding a legit fleabay seller offering "buy it now".
This "someone that you know" obviously has a very low opinion of the 5D2 .... but still think this "garbage" might be good enough for you I hope he's not a friend of yours!
Drew_Persson wrote:
I agree, as a 1Ds2 owner if I didn't need a full-frame body with Liveview for alternate lens use I wouldn't even consider it. Someone I know has gone through two 5D2 bodies and he called them "garbage", but said the body might still be ideal for my particular need.
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.
bobbytan wrote:
This "someone that you know" obviously has a very low opinion of the 5D2 .... but still think this "garbage" might be good enough for you I hope he's not a friend of yours!
All I need is a full-frame sensor with Liveview and a Canon mount, for any other use I have the 1Ds2. Don't need high ISO, don't need AF, etc. As long as the body doesn't exhibit the mysterious 5D2 Liveview vignetting issue, it should fit the bill. So my needs are few.
I hope he's not a friend of yours!