Do you miss the pre 5D Mark II days ?

[Brad_]

The video possibilities sound pretty neat to me for street photography stuff. Maybe not used in the manner one would

shoot regular videos, but making clips that can be edited, morphed, and repurposed into other things for presentations. I'm

jazzed...

[chrissyone]

<A HREF="http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/2008/09/22/without-further-ado-reverie/">The final versdion of the video is live. I

suggest look.</A>

<p>

[roamingstudio]

Video... bah who needs it? The professional wedding photographer who can capture the look in peoples eyes as they exchange the rings?

 

The nature photographer catching a bird / animal during feeding?

 

Dont think of it as a 'video camera' - think of it as a 'camera which allows video'.

 

However I have no idea why we would need improved weather proofing and sensor cleaning. The daily pleasure taken in locking up the mirror; the tension of applying the fluids and swabs; the smell of fluids, the sweat of making sure you dont scratch the glass. That is what taking photos should be about. Why can we not even use flash bulbs?

[guy_howard]

Agree on the video. Almost in insult to a landscape guy, which is the market that many assume the 5D is aimed at. I think it should have been put in the 50D, and it's only software, since 50D and 5Dmkii share processors.

 

Where is the viewfinder shutter? This is a $2600 camera guys. It's price puts it in the league of the D700. Did I ask for a viewfinder shutter? I can understand not including one in a $1-1.5k camera, but come on guys.

[guy_howard]

A more serious discussion of the video feature: if my $2600 could get me everything I or anyone ever dreamed of in a still camera, then throwing in a feature like HD video couldn't possibly be an issue. I could simply ignore it if I didn't want to use it, and the rest of the camera does everything a still camera should.

 

Unfortunately, the 5D mkii has some omissions relative to its still camera role, omissions consciously carried out by Canon. This is why the video feature bothers me, as I see it as causing Canon to not include a viewfinder shutter. This kind of decision making is called 'lack of focus', and is quite disturbing to me.

[guy_howard]

On in-body stabilization: if I had to choose between lower noise sensor and in-body stabilization, I would choose the former. A low noise sensor gets me the 2-3 stops that stabilzation gets me anyway, and I get the advantage on the other end in image quality for shots that don't require shutter speed.

 

And yes, I have to choose.

[guy_howard]

On mirror lockup: I just confirmed that my user menu has an entry in it called 'Mirror lockup'. 2 button presses instead of 1. This is an issue?

[stephen_delear]

Why yes, it means you lack the joy of locking the mirror up on accident at a critical time. I wonder which sports league will be first to ban still cameras that also shoot digital for violating their TV contracts. Then again the NFL is already grumping about making still photographers pay for rights.

[scott_ferris]

Guy, and all you other doubters, get a grip, oh and a separate viewfinder shutter!

 

The only thing limiting 99.9999% of photographers now is their imagination and the inclination to work around

any, perceived, short comings in gear, few of us truly test the limits of the 5D, even fewer will find ourselves

limited by the 5D MkII. It does have countless features that various people won't need or use but most of them

will be used by somebody. The gear now is so much better than we are!

 

You might not like Vincent Lafoet's film or ever use the film function, but, when he got to play with a new

camera with new features what did he do, he took DSLR camera use to a new level and in a completely different

direction! Do you think he bitched about not having a lever that he could work around with a $1 piece of plastic,

no he took what he was given and ran with it.

[guy_howard]

The subject of the orginal question is 'going to gripe'. If that $1 piece of plastic would stay with the camera, and was

as easy to apply as pushing a lever, I wouldn't have a problem. The D700 has that shutter for a reason. The 5D

does not, and I assume the reason it didn't get in on the mk ii is that Canon opted for HD movies! I'm not knocking

the 5D mk ii, which looks like a great camera. I'm knocking Canon for choosing features that are not still camera

features over those that are.

[scott_ferris]

Guy the $1 piece of plastic sits in the hot shoe, a mere 1 inch away, it isn't that difficult to use either! If

you need a Canon with a shutter get a 1 series, a secondhand 1DS MkII for less than $3,000 and low actuations are

very common. My point was, justifiable grips are pretty hard to do now, and, almost every one of the "problems"

with 50D, 5D MkII, 1D MkIII and 1DS MkIII really are a reflection on the user and not the gear. I used to shoot

sports with manual focus gear at max 5fps, at the time it was the best available, lots of stunning images were

taken by that equipment (not, in general, by me though!). It really seems to me, reading through some of the

forum threads, that lots of "photographers" have lost touch with picture making and taking.

 

I have a 300 f2.8 IS, there are several features on it that I just don't use, for goodness sake there are 4

programmable buttons on it! I used them to see if they work and if I found them useful but have never used them

since. Many people do use them though. I have a 1D, it can take amazing pictures, yep 4MP, I used to show the

shots to magazine people here and they used to laugh when I said it was a 4MP image, they said they couldn't use

them, well now, 3 years later, they understand that the images are 100% usable. Hell I have known covers shot

with P&S cameras.

 

So now we have reached basically the optimal MP resolution for 24x36 sensors lets look inside ourselves to see

where the real "problems" in our gear are. I know where mine are.

[anthony_thornborough1]

Regarding 35mm film, the smell of it and the contemplation of results, good or bad, which will be sorely missed and

is made a thing of the past by such wonders as the 5DII.

 

Re: DSLR, not much; except that the 40D's 1.6x somewhat retrograded my w/a photopgraphy back to 1986 and the

FF 5DII will restore the halcyon days of EOS in the 1990s - yes please!

 

Now what to do with the Mamiya 645 stuff?! On a glass shelf to remind myself daily of past but joyful youthful folly?!

 

The price/quality intersection has finally arrived at the right price-point (whatever that was ever supposed to mean

back in the days of pre-prosumer photopgraphy)

[marknagel]

Canon built in moves for their next several cameras. Why put in all the features you want now, when they can lure you into buying them in next three models. Sucks, but its the way it is. I hope its not replaced in a few months like the 30D, 40D, 50D releases.

 

M

[guy_howard]

"Guy the $1 piece of plastic sits in the hot shoe, a mere 1 inch away, it isn't that difficult to use either! "

 

Scott - great idea, tho not sure what to do with it when the flash is in the hot shoe? I'm going to try attaching it to the camera body somehow. Darn - wish I had a shutter. I know I'm in the minority, as the Canon design really does favor the action shooter, but that sensor really gets me every time, and the new one looks very good.

[juan_ferro]

What I really miss in this new "video camera" is the information about HOW MANY AEB SHOTS can do EOS 5D MkII.

I shall appreciate any answer on this point, as I could not find any on Canon’s literature. I suppose that the meaning

of the lack of information on this subject is nothing that Canon has not improved the previous model.

Thanks in advance

[aimzoom]

Am I missing something? My 5Ds came with an eyepiece cover that slips onto the neckstrap (and yes, can be transferred to a better aftermarket neckstrap). I rarely use it because I shoot weddings, but if you need it, it's there. And while I recognize that shooting for HDR images you might want more than 3 AEB shots, be creative: dial it down a stop, take those three, dial it up two stops, take those three, voila! six exposures covering 6 stops.

 

I'll admit that I'm not going to rush out and get one of the first Mark II's because I'm happy with what I have and I'll wait for the initial furor to die down and the price to nudge down a bit. OTOH, it looks like I'll have no reason to hang onto my video gear, so maybe I'll sell it off and but one or two Mark IIs...

[scott_ferris]

Wow Brent, there can't be two of with some common sense can there :-)

[sarah_fox]

I know that since getting my 5D, my computer gets freaked out by the 12MP images, at least once I've got a half dozen images with a half dozen layers going. Did I mention that it's a sloooooow process editing those images? I think the 5DII would require me to upgrade to a new computer (which isn't half bad a machine).

 

I think I'll stick with my 5D for a while. :-)

[juan_ferro]

Dear Brent,

Thank you for the "answer". Obviously you do not use HDR and therefore do not understand the need of 7 or, at least, 5 AEB shots.

[aimzoom]

Actually, Juan, I DO use HDR - sometimes - I've just somehow managed to turn that exposure wheel (or, more likely, set the aperture or shutter speed higher and lower) without making the camera do my work for me. In fact, I was doing HDR the hard way with CS, layering the files and erasing this part or that part until I finally got just what I wanted.

 

The original point of the question was that no matter how good a camera gets, someone will find something to gripe about. Those of us who have been in this game since the days of shooting with twin lens Hassys are more appreciative of what technology has done for us. As my eyes age I can't imagine shooting a wedding without autofocus - or without being able to control your autofocus points. I can fit more shots on a single 4GB card - even shooting RAW - than I used to shoot at many weddings. I can experiment with tricky lighting and different settings and make adjustments immediately. Sure, cameras aren't perfect, not even the 5D, and I suppose some of the whining people do is useful in that it makes for improvements each generation, but sometimes I read these posts and I think today's photographers are spoiled.

 

Okay, to get seven exposures you have to set the wheel twice. With a +/- 1 stop AEB, you dial your exposure down two to get -3, -2, -1; center it to get -1, 0,+1; and dial it up two to get +1, +2, +3. Really, is it that tough?

[scott_ferris]

Ah Brent it would seem that there is only the two of us!

 

Juan, nobody NEEDS AEB! Just like we don't need AF, Auto Exposure, etc etc only AEB is of very limited use to some people who don't understand the very easy way to bracket shots by themselves, AF is a real blessing, AE I can take it or leave it, M works fine for me. Heck I think I could even put a bit of plastic over the viewfinder........

[aimzoom]

There must be more than two, Scott, there just has to be! ;-)

 

Sure, I switch to "P" when I'm shooting under changing lighting and I need to make every shot usable, the run and gun situation at many weddings, but indoors when the lighting is reasonably consistent I still shoot manual, and outdoors when I'm in a situation where time isn't pressing - say, for example, when my camera is locked on a tripod and I'm capturing multiple images that will later be combined into an HDR image. Sure, it would be ideal if I had a remote that would allow me to lock up my mirror and change exposures for as many shots as I'd like without ever touching the actual camera body, so I'd get pristinely clean alignment of those shots, but I don't live in an ideal world.

 

I'll admit that if all I did was shoot 7-exposure sequences for HDR images five days a week, eight hours or more a day, I might be a bit miffed that Canon chose to ignore my special needs. Of course, if the 5D MKII fulfilled every special need of every photographer, it would...be the 1Ds MKIII, or at least cost as much. As one could buy two 5D MKIIs for the price of a 1Ds MKIII and have change left over to buy a nice lens, I think I'll manage, thanks.

[yannik_hay]

<p>" HOW MANY AEB SHOTS can do EOS 5D"<br>

Yes, 3 at a time but do it twice, this feature is now possible in the new mark II.<br>

But my question is that it appears that the AEB doesn't work in slow shutter speed. Does anyone know from how many seconds it stops working? I cannot get the hold on the info.<br>

Thx.</p>