Canon 5D Mark II Review — Stunning!

Canon 5D Mark II Review — An Excellent Camera

Any Canon 5D Mark II review must necessarily be targeted at the professional or serous armature photographer who wants the absolute best in DSLR technology. Canon’s reputation and competence are such that they essentially cornered the market with the original Canon 5D. They therefore had big shoes to fill when the time came to develop a successor. Any device intended to supplant the original would have its work cut out. It would not only need to be a great camera in its own right in order to attract new customers, but it would also need to be superior to the original to an extent that would encourage existing users to make the switch. Have they succeeded? I think that Canon out did themselves.

In this Canon 5D Mark II review, we will consider the various features and ask exactly that question. We will start by asking what features have been included where the old model was lacking.

Main Upgrades and Improvements Present In the Canon 5D Mark II

• 21.1 megapixel sensor
• High-speed DIGIC IV image processor
• Expanded ISO range from ISO 50 to ISO 25600
• EOS cleaning system
• 3.9 FPS continuous shooting
•  See More Features Here.

Let us look at these points one at a time.

Canon 5D Sensor Resolution and Image Processing

The new Mark II has upped the resolution by 8.3 megapixels compared to the original model. The new sensor commands a massive 21.1 megapixels, delivering an extremely high resolution that should be capable of coping with the very finest of detail. However, simply sticking a high-resolution sensor into a camera is not the whole story. If the device is to be effective, it must also be able to handle and process that extra detail. The Canon 5D Mark II has a new high-speed DIGIC IV image processor, which is specifically designed to handle this sort of image. This is not only capable of handling the 3.9 FPS shooting rate at full resolution, but also facilitates video capture at up to 1080p resolution.

Expanded ISO Range

The next thing we should consider in this Canon 5D Mark II review is the greatly expanded ISO range. This theoretically allows shooting in even the darkest areas, with a maximum setting of ISO 25600. Realistically, noise usually starts to become an issue  after about ISO 3200, but the Canon 5D Mark II nonetheless does an admirable job of filtering out the worst of it. For photographers who often work in low-light conditions, this is a great feature.

EOS Cleaning System

This is not a trivial inclusion into this Canon 5D Mark II review; the integrated cleaning system will be a welcome addition for fans of the original model. It is a significant feature lacking in Nikon models. Many a Canon 5D review noted that the original sensor was something of a dust magnet. This could obviously cause serious problems for photographers, so Canon has addressed it with an elaborate system for keeping things clean on this Mark II model. A fluorine coating is just one of the design features that help to keep the sensor as clean and crisp as possible. For many users, this will be a real improvement over the original design.

3.9 FPS Continuous Shooting

Four frames per second is not the fastest continuous shooting we have ever seen, but it is quite impressive when you consider the resolution of the camera. Realistically, it is quite easy to get the perfect shot with this speed, and all of your images will be at the full 21.1 megapixels. The Canon 5D Mark II can shoot over seventy JPEGs in a burst onto a CompactFlash card. It can also manage a burst of over three hundred if you use a high-speed UDMA card instead.

Superb 3.0″ LCD Monitor

It is always useful to have a high quality display on a DSLR camera, and no Canon 5D Mark II review could fail to mention the one present here. It is of very high quality and has a very effective built-in brightness sensor. This allows the display to adapt very easily to different levels of ambient light. Combined with the complex anti-reflective layers, this display is quite easy to use even in bright situations, which is a big step-up over many other designs.

Canon 5D Mark II Review Reports 

A quick check on other sites will demonstrate the popularity of the Canon 5D Mark II. Almost every Canon 5D Mark II review you find is positive, with over 85% of those customers who reviewed their purchase on Amazon.com offering 4 stars or better. The proof is always in the pudding, and this camera has shown that its great specifications on paper easily translate into real-world applicability. Where some cameras look excellent on paper but fail to hold up in the field, this model clearly has admirers who have used it successfully on their own projects and been delighted.

Canon 5D Mark II Review Example

A typical Canon 5D Mark II review includes recognizing the superior quality compared to lesser models. “The images this camera produces are just stunning! The noise level at high ISOs is very impressive too. I reckon the Canon 5D Mark II has less noise at ISO 9600 than my 40D has at ISO 1600!” People were also very impressed at the high resolution. In fact, the sensor’s detail was enough to highlight flaws in lenses that were previously thought perfect. “I have never owned a camera that was so demanding in terms of the lens you use. It is like an instant test of the lens quality.”

(see review by Grant Brummet, November 12 2008)

Conclusion

It is hard to do a Canon 5D Mark II review without being very impressed with this model. Its superior resolution is such that the camera itself simply ceases to be the quality bottleneck; that responsibility is passed to the lens. There are enough improvements on the original Canon 5D to encourage existing owners to upgrade and make the switch. New customers will also be impressed, as the Mark II has all the features anyone needs in a top-level DSLR. The Canon 5D Mark II stands on its own as one of the best cameras out there today. For any discerning professional or serious armature, it is well worth the price.

You can buy the Canon 5D Mark II from Amazon here. I hope this Canon 5D Mark II review has helped you make the decision that is right for you.

Tagged with: Canon DSLR

Filed under: DSLR Review

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