Our expert Andrian Kolotilin, a professional photographer, a three-time finalist of the Best Wildlife Photographer Award “Golden Turtle” shares his impressions of the full-frame 21.1-megapixel camera EOS 5D Mark II.
Specifications
Sensor: CMOS dust removal system
Size: FX 36×24 mm
Resolution: 21.1 Mpix. 5616×3744
Cropped ratio: 1.0x
Recording formats: RAW, JPEG
Sensitivity: ISO 100-6400 extension 50-25,600
Video: HD 1920×1080 16:9 , SD 640×480 4:3 – 30fps
Viewfinder: pentaprism, Precision Matte Eg-A focus screen
Frame coverage: 98 percent
Display: color TFT LCD, 3 inches about 920,000 dots
Shooting speed: 3.9 fps, up to 78 JPEG frames per burst, up to 13 RAW frames
Memory cards: CompactFlash I/II
Weight: 810 g
Price: $3000
The camera can have up to three independently registered user settings. For example, for taking pictures with a telephoto lens and flash in a dark hall, you should use one for taking pictures in the same hall with a wide angle lens without flash, and thus preserving the light pattern, you should use another lens. And you can switch between these settings in an instant.
But that brings up another problem, the problem of accidental switching. Easy to scroll the scroll wheel. Several times I got unaccustomed to the settings I thought they would be wrong. I think that such selectors should be made with a spring-loaded stopper so that the choice between C1, C2 and C3 settings was conscious and it was impossible to knock down this choice by a random move.
The new LP-E6 battery has increased in size and capacity compared to its predecessor. But the power consumption of the camera has also increased, especially when working with stabilizing lenses, or in video or Live View focusing mode. On one shooting day, the fully charged battery in combination with the IS lens gave me the opportunity to shoot 400 or so frames at 0 degrees.
So a second battery is a must for active shooting. Now you can control the battery parameters from the camera menu, assign each battery a unique code and monitor: how many frames were shot, how much power is left. Surprisingly, but when using the supply handle, all this data also shows, and also lights up the inscription that there is no connection with the battery.
New connectors on the communication panel: for connecting an external stereo microphone and for HD video playback HDMI. The cable itself is not included.
Personal Impressions
Unfortunately I got the camera for just a few days, during which time I got caught in the rain. One of my acquaintances, a nature photographer, compared such weather with the Antarctic weather, where he recently went to shoot emperor penguins. So I decided to do a comparative quality test first, and then I armed myself with a Canon 4/500 L IS super telephoto lens and tried to hunt for bird and animal portraits at the zoo. I wanted to shoot at a high enough sensitivity setting.
Five cameras went through a comparative test of image detail photo 1 . One subject, one lens, the same shutter speed and aperture, a tripod, and the same RAW-to-TIFF conversion helped determine the leader. The new camera gives a cleaner picture, does not lose fine detail, and retains micro-contrast of tree branches and brickwork in the background.
That is, in landscape, technical or scientific photography, the new sensor and processor will save more information. A similar test at 800 ISO confirmed the conclusions I’ve drawn.
There’s been a lot of talk online about how the camera only reveals its potential when using expensive L-series optics or when using lenses with a fixed focal length. Let’s check that assumption, too. We have the high quality EF 24-105 4 L IS and the budget EF 24-85 3,5-4,5 The result confirmed the opinion of Internet users.
With the new higher resolution camera the budget zoom has lost some fine details, contrast and sharpness have decreased, and a soapy picture has appeared. But the difference can be noticeable only by a pixel-by-pixel comparison of the same images by experienced users, while in polygraphy we might not see this difference at all.
I’ve been doing macro wildlife photography for years. The weather at the time of the test did not give me the opportunity to look for macro shots in the field. I had to use the fruits of the plants and the photoflash. There was very little difference, and the only way to tell the difference was to check the EXIF picture 2 .
It’s time to test the camera at high sensitivity. I went to the zoo with a couple of telephoto lenses. I started by testing the tracking focus precision. I shot a portrait of a she-wolf running straight at the photographer in a series.
The camera was in focus for three out of five shots. The first three frames were perfectly sharp, but the next two just kept going from eyes and nose to the scruff and beyond. Repeated several times and the results were the same. With professional 1D cameras it is possible to adjust the speed of the autofocus tracking, this is not the case here. Anyway, the frame came together, and I liked the quality of the whole system at 800 ISO photo 3 .
Checking the accuracy of the manual focus on the matte screen required the use of the Canon EF 2x extender. The total focal length was 1000 mm, with automatic focusing turned off because the maximum aperture was 8. I controlled the focus adjustment through Live View and turned on the silent mode. The mirror is not lowered down until the last shot, which reduces the shake of the whole system. All frames came out sharp, quite good quality for such an extreme design photo 4 .
When determining the precision of the center focus point I spotted a genre scene that I shot through tree branches. The autofocus did not make a mistake and caught the figures at once, without paying attention to the foreground photo 5 .
Use of double extender and high sensitivity during snowfall didn’t decrease focus accuracy in reportage shooting with hidden camera photo 6 .
When shooting in difficult light conditions and high brightness difference the camera practically did not make a mistake photo 7 .
Working indoors under natural light was not a problem for the camera. The 1600 ISO speed combined with the VR lens made it possible to bypass the flash and tripod. Lens was not apertured for a shallow depth of field and soft focus. The light coming from the monitor was not lost and the portrait turned out quite good. White balance automatic photo 8 .
I took a baby portrait by candlelight. Knowing the peculiarity of the devices of the firm not to cope with very low color temperatures, I set the minimum available value to 2500 K.
The fast zoom lens with stabilizer avoided shake in the frame the almost fully open diaphragm combined with the long focal length blurred out the unnecessary details, leaving only the eyes of the model sharp. I had to make some color corrections in the image editor, because the real color temperature of the candle flame is lower than 2500K photo 9 .
Shooting indoors with mixed lighting incandescent and sky also gave good results, with a slight shift towards cold tones, which I easily corrected in a graphic editor based on my own preferences. Again the high sensitivity and stabilizer helped me get some shots without a tripod, hand-held or just leaning the camera on a hard parapet photo 10 .
All test shooting was done in RAW+JPEG to evaluate the quality of the internal conversion to a compressed format. Of course, the RAW conversion on a workstation gives better results, but in most cases a hardware JPEG can satisfy many, especially if you actively use the proper imaging styles.
And finally – the test for the highest sensitivity. After sunset, which I never saw during my days with the camera, at so-called “magic hour”, when the lights of the buildings are already visible and the sky is not yet black, I set up my tripod and took a series of pictures of famous New York skyscrapers at different sensitivities.
I should say at once that the artifacts of sensitivity broadening to super-high values were seen by the naked eye on the screen of the camera immediately after the shooting and this mode can hardly be called working, though, of course, it depends on what you shoot.
Any unique moment, such as the landing of a flying saucer, is better to shoot at 25,000 ISO than not to shoot at all or with shake. But still the best result is achieved at 50-200 ISO, good – at 400-1600, acceptable – up to 6400, if the photographer will creatively work with noise reduction and sharpening programs with masks in the graphics editor photos 11 and 12 .
Video test
I am not a “videographer” and can hardly professionally evaluate the performance of a camera as an expensive camcorder. It took me half an hour to switch the video recording on, to study the manual in American. The result was also surprising.
The camera can shoot very high quality video at 1980×1080 resolution, but only with a tripod, pre-sharpened. Built-in microphone records all sounds in mono, including optical stabilizer noise in the lens. I assume that a good remote stereo microphone will help in this problem.
When panning and zooming the picture jerks and turns out torn, even though the indicator of insufficient speed is not lit. The instructions explicitly say that the subject should be still.
So using the camera as a camcorder, such as at a press conference, in a “hot spot” or at a wedding, is, unfortunately, not yet possible. But as a researcher’s instrument for fixing some nonfast processes for example, through the eyepiece of microscope or in biological researches it is quite probable photo 13 .
The development of this technology is still to come and if just a year ago many cameras still malfunctioned in Live View mode, today the first mistakes have been corrected. What will be with video, we’ll know in future models.
To sum up
This is a great tool for those who already own equipment from this reputable company. In the few days I’ve been acquainted, I never once felt frustrated with struggling with the camera instead of taking pictures.
I realize this machine would enhance my photographic potential as a photographer by allowing me to take full advantage of natural light, taking more detailed shots, framing when I can’t get close enough to the subject or using the proper lens, and downsizing when necessary. And progress does not stand still.
All modern cameras have got rid of the childhood disease of growth, with any machine you can get a photo of exhibition quality, but with different amount of tricks. In the new “five” it turns out simply, without dancing with bamboozle.
This is a great camera for a variety of genres. It’s good for non sports reporters, travelers, studio photographers, nature photographers. Sure to be a must-have for advertising and application photography. It’s about ideas, but that’s a topic for another story.
Picture tests
Picture 1. Two-camera comparative photography that showed the superiority of the new model f/8, 1/100, ISO 100, 24-105/4 L IS, focal length 50mm .
Photo 2. Example of macro shooting under artificial light f/10, 1/60, ISO 400, EF 100/2.8 Macro, two flashes .
Photo 3. Focus tracking when shooting with a telephoto lens performed satisfactorily f/5, 1/800, ISO 800, EF 4/500 L IS .
Photo 4. Ultra-long lens and slow shutter speed, sharpness was adjusted manually f/8, 1/320, ISO 400, EF 4/500 L IS + EF Extender 2x .
Photo 5. The AF spot selectivity was great f/4.5, 1/5000, ISO 200, 70-200/2.8 L IS, focal length 200mm .
Photo 6. Using double extender and high sensitivity during the snowfall didn’t decrease the focusing accuracy in the reportage shooting with the hidden camera f/9, 1/800, ISO 800, 70-200/2 lens.8 L IS + EF 2x extender, focal length 400 mm .
Photo 7. When shooting in difficult light conditions and high fluctuations in brightness, the camera made practically no mistakes f/8, 1/50, ISO 200, EF 24-105/4 L IS lens, focal length of 47 mm .
Photo 8. Example of auto white balance in a mixed light f/4, 1/50, ISO 1600, EF 24-105/4 L IS, 93mm .
Photo 9. The natural candlelight brings out the special color in this baby portrait f/3.5, 1/100, ISO 1600, lens 70-200/2.8 L IS, 190 mm focal length .
Photo 10. Mixed lighting, cool tones were slightly corrected in the image editor f/6.3, 1/15, ISO 800, EF 24-105/4 L IS lens, focal length 82 mm .
Photo 11. Cityscape in the evening light f/8, 1/13, ISO 800, EF 70-200/2.8 L IS, focal length 110mm .
Photo 12. The line of photos taken at different sensitivities
Photo 13 . Still from video.
Other manufacturer’s camera tests:
Nikon D3100 SLR test: a pass into the SLR world
Test with the Sony SLT-A55
Canon EOS 1D Mark IV professional DSLR test: speed shooting for speedy release
Test SLR camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Article content
What are some of the key features and specifications of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II SLR camera? And how does it compare to other similar models in terms of image quality and performance?
Can you share your thoughts on the overall performance and image quality of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II SLR camera? I’m keen to know if it is worth considering for professional photography or if there are any notable drawbacks.