So I finally gave in to the temptation of a Canon 5D Mark II! Just a small post with some brief thoughts on my new toy 😉
I really haven’t played with it much yet beyond the usual desk/backyard snaps but pretty impressed the difference in ISO 1600 compared to my old Canon 350D 😉
Anyway down to business. I picked this up from Harvey Norman for $3,660AUD they had it priced at $4,400 and were willing to match the cheapest price off ShopBot + postage. I was really surprised and called them thinking there wasn’t a chance they would match but they did and I couldn’t resist. To make things even better they then matched my online price for a 8gb CF III saving $100ish off their list price, woa.
Edit: I notice a few hits coming in from an American blog so just for you guys, $3,660AUD is roughly $2.5k USD 😀
Just some initial things I’m really digging
- Viewfinder – This is one of my favourite things so far, I forgot how good the viewfinder is on a FF/film body compared to my Canon 350D
- LCD – I’m a sucker for chimping after a shot to suss the histogram and the increase in size is perfect.
- Build – Feels so much nicer in the hand compared to the 350D but I’m not sure if I’ll get a grip yet as it’s pricey and not that necessary for landscape
- ISO – Oh my, so good! Constantly being constrained by ISO 1600 on my 350D started to really bug me, the equivalent on the 5D mark II is beautiful in comparison.
- Video – Only played with this for a limited time, pretty sweet although some more manual control would be nice. Although I hear Canon may provide more manual functionality in a firmware update because apparently the 5D Mark II release was rushed, who knows on this one.
- Sound – Ok this is sad but the shutter sounds way sexier then the 350D.
I was looking at the fancy Canon remote which allows you to do timelapse, etc. $220? Damn.
Overall very happy!
Don’t suppose anyone wants to buy my Canon 10-22? 😉
welcome to the club mate 🙂
hmmm that remote sounds very tempting
[…] Alex Wise got his new 5D mk ii and is very happy. One image he […]
Congrats with the new toy!
@Nigel: there’s a cheaper alternative to the Canon timer remote, namely the Phottix Nikos
Congrats 🙂
Really dig that leaf shot!
I upgraded from the 350 to a 5D and noticed a massive diff in the viewfinder also… Would love a 5DMk!! now though.
Positive review. I’m a 350D owner but still fighting to hold off the 5D upgrade.
Yeah it’s a hard decision, I find and still do, that the Canon 350D is a great camera for landscape where you’re always shooting at ISO 100 anyway. However for street photography, etc where you’re after higher ISO then it’s a little limited. Put it this way, I didn’t need the upgrade as my 350D is still up to the job completely, it’s really just a luxury upgrade.
If you can afford it then go for it! But don’t lose too much sleep over it as the 350D is a great camera.
I have one on order from Dell as I got it there at a really good price.
It is not due until April 20th but I can’t hardly wait.
I too am upgrading from a 350d
This sounds great, hope you have fun!
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Cool, congrats on the upgrade.
Hey one question. I use a 350D, the default settings doesn’t give me vibrant images. Using parameter1 or prameter2 will take away some details. I’m totally unsure about which default settings I should be using on my 350D.
I’ve been shooting RAW from quite some time and I try to minimize my postprocessing. I would love to hear from you about the ideal in camera settings i should be using in the 350D. Thanks.
I’ve been following your site from few weeks, needless to say, its amazing and quite inspiring. Keep rocking!
Thanks for the kind words Manoj!
I’ve never played around with camera parameters as they were always adjustments which could be made in post processing later on. Don’t be afraid of post processing, it’s especially handy for things like removing dust, fixing crooked horizons, correcting white balance, sharpening images with USM, etc. If you’re a little put off by photoshop, track down a trial version of Lightroom, it’s quite straight forward and fun. If you’re quite set on wanting to not post process your images, perhaps push up the saturation and contrast in the parameters to give a little more pop? But I really recomend getting Lightroom and making adjustments through that.
Cheers,
Alex
Well I guess you had the money, as per my previous comment. Have fun with the camera.
I’m sure you’ll get a good price for your lens on ebay, but you’ll be wanting the 16-35 to go wide again. Thats a pretty good price, about what it costs at camera house here in perth.
@ manoj As what alex said, almost all vibrant images have been run through photoshop 😉
Thanks Alex, also thanks James for your recommendations.
I do have lightroom and do my bit of postprocessing but I was thinking of reducing it drastically. I’ve tried with higher saturation inside the camera, but as you said its better not to do that, because the lost details are not really recoverable completely. So I’ll stick to what you said, looks like postprocessing is part and parcel of photography 🙂
Congrats, I would love to get one of these but at the moment I can’t really justify it. Enjoy!
Good on you. I just picked up my 5D MkII and am still playing. I have just purchased a 17-40mm to replace the 10-22 so that should do for now. I really want the 14mm but a bit pricey at the moment after the camera. I am keeping my 30D to use with the 10-22 for now.