Canon 5D mk2 150 frame first findings:-)

September 17th, 2008

5AM today my pictures will automatically post on this blog.

Wow! It was an honor and a privilege to represent the wedding photography industry for Canon. The new camera is at least 2 stops better than the original 5d and 21mp too. How did they do that? I have been demonstrating the camera at Canon Headquarters in Reigate today at the official product launch. I shot loads of frames at 1600 – 6400 ISO and they are fantastic. The pictures are embargoed until Saturday 5am:-( so visit again then to see my shots. Canon put on a fabulous show and gave me a beautiful bride to shoot. In the meantime here are a couple of infra red shots of Canon HQ and my model Lisa taken on my 10D ir between sessions.

Canon headquarters in the UK taken in infrared.

Canon headquarters in the UK taken using only infrared light.

Just for fun - Taken in the grounds of Canon HQ on 5Dmk2 release day.

There is a lot more information about the 5D mk2 in the comments section of this post.

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19 Comments Add your own

1. martin | September 18th, 2008 at 6:57 am

Cool, look forward to seeing the pictures. Its a shame they didn’t improve the focusing, but the higher ISO performance will still open up many new possibilities. One problem with Canon’s prosumer AF system in the 50D/5D line that rarely gets mentioned is that it won’t AF beyond f/5.6 and even at f/5.6 you are on the middle sensor. Probably not much of an issue for social photographers but the inability to AF with a 2x on a f/4 is quite a limitation to those of us who shoot wildlife too.

I am intrigued by the small raw file format – did you try that? 10MP should be plenty for a wedding.

Did the camera feel any more responsive? When I use my venerable 1D Mk 2 I’m always reminded how much “faster” it feels than the 5D, and I don’t just mean frame rate.
2. damien | September 18th, 2008 at 8:08 am

Hi Martin, The AF is virtually unchanged but works well imo. The camera feels the same speed as the old one. It’s fine for weddings. There have to be some advantages for 1Ds mk3 because image quality on 5D mk2 is better.
3. David | September 18th, 2008 at 9:56 am

Damien, have you played around with the HD video feature at all? I curious as to whether this will give good use or whether there are elements of it being a bit of a ‘gimmick’.

I have read comments about being able to shoot videos for blogs during a shoot but can’t help feeling it’s something else to get in the way.
4. David Lowerson | September 18th, 2008 at 10:58 am

Hi Damien,

Would you upgrade to the 5D MKII if you already had 5D’s already. Would I notice the image quality or do I go for the 1Ds MkIII?

Dave

P.S.

A big thank you to Marko for yesturday.

A big thank you to Marko for a Awesome day
5. damien | September 18th, 2008 at 11:00 am

I didn’t shoot raw because there was no way to process the images. Canon DPP software has yet to be updated for the 5D mk2 files.
6. Alan @ photographers.ie | September 18th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

Hi Damien,

We chatted briefly yesterday about the camera – I look forward to seeing the images and will link to it.

Alan Murphy
7. damien | September 18th, 2008 at 1:05 pm

I will be buying the 5D mk2 because it has much higher resolution than the 5D and is lighter than the 1Ds mk3. The picture quality is going to be better than 1Ds Mk3 also. The Digic4 is better processor apparently and with 14bit RAW files at 21mp that will do nicely. The big advantage is the new sensors low light capability.
8. damien | September 18th, 2008 at 1:12 pm

My 5D was a stopgap between Hasselblad with Phase One 22mp back and the 1Ds mk3. However the 1 Ds mk3 didn’t exite me enough. The 5D mk2 will be the ideal camera. My 5d has done 80,000 frames or so and can retire to be a backup.
9. Sean Bolton | September 18th, 2008 at 10:16 pm

5Dmk2 looks nice although would have prefered 16Mpixels, 5fps, dual CF slot, improved AF.

Initial sample ISO6400 shots I have seen look really good and equal to ISO1600 on the existing 5D so looks like this camera is the leader of the pack for low light work.

Looking forward to seeing your samples.

Sean
10. damien | September 18th, 2008 at 11:21 pm

I think the ISO 6400 pictures I took look like ISO1250 on my origional 5D. It’s a factor of image enlargement too. I chose to shoot on the 70-200 f/2.8 because it delivers high resolution images. The lens is so important with 6.4 micron pixel sites. I think Canon did a 16 mp 5 frames/sec camera already in the form of 1Ds mk2. This camera is light, just £2200 and has the best ever 35mm style camera picture quality on the planet. It will do nicely for now. Two CF slots is for 1 series and so is fast shooting and you pay an extra £2000 for the privilage. I like the 5D mk2 price point.
11. damien | September 18th, 2008 at 11:36 pm

Video must not be overlooked. Full HD 1080p at 30 fps is cool. Too good for blogs perhaps. The convenient thing is it is already saved on the CF card as Apple Quictime .mov files. No faffing around to make a useful format.
The big story is that because the sensor is 4x the size of conventional video cameras the natural narrow depth of field will make a movie shot on a 70-200 f/2.8 look like 24 or CSI Miami! Seriously it will be a new look that can’t be achieved on a normal video camera.
I can see it used for coming down the isle and confetti shots plus with a dedicated mic input it could be used in conjunction with a radio mic on the groom to record the vows and speaches even. Who needs a sepeate video? It may be controversial but it may be an opportunity too.
12. Jonathan | September 20th, 2008 at 11:32 am

It would /almost/ look like CSI Miami, except that CSI is filmed at 24fps. Canon saw fit to lock everyone in to 30p, which while it may seem trivial is the only thing keeping this camera from becoming like a poor man’s Panavision. Probably not an accident, that.
13. Ian McGraw | September 25th, 2008 at 2:35 pm

One could achieve the filmic look in post, say in Final Cut or Avid, by using plugins to remove the interlace artifacts from 1080i footage & introducing a telecine effect e.g Magic Bullet
14. damien | September 25th, 2008 at 2:53 pm

Most equipment these days is driven by signal syncs so the new standard of 30fps 1080P format is fine – better than the older 24 fps.
15. David Mc Neill | November 17th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

Hi Damien,

Great to see you in Dublin recently. We spoke briefly as I had attended your editing session in the Annabel Williams Studios in June of this year.

I have my first wedding booking for new years eve and am really looking forward to it and have been working on improving my posing and creativity recently also.

One question you might be able to guide me on? I am using the 5D and in dark indoor or outdoors when shooting at iso 400 or 800 I am getting a lot of noise. Yesterday evening I did a beach shoot and used off camera flash but even still the noise is noticable. This really concerns me and wonder if I should consider upgrading to the MK11 or is there anything else I can do to prevent this?

If you have time and can advise it would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards.

David
16. mark | December 6th, 2008 at 6:25 am

“14. damien | September 25th, 2008 at 2:53 pm

Most equipment these days is driven by signal syncs so the new standard of 30fps 1080P format is fine – better than the older 24 fps.”

I can assume you have come to understand that you are not really shooting, unless you are shooting 24fps ?

dont mean to pick on you . . .

~ mark
17. Kenny Howse | May 14th, 2010 at 11:28 am

I’ve just upgraded from an EOS 30D to an EOS 5D Mk II and I must say I’m very impressed with the results so far, just waiting to have my first serious shoot with it!
18. damien | May 25th, 2010 at 9:43 pm

Hi Kenny, How did your shoot go?
19. Kenny Howse | May 25th, 2010 at 9:54 pm

Hi Damien,

I’ve not yet done it! I’m hoping to find some time this weekend, especially as it’s a Long Weekend (Bank Holiday)! Hopefully can find some time.

Regards

Kenny