Canon 5D Mark II Review

Canon officially introduced in 2008 the EOS 5D successor, the EOS 5D Mark II, which was eagerly awaited by many brand “Aficionados”. As expected, the “future of digital photography” (as Canon called it in his teaser) is relatively conservative at Canon. Thus, the new digital EOS remains true to the SLR camera architecture and sets new standards neither with its 21.1 megapixel resolution (here the Sony Alpha 900 preceded it) nor with its video function (here the Nikon D90 preceded it). But Canon has still managed to combine the new features and specifications of the EOS 5D Mark II into a very attractive package, not only for Canon fans.

Short evaluation

Pros

• Successful model maintenance of the EOS 5D
• (halfway efficient) vignetting correction function
• Full HD video
• Extremely high (partly exaggerated) detail sharpness / fineness of detail

Cons

• AF-measuring fields concentrated in the middle image field
• No Focus Tracking in Video Mode
• No built-in miniature flash unit
• No built-in RAW converter function

 

There’s no doubt that the resolution advantage of the Sony Alpha 900 (24.6 megapixels) compared to the EOS 5D Mark II can only be marginal in terms of the resulting image quality, and the EOS 5D Mark II may not be the first digital SLR camera with video function, but it has implemented this function better than the Nikon D90. Thus, it has a higher video resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels according to HDTV standard 1080p) than its competitor (1,280 x 720 pixels according to HDTV standard 720p), and according to initial information, the Canon, in contrast to Nikon, retains the autofocus function when filming. The EOS 5D Mark II also has an external microphone port, which the D90 lacks, for example to enjoy a movie recording with stereo sound. A further advantage for the EOS: it uses the highly efficient H.264 codec to compress the video data, while the Nikon D90 uses the somewhat older Motion JPEG codec. This is certainly one of the reasons why the EOS 5D Mark II’s maximum recording time of 12 minutes is slightly more than twice as long as that of the D90 (max. 5 min.) despite the higher video resolution.

Of course, the EOS 5D Mark II has also been brought up to date everywhere else. After all, three years have passed since the EOS 5D (the first of its name) was launched on the market, and technical progress has not stopped there. According to information from the French photo magazine “Chasseur d’Images”, the image sensor in 35mm film format (36 x 24 mm) will not be the same as in the EOS-1Ds Mark III and in combination with the brand-new DiGIC-4 processor (recently introduced with the EOS 50D) will allow light sensitivity settings up to ISO 25.600 (in the H2 setting). You may be curious about the first example pictures, test reports or even “duels” with the Nikon D700 or D3 (which reach similarly high ISO values with lower resolution)! In order not to overshadow the EOS-1Ds Mark III too much, the EOS 5D Mark II’s continuous shooting speed only reaches 3.9 frames per second. This makes it possible to take between 8 (RAW/JPEG simultaneous recording) and 78 (JPEG fine) images in a row.

The EOS 5D Mark II also uses the same 15-point auto focus (9 visible AF fields plus 6 auxiliary sensors not marked in the viewfinder) and the same multi-field metering cell (35 fields/zones) as its predecessor. In comparison to this, however, the EOS 5D Mark II offers a live image mode (thanks to the DiGIC IV processor also with face recognition AF), a tonal value priority function (including switchable automatic exposure optimization and 14-bit right depth for particularly effective contrast compensation), a sensor self-cleaning unit, a significantly larger and more detailed 7.6 cm screen (3″ TFT LCD with 920 pixels), and a 3″ TFT LCD with a 920 mm screen.000 pixels and one hundred percent field coverage in live image mode) as well as an AF fine correction (to counteract front/back focus problems). The viewfinder also covers a larger image field (98 vs. 96 %) with the same 0.71x viewfinder image magnification and almost the same interpupillary distance (21 vs. 20 mm). The viewfinder mats remain replaceable by the user.

What else is so new about the EOS 5D Mark II? First of all there is the camera-internal correction of the “peripheral illumination”. This does not mean anything other than a switchable electronic vignetting correction. With the EOS utility software included with the camera, the imaging performance data (including vignetting data) of up to 40 different Canon lenses can be registered; camera-internal vignetting correction only works for JPEG images, while RAW/CR2 images must be corrected on the computer with the Canon software.

The EOS 5D Mark II also makes use of a new lithium-ion battery (type: LP-E6), with which, according to Canon, shots can be taken between 180 (with permanent use of the live image mode) and 850 (with exclusive use of the optical viewfinder) per full charge. The EOS 5D Mark II still accepts CompactFlash (Type I and II) memory cards, but now also supports the fast UDMA mode (Ultra Direct Memory Access technology for direct access to the memory card) of modern CF cards. Other than that, the camera design has been slightly changed (the new camera dimensions are 152 x 113.5 x 75 mm and the weight is 810 grams without lens); more importantly, the EOS 5D Mark II with additional/reinforced seals is supposed to offer better dust and splash water protection than its predecessor, according to Canon.

At first glance, the closure unit used is unchanged. But appearances are deceptive. The fastest shutter speed in normal camera mode of 1/8,000 s and the shortest flash sync speed of 1/200 s (without high-speed flash sync) remain the same as on the EOS 5D first generation, but the shutter is more robust on the EOS 5D Mark II. The tested minimum service life increases from 100,000 to 150,000 releases, so that you get even more from your camera. These are the main differences between the EOS 5D Mark II and its predecessor, the EOS 5D. There may be further differences in detail (e.g. the number of user functions increases from 21 to 25); a comparable overview of the technical data of both cameras can be found in the respective digitalkamera.de datasheets, whereby a link at the end of this message leads directly to the datasheet of the new EOS 5D Mark II.

Ergonomics and workmanship

The fact that the EOS 5D Mark II is a quite decent piece of technology can be seen from the 950 grams (camera with battery, memory card, shoulder strap and without lens) distributed over 152 x 113.5 x 75 mm. The virtually non-existent gap dimensions indicate perfect workmanship; in order that neither shocks nor wetness can harm the camera, the body is practically made of stainless steel (further reinforced with a magnesium alloy) and offers rubber seals or filling materials in important places (memory card and battery compartment, camera screen, operating elements) of the sensitive on-board electronics protection against a relative humidity of up to 85 %. This also helps against the ingress of dust, which is made difficult by the fluorite coating of the optical low-pass filter in front of the image sensor and by dust-repellent vibrations on its surface during the automatic cleaning process (called EOS Integrated Cleaning System) to “settle” on the sensor anyway.

Large (3″ or 7.6 cm), high-resolution (920,000 pixels), scratch-resistant, low-reflection (thanks to no less than three anti-reflective layers) and insensitive to fingerprints, nose-pins and dust (partly also thanks to fluorite), the screen of the EOS 5D Mark II is large (3″ or 7.6 cm). It displays a brilliant, colour-neutral and – in live image mode – largely jerk-free and low-noise image. The image angle independence is good with 170° h/v, the brightness adjustment is optionally automatic (in three steps and while maintaining the exposure preview) or manually (in seven steps), and when the sun “pops” on the screen, it is still reasonably easy to read.

. Similarly good is the optical viewfinder of the camera with its pleasantly large (field coverage of 98%, 0.71x viewfinder magnification, 21mm eye distance/exit pupil), clear or bright and colorless viewfinder image. The viewfinder information is complete (including ISO display, battery level, warning of SW and/or tone priority mode on), diopter adjustment (-3 to +1 dpt.), and the viewfinder mats can be replaced; all that is missing is a built-in eyepiece shutter and a display of the exposure mode set.

The menu system of the EOS 5D Mark II complies with newer Canon standards, i.e. with menus that no longer extend beyond the edge of the screen like a list (as with the EOS 5D), symbols or pictograms that appear more vivid (thanks to a higher screen resolution and slight shading effects) and the so-called My Menu. The latter allows you to record only those of the 45 menu items (which together allow about 200 different settings) that you need personally. Further personalisation options are available in the form of 25 individual functions, a SET button that can be assigned other functions, the typical Canon PictureStyles (image parameter settings that can be called up at the touch of a button) and the three user programmes (C1, C2, C3) on the programme dial. Another part of the partly revised operating concept is the so-called “Quick Control Screen”; a kind of quick selection menu that also serves as a status display (similar to the “Dual Control Panel” function on Olympus or the “Quick Navi” system on Sony). The upper, orange illuminated liquid crystal display of the EOS 5D Mark II summarizes further camera settings and shooting parameters.

A large part of the operation of the EOS 5D Mark II is done via the knob-like miniature joystick (official name: Multicontroller) on the back of the camera and/or with the two adjustment wheels of the camera. The already mentioned program selector wheel on the top of the camera allows you to quickly change the exposure program (P, Av, Tv, M, etc.). The fully automatic mode (green rectangle) and the Creative Auto mode (a kind of extended fully automatic mode with sliders for the background sharpness and the image brightness) are not really target-group oriented instead of which we would rather have seen the good old A-DEP or DEP depth of field automatic of different EOS models and maybe even such an exposure mode as the TAv-program of Pentax (camera automatically searches for the appropriate light sensitivity level to the set aperture and shutter speed).

Equipment 

Let’s start with what the EOS 5D Mark II doesn’t have: a built-in miniature flash. To brighten shadows on short distances, as a control flash in a wireless flash network or as a small “makeshift”, such a flash would always be sufficient, but with the EOS 5D Mark II you just have to use a clip-on or system flash unit (but then with the full performance and convenience of E-TTL II technology). In addition to the flash/accessory shoe provided for this purpose, there is also a so-called PC sync socket for connecting studio flash systems or similar. Additional connections are available in the form of an HDMI interface (for picture reproduction in HDTV quality), an analogue audio/video output with switchable PAL/NTSC signal (3.5mm jack), a PictBridge-compatible USB-2.0 high-speed interface (with standard mini B plug), a three-pin connector for an electrical cable remote trigger (wireless remote triggering is possible with the RC-1 and RC-5 infrared remote controls and the LC-5 wireless controller) and a microphone input (for connecting a directional microphone, clip-on microphone or similar when filming).

The WLAN/WiFi unit WFT-E4 or the battery/multifunction handle BG-E6 can be connected to the camera via the bottom plug on the underside of the camera. Other features to be found on the EOS 5D Mark II: a dipping button and a metal tripod thread positioned correctly, i.e. in the middle of the optical axis, which is also far enough from the (lockable) battery compartment to allow a quick change of the lithium ion battery of the new type LP-E6 (now with 1,800 mAh) even when shooting on a tripod. Thanks to its built-in electronics (which of course complicates the production of cheap no-name replicas), the camera’s battery diagnosis function provides information about the exact remaining capacity/charge (in percent), the number of trips since the last charge, the battery’s “location” (in the camera or BG-E6 handle) and the battery’s “joy of charging” (i.e. how often the battery can still be charged before it reaches the end of its life). If the individual batteries have been registered in the camera menu via their respective identification number (which is also transmitted to the camera), such a diagnosis is also possible if several LP-E6 batteries are in use.

The EOS 5D Mark II can only be operated from the mains with a little practical battery-powered mains adapter due to a lack of mains input. There is praise for memory card management, however: UDMA cards with their fast direct memory access are now also supported, and EOS-D cameras now display a warning message when the memory card compartment is opened before a write operation is completed. Smaller improvements in ergonomics and operation are available in the form of a separate live image key (live image activation displaces the Print/Share function to the second assignment of the key), an ISO automatic function that works in all exposure programs and an extended folder creation function. The name of the photographer or camera owner and the owner of the image rights (copyright) can be registered (you need the provided EOS utility software for this) and can also appear in the EXIF data of the captured images on request. When playing back images, there are now more extensive options for browsing the images on the (CompactFlash) card and new slide show options (setting the display duration, switching the repeat loop on/off, image playback by folder/date/image type). But the EOS 5D Mark II also lacks the possibility to convert RAW/CR2 images into JPEG images afterwards in the camera.

One has to commit oneself to a certain image format beforehand, whereby the different combinations of four RAW-settings and seven JPEG-settings are possible. The built-in image post-processing functions are limited to a minimum (rotating/aligning images, resizing image sections, automatic correction and retouching of red eyes) and can only be accessed via the print menu in PictBridge direct print mode.

Even though the EOS 5D Mark II is limited to the essentials in some respects, it doesn’t lack the most important shooting functions and camera settings. All necessary exposure programs and metering modes (including spot metering) are available; a mirror lock-up function is also available (and can be combined with the 10- or 2-second self-timer), such as a histogram display (also for each individual color channel), an image authentication function (requires the optional Data Verification Kit), a dust erasure data function (for subsequent calculation of dark spots in the image caused by dust on the sensor), a grid with 3×3 or 6×4 matrix that can be displayed in live image mode (with switchable exposure preview), etc. In continuous shooting mode, the EOS 5D Mark II managed up to 69 consecutive JPEG images with a sustained frame rate of 3.8 frames per second with a normal high-speed memory card before the speed slumped; with a UDMA-capable card, it should even reach 3.9 frames/s without image sequence limitation.

Of course, you can’t write about the EOS 5D Mark II without mentioning its video mode. The Nikon D90 is currently the only other digital SLR camera that can also film, but “only” in HD quality with 1,280 x 720 pixels (Full HD corresponds to 1,920 x 1,080 pixels for the Canon), a maximum of only five minutes long (12 minutes for the Canon thanks to highly efficient H.264 video data compression codec), no connection option for an external microphone and exclusively with manual focus.

As far as the latter is concerned, the EOS 5D Mark II is hardly superior to the D90. Unlike a real camcorder, the EOS 5D Mark II’s autofocus only works at the touch of a button (AF-ON button) when filming, so it doesn’t constantly adjust the sharpness. In addition, there is the rather leisurely focusing speed and – using the built-in microphone – the operating noise of the autofocus, which is clearly audible in the film despite the ultrasonic drive, so that you might prefer to focus by hand. All in all, the image quality of the EOS-5D Mark II videos is already quite impressive, and with a lot of effort (connecting a stereo directional microphone to the camera, using a tripod, etc.) you can even achieve halfway professional-looking short films. But the recorded videos are probably more for the purely private presentation on the home LCD television and for simple documentation purposes (the camera could therefore interest experts, for example) than for a video reportage filmed according to the rules of the art.

By the way, the EOS 5D Mark II has a not uninteresting function for photo reportage: the so-called “silent recording”. We’d rather talk about a low-noise shutter release, but depending on the setting (mode 1 with slowed mirror beat, mode 2 with delayed mirror beat until the shutter release, single-frame or continuous-advance mode) you can shoot more or less discreetly in live mode. A connection for GPS receivers could also be useful for very special reports, but there are currently no original Canon accessories available.

Lens

The EOS 5D Mark II can be used together with all EF lenses (old and new) from Canon as a so-called “full-frame” camera, whose image sensor has the same dimensions as 35mm film or 35mm format (36 x 24 mm) – and this without capturing a narrower image section than usual from film times with the same focal length setting on the lens. This also applies to Canon-compatible lenses from third-party manufacturers such as Sigma, Tamron or Tokina (to name only the most renowned), provided these are not tailored to the sensor dimensions of digital EOS cameras with smaller image converters (which applies to the DC series from Sigma, the Di-II series from Tamron and the DX series from Tokina). Because unlike the Nikon D700, D3 or D3X, in which lenses with a smaller image circle/lens diameter can also be used with reduced resolution and focal length conversion (DX mode), the “full format” DSLRs from Canon do not have a mode in which only a correspondingly small part or section of the image sensor is read out. The use of EF-S lenses from Canon is therefore also excluded.

Finding a suitable EF lens for the EOS 5D Mark II – also in terms of optical imaging performance – can sometimes turn into “gambling”. Older EF lenses designed for analog EOS cameras may not meet the higher performance requirements of digital technology and may reveal more or less strong/visible imaging weaknesses. Canon has replaced many lens models with new, “digital-suitable” models (sometimes recognizable by a Roman two or similar), but for safety you should try the lens on the camera, get advice from an expert dealer or in the relevant Internet forums, or use the DCTau test protocols on our website to check whether the lens of your choice harmonizes with the EOS 5D Mark II in terms of image quality. What one can expect from the combination of the EF 24-105mm 1:4.0 L IS USM and the EOS 5D Mark II, which is also offered in the set, can partly be read in this test report under the test section “image quality”.

No matter whether you choose an individual lens or use the set offer: As soon as you have found the right lens, the fun really begins. The EOS 5D Mark II focuses super fast and precise – at least outside the live image mode. In this mode, you can place the AF-measuring field freely using a multi-controller (area AF) or have the camera focus on faces (although it only marks one face on the screen at a time, it should be able to keep up to 35 faces apart), but the autofocus takes a lot of time because of the other measuring method (contrast measurement) (especially in low light and/or with fast changes between near and far) and only starts by pressing the AF-ON button. The autofocus only works really fast if you leave the live image mode or if you use it together with the Quick mode setting – not without interruption. In these two cases, the EOS 5D Mark II uses the special autofocus sensor with phase detection technology in the depths of the camera; the red illuminated markings show where in the image the nine diamond-shaped AF sensors detect the subject during automatic focusing. By the way, the EOS 5D Mark II looks a bit old here: It still uses the same AF module as the first EOS 5D, which still works with a cross sensor (precise enough to avoid problems with the shallow depth of field even at F2.8), eight simple line sensors (precise up to F5.6) and six invisible auxiliary sensors. The AF electronics of the little sister EOS 50D, where all nine AF sensors are cross sensors, are partly more modern! The AF points could also be spread slightly wider over the field of view to capture people and objects close to the edges of the image.

But you can’t fool Canon that fast! Especially with USM lenses (i.e. with ultrasonic drive), the EOS 5D Mark II’s autofocus meets the high demands of many sports photographers. In AI servo and AI focus mode (where, in contrast to one-shot mode, the sharpness of moving subjects is adjusted in advance), the autofocus image staples to the heels of the subject being followed and – in combination with the camera’s continuous-advance mode – several sharp images are possible. If there are blurred images, it may also be due to a so-called front or backfocus problem; but with the AF fine adjustment function of the EOS 5D Mark II you can get a grip on light to medium focus adjustments. The autofocus of the EOS 5D Mark II works outside the live image mode up to -0.5 IL – but for photos in extremely low light up to absolute darkness, the built-in red light of the Speedlite system flash units or similar must be used due to the lack of AF auxiliary light on the camera.

Picture quality

With the EOS 5D Mark II, the resolution makes a leap from 12.8 megapixels (EOS 5D) to a decent 21.1 megapixels. To claim that one would not spontaneously notice the difference especially in the fine image details would simply be a lie, but if one takes a closer look at the images taken with the camera, one (but not everyone) might also notice a few disturbing things. The CMOS sensor of the EOS 5D Mark II may be a completely new image sensor and the interconnections between the tiny microlenses above each pixel element of the sensor may have been further reduced (which increases the light yield), but Canon has not left it at that. Rather, the image processing algorithms intervene massively in the image result – as the test laboratory working with us has established.

Whether this is done in “bad faith” (i.e. to achieve the highest marks in some tests for some measurements), or whether Canon was simply “overzealous”, doesn’t matter – the fact is that it doesn’t necessarily improve image quality. The EOS 5D Mark II achieves excellent marks in the input dynamics and even a peak performance at ISO 400 thanks to a very “choosy” form of noise reduction (aggressive high-frequency noise remains practically untouched from ISO 50 to 3,200 in the bright to medium image areas, while it is extremely smoothed into the shadows in the darker image areas). But this leads to a very uneven image result with very noise-free, but also detail-weak shadows and image areas of medium to high brightness, which are extremely rich in detail, but possibly also a bit noisy. Only at ISO 6.400 does the noise become more natural; color noise hardly shows up at all over the entire sensitivity range. Canon also traces some image contours on the EOS 5D Mark II in such a way that very fine (in the order of one pixel) double lines are created. This not only increases the impression of sharpness, but also contributes to higher resolution values (which other manufacturers with a somewhat coarser focus cannot do). And some of these edge artifacts are also noticeable in the images. That Canon manipulates the tonal value curve in order to produce “crisp” images without excessively eroding lights and shadows is, on the other hand, almost normal, as it is common practice with most camera manufacturers. But you still can’t talk about a true to original contrast or tonal value reproduction.

The fact that the extremely high number of pixels and the “full format” overtax many a lens can be seen, for example, in the EF 24-105mm 1:4.0 L IS USM and even with some fixed focal lengths such as the Canon EF 50mm 1:2.5 Compact Macro. Both optics are not sharp to the edges/corners of the image when the aperture is open (the loss of resolution from the center of the image is strong to very strong). And even if the vignetting isn’t as strong as in previous EOS-D models (for a full-frame DSLR with such a high resolution you can even speak of good vignetting values), the vignetting in many images is still very high (e.g. -2.6 f-stops with open aperture with the 50 mm macro). The distortion, on the other hand, has nothing to do directly with the interaction between electronics and optics. This is then also – typical for macro lenses with the EF 50mm 1:2.5 Compact Macro – virtually non-existent (0.1 % barrel-shaped). The EF 24-105mm 1:4.0 L IS USM, which has an extremely strong barrel shape at the wide-angle end, looks quite different, and the other focal lengths show visible to highly visible cushion distortion.

The so-called “Black Dot” phenomenon is currently the subject of much discussion, especially in English-language Internet forums. According to this, the EOS 5D Mark II is intended to produce image interference in the form of small black speckles under very specific shooting conditions, especially in the direct vicinity of small point light sources. We could not reproduce this phenomenon on the test camera available to us with the firmware version 1.0.6; the disturbing artifacts we found on the images were clear brightness moirés with inclined structures, visible color moirés with rising structures and aliasing with the diagonals. Despite relatively high compression in the default setting (1:11), we did not see any block artifacts or the like; in the lower image quality settings with compression factors of 1:22 to 1:26, slight compression artifacts in particularly color-intensive parts of the image can be perceived on closer inspection.

By the way, the EOS 5D Mark II doesn’t reproduce colors too saturated and without further color deviations. The camera tends to underexpose slightly during exposure (when using flash, the relationship between flash light and ambient light is very balanced thanks to powerful E-TTL II technology). With white balance, you could complain about the orange-red color cast that is still slightly present when using the automatic white balance under incandescent light, but the competition doesn’t make it any better. Nevertheless, Canon could give the white balance, exposure and autofocus systems of its cameras a small (or even a big) technological boost, because Canon’s lead in terms of precision and/or speed of white balance, exposure and autofocus is decreasing more and more (in various sub-disciplines Canon has even been overtaken by its arch-rival Nikon).

Bottom line

Also in the second generation Canon’s EOS 5D lets the muscles play properly. The EOS 5D Mark II is quite a mark (two) and impresses – absolutely typical for Canon – with an unrivalled ratio between pixel number, sensor size and price. Because nowhere else can you get a “full format” DSLR with over 20 megapixels, Liveview, HD video and automatic sensor cleaning for just under 2,500 EUR. But the muscle play is partially also pure “Imponiergehabe” and distracts from smaller as well as bigger inadequacies. The EOS 5D Mark II lacks such practical features as a built-in miniature flash, a camera-internal RAW converter, an AF auxiliary light and something similar to the Nikon cameras’ DX mode (the arch rival’s full-frame DSLRs can continue to use lenses with a smaller image circle at reduced resolution). When it comes to autofocus and exposure metering, Canon no longer plays a pioneering role. In addition, there is the somewhat questionable local overemphasis of fine image details during image processing, which not only leads to a clearly uneven image quality, but also makes Canon suspect of “cheating”. A company like Canon doesn’t need that and the EOS 5D Mark II loses a few sympathy points.