Canon 5D Mark II:

So here is the 5D Mark II, which punches high in terms of both resolution and features, headlining: 21
megapixels, 1080p video, 3.0" VGA LCD, Live view, higher capacity battery. In other words, a camera
that aims to leapfrog both its direct rivals, either in terms of resolution (in the case of the D700) or features
(in the case of the DSLR-A900). Full detail below.

Key features / improvements

• 21 megapixel CMOS sensor (very similar to the sensor in the EOS-1Ds Mark III)

• Sensor dust reduction by vibration of filter

• ISO 100 - 6400 calibrated range, ISO 50 - 25600 expansion (1Ds Mark III & 5D max ISO 3200)

• Auto ISO (100 - 3200) in all modes except manual

• 3.9 frames per second continuous shooting

• DIGIC 4 processor, new menus / interface as per the EOS 50D

• Image processing features:

o Highlight tone priority

o Auto lighting optimizer (4 levels)

o High ISO noise reduction (4 levels)

o Lens peripheral illumination correction (vignetting correction)

• RAW and SRAW1 (10 MP) / SRAW2 (5 MP)

• RAW / JPEG selection made separately

• Permanent display of ISO on both top plate and viewfinder displays

• AF micro adjustment (up to 20 lenses individually)

• Three custom modes on command dial, Creative Auto mode

• Image copyright metadata support

• 98% coverage viewfinder (0.71x magnification)

• 3.0" 920,000 dot LCD monitor with 'Clear View' cover / coatings, 170° viewing angle

• Automatic LCD brightness adjustment (ambient light sensor)

• Live view with three mode auto-focus (including face detection)

 • No mirror-flip for exposures in Live View if contrast detect AF selected

• Movie recording in live view (1080p H.264 up to 12 minutes, VGA H.264 up to 24 mins per clip)

• Two mode silent shooting (in live view)

• New jump options in play mode

• HDMI and standard composite (AV) video out

• Full audio support: built-in mic and speaker, mic-in socket, audio-out over AV (although not
HDMI)

• IrPort (supports IR remote shutter release using optional RC1 / RC5 controllers)

• UDMA CompactFlash support

• New 1800 mAh battery with improved battery information / logging

• New optional WFT-E4 WiFi / LAN / USB vertical grip

• Water resistance: 10 mm rain in 3 minutes

Video:

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II's major headline-grabbing feature not seen before on a Canon DSLR is
video. The 5D II is a Video DSLR. While video itself is not a huge surprise (point and shoot cams have
had it for a long time), Canon has given us very high end image quality in 1080p 16:9 HD format. Add to
that the huge range of lenses available for this camera (including Fisheye, Macro, Tilt-Shift, Ultra-Wide
Angle, Ultra-Wide Aperture and Super-Telephoto lenses) and the low-light capabilities/DOF control of
the large full frame sensor and now independent filmmakers start paying attention. Canon Explorer of
Light Vincent Laforet (photographer) created a short video (linked below) shot in one weekend with a low
budget using a pre-production 5D II. The short video instantly became famous and brought Vincent fame
and a lot of business. This video was partially responsible for the huge demand the 5D II was introduced
into.

Just because your DSLR has world class video capabilities does not make you a world class
videographer. There is a lot to learn for those of us new to video capture and production. The cross-over
is not too hard for a photographer that knows what they are doing and is able to learn new skills quickly.
But it is definitely different.

One new consideration is sound. While the 5D Mark II includes a functional internal mic (3 small holes on
front of camera), it is not great and is not well regarded (possibly regarded even lower than it should be).
It records all wind and camera noises very well - including image stabilizer noise (at least from both the
24-105 f/4 L IS USM Lens and the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM Lens). An external mic attached to the 3.5mm
stereo mini jack makes a nice upgrade. The 9v battery-powered Rode Stereo Video Mic (and the
included "Dead Kitten WindMuff") is working nicely for me. It is not large (hot shoe mounted) and does not
pick up image stabilizer noise - it is a nice upgrade for on-camera sound quality. Sound levels and wind
filter settings are adjusted automatically by the camera. "Sound is recorded as linear PCM without
compression in mono (when recorded by monaural microphone located under camera nameplate) or in
stereo (when using optional external stereo microphone)." [Canon] Sound can of course be added in the
editing phase.

I mentioned image stabilization - stabilizing the camera is another very important consideration for
reasonable quality video work - it helps prevent the audience from becoming motion sick. A fast shutter
speed is not going to save you on this one (as it can with still photography). Ultra wide angle lenses work
reasonably well handheld, but by 24mm, I'm not as pleased with my results. Add IS and the results are
much better right up into short-to-medium telephoto ranges. A solid tripod is what delivers the best
results (and you will likely want a fluid video head if you are panning during the shot). The market
abounds with alternative video stabilizing gear such as SteadyCam ("brace yourself" for this price),
GlideCam and Bogen's FigRig. Even grasping a folded tripod attached to the camera improves
steadiness and makes panning smoother. Price ranges for this equipment ranges from affordable to
extremely expensive.

When ready to start recording a video, Live View is what you use. The selected Picture Style parameters
are what is used for the video (black and white video recording is available). The exposure level is
automatically determined using a Center-weighted average metering algorithm and can be adjusted using
the Rear Control Dial. To hold an exposure during a pan, press the "*" button.

Aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings for video recording are all automatically determined (Program
AE only). While this makes life easy, many of us like to have full control over these settings. I want to be
able to force a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II USM Lens to a wide open f/1.2 aperture setting to create a
completely blurred background. Workarounds are available - using ND filters to reduce light and force the
lens to open wider is one example. Auto-only seems like a big shortcoming to me - this is definitely a
feature left on the table for the 5D Mark III. MAJOR UPDATE: Canon has announced a EOS 5D Mark II
firmware upgrade to provide manual video exposure control.

Pressing the set button starts and stops the video - and usually creates some movement you will want to
edit out. A semi-transparent mask shows the recorded framing when shooting video - and 16:9 is much
different (wider) than the normal 3:2 ratio we shoot still images at.

Contrast mode AF (with or without Face Detection) will work in video mode, but it is not recommended
(even by Canon). Any AF noise will be recorded by the internal mic, any focus hunting will ruin the
footage and this AF method is slow. I find manual focusing to be much easier than I expected - especially
when pre-focusing using 10x Live View. If you are tracking a subject, life becomes more difficult - keeping
the camera still while adjusting focus is not easy.

Still photos can be captured while shooting a video. The video will record the still image for about 1
second while the full-resolution image is captured. Sound recording is suspending during this process.

Using an adequately fast CompactFlash card (the SanDisk Extreme III 16 GB CF Cards work fine), up to
4GB or 12 minutes of recording time is available at 1920x1080 (24 minutes at 640x480). I've heard some
complaints about this limit and it may indeed limit some uses for the 5D Mark II video capability, but there
aren't many scenes I would like to look at for longer than this. A fully charged battery is good for about 90
minutes of video recording.

Update: The video capabilities of the 5D II have been updated multiple times through firmware updates.
For example, here is the Canon EOS 5D Mark II Firmware Update 2.0.3 Press Release. This amazing
camera continues to get even better.

So you have successfully recorded some amazing footage. What now? Play it back to see what you've
captured of course. Full playback is available on the 5D II's LCD (including sound from the rear speaker -
the 4 small holes referred to above) - or on an HD TV using the included HDMI port. The Canon EOS 5D
Mark II's video recording format is MOV using MPEG-4 compression (H.264). Thus, any software
compatible with this format will work - including Apple's QuickTime.

On a laptop? The huge 5D II video files do not play smoothly in Apple QuickTime on my Dell XPS M1330
laptop (Vista Ultimate, Core 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz, 800Mhz, 6M L2 Cache, 4GB, DDR2, 667MHz, 128MB
NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, 320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive).

My Dell XPS 730 (Vista Ultimate 64-bit, Intel Core2 QuadCore processor, Q9550, 2.83GHz, 1333FSB,
12MB cache, 4GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz, nVidia GeForce GTX 280 1024MB, Raid 0 with Dual
750GB Hard Drives) plays the .MOV files very nicely in QuickTime.

These are just some data points for you as there are a huge number of computer and video software app
combinations available. Video editing software is probably going to be high on your purchase list if
bringing a 5D II home.

Verticals? As natural as taking them feels, they just do not look good in HD video.

I doubt the Canon EOS 5D Mark II is going to replace the family video camera in most households, but its
video capability is definitely appealing in many other situations. Why not extend your professional service
to include video? You don't even need to take another camera with you. And with its low light capabilities,
the 5D II likely will not require a rental truck full of hot lights (and the setup crew that accompanies them)
to go with you. Why not extend your stock photo sales with some stock video? It doesn't take much longer
to capture a video clip while you are shooting stills. Is the specific frame captured more important than the
resolution? A frame capture from a 30 fps video may be good enough for low-res needs.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II specifications

List price • US: $ 2,699

(body only) • EU: € 2,499
• UK: £ 2,299
List price • US: $ 3,499
(EF 24-105 L kit) • EU: € 3,299
• UK: £ 3,049
Body material Magnesium alloy
Sensor * • 36 x 24 mm CMOS sensor
• Full 35 mm size frame
• RGB Color Filter Array
• Built-in fixed low-pass filter (with self-cleaning unit)
• 22.0 million total pixels
• 21.1 million effective pixels
• 3:2 aspect ratio
Lenses • Canon EF lens mount (does not support EF-S lenses)
 • No field of view crop (1.0x)
Dust reduction • "EOS Integrated Cleaning System"
• Self-cleaning sensor unit (filter in front of sensor vibrates at high
frequency at start-up and shutdown - can be disabled)
• Dust Delete Data - Data from a test shot is used to 'map' dust spots
and can be later removed using Canon DPP Software
Image processor * DIGIC 4
A/D conversion 14 bit
Image sizes (JPEG) * • 5616 x 3744 (21.0 MP)
• 4080 x 2720 (11.1 MP)
• 2784 x 1856 (5.2 MP)
Image sizes (RAW) * • 5616 x 3744 (21.0 MP)
• 3861 x 2574 (10.0 MP)
• 2784 x 1856 (5.2 MP)
File formats * • RAW (.CR2; 14-bit)
• JPEG (EXIF 2.21) - Fine / Normal
• RAW + JPEG (separate files)
• sRAW1, sRAW2 (see above) *
Auto focus • 9-point TTL CMOS sensor
• 6 "Invisible Assist AF points"
• Centre point cross type F5.6 or faster
• Center point additionally sensitive with lenses of F2.8 or faster
• AF working range: -0.5 - 18 EV (at 23°C, ISO 100)
Focus modes • One shot AF
• AI Servo AF
• AI Focus AF
• Manual focus
AF micro • Adjust all lenses by same amount (effectively body adjustment)
adjustment * • Adjust up to 20 lenses individually
AF point selection • Auto
• Manual
Predictive AF • As close as 8 m (with 300 mm F2.8L lens at 50 kph)
AF assist No (only with external flash)
Metering • TTL full aperture metering 35 zone SPC
• Metering range: 1.0 - 20 EV
Metering modes • Evaluative 35 zone (linked to any AF point)
• Partial (8% at center)
• Spot metering (approx. 3.5% at center)
• Center-weighted average
AE lock • Auto: One Shot AF with evaluative metering
• Manual: AE lock button
Exposure • +/-2.0 EV
compensation • 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
Exposure bracketing • +/- 2.0 EV
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
Sensitivity * • ISO 100 - 6400
• 0.3 or 1.0 EV increments
• Auto ISO (100-3200)
• Expansion options:
ISO 50 (L1)
ISO 12800 (H1)
ISO 25600 (H2)
Shutter • Focal-plane shutter
• 150,000 exposure durability
• 30 - 1/8000 sec
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
• Flash X-Sync: 1/200 sec
 • Bulb
Aperture values • F1.0 - F91
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
• Actual aperture range depends on lens used
White balance • Auto
• Daylight
• Shade
• Cloudy
• Tungsten
• Fluorescent
• Flash
• Custom
• Kelvin (2500 - 10000 K in 100 K steps)
WB bracketing • +/-3 levels
• 3 images
• Blue / Amber or Magenta / Green bias
WB shift • Blue (-9) To Amber (+9)
• Magenta (-9) to Green (+9)
Picture style • Standard
• Portrait
• Landscape
• Neutral
• Faithful
• Monochrome
• User def. 1
• User def. 2
• User def. 3
Custom image • Sharpness: 0 to 7
parameters • Contrast: -4 to +4
• Saturation: -4 to +4
• Color tone: -4 to +4
• B&W filter: N, Ye, Or, R, G
• B&W tone: N, S, B, P, G
Image processing • Highlight tone priority
options * • Auto lighting optimizer (4 settings)
• Long exposure noise reduction
• High ISO noise reduction (4 settings)
• Auto correction of lens peripheral illumination (vignetting)
Color space • sRGB
• Adobe RGB
Viewfinder * • Eye-level pentaprism
• 98% frame coverage
• Magnification: 0.71x (-1 diopter with 50 mm lens at infinity)
• Eyepoint: Approx. 21 mm
• Interchangeable focusing screen (3 other types optional)
• Dioptric adjustment: -3.0 to +1.0 diopter
Mirror • Quick-return half mirror (transmission:reflection ratio 40:60)
• Mirror lock-up (once or multiple exposures)
Viewfinder info * • AF information:
AF points
Focus confirmation light
• Exposure information:
Shutter speed
Aperture value
ISO speed (always displayed)
AE lock
Exposure level/compensation
Spot metering circle
Exposure warning
 AEB
• Flash information:
Flash ready
High-speed sync
FE lock
Flash exposure compensation
• Image information:
White balance correction
CF card information
Monochrome shooting
Maximum burst (2 digit display)
Highlight tone priority (D+)
LCD monitor * • 3.0 " TFT LCD
• 920,000 pixels
• Automatic 3 level brightness adjustment plus 7 manual levels
• 170 ° viewing angle
• Dual anti-reflection ('Clear View')
LCD Live view * • Live TTL display of scene from CMOS image sensor
• 100% frame coverage
• 30 fps
• Real-time evaluative metering using CMOS image sensor
• Best view or exposure simulation
• Silent mode
• Grid optional (x2)
• Magnify optional (5x or 10x at AF point)
• Three AF modes - Live mode / Quick mode / Face Detection
• Live histogram (Luminance or RGB)
• Remote live view using EOS Utility 2.0 (via USB or WiFi/Ethernet using
WFT)
Movie recording * • Available optionally during Live view mode
• 1920 x 1080 (16:9) up to 12 mins (Quicktime 1080p H.264; 38.6
Mbits/sec)
• 640 x 480 (4:3) up to 24 mins (Quicktime 480p H.264; 17.3 Mbits/sec)
• Max file size 4 GB
• Quicktime MOV format (H.264 video, PCM sound)
• 30 fps
Record review • Off
• On (histogram via INFO button)
• Display mode same as last used Play mode
• 2 / 4 / 8 sec / Hold
Playback modes 1. Single image with exposure, file number, storage slot
2. As 1 but also image count and quality
3. Detailed exposure information, thumbnail and luminance histogram
4. Less detailed exposure info., thumbnail, luminance and RGB
histograms
Playback features • Optional blinking highlight alert
• Optional AF point display
• Magnified view (up to 10x)
• 2x2 or 3x3 thumbnail index
• Jump (by 1, 10, 100 images, screen, date, folder, movies, stills)*
• Delete / Protect
Flash • No built-in flash unit
• E-TTL II auto flash / metered manual
• Flash compensation +/-2.0 EV in 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
• X-Sync: 1/200 sec
• Hot-shoe & PC Terminal
External flash • E-TTL II auto flash with EX-series Speedlites
• In-camera flash configuration (currently only 580 EX II)
• Wireless multi-flash support
• PC Sync
Shooting modes • Auto
• Creative Auto *
• Program AE (P)
• Shutter priority AE (Tv)
• Aperture priority AE (Av)
• Manual (M)
• Custom 1
• Custom 2 *
• Custom 3 *
Drive modes • Single
• Continuous: 3.9 fps *
• Self-timer: 2 or 10 sec (2 sec with mirror lock-up)
Burst buffer • Large/Fine JPEG: 78 frames (310 with UDMA card) *
• RAW: 13 frames *
Orientation sensor Yes
Auto rotation • On (recorded and LCD display)
• On (recorded only)
• Off
Custom functions * 25 custom functions with 71 settings in 4 groups
Menu languages * • 25 Languages
• English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Portuguese, Finnish, Italian,
Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Greek, Russian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian,
Romanian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Arabic, Thai, Simplified Chinese,
Traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese
Firmware User upgradable
Portrait grip • Optional WFT-E4 (WiFi / LAN / USB mass storage)
• Optional BG-E6 battery grip
Connectivity * • USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
• AV out (video & audio *)
• HDMI connector *
• Microphone input *
• PC Sync flash terminal
• Communication terminal on base for WFT-E4
• InfraRed *
Storage * • Compact Flash Type I or II (inc. FAT32)
• Supports UDMA cards *
• Copyright metatag support
• Canon Original Data Security Kit supported ("Original Image Data")
Power * • Lithium-Ion LP-E6 rechargeable battery (supplied & charger)
• CR1616 for date & settings
• Approx. 850 shots at 20°C
• Battery indication 6 levels & percentage (memorized)
Dimensions * 152 x 114 x 75 mm (6.0 x 4.5 x 2.9 in)
Weight * • No battery: 810 g (1.8 lb)
Accessories • Viewfinder: Eyecup Eb, E-series Dioptric Adjustment Lens with Rubber
Frame Eb, Eyepiece Extender EP-EX15, Focusing Screens Eg, Angle
Finder C
• Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E4
• Battery Grip BG-E6
• All EF lenses (excludes EF-S lenses)
• Canon Speedlites (220EX, 380EX, 420EX, 430EX, 430EX II, 550EX,
580EX, 580EX II, Macro-Ring-Lite, MR-14EX, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX,
Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2)
• Remote control with N3 type contact, Wireless Controller LC-5,
Remote Controller RC-1, Remote Controller RC-5
• Original Data Security Kit OSK-E3