5D Mark 2 – First impressions

Love the Classic 5D…

I’ve been shooting with the classic Canon 5D from 2006 to present, been perfectly happy and only once been short of pixels for a job (it was a colossal print… did a stitch of 9 images in the end). But my main body has now done way over its allotted 150,000 photos and so the time for a new, reliable body came along.

I got a canon 5D Mark 2 (note, not 3…. a mark 2) as they are more than fit for my needs, and are more cost effective than the Mark 3.

So the first task was to check out the new features – things like Live View, 3 User Presets and My Menu were the main things. Obviously getting ISO 6400 and 22.1M Pixels is a bonus.

Live View

C1/2/3 Custom Setup

So live view – this is actually useful, being able to compose the shot, then zoom in to a spot on the scene, zoom 10 times (digitally) and focus is a real bonus, one which I’ll be using on Landscape and perhaps architecture work. It’s also going to be great for teaching as you can demonstrate many things “as they happen”.

C1, C2 and C3 are your Custom set-ups – the 5D has 1, the 5D2 has 3… I’ve used these for a HDR set-up, a Landscape (tripod based) setup and a fast “hand held portrait” set-up, so I can quickly adapt to changing conditions.

My Menu

Then the My Menu… that’s really useful, many settings are buried several menus deep – mirror lock up being the main one. You can add any 6 menu items in here – so it’s very quick and easy to access them. So those are the main practical benefits I’ve seen so far.

My first professional shoot with it went off perfectly, the main difference being the ISO setting is changed by the top wheel on the Mark 2 – that caught me out EVERY time I went to change it. It blended seamlessly with my flash/lens set-up  and the images of the baby are just incredible.

Since then I’ve hooked it up to my Samsung Tab 2 and got the camera shooting Focus Stacks and it can take so many more Auto Exposure Brackets than in-built 3 (handy for tricky HDR situations).

So yes, the Mark 2 does have some worthy upgrades which will help move my photography on – namely the higher ISO, higher pixel count – and a few time saving devices like the Live View and C1/2/3 settings), so well done canon!

Has it changed my motivation, style and how I work – not at all! 😉