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Monday November 24, 2008
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The Canon EOS 5D Mark II began shipments to U.S. dealers Tuesday, possibly ushering in a new era in digital imaging: a device that's both a first-rate digital still camera and a first-class high-definition video camera.
As a digital SLR (DSLR), the Canon 5D Mark II has a 21-megapixel sensor with a resolution of up to 5,616 x 3,744 pixels. Quick math: That's a 56-inch x 37-inch, 100 dpi wall poster, a 19-inch by 12-inch magazine page, at 300 dpi resolution.
On the video side, the Canon 5D Mark II shoots 1,920 x 1,080 progressive scan video, or at VGA resolution. According to the Canon 5D manual, the camera uses sensor cropping while shooting video, describing a masked area for framing shots, that may be confusing to some users.
"A small amount of the total imaging area on the sensor has to be cropped from the top and bottom in order to account for the difference in aspect ratio between 3:2 [photo] and 16:9 [video], but the full width of the sensor is used," Canon technical spokesman Chuck Westfall explained. "For this reason, there is no focal length conversion factor in HD movie mode."
That's important because that allows users to shoot extreme wide angles using Canon wide-angle lenses. Most HD video cameras in the hands of consumers and prosumers only have modest wide-angle capabilities. When the camera ships and gets in hands of buyers and reviewers, we'll learn the answers to some pressing questions:
Photo quality should be nearly flawless, but what about video? Early reports say video is very good. You must work around a built-in cap of about 4GB per clip, or 12 minutes of HD shooting or 24 minutes of standard definition video, before you have to stop (ever so briefly) then restart. For most people that shouldn't be a problem.
Will users be confused by accessing video through a menu? You can't, unfortunately, just turn the exposure dial to a video setting as you can on most point-and-shoot cameras that offer very low resolution, low frame rate video.
Who's going to buy a $2,700 (camera body) or $3,500 (camera body and good lens) system? There's a recession on.
Where's the Canon 60D with video mode? Nikon's top-end prosumer DSLR, the D90, has video, but not the Canon 50D.
$3,500 for camera and lens - too much for amateurs?
For a lot of people, price may be an issue. Good entry level digital SLRs from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, and others are $500 to $1,000. The premium prosumer DSLRs are around $1,500, such as the 15-megapixel Canon 50D and 12.3 megapixel Nikon D90. The D90 also does HD video, but most reviews say that the vido is good but not great; our colleague Tony Hoffman on pcmag.com called the Nikon D90 video features "limited."
The Canon EOS Mark II has a $2,699 suggested price for the body and $3,499 with a 24-105mm IS f/4 image stabilized lens. For those stepping up from a Canon Rebel DSLR, you'll probably need the lens since this is a full-frame camera. The 10-22mm, 17-55mm, 18-55mm, 17-85mm, 18-200mm, 55-250mm, and 60mm EF-S lenses sold commonly with Canon's cropped frame (the so-called APS-C format) DSLR cameras (Canon Rebel, Canon 20D, Canon 30D, Canon 40D, Canon 50D) won't clear the internal mirror.
Regular Canon Telephoto lenses are no problem; neither are other Canon wideangle lenses except that they're less wide-angle on two-thirds size sensors. That's one more reason for Canon partisans to wish for a Canon 50D follow-on to have video: no need to buy new lenses. Until recently, the pace of upgrades among mainstream DSLRs has been every two years, but competition may quicken the pace, especially when a competitor offers a feature you don't have at that price point.
On the other hand, if you were in the market for a $1,500 DSLR camera and a $1,000 HD camcorder, you're at essentially the same price, assuming you've already got Canon lenses. And the sweet spot for the 5D Mark II isn't the amateur dying to spend an extra $1,000 and have the most megapixels among local soccer dads, but pros looking for a second or third camera body in case their main $7,000 Canon camera is in the shop. Or pros looking for two camera bodies for the price of one ultra-rugged camera. Actually, at 21 megapixels, no Canon camera has more resolution. The Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III also has 21 megapixels, but it's $7,000, and the sports-oriented Canon EOS-1D Mark III is $4,500 with just a 10 megapixel sensor but a 10-frames-per-second motor drive. The Canon EOS 5D Mark II motor drive is rated at 3.9 fps.
Perfect for bloggers at high-paying websites?
If the camera has a perfect niche, it's for bloggers working for websites paying enough to allow them to buy expensive cameras. (None currently exist.) Now you can carry just one camera for both stills and videos, switch back and forth, and in the middle of filming, press the shutter button to take a still photo. Video pauses then resumes about a second later. It will also likely find a strong following among wedding photographers.
By the way, the price hasn't gone up. Some blogs reported a price hike since the camera's announcement Sept. 17. No so, says Canon. In the U.S., at least, the prices are unchanged. Just don't expect much of a discount initially since this camera will be in short supply. If you're shopping and see prices below $2,000, you're probably seeing the still-available Canon EOS 5D (not the 5D Mark II), a three-year-old 12.8 megapixel full-frame camera.
New battery: 50% more power, not for older Canons
Canon also says accessories for the 5D Mark II will be available in parallel with the 5D Mark II's availability, including extra batteries, the BG-E6 Battery Grip and the WFT-E4A Wireless File Transmitter. This is a new battery design so you can't substitute in batteries from earlier Canon cameras. (The difference? More recessed contacts, perhaps out of concern for battery safety.)
But the new LP-E6 battery pack, which looks very much like the older BP-511A, packs 1800 milliamp-hours capacity, 30% more than the 1390 mAh of the older BP-511A. The new battery pack is rated for 850 photos at room temperature, or 1,700 photos when you put two batteries in the battery grip. In Live View mode, using the 3.0" rear LCD, you get 200 photos, and Canon rates a single battery pack for two hours in movie mode. That's about 13% more photos, 850 vs. 750, rather than 30% more because the new camera also has a more powerful processing engine (DIGIC 4) and a bigger rear LCD.
More high-end wide-angles available for 5D than 50D
For dedicated photographers who want to shoot in a variety of lighting conditions, the full-frame 5D makes better use of Canon's high-end wide-angle lenses.
The best wide-angle zoom for full-frame Canon cameras is a 16-35mm zoom with an f/2.8 aperture (lens opening) across the entire zoom range. Its equivalent in coverage on an APS-C format camera (with a sensor two-thirds of the full frame size) is the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 lens, meaning it lets in about half as much light, varying from f/3.5 (two-thirds as much light) at 10mm to f/4.5 (one-third as much light) at 22mm. To compare full-frame and two-thirds frame cameras for the coverage, multiply the focal length by 1.5.
A 10mm wide-angle lens on a Canon 50D is about the same as a 16mm lens on a Canon 5D Mark II, covering 97 degrees and 98 degrees horizontally, respectively. To compare prices, there's also a multiplier effect. In the case of the wide-angles, it's 2.0: about $675 street for the 10-22mm lens, $1,350 for the ruggedly built 16-35mm lens.
If you're dying to know more about the 5D Mark II in glorious detail, Canon has had the 5D Mark II manual online for the past several weeks.
Separately, to coincide with the release of the 5D Mark II, Adobe released an Adobe Camera Raw converter, version 5.2, for Adobe Photoshop CS4, Photoshop Elements 7, and Premiere Elements 7. The plug-in allows for easier uploading and manipulation of raw, uncompressed camera files. It's also for the Canon PowerShot G10, Panasonic DMC-G1, Panasonic DMC-FX150, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Panasonic DMC LX3 and Leica D-LUX 4
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November 25, 2008 4:59 AM
I cannot wait for this camera to be delivered! I also found a wiki with loads of video and still samples that is very helpful to anyone thinking about buying the mk ii or wanting to see what it can do... http://planet5d.com
November 27, 2008 12:08 PM
Man, am I ever excited to see this BEFORE Christmas holidays. I preordered months ago, and contemplated cancelling to save money in these uncertain economic times. However, the features are so strong that I should easily recover the cost in capabilities. The movie feature looks fun as heck too..
December 21, 2008 2:35 AM
I LOVE THIS CAMERA! Laforet was right. If you are familiar with canon's system and have a decent eye you will be blown away by what this beauty can do. I shot this little movie tuesday for Delta Airlines. Don't know if they want it yet. ;-) We'll see. The prettiest model I know just happened to be available. http://www.vimeo.com/2562442