Canon EOS 5D Mark II

For those who want the camera for it's amazing video, you may want to check this thread out:

 

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26569

 

As ever, there's never a free lunch

Drew - Did you look at the specs of the Powershot SX1is in terms of video? Is it the same video as in the 5DII?

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08091703...x1is_sx10is.asp

I'm surprised this video did not end up in G10, but in a different Powershot camera, especially given Canon's stated position that the G10 is the flagship compact: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0810/08100302...oninterview.asp

Only 10MP, but given the video capability and native 28-560mm zoom equivalent, with the right housing and wide-angle adapter this Powershot might be an interesting tool to use underwater. Imagine going on safari and then going on the sardine run with one dinky camera and a small Pelican case.

Not that I'll trade in my MKIII cameras and Seacam, but still, lots of performance in smaller cameras these days.

Senor Frink, apparently it's H.264 at 17.5mbps. So it's less than 45% of the bandwidth of the 5D2. It should be on par with the camcorders using AVCHD and probably about the same as HDV in quality.

You're absolutely right that the SX1 IS is a very capable camera. Maybe you can convince Harald to build a Seacam for little cameras now with the economic downturn.

The funny thing is the SX1 IS isn't even available worldwide. I suppose Canon is protecting the camcorder market in the US which has been doing well so far. I would think something as small as the G10 with a CCD sensor, heat from capturing high res video would be pretty high. Not to mention that SDHC isn't up to the speeds or capacity of CF cards.. The SX1 uses CMOS, hence the drawback of wobbles/skew of rolling shutter.

However, with the small sensor and not so fast lens, the low light ability will suffer. That's the main selling point of the 5D2. 14 f2.8, 15FE 2.8, 20 f1.8, 21 f2.8, 24 f1.4, all fast primes giving the camera super nice low light wide angle. Then you have the 100,150,180 f2.8 lenses for super macro. Coupled with the larger than S35mm sensor, probably the best looking low light video this side of $10k.

I'm surprised this video did not end up in G10, but in a different Powershot camera, especially given Canon's stated position that the G10 is the flagship compact: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0810/08100302...oninterview.asp

As an aside ... I was surprised that they took away the 15fps 1024 x 768 video option from the G10 that exists on the G9.

I use this all the time on my G9.

Julian, I think you have the cameras registered wrong in the above animation, I compared the sizes of the hotshoe from the DPReview allaround.jpg for both cameras as currently this is the only stable measurement we have, the 5D was 2% smaller than the one on the 5D2, this could explain the significant size bump as your animation transitions from 5d to 5d2.

Anyway, here's one where I absolutely matched the data at 100% view with locked aspect ratios in CS3, registering both cameras to their hotshoe.

For ease of view, I just have the 5D2 with the light cyan highlighting the viewfinder as well as the most used buttons as well as the live view button for use with Video, the red coloured shapes are the ones from the 5D1, as you can see the buttons are much closer than your original post. Note, this is exactly the same method I used when I converted my Subal 10D housing over to use with the 5D & 40D (James, you know how well that's been working eh?

Don't give up yet! I'm likely getting the 5D2 early next year once all the early orders have been filled and will be having a chat with my buddy Bill Reed on a new base plate (about 1-1.5mm lower than my original 5D plate) as well as moving one of the unused buttons (likely PLAY) to the Live View position to enable video on the Mk2. We're also chatting about a new way to offset the control buttons on the left....specifically Menu & Info.

Stu

I'm all ears Stu - please keep me posted.

Cheers

James

James,

Will do. Bill's new control transfer system is sweet! Much more positive than the transfer pad, not bad for a design he dreamed up and prototyped with a coffee stir stick!

S.

Surely someone at Photokina just tried to see if it fits? You had loads of 5D Mk2s there. A special underwater imaging world section and 5 to 8 (depending on how you count) underwater housing manufacturers there.

Surely someone was curious? Surely there is a definitive answer already? It only takes a second to see if another baseplate and a few button mods will do the trick or if it physically is a no-go.

Alex

Surely someone at Photokina just tried to see if it fits? You had loads of 5D Mk2s there. A special underwater imaging world section and 5 to 8 (depending on how you count) underwater housing manufacturers there.

 

Surely someone was curious? Surely there is a definitive answer already? It only takes a second to see if another baseplate and a few button mods will do the trick or if it physically is a no-go.

 

Alex

We'll have a Seacam 5D housing at the DEMA show, and our buddies from Canon will be bringing along a 5DII (and G10), so if you can wait until later in the month to have a look at the 5DII, it will be hanging out at the Seacam booth #2843.

Drew emailed a link to a hands-on video comparison of the 5D and 5D II: http://www.dslruser.co.uk/dslrtv/play.php?vid=154 .

stu,

yes, MkI and II are displayed with different ratios. So I've resized all pics accordingly. I've done it for each pic. Reference is the lens. Expect backview, where I took hotshoe for size. But I didn't overlay the hotshoes or viewfinders. Because if you do I think the lens isn't in the same place anymore.

Yes, the backview might be imprecise in terms of size (it wasn't as straight as having the lens in the pic). But I think you should consider the lens as reference for the housing match (zoom gear, optics, etc.) and work it out for the backview overlay. I think you didn't?

I dunno, but if you look at the front pic, it confirms the camera requires more space at the buttom as the same lens is overlayed.

So I assume same is valid for backview.

Julian

Hi Julian,

Based on the specs on DPReview, the 5Dmk2 (152x114x75mm) is identical in Width and Depth to the 5D (152x113x75) and is 1mm shorter in height, your transition is showing a much larger difference than that. My 10D (150x107x75) was had a much larger size difference between it's body and the 5D and my zoom gears, shutter, aperture, shutterspeed etc all still work.

Stu

Right,

Since I've used the 10D to 5D conversion kit and the 5D in a 10D housing I can say that the cameras are definitely different in size, but it can be done.

However, the important dimension is the centerline on the lens to the centerline on the viewfinder. If that measurement is much different, then the conversion is going to result in either the lens or viewfinder not being centered.

Cheers

James

We were able to center the 5D in the 10D Housing with a 7mm offset, 1 mm won't matter one way or the other.

s.

p.s. just did a quick overlay of the 2 bodies, taking into account the 1mm height diff. 5D & 5Dmk2 lens mount heights are identical.

Guys, go to 2.25 on the DSLR video... there's a side by side pic of m1 and m2.

After handling the camera at DEMA, my suspicions were unfortunately confirmed. If you are planning to buy the 5D Mark II based on any notions of it being sufficiently weather-sealed - do not.

While it can be paired with weather-sealed L lenses, the camera itself lacks the complementary rubber mating surface on the lens mount that seals the camera/lens connection. Compare the 5D Mark II lens mount to the 1Ds Mark III lens mount to note the difference.

Why even seal other parts of the camera when water will immediately seep into the mirror box?

Maybe some rubber cement would do the trick? :-)

Maybe some rubber cement would do the trick? :-)

Sounds like a warranty repair claim in the making .

I'm not a weather sealing expert; anyone have any idea on how Canon pro weather sealing compares to Nikon? Does Canon have some super pro weather sealing beyond Nikon? As far as I know Nikon tends to have similar weather sealing on their higher end prosumer cameras like D700 and D300 as the D2x / D3. Is that correct.

Hi,

During DEMA show, I had a chance to put 5D Mk2 into Seacam 5D housing

at Seacam USA booth. Canon was displaying 5D Mk2 there during the show.

Camera goes into front harf but, I could not close the back cover. Something

was touching a long clear plastic bar in back cover.

I will try with S&S and Nexus again when camera is available.

Sam

All these hassles with the housings drives an old Nikonos user nuts. But as a video professional and decendant of a long line of photographers this camera, for U/W use, excites me. The compact size, capabilities, and full 35mm sensor of the 5D mk 2 camera has reignited my feeling that it might be time to create a new amphibious, non-housed UW camera. If one could only take the electronics of this camera, machine or modify a new body with a Nikonos lens mount...

I realize the insanity and difficulty of the idea, the loss of auto iris, auto focus, etc., but say for a minute that a true waterproof body could be built to hold the electronics, would reverting to the old direct contact submersible lenses be that bad? Some say the 15mm is still the best U/W lense ever made and most of them are just collecting dust.