Canon 5D Mark II housing shootout review

Finally I've finished the review that took 8 months to put together. I had a lot of failures in terms of uploading the review from africa so it may be a bit rough. Apologies but I figured I'd better get it out before the 5D Mark III comes out.

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/canon-5d-ma...using-shootout/

Finally I've finished the review that took 8 months to put together. I had a lot of failures in terms of uploading the review from africa so it may be a bit rough. Apologies but I figured I'd better get it out before the 5D Mark III comes out.

 

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/canon-5d-ma...using-shootout/

Read it last night. Very good article and the part about the Magic Filters & lighting is very helpful.

Updated with video from 5D2 on the last page.

Thanks for the review Drew. As one who is still on the fence with regard to VidDSLR, particularly for underwater, it seems that for underwater this camera is still a compromise when compared to best in class for either video or stills. Adequate but hardly stellar autofocus performance would appear to be an important area for still photographers where a whole number of both Canon and Nikon cameras would appear to be superior, and the video limitations you mention including Auto ISO implementation and others would seem to make this still suboptimal for underwater video.

From your report I can see situations where a still shooter who gave up his 1DSMKIII for this camera would have moments of regret, as would the video guy who gave up his higher end dedicated videocam.

As I grow old waiting for Nikon's iteration of the full frameVDSLR to replace the D700, I am less inclined than I was to 'upgrade' just for the video feature, particularly for underwater.

I would like to see a comparison of the 7D and 5D underwater.

Jeff, the AUTO ISO issue is only in still picture taking in MANUAL mode. It just stays at ISO400. Which is not big deal to someone like myself who shoots manual everything anyways. Still, it's a stupid implementation.

I'm not sure Nikon will put 1080p in. They had the chance with the D3s and they didn't even put in full manual control. For their 2nd in line model, that's pretty sad and shows no conviction. Who knows? They may finally get the picture with the D3X replacement.

The point of the review is to give buyers an idea of what they are getting themselves into. Manual everything shooting is definitely not for everyone, especially for video. BUT if done right, the 5D2 is capable of great results, esp topside where TV productions are even using it. I don't think it covers the needs of A camera shots for pro work underwater but as a B cam, it's fine for specialty shots and production stills.

I seriously doubt a working pro is going to dump their pro-line video system and buy a 5D2 system as an A cam. Noobs and people who don't research thoroughly are likely candidates, which is why I wrote that section.

I've used the 7D underwater and for most people, it's a great camera, especially for those who like the 10-17 look. But I also use the cameras topside and the 5D2's 35mm sensor is unique in the look for video, and the only one @ 1080p for now.

I've heard FWIW that Nikon's limitation till now with 720 is due to restrictions placed on them by Sony using their sensors.