5D mk II still a viable option?

[briansquibb]

+1

The 5d3 price difference is very difficult to justify for many shooters. Your friend might (probably will) find the 5d2 AF frustrating for sports, but for everything else, use focus / recompose and it's fine. Otherwise, get a D800. Switching via the used lens market really isn't as painful ($$) as people make it out to be.

I think the friend might find the 4fps d800 frustrating for sports as well

 

[justsomedude]

FWIW... I'm actually considering buying a refurb'ed 5D2 from the Canon store simply for compatibility with my collection of PocketWizard Flex units and my 580 and 430 flashes. The upgrade path for off-camera lighting, via the 600EX and ST-E3-RT is simply cost prohibitive (given the number of lights I use). Quite frankly, I'm a little baffled that Canon goes so far to cripple PocketWizard units on their new bodies.

I understand they think they're protecting sales and proprietary tech, but let's face the facts - PocketWizard was first to the RF game, and they made it a viable solution years before Canon even considered it. It's time Canon approaches PocketWizard to develop a formal partnership (before you flame - I know it will never happen). So I'm happy waiting for a PW firmware upgrade, because I refuse to give Canon money for their 600EX system - as that would just support their arrogant approach to "innovation".

In the meantime - a 5D2 will serve me just fine.

 

[D_Rochat]

If what you ultimately need is FF and low light and sports is secondary, then the 5D II is still a great. Just because a newer model is out doesn't make it a bad body. Unless your friend is a pro sports photog, I would worry too much about the AF. It's far from great, but still doable. You will get far fewer keepers that a 7D though.

Just to prove that you can shoot sports with bad af, the image below was shot with a 500D in AF servo.

 

[well_dunno]

my advice on the AF
Understand the system, know its limits and work within them

knowing its limits... I could not agree more...

After all, even the equipment that is seen as worse have their optimum settings to deliver good results IMHO. People were able to take amazing photos for many decades without any of the fancy equipment we have today...

Cheers!

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Hi All,

posting this on behalf of a colleague who does not have internet at the moment. However he wants to upgrade from his 550D to one of the xD range of cameras.

He would like to know if shelling out for a new 5d II is still a good option? The 5d III is out his price range and he believes the 7D might not suit his needs.

He does a lot of landscape, low light (high exposure), some sports photography.

I went with the 7D as it suited my needs more. however I can't seem to convince him!

For low ISO, tripod work the 5D2 is pretty much every bit as good as the 5D3 other than a few UI improvements.

The 5D3 doesn't have banding in deep shadows at very high iso, the 5D2 can, so for certain scenes the 5D3 shot might look at lot less ugly. The 5D3 also has about almost 2/3rds of a stop better SNR, not all that huge, but a bit noticeable.

5D3 has much higher fps and more AF options and speed, quicker response time, etc. for sports.

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

He does a lot of landscape, low light (high exposure), some sports photography.

Landscape and low light will be excellent with the 5DII. Sports will be a challenge with the 5DII's rather poor AF system (AI Servo tracking, in particular) and the relatively slow frame rate. Still, it's a great camera.

The 5D2 AI Servo isn't THAT terrible. Terrible compared to 1 series for some circumstances but otherwise it does AI Servo better than any rebel, any xxD camera, and, IMO, overall, even better than the 7D which can get rather erratic at times for football and soccer. The 5D2 AI Servo can get a bit slow and wacky when your subject is close in though. For a somewhat more distant subjects it sometimes does as well as a 1D2. Not saying it is amazing or anything, but in the Canon world only the 1 series and the 5D3 do AI Servo any better.

It's trigger response time is a bit on the sluggish side compared to some xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series though and it's fps is very slow compared to xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series, it feels like a sloth crawling through molasses after handing the others right before it.

If you need to use AI Servo with something other than center point then it's pretty awful and 7D, 5D3 and 1 series are all vastly better (even some xxD are probably better then (if not very good at all themsevles)).

 

[Fknbryce]

You really can't go wrong with either. But his needs for a camera are varied. if the 5d3 he can't justify, why not get the 5d2 and a 7d? he'd have an unbeatable combination.
on an unrelated note. these photos are beautiful david

I own the 5D Mk I, ii & iii camera bodies. The Mk I will be going to a new loving home shortly. They are all extremely capable cameras and while each have their well documented individual benefits, they all offer value. Especially the Mk i which is now dirt cheap on the used market. In the UK the cost of new Mk ii bodies is holding firm meaning used bodies are also still holding firm. The price differential between the Mk ii and Mk iii is too large for the release of the Mk iii to impact Mk ii prices, in my opinion.

Yesterday I was reminded of the fantastic quality of the Mk ii. I hadn't blogged a shoot I did last year with the Mk ii, and having been using the Mk iii for a couple of months now, these images just made me realise how fantastic the Mk ii is and I am more than happy for this to be my backup camera to the Mk iii. Here are some images:

http://www.bellissimaphoto.co.uk/london-engagement-photography/london-engagement-photographer.html

I do agree that for sport or any sort of photography that places more demands on the focus system, I would seriously consider the 7D over the 5D Mk ii.

 

[DaveQ]

5DII is still a great option. I have both the 5DII and the 7D, and for studio, landscapes, portraits, architecture, etc. my go-to camera is the 5DII. For sports, etc. I use the 7D. The IQ from the 5DII is superb.

 

[briansquibb]

He does a lot of landscape, low light (high exposure), some sports photography.

Landscape and low light will be excellent with the 5DII. Sports will be a challenge with the 5DII's rather poor AF system (AI Servo tracking, in particular) and the relatively slow frame rate. Still, it's a great camera.

The 5D2 AI Servo isn't THAT terrible. Terrible compared to 1 series for some circumstances but otherwise it does AI Servo better than any rebel, any xxD camera, and, IMO, overall, even better than the 7D which can get rather erratic at times for football and soccer. The 5D2 AI Servo can get a bit slow and wacky when your subject is close in though. For a somewhat more distant subjects it sometimes does as well as a 1D2. Not saying it is amazing or anything, but in the Canon world only the 1 series and the 5D3 do AI Servo any better.

It's trigger response time is a bit on the sluggish side compared to some xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series though and it's fps is very slow compared to xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series, it feels like a sloth crawling through molasses after handing the others right before it.

If you need to use AI Servo with something other than center point then it's pretty awful and 7D, 5D3 and 1 series are all vastly better (even some xxD are probably better then (if not very good at all themsevles)).

The issue with the 7D is that the focus point is too big so careless pointing gets an OOF image (especially when pointing through gap in trees etc

 

[RLPhoto]

He does a lot of landscape, low light (high exposure), some sports photography.

Landscape and low light will be excellent with the 5DII. Sports will be a challenge with the 5DII's rather poor AF system (AI Servo tracking, in particular) and the relatively slow frame rate. Still, it's a great camera.

The 5D2 AI Servo isn't THAT terrible. Terrible compared to 1 series for some circumstances but otherwise it does AI Servo better than any rebel, any xxD camera, and, IMO, overall, even better than the 7D which can get rather erratic at times for football and soccer. The 5D2 AI Servo can get a bit slow and wacky when your subject is close in though. For a somewhat more distant subjects it sometimes does as well as a 1D2. Not saying it is amazing or anything, but in the Canon world only the 1 series and the 5D3 do AI Servo any better.

It's trigger response time is a bit on the sluggish side compared to some xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series though and it's fps is very slow compared to xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series, it feels like a sloth crawling through molasses after handing the others right before it.

If you need to use AI Servo with something other than center point then it's pretty awful and 7D, 5D3 and 1 series are all vastly better (even some xxD are probably better then (if not very good at all themsevles)).

The issue with the 7D is that the focus point is too big so careless pointing gets an OOF image (especially when pointing through gap in trees etc

Lol 5d2 is a smooth-bore musket in relation to the near pin-point accuracy of my 7D. If you want good AF the 7D is your best bet unless the 5d3 AF or 1D series AF.

 

[briansquibb]

He does a lot of landscape, low light (high exposure), some sports photography.

Landscape and low light will be excellent with the 5DII. Sports will be a challenge with the 5DII's rather poor AF system (AI Servo tracking, in particular) and the relatively slow frame rate. Still, it's a great camera.

The 5D2 AI Servo isn't THAT terrible. Terrible compared to 1 series for some circumstances but otherwise it does AI Servo better than any rebel, any xxD camera, and, IMO, overall, even better than the 7D which can get rather erratic at times for football and soccer. The 5D2 AI Servo can get a bit slow and wacky when your subject is close in though. For a somewhat more distant subjects it sometimes does as well as a 1D2. Not saying it is amazing or anything, but in the Canon world only the 1 series and the 5D3 do AI Servo any better.

It's trigger response time is a bit on the sluggish side compared to some xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series though and it's fps is very slow compared to xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series, it feels like a sloth crawling through molasses after handing the others right before it.

If you need to use AI Servo with something other than center point then it's pretty awful and 7D, 5D3 and 1 series are all vastly better (even some xxD are probably better then (if not very good at all themsevles)).

The issue with the 7D is that the focus point is too big so careless pointing gets an OOF image (especially when pointing through gap in trees etc

Lol 5d2 is a smooth-bore musket in relation to the near pin-point accuracy of my 7D. If you want good AF the 7D is your best bet unless the 5d3 AF or 1D series AF.

I dont think so - the focus point of the 7D is much bigger than that of the 5D2. Better AF maybe in terms of focussing and focus points - but the size of the focus point was most of the cause of 'soft focus' issue of the 7D

 

[bdunbar79]

To update everyone on how "viable" this option is, I think I'm shooting enough stuff right now that I am going to buy the 5D Mark II as a third body. I really don't need any lenses right now, so it's a good investment for me. Now if it only had the AF and fps as the 1D Mark IV...........

The IQ is good enough for me as an owner of the Mark III and 1D Mark IV, so I'd so go for it!

 

[RLPhoto]

He does a lot of landscape, low light (high exposure), some sports photography.

Landscape and low light will be excellent with the 5DII. Sports will be a challenge with the 5DII's rather poor AF system (AI Servo tracking, in particular) and the relatively slow frame rate. Still, it's a great camera.

The 5D2 AI Servo isn't THAT terrible. Terrible compared to 1 series for some circumstances but otherwise it does AI Servo better than any rebel, any xxD camera, and, IMO, overall, even better than the 7D which can get rather erratic at times for football and soccer. The 5D2 AI Servo can get a bit slow and wacky when your subject is close in though. For a somewhat more distant subjects it sometimes does as well as a 1D2. Not saying it is amazing or anything, but in the Canon world only the 1 series and the 5D3 do AI Servo any better.

It's trigger response time is a bit on the sluggish side compared to some xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series though and it's fps is very slow compared to xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series, it feels like a sloth crawling through molasses after handing the others right before it.

If you need to use AI Servo with something other than center point then it's pretty awful and 7D, 5D3 and 1 series are all vastly better (even some xxD are probably better then (if not very good at all themsevles)).

The issue with the 7D is that the focus point is too big so careless pointing gets an OOF image (especially when pointing through gap in trees etc

Lol 5d2 is a smooth-bore musket in relation to the near pin-point accuracy of my 7D. If you want good AF the 7D is your best bet unless the 5d3 AF or 1D series AF.

I dont think so - the focus point of the 7D is much bigger than that of the 5D2. Better AF maybe in terms of focussing and focus points - but the size of the focus point was most of the cause of 'soft focus' issue of the 7D

I disagree, have you read the manual? There is the Precise single point selection that is tiny for precise AF on the 7D. Hasn't let me down and the 5D's AF has plenty of times.

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

He does a lot of landscape, low light (high exposure), some sports photography.

Landscape and low light will be excellent with the 5DII. Sports will be a challenge with the 5DII's rather poor AF system (AI Servo tracking, in particular) and the relatively slow frame rate. Still, it's a great camera.

The 5D2 AI Servo isn't THAT terrible. Terrible compared to 1 series for some circumstances but otherwise it does AI Servo better than any rebel, any xxD camera, and, IMO, overall, even better than the 7D which can get rather erratic at times for football and soccer. The 5D2 AI Servo can get a bit slow and wacky when your subject is close in though. For a somewhat more distant subjects it sometimes does as well as a 1D2. Not saying it is amazing or anything, but in the Canon world only the 1 series and the 5D3 do AI Servo any better.

It's trigger response time is a bit on the sluggish side compared to some xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series though and it's fps is very slow compared to xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series, it feels like a sloth crawling through molasses after handing the others right before it.

If you need to use AI Servo with something other than center point then it's pretty awful and 7D, 5D3 and 1 series are all vastly better (even some xxD are probably better then (if not very good at all themsevles)).

The issue with the 7D is that the focus point is too big so careless pointing gets an OOF image (especially when pointing through gap in trees etc

Lol 5d2 is a smooth-bore musket in relation to the near pin-point accuracy of my 7D. If you want good AF the 7D is your best bet unless the 5d3 AF or 1D series AF.

I dont think so - the focus point of the 7D is much bigger than that of the 5D2. Better AF maybe in terms of focussing and focus points - but the size of the focus point was most of the cause of 'soft focus' issue of the 7D

I disagree, have you read the manual? There is the Precise single point selection that is tiny for precise AF on the 7D. Hasn't let me down and the 5D's AF has plenty of times.

Well my 5D2 blew away my 7D in a super incredibly low light indoor one shot focusing test and I trust it a little bit more in general for center point one shot and even for AI Servo if the subject isn't too close and center point with assists can be used, under quite a few lighting conditions.

 

[briansquibb]

I dont think so - the focus point of the 7D is much bigger than that of the 5D2. Better AF maybe in terms of focussing and focus points - but the size of the focus point was most of the cause of 'soft focus' issue of the 7D

I disagree, have you read the manual? There is the Precise single point selection that is tiny for precise AF on the 7D. Hasn't let me down and the 5D's AF has plenty of times.

Point isn't much use for faster object shooting like sports and wildlife. I had no problem with the 5DII AF but there - horses for courses.

 

[RLPhoto]

He does a lot of landscape, low light (high exposure), some sports photography.

Landscape and low light will be excellent with the 5DII. Sports will be a challenge with the 5DII's rather poor AF system (AI Servo tracking, in particular) and the relatively slow frame rate. Still, it's a great camera.

The 5D2 AI Servo isn't THAT terrible. Terrible compared to 1 series for some circumstances but otherwise it does AI Servo better than any rebel, any xxD camera, and, IMO, overall, even better than the 7D which can get rather erratic at times for football and soccer. The 5D2 AI Servo can get a bit slow and wacky when your subject is close in though. For a somewhat more distant subjects it sometimes does as well as a 1D2. Not saying it is amazing or anything, but in the Canon world only the 1 series and the 5D3 do AI Servo any better.

It's trigger response time is a bit on the sluggish side compared to some xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series though and it's fps is very slow compared to xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series, it feels like a sloth crawling through molasses after handing the others right before it.

If you need to use AI Servo with something other than center point then it's pretty awful and 7D, 5D3 and 1 series are all vastly better (even some xxD are probably better then (if not very good at all themsevles)).

The issue with the 7D is that the focus point is too big so careless pointing gets an OOF image (especially when pointing through gap in trees etc

Lol 5d2 is a smooth-bore musket in relation to the near pin-point accuracy of my 7D. If you want good AF the 7D is your best bet unless the 5d3 AF or 1D series AF.

I dont think so - the focus point of the 7D is much bigger than that of the 5D2. Better AF maybe in terms of focussing and focus points - but the size of the focus point was most of the cause of 'soft focus' issue of the 7D

I disagree, have you read the manual? There is the Precise single point selection that is tiny for precise AF on the 7D. Hasn't let me down and the 5D's AF has plenty of times.

Well my 5D2 blew away my 7D in a super incredibly low light indoor one shot focusing test and I trust it a little bit more in general for center point one shot and even for AI Servo if the subject isn't too close and center point with assists can be used, under quite a few lighting conditions.

Interesting, because I can use any of my AF points on the 7D in no light scenarios w\ assist beam and get sharp photos and shoot wide apertures not worrying too much about focus recompose. No need to worry about which AF point to use, as they're all excellent.

 

[psolberg]

IMO the 5DmkII is a better camera than the MkIII. The high ISO on the MKIII is not that useful due to the drop in DR and compared to the D4/1DX level bodies, it just can't compete. Not to mention the MKII was already good enough for most people so those running to the MkIII are a minority or just do it because they like the safety net even if they will never use the extra range. 6 FPS is not really a big jump over the 4fps of the mkII so it doesn't break any speed records. And the video addresses moire but you could have done that with the mosaic filter.

Unless you need the new AF, I see not one reason to buy the mkIII as it just doesn't do that much better to justify the price over the prior version.

 

[DaveQ]

He does a lot of landscape, low light (high exposure), some sports photography.

I trust my 5DII in no light implicitly...it has never let me down in this regard, and focuses in virtually no light whatsoever without hesitation. I get more focuses in very low light with 5DII than with my 7D

Landscape and low light will be excellent with the 5DII. Sports will be a challenge with the 5DII's rather poor AF system (AI Servo tracking, in particular) and the relatively slow frame rate. Still, it's a great camera.

The 5D2 AI Servo isn't THAT terrible. Terrible compared to 1 series for some circumstances but otherwise it does AI Servo better than any rebel, any xxD camera, and, IMO, overall, even better than the 7D which can get rather erratic at times for football and soccer. The 5D2 AI Servo can get a bit slow and wacky when your subject is close in though. For a somewhat more distant subjects it sometimes does as well as a 1D2. Not saying it is amazing or anything, but in the Canon world only the 1 series and the 5D3 do AI Servo any better.

It's trigger response time is a bit on the sluggish side compared to some xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series though and it's fps is very slow compared to xxD,7D,5D3, 1 series, it feels like a sloth crawling through molasses after handing the others right before it.

If you need to use AI Servo with something other than center point then it's pretty awful and 7D, 5D3 and 1 series are all vastly better (even some xxD are probably better then (if not very good at all themsevles)).

The issue with the 7D is that the focus point is too big so careless pointing gets an OOF image (especially when pointing through gap in trees etc

Lol 5d2 is a smooth-bore musket in relation to the near pin-point accuracy of my 7D. If you want good AF the 7D is your best bet unless the 5d3 AF or 1D series AF.

I dont think so - the focus point of the 7D is much bigger than that of the 5D2. Better AF maybe in terms of focussing and focus points - but the size of the focus point was most of the cause of 'soft focus' issue of the 7D

I disagree, have you read the manual? There is the Precise single point selection that is tiny for precise AF on the 7D. Hasn't let me down and the 5D's AF has plenty of times.

Well my 5D2 blew away my 7D in a super incredibly low light indoor one shot focusing test and I trust it a little bit more in general for center point one shot and even for AI Servo if the subject isn't too close and center point with assists can be used, under quite a few lighting conditions.

Interesting, because I can use any of my AF points on the 7D in no light scenarios w\ assist beam and get sharp photos and shoot wide apertures not worrying too much about focus recompose. No need to worry about which AF point to use, as they're all excellent.

 

[Marsu42]

... there is the possibility of quoting only a part of a thread, you know :-o ? Otherwise people get confused, starting with you.

IMO the 5DmkII is a better camera than the MkIII. The high ISO on the MKIII is not that useful due to the drop in DR and compared to the D4/1DX level bodies, it just can't compete.

I just asked exactly this in another thread - can you point me to some review that says how exactly the 5d3 performs concerning dr drop w/ higher iso in comparison to the 5d2 (and maybe 1d)?

 

[EOBeav]

Without looking at everybody's comments, I just bought a 5DmkII, after owning a Rebel for a few years, and couldn't be happier.