5D mk II still a viable option?

[RLPhoto]

I Do Admit, The 5Dc is still producing the goods for me in 2012.

The 5Dc is the only camera I regret selling.

I used the 5Dc as my first DSLR ff camera and for about 18months, several weddings and christenings. Only just coming from film I was blown away at just how good the colours were (and still are). The 13mp and slow fps encouraged me to buy the 5DII. I used the 5DII for just over 2 years and got so many good images. The 5DII made way for my 1DS3 which I have really fallen for and is now my regular camera - the colour rendition of the 1DS3 is very close to that of the 5Dc - not surprising really as they come from the same era.

FF is quite addictive with the images it delivers, after 3 ff bodies I am still in there and loving it

Picture is from 1Ds3 with my 135 f/2 which I have had on all ff bodies. I think it is one of the great combinations, ff +135

Taken at f/2

5Dc+135 F/2L is an utter stunner.

 

[D_Rochat]

Great stuff guys! These really show that just because a camera is "old", it doesn't mean it's no good. I think too often people get wrapped around getting new tech thinking that the old is irrelevant. RLPhoto, I love your B&W's.

 

[briansquibb]

Great stuff guys! These really show that just because a camera is "old", it doesn't mean it's no good. I think too often people get wrapped around getting new tech thinking that the old is irrelevant. RLPhoto, I love your B&W's.

Totally agree

 

[rpt]

Great stuff guys! These really show that just because a camera is "old", it doesn't mean it's no good. I think too often people get wrapped around getting new tech thinking that the old is irrelevant. RLPhoto, I love your B&W's.

Totally agree

+1 and +1
I love B&W. It gets the message across (provided you have one ).

I wish I could find some folks who wanted to get rid of their "old cameras" here in India...

 

[wickidwombat]

rather than sell my mk 2 I spent another $200 or so on a brightscreen for it
it make the VF sooo much better and when i am going to shoot a manual only lens thats the body I use now
the 5Dmk3 has a really nice big bright VF that is good for MF but the brightscreen in the mk2 with the old school split pea center is so fun for MF

 

[Mark1]

I've owned a 30D, 5D1 and now have a 5D2. Once you go full frame you will never look back - fact!

The 5D2 is a massive upgrade from the 5D1 in terms of functionality (live view, better LCD, customisable control, raw size control, the list is endless) but the 5D3 from what I am seeing is not such a quantum leap in technology or quality. I honestly could never justify the huge price difference between the 5D2 and 5D3 particularly as I have never had a single problem with the AF.

Pound for pound, the 5D2 has to be the best value DSLR currently on the market. Buy one before they run out of stock!

 

[rpt]

rather than sell my mk 2 I spent another $200 or so on a brightscreen for it
it make the VF sooo much better and when i am going to shoot a manual only lens thats the body I use now
the 5Dmk3 has a really nice big bright VF that is good for MF but the brightscreen in the mk2 with the old school split pea center is so fun for MF

Why did they ever get rid of the split screen and annular ring of micro prisms that they had on the AE1? Were they smoking pot! I so miss the split center and the 5D3 has no way of putting that in

 

[picturesbyme]

I find it very irritating when posts come in from people that have never owned kit that they are commenting about.

It is quite clear that all they are saying is some regurgitated 'fact' that they have read about on the web sometime.

The 5DII is getting these AF 'facts' stated about it - when those that have had extensive use of one know that using the centre AF point is the way to go - and then the 5D2 delivers top images - and yes even sports pictures if needed, albeit that the low fps is irritating - but hey, it is the same fps as the D800 and there are no murmours there. It is still one of the best low light bodies out there - just meter to the right and the image stays very, very good

The 5DII will always out IQ the 7D - I think it is an ideal entry level ff. It may not have the bells and whistles - it is a simple but very effective camera

I thought I'm the only one who's bugged by that....

About the 5d2..
There was a time when it was the top. "THE" camera everyone was waiting for and talking about.. it produced endless amount of amazing photos all over the world.. so I don't really understand why would anyone think that it stopped being great... Of course I understand its certain limitations - AF for certain situations - but if it did all those amazing photos before I'm sure it's still capable now...
I shot these (http://atlanticpicture.com/p408912026/h1556fb5d#h1556fb5d) a couple days ago and I'm very happy with mine... but what do I know, I still like my 60D too )

 

[RLPhoto]

Great stuff guys! These really show that just because a camera is "old", it doesn't mean it's no good. I think too often people get wrapped around getting new tech thinking that the old is irrelevant. RLPhoto, I love your B&W's.

Totally agree

+1 and +1
I love B&W. It gets the message across (provided you have one ).

I wish I could find some folks who wanted to get rid of their "old cameras" here in India...

Thank you. These were all taken @ f/2 @ 800 ISO on the 5Dc And edited on my aging windows XP pro system. None of this equipment is really up to date. Lol.

 

[vbi]

For years the 5D2 was the camera to aspire to, and even now with the latest releases it is still the camera to compare the very best with, so that still makes it an excellent camera to use.

Quite honestly, I don't need the improved AF of the 5D3. It would be nice to have, and my inner techno-geek would love to have the latest, greatest shiny toy, but will it improve the AF success rate of my 5D2 which is about 99% in a studio? Not really.

Do I need more megapixels? Not really.

Do I need to buy new lenses, new radio triggers? Not really.

For someone moving to FF the 5D2 offers the best value for money.

 

[HarryWintergreen]

The 5DII is an FF camera and as such it offers many ways to improve your skills as a photographer. I do like crop bodies, but it is not the same. Since owning a 5DII, looking through the viewfinder of a crop body gives me the feeling that something's missing. In terms of RAW IQ, the 5DII at least performs equally well as the 5DIII (except for higher ISO). The attached image may give a slight impression of the fact that the 5DII is not basically incapable of taking photos of fastly moving objects. This photo of a home-flying snipe was taking when dusk had already started to settle (ISO 640, f/8, 1/1000, 1.4 Kenko TC, 70-200 f/4 L IS, very little post-processing). It's the best out of three shots taken.

 

[Chopper]

I'm about to make the move to FF and thanks to this post, it will be the 5D MKII 24-105 kit over the 5D MKIII body only and still have money left over. I've been tossing it up over the last few weeks regarding which option to get but as I was reminded over and over again reading the 7 pages of this topic, I will probably not need the extra FPS and AF as my main interest is in landscape and portraits.

Thanks for convincing me to make the right choice based on what I like to shoot rather than how old the technology may or may not be

 

[bdunbar79]

I'm about to make the move to FF and thanks to this post, it will be the 5D MKII 24-105 kit over the 5D MKIII body only and still have money left over. I've been tossing it up over the last few weeks regarding which option to get but as I was reminded over and over again reading the 7 pages of this topic, I will probably not need the extra FPS and AF as my main interest is in landscape and portraits.

Thanks for convincing me to make the right choice based on what I like to shoot rather than how old the technology may or may not be

I had the camera for a long time. You won't be disappointed. As I mentioned many times and people are getting tired of reading, I really really regret selling that when I bought the 5D Mark III. I really wish I had kept it now.

 

[tron]

I'm about to make the move to FF and thanks to this post, it will be the 5D MKII 24-105 kit over the 5D MKIII body only and still have money left over. I've been tossing it up over the last few weeks regarding which option to get but as I was reminded over and over again reading the 7 pages of this topic, I will probably not need the extra FPS and AF as my main interest is in landscape and portraits.

Thanks for convincing me to make the right choice based on what I like to shoot rather than how old the technology may or may not be

I had the camera for a long time. You won't be disappointed. As I mentioned many times and people are getting tired of reading, I really really regret selling that when I bought the 5D Mark III. I really wish I had kept it now.

I do have the 5D Mark II and I am very satisifed. I will not upgrade to 5D mark III for the following reasons:

1st: price. It is too expensive for what it offers. It is not Value for money.
With less money I bought a TS-E 17mm and I am very happy with it

2nd: AA filter? I am afraid 5D Mark III is softer than 5D Mark II due to more powerful AA filter. It is very strange that Canon had to "fix" DPP and the 5DIII was softer when other applications were used (for example Lightroom). To me this screems as softness unless someone with internal information explains.

3rd: They crippled it on purpose. With a 17 times more powerful processor they could make it 7 or 8 fps.

4. Non easily replaceable screen.

 

[Marsu42]

3rd: They crippled it on purpose. With a 17 times more powerful processor they could make it 7 or 8 fps.

Don't worry, in 3 years they might release a firmware upgrade like on the 7d enabling the faster fps