Customer reviews from usa.canon.com
Canon - EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) - Black
Average customer rating
4.5
(383 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 383 reviews
5 Stars
253
4 Stars
87
3 Stars
24
2 Stars
8
1 Star
11
90%of customers recommend this product.
(
340 out of
377)
Customer Reviews for Canon - EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) - Black
Customer Rating
5
Better then expected
on December 17, 2008
Posted by: CPS_Guy08
from San Diego, CA
I can't say enough good things about this camera. The images I've taken so far with this camera have been crisp, and tack sharp. The live view with 5x magnification really comes in handy for those times when you want to have absolute precise focus control down to the half a millimeter.
With my older 30D the AF was pretty accurate but always left me thinking, "Hmm, it could have been a little sharper in camera".
The low-light performance on this machine is as advertised. At ISO 2000 I was an image equivalent to what my 30D produced at ISO200. ISO 3200 was equivalent to my old camera's ISO 400 to 600.
The 5D Mark II has really opened up a lot of possibilities.
So far I've tested the new camera on a 17-40mm L, 100-400mm L and a 50mm f/1.4 and all 3 have worked well. Although the 100-400mm on live view was tricky since it was not on a tripod and i was trying to capture 1080p video with manual focus.
Finally, besides image quality, precision, and 1080p the LCD is a real game changer, accurately showing me the level of noise and sharpness in a photo without me needing to plug it into my computer.
Cons: I'd like more AF points. Maybe twice as many and spread out. Built in flash could come in handy but really not necessary.
Cheers, I hope you enjoy your 5D II as much as I have mine. Take care.
Pros: Superior build quality, excellent image quality, Bright LCD, Nice features/settings, quiet, Quick Start-up time, Solid Operation, easy to use, good battery life
Cons: wish there were more af-points and spread evenly
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Excellent Camera
on March 3, 2009
Posted by: linemrkr
from Texas
I purchased the 5D2 as a back up to my 1DS11. I have had the camera for two weeks now and have hit 1000 on the odometer and can say I carry the 5D2 more often. Two reasons given same shooting conditions I have found the D2 as good or better as far as image quality. Second it is much lighter making it easier shooting with my favorite lens (85 1.2). The only thing I can not give high praise is the focusing. It does not focus as fast as the DS2 (expected), and find the center focus point to be the most consistent. For me this is not a hinderance as I shoot portraits and nature shots and some sports. I have fallen for the video capability. I have gotten some awesome video and I continue to explore the capability of the 5D2 to shoot in HD. As everyone else I hope Canon will let us have manual control and not wait for a new model. WIth High Res Still and HD video I believe Canon has hit a homerun and with manual video control it would be a grand slam. The camera is more than I expected.
Pros: excellent image quality, Bright LCD, Simple controls/menu, Nice features/settings, Solid Operation, easy to use, Lightweight/Portable, good battery life, hd video
Cons: no manual video control
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Blows the doors off the 5D
on October 25, 2009
Posted by: Spatch
from Oakland, CA
I upgraded to the 5D Mark II while my older 5D was in the shop being repaired, and it was a serendipitous circumstance of the highest caliber. The color in the Mark II shots is so far superior to the older 5D it boggles the mind. It feels like it is dumbed down a bit with the creative mode menus, but you don't have to use them if you don't want to. The high ISO shots are unbelievable. I didn't think I'd use the HD video much, but after experimenting with it a little bit I'm psyched to try it out more. Hopefully it will be more water resistant than the 5D.
Pros: excellent image quality, Quick Start-up time, Solid Operation, good battery life
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Best Digital Camera
on December 19, 2010
Posted by: Pablo
from Uxbridge, MA
As a professional photographer I find that the Canon 5D MKII DSLR full frame 21.1 megapixel camera exceeds my every expectation. The quality of the images produced from this camera are outstanding. The durability of the camera body is second to none. I am very pleased with this camera so much that I just purchased a second 5D MKII as a back up camera. I highly recommend this camera
to any professional looking for a qaulity and durable camera.
to any professional looking for a qaulity and durable camera.
Pros: good battery life, quiet, Nice features/settings, Quick Start-up time, excellent image quality, Superior build quality, Bright LCD, Solid Operation, Lightweight/Portable, Simple controls/menu, easy to use
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
WOW RESOLUTION
on February 24, 2009
Posted by: DIRTWATER
from Wasilla, Alaska
I been shooting photojournalism with a EOS 1D-Mark II for several years and purchased the 5D-Mark II, basically for the portrait and landscape resolution factor. 21 megapixels are absolutely amazing for making quality large prints. I just did a panorama of Alaska's Denali Range by shooting ten verticals and merging them in Photoshop's CS4 and the grass blades in the foreground to the summit of Denali are beautifullly crisp, have perfect contrast and if there were climber's on the mountain, you could spot them in this shot from about 100 miles away, taken with a 200mm lens on a 1.4 converter (about 280 mm equivelent). The Picture Style features are cool, as you can set it for Portraits, giving a softer feel with perfect skin tones or put it in Landscape mode and capture rich blues and greens. I am very happy to have purchased this camera, but have only used it for these two styles. I think the 1D Mark II will still be my main sports camera, because 8.2 megapixels can shoot much faster than 21. If you use a 5D Mark II, you better have a computer with some powerful memory to process the large files efficiently as they are huge and made my laptop choke until I upgraded the memory. A very cool camera, haven't used the movie mode yet, because I didn't by a huge memory card yet. Seems fairly watertight, and dust-worthy. Very important for night shots, this has very low noise at high ISO's!!!
Pros: Superior build quality, excellent image quality, Bright LCD, Quick Start-up time, good battery life
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Greatest Quality ever
on February 22, 2009
Posted by: EC
from New York
staggering quality, easy to use, film like characteristics. Huge quality also in movie HD mode. Only issue I have with the camera is the autofocus system which would have deserved an upgrade to extend the use of the camera to ports photography. For the rest, this is the best camera I ahve seen for this price level.
Pros: excellent image quality, Bright LCD, Quick Start-up time, Solid Operation, easy to use
Cons: Missing features/settings
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
4
GreatCamera - awaiting more control via firmware
on December 25, 2008
Posted by: Walker-shooter
from West coast U.S.
Would have been willing to pay another 30% in price
for true '1D-style' pro focus, weather-proof body, a LOT MORE control of auto-ISO and a LOT MORE control of video exposure, one more stop of noise performance, (maybe via 30% less pixels).
for true '1D-style' pro focus, weather-proof body, a LOT MORE control of auto-ISO and a LOT MORE control of video exposure, one more stop of noise performance, (maybe via 30% less pixels).
Hoping for some firmware improvements in auto iso control, video setting control, feature additions and noise performance.
Canon's WONDERFUL lenses are well worth the price and deserve a better pro-sumer body.
The micro adjust focus-calibration feature is wonderful.
I used to send lenses in for focus adjustment - or for one last check under warranty. But the quality on them is so good now that I no longer worry. I did not even consider sending the last two 'L' lenses for check/calibration - this was partly avoided by my ability to verify on the 50D and 1DmkIII.
I used to send lenses in for focus adjustment - or for one last check under warranty. But the quality on them is so good now that I no longer worry. I did not even consider sending the last two 'L' lenses for check/calibration - this was partly avoided by my ability to verify on the 50D and 1DmkIII.
All but the last two (of 10) lenses were adjusted or checked by Canon. On the 1DmkIII they all were within 0-3 clicks. The new 5D2 body arrived adjusted dead-on-accurate, so all the lenses except 2 were at ZERO adjustment. So my 50D, 5D2 and 1DmkIII are no more than a FEW CLICKS variance for 10 lenses and 3 recent bodies - plus the 20D.
This system works.
- Great to have an affordable full frame camera
- VERY nice LCD
- a bit noisy shutter (maybe unavoidable by design?)
- Battery has reasonable / good life
- really needed a better (pro) focus system - even on a pro-sumer level camera. Needed a better spread of focus points...and more of them.
- Nice to have video - it looks great. But the control NEEDS to be 'opened up' in the next firmware release.
This would be received with rave reviews by the current owners and spur new sales - and even hold the street price firmer - much like the 'joystick' addition via firmware on the 1DmkIII.
This would be received with rave reviews by the current owners and spur new sales - and even hold the street price firmer - much like the 'joystick' addition via firmware on the 1DmkIII.
It needs to be possible to not have blurry-hand movements in video - due to shutter speed being set so low by the camera defaults. More control would be VERY welcome. Complete manual setting control on video (and auto ISO) would be headline news in the Canon community.
- 21 megapixels is/was likely too much for this camera. Noise performance would have been a preferred CHOICE - not more pixels.
- Banding begins near iso=3200 AND strange matrix-shaped-noise-interference starts near iso=200 in shadows (hoping for some improvement via firmware soon)
- I have noticed no 'dots'
- Auto ISO needs A LOT MORE control on parameters.
- We still have loose / creaky battery doors - like the 20D.
Well, I love the camera.
Some of my honest comments / criticisms (also shared by MANY in my Canon user community) can be addressed in firmware. Some were price/design decisions which must remain.
I think the amazing quality photographs that can be produced, for example, using the 70-200mm f4 I.S., 135mm f2, 85mm f1.2 or the 35 f1.4 lenses - cannot be challenged by any competitor. It keeps me shooting Canon.
My hopes are STILL focused on a SMALL-BODY 1D-level pro camera built upon the 1D and 5D2 technologies - maybe in early 2009?
I am sure I will own one.
Pros: excellent image quality, Bright LCD, Quick Start-up time, easy to use, Lightweight/Portable, good battery life, similar menus - different models
Cons: Missing features/settings, noisy, needs additional video control, needs additional auto-iso control, should have had pro-level focus, loose battery door and body fittings
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Wonderful Camera
on November 9, 2009
Posted by: Canon Girl
from Seattle, WA
WOW! I love this camera. It is easy to adjust shutter speed, aperature and ISO, while shooting in Manual. The photos are clear, and beautiful. I tested out the high end ISO on Halloween, and it worked better than I expected. I found that the photos looked better in B&W, than color. I liked it. I would highly recomend this camera.
Pros: excellent image quality, Bright LCD, Simple controls/menu, Nice features/settings, quiet, Lightweight/Portable, good battery life
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com