Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21.1MP Full Frame CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body Only

The description did not say that the product coming from Ireland would be supplied with 4 manuals none of which were in English. Camera so for great and have downloaded the manual onto my laptop. It was supplied with an adapted for the battery charger!!

This camera was an upgrade from the original Canon EOS 5D 12.8 MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) which I loved. I never thought the image quality could be improved upon enough to warrant $2,500 to upgrade, but I was wrong. It was still painful to plop down this much money since I am only a serious amateur, but it turned out to be SO worth it. I'm not ready to completely give up my old 5D though and still use it as a 2nd camera body. First off, the image quality has to be seen to be believed when coupled with "L" quality lenses (non-L lenses will show numerous flaws). Low light performance alone makes the upgrade worth it: Virtually noise-free up until ISO 800 (barely noticeable), starting around ISO 1000 (acceptable) and really doesn't become bothersome until around ISO 4000 or so. If you use a good noise control program like Noise Ninja or others, you can get away with even higher ISO's. I coupled this camera with a Lexar Professional Series 16 GB 300x UDMA CompactFlash Memory Card CF16GB-300-381 and the write speed is almost instant, even though the camera is moving 20+ MB of data with each shot. I would recommend a card reader though, because going directly from camera to computer can be slow. The new menu system is 100 times better than the old one, very easy to go from tab-to-tab rather than all the scrolling of the old menu system, and you can find your selection much faster. The true VGA LCD screen on the back is a VERY welcome change. Larger and brighter, you'll notice it self-adjust the brightness when you're outside too. Live-view is awesome! I've been using it in my macro and studio work for razor sharpness and it's made my poor eyes much happier than all the squinting. I had a pirate eye-patch for doing that work with my old 5D. The dust-reducing facilites are another welcome change. I had to clean my sensor before every important shoot with the old model. I've had the 5D MK II for about 3 months now and have yet to clean the sensor on it. Dust will still adhere to the underside of the focusing screen, but easily blown off with your Giottos AA1900 Rocket Air Blaster Large (Black) . Finally the resolution. I've been able to take wildlife shots at some distance, and crop out the subject and still have a superior quality photo. It's really added a lot of flexibility for composition in post-production. I have successfully printed up to 24x36 with absolutely no distortion at all using Alien Skin's Blow-UP 2 Software. It's my belief you could easily do a perfect 11x14 or 12x18 straight out of the camera though. Some people love the Digital Photo Professional software that comes with it, but my personal preference is Photoshop. Note that if you're still using CS3 or before you will need to convert the CR2's from the 5D MK II using Adobe's DNG converter (free download from Adobe) or upgrade to at least CS4. I am currently using this camera with the optional Canon BG-E6 Battery Grip for Canon 5D Mark II Digital SLR and 2 batteries in the grip. Battery life with this combination is amazing. I can easily go weeks between charges, and an easy menu on the camera gives detail on battery life. The incremental battery life indicator on the top window is a lot more accurate than the old 5D. It's just my preference but I disagree with the reviewers who say there should be a pop-up flash on camera. This camera is pro level quality and as any serious amateur or pro will tell you, built-in flashes are useless. In combination with my Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras it's a winning combination for flawless flash photographs with no red-eye and no harsh shadows when bounced. If you're going to spend this much on a camera, a good speedlight is a must. The latest firmware version 2.0.4 fixes some bugs and improves movie performance so if your new model doesn't have that version, it's a free download from Canon. I do not have experience with movie mode yet, so I will update this review later on that. I'm still have a bit of sticker-shock, but after using this camera awhile, it seems more an investment. Once you see the quality, it should alleviate your pain.

Bought it used (had less than 8K frames through it) and it arrived in 'like-new' condition as stated on the vendor write-up. Great backup camera for my needs- not the latest processor or sensor, but a solid work-horse of a camera that has never let me down (have owned the original 5D Mk II since launch (November 2008) and have over 260K frames through it. Still going strong. Great body and at a fantastic price!

I like this model and works great

Time to forget about Nikon as an overly hyped "has been" who have just sat on their laurels too long banking on their reputation as Canon has moved forward. Seems that they were strong competitors and Nikon just stopped "playing" while Canon pushed ahead. Anyway... your loyalty should be to your art and your photos... not some brand name. Right? Look at this... the Ultrasonic Motor (USM) (in Canon lenses)... a theory on paper till Canon took it and implemented it in a practice in their cameras... "dead silent"(Public candid shots -- no one can hear you are focusing on them). This camera even has a silent shutter mode! Just think... no more constitutionally clueless people thinking they have exclusivity to their own image in a public setting trying to infringe on your 1st Amendment asking, "Did you just take my picture?!!" LOL Biomimetics... reverse engineered nature--God's design... Canon does this... the L series II lenses are based on reverse engineered Moth eyes to counter flaring! This camera is a piece of the same... incredible. I got one... have used it for 6 months and I am totally FLOORED. Focus is dead on... features are incredible and I am striving to learn and use every single one! A few I will mention... custom white balance reference (get the Mennen white cap or cheaper model her... as low as $2). Digic 4 processor can do some darkroom work on-the-fly... lightening (burnishing) dark area to bring out details. Lens distortion compensation... the camera knows what Canon lens you have attached and if you are using a wide angle, etc. it can automatically compensate for vignetting (darkening in the corners) and barrel/pincushion distortion! The camera can do various types of "bracketing"... here is something that blows me away: Say you want to take a long depth of field shot and keep the foreground and background all in focus. Say... your kids on the playground with other kids... you want to get all the kids in focus from just a few feet away to infinity. Impossible you say? What you do is set focus bracketing to take a shot every so many meters... I use Hyperfocal Distance calculations to do this based on the 6.4um CMOS CCD pixel size... may take 10 shots or so and "stack" them to get a paradoxical photo where the entire photo is in focus. The impossible can be done with this camera! Great bokeh (soft out of focus backgrounds) when you want them too. I put the 24mm L-series f/1.4 USM II lens on this camera as a "leave on" walkabout lens. It is prime focus... edge to edge sharper than anything I have ever seen. I also put a Hoya DMC 77mm UV filter on that to protect the "eyeball" lens on the front. Comes with a tulip hood and great post production processing software that is amazing in itself. Now... you might read about Auto Focus (AF) problems... naught! (unless you get a bad copy... then send it back). But the AF is dependent on your settings and light conditions, the lens attached, and also the target you are focusing on. High contrast lines that are brightly lit focus faster and how fast depends on the lens you are using. When you get the camera test this to get this question behind you. Put a lousey lens on this camera and you may have slow focus. At f/1.4 the camera will AF on things I can't see with my own eyes (ISO to 6400...and beyond). I think it is always best to buy the body... then the lens that fits your particular need. Full frame... 35mm CMOS format and the camera will do 1080p video too at 30 fps (with fast CF Flash Memory). Incredible... simply incredible. I don't do Nikon anymore... they have a lot of catching up to do... oh yeah... one more thing: Canon has open sourced its scripting language so that there is a Canon Hacker Development Kit (search CHDK on Google). There is talent world wide working on very very cool scripts (custom programs that run inside your camera) to customize your camera to your specific application! One I saw recently was a script that looks for pixel changes and reacts. You can set your camera on a tripod on a flower bud about to open and instead of taking a shot ever hour... take shots only when the camer recongizes pixels changes of X amount. I have goose bumps...

This boy has taken the place of primary workhorse in the arsenal. Stepping up from APS-C range of Canons, I photograph portraiture, landscape & fun events. I also film corporate & event promos & do fun shorts with like-minded people. Got this as a refurbished unit to save some $$, unit came with 600 on the shutter & in perfect condition. Everything is intuitive for the seasoned canon user. What stood out for me was that ISO performance is a MAJOR leap ahead. I can push it to 3200 or 4000 & still get clean visuals. Entering the full frame, everything is wider on your lenses, requiring a little adaptation in terms of 'focal length estimation' - you'll have to get used to looking into the viewfinder and going "gee, that's wider than I expected". On good glass, this camera is stellar & renders everything cleanly as expected. Cheaper glass like the 50mm F1.8 might feel a little 'maxed out' on this body. Planned shoots bring cash, but it's shooting energetic stuff in the wet & dirty that I prefer, and with proper weather-sealed lenses, this body is a tough one. It has been with me into waterfalls, under heavy tropical rain, mud events & the such. The most moisture that got in so far was a drop of condensation beneath the LCD display protector - which dried up within an hour. While it cannot be submerged underwater, I wouldn't hesitate to wash it down after a muddy run. Love that I can get down and dirty, paying more attention to what i'm shooting without worrying so much about ruining my equipment. For you video people, besides the full frame feel, video quality is comparable with the other cheaper models, ie 7D, 60D after post-production. I rely quite heavily on the MagicLantern firmware hack when shooting video & I find this 2008 model rather stunted without it. FPS overrides, shutter locking, histograms, audio monitoring etc are all crucial to getting good footage, and these are not provided with the original Canon firmware. Oh and did I mention RAW video is such a sexy attribute ;) Anw, did the 5D2 contribute much in improving my video footage? Besides the ability to film in any weather and that sexy 35mm sensor with insane ISO control, not really, no. Battery life whilst shooting photos is decent. I can manage about 6 to 7 hours of continuous shooting before needing to swap batteries. Batteries last much less while filming, about 1 - 2 hours before they die out on the set. With MagicLantern's powersaving hacks I can just about manage 3 hours. As for cons, AF on this system isnt exactly the best, especially when paired with cheaper lenses. I find myself leaving my cheaper glass on MF most of the time when in low light situations to prevent disappointments. Moire & aliasing is quite prominent on this unit, but there's nothing a good eye on the lookout can't fix. Who should get this camera? The photographer or cinematographer who has a well-used entry level DSLR, is shooting stunning photos with one exposure per motive and is looking to venture into higher-end professional/full frame territory & push his glass without bursting the bank (comparatively) Who shouldn't get this camera? The brand new photographer who thinks that gear is his limitation and that getting an expensive pro-DSLR body will instantly make his photos look nicer. It's an amazing body. I love it and think that at the price it is right now, a second-hand/refurbished unit is very good bargain indeed. 5 stars!