Canon EOS 5D Mark II Review

Today we bring you our in-depth review of the brand new Canon 5D Mark II DSLR. This full-frame, 21 megapixel update of the popular 5D Mark I is the world’s first DSLR to feature full HD 1080p video recording. The 5D Mark II also offers an extensive ISO range of 50-25600, 3 inch LCD screen with 920k dots, 3.9 fps continuous mode, Live View and built-in dust removal. Retailing for £2299 / $2699 / €3299, we find out if the Canon EOS 5D Mark II is the ultimate prosumer DSLR.

Website: Canon EOS 5D Mark II Review

Published: Thursday, December 04, 2008

Reader Comments

1. I agree to general conclusions of this review. But giving higher ratings for design and ease-of-use than Nikon D700 got... is it a joke?
   
   p.s. I use D700 and 5DMkI

   spuk at 01:57pm on Thursday, December 04, 2008

2. Thank you for the very full review! We've posted it to the 5d wiki at http://planet5d.com tho help others find this review

   Mitch at 03:19pm on Thursday, December 04, 2008

3. I'd say that the 5DMk2 high ISO images are remarkably noise free and coupling that with the high resolution it beats the D700 and even the D3x. And I'm a lifelong Nikon user. No Canon fanboy here. I hate their hardware in general.

   Justin at 04:34pm on Thursday, December 04, 2008

4. Thank you for in-depth review!

   Basset at 08:21pm on Thursday, December 04, 2008

5. Looks like a great camera, Kudos Canon. One small nit pick on the review. You knocked back the D700 for no interal VR and swivel screen, but it gets no mention here. Anyway, the Canon is a fine long awaited camera.

   Sandy at 05:10am on Friday, December 05, 2008

6. Did you find any of the dreaded "black pixel" phenomenon being reported on some forums?

   Mike at 06:48pm on Friday, December 05, 2008

7. I was very disappointed that the review didn't look at raw images. The lack of noise in jpg images could be due to software noise reduction in the camera that can add unwanted artifacts. How much noise is in the raw images?

   Huw Morgan at 07:38pm on Friday, December 05, 2008

8. Huw, there are some high ISO photos in the RAW section of the Sample Images page:
   
   http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_canon_eos_5d_mark_ii_3.php

   Mark Goldstein at 10:32am on Monday, December 08, 2008

9. Have you guys had any of those so-called 'black spots' problems ?

   Digital at 03:27pm on Thursday, December 11, 2008

10. Hi Digital, we had to send the 5D Mark II back to Canon UK last week, but no, we didn't see the widely-reported black spots issue in any of our sample images.

    Mark Goldstein at 02:23pm on Friday, December 12, 2008

11. Thank you for this article, its the first full review of the mk2 I've read and it addressed a number of issues for me. I have a 5D mk1, a 40D (for the frames per second) and a number of L series lenses. The Nikon D700 would give me the picture quality and fps in one camera, but I would have to do a lot of ebay selling to afford to go Nikon. From your review, the new 5D does appear to be a major advance over the old model, and if I did a lot of low light shots or wanted the HD vid I would have ordered one already. As most of my shots are in the ISO 100-800 range, and I stick to mainly A4 and some A3 prints, your well balanced review suggests to me that I would not really gain anything in picture quality on the old 5D. So I am going to hang on to my £2000 for the time being.

    Mark Baldwyn at 05:16pm on Thursday, December 18, 2008

12. Interesting Article. I own the Canon 5D and ordered the 5D Mark II but I did not received it yet.
    I am very curious about the new features, especially with Video.
    Reading Articles is one thing - but working with it for real customers is another thing...
    But till now i was always very excited about all the canon cameras i used in my photostudio.

    Rod Meier - Model-Space at 10:40pm on Saturday, January 03, 2009

13. This test...or okay TEST .
    Dont say anything about "black dots",WHY ?
    I shall tomorrow cancel my order on this Canon 5D Mk II ,not after i read this BUY Canon,Buy dont care,nothing is wrong whith this unfinish camera test.
    No!
    I shall cancel my order because,Canon dont seems too care if them fix this blackdots issue before them have a new product.
    
    And this HD video!!.... YES! But for me,NO!
    Only 30fps !!
    What can you do with that?
    It's like a toy,try your compact camera and move in front of that.
    If anything shall move,it must be in slowmotion.
    No!
    Save your money,and buy one when it have 60fps or more.
    Maybe 2010.
    Read tests that not Canon or Nikon have pay for:
    
    http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_EOS_5D_Mark_II/
    
    http://www.photoreview.com.au/Canon/reviews/digitalslr/canon-eos-5d-mark-ii.aspx
    
    "Black dots"
    
    http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/eos_5D2_black_dots.html
    
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-10120964-39.html?subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&part=sphere
    
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-10120186-39.html?tag=mncol;posts
    
    CANON "Black dots" Year 2007 !!!!
    Canon dont care!?!http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/597080/0

    Jan Karlsson at 10:06pm on Monday, January 05, 2009

14. From your review, the new 5D does appear to be a major advance over the old model, and if I did a lot of low light shots or wanted the HD vid

    Busby SEO Test at 01:07pm on Tuesday, January 06, 2009

15. @Jan Karlsson: Why so angry about canon/5D Mark II?
    There always have been some things i was "not amused" with canon.
    Every time canon launches a new camera you can not buy it because the dealers get none..
    And sometimes there a some technical problems. OK, but that´s normal with such realy High-Tech-Cameras. I believe in Canon - they will solve it!
    And now i continue waiting for my camera I ordered before Xmas...
    By the way:
    As a professional Photographer I can take my old (5D) camera if there is really a big problem with the new one - but i don´t think that there will be really a big problem...
    
    I am very curious to try out the Video functions. I hope i´ll get some good Making-Of Videos of my work. I plan to blog them on my photography-blog at http://blog.Model-Space.de .

    Rod Meier at 01:31pm on Tuesday, January 06, 2009

16. Well I succumbed and bought the 5d MKII after being offered a good trade-in price. However, I can't get the ISO expansion to work. I'm stuck to 200 - 6400! C.Fn 1-3 offers on or off, but nothing changes. The manual implies that I should be able to select "L", "H1" an "H2". Any suggestions?, do I need a firmware upgrade?

    Mark Baldwyn at 09:32pm on Wednesday, January 07, 2009

17. Canon solved the "black pixel" phenomenon!
    New Firmware Update Version 1.0.7 for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.
    
    Firmware Update Version 1.0.7 improves and mitigates the following two types of image quality phenomena that occur under certain shooting conditions.
    
    - "Black dot" phenomenon (the right side of point light sources become black)
    - Vertical banding noise
    
    Download here:
    http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eos5dmk2/firmware.html

    Rod Meier - Photography at 02:22am on Thursday, January 08, 2009