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A few photos from Canon 5D Mark II

Jeff Turner

Member
Here I am in the cold and cloudy Northwest (Port Angeles, WA) taking care of my Dad after bypass surgery, so I had my 5D mark II delivery re-routed. I haven't had much time, nor the weather to shoot much, but here are a few. Nothing to compare these to as I am just trying to see what the camera is capable of.

The first thing I have noticed is that the AA filter seems to be quite potent...:thumbdown:, but the images seem to take sharpening well, at least with the Canon proprietary software (DPP). All I have to use right now is my Dad's i-MAC with the Canon software loaded on it. Still figuring out the software as time allows.

First impressions of noise are OK. ISO 1600 looks to be the max I will be using, but still with some artifacts and noise in the darkest shadows. By comparison, I would only use my Nikon D3 up to 2000 or so as there is too much noise in the shadows at 3200 for my taste.

Anyway...here are a few snaps around the house with little done to them except some sharpening, maybe some curve adjustment or saturation boost.

The first 4 examples are from the best weather since I have been here; a very cold (24 degrees) yet clear morning with hard frost. The first is the full image (nothing special) and then 100% crops with no sharpening, moderate sharpening and heavy sharpening. I used the Zeiss ZF (with EOS adapter) 100mm Makro Planar, with manual exposure mode and live view for focus. Note: I like the live view on the 5D II better than the Nikon D3 as the frame refresh rates are higher resulting in immediate viewing of changes in focus. With the D3 there is always a delay. Native ISO 200 used with mirror up for live view, on a tripod. If memory serves me, F8 or so was used on the Zeiss.

The last shot is just a tripod snap of a fruit bowl under incandescent lighting, using the Canon 135 f2L at f11. Used autofocus here.
 

Jeff Turner

Member
And finally....the kitchen fruit bowl....

Exciting stuff....ey?

Hopefully as my Dad recovers and the weather cooperates, I will actually be able to shoot some real images. The Olympic Peninsula is just amazingly beautiful!!!:):)
 

robertwright

New member
what is your opinion of manually focusing in the viewfinder with the zeiss primes? Is there enough texture to the supplied focus screen?

(I wouldn't spend too much time figuring out DPP, it is awful software, I would think practically no one makes use of it.)

ACR, Lr or C1 would make a better choice. Thanks for posting-how'd you get the camera so fast??
 

Jeff Turner

Member
Manual focus with the Zeiss primes via view finder seems very difficult except, perhaps, in the brightest light which I have largely not had here in the Northwest. Lloyd Chambers of Diglloyd has reported problems with focus confirm with the Zeiss ZE (Canon mount and chipped) 85mm with his 1DsIII. He has contacted Zeiss regarding the problem. I can't test focus confirm with an adapter mounted ZF lens. Focus via live view on a tripod is very easy.

I was surprised that I received the camera so fast. I guess I pre-ordered on the day Adorama listed availability for pre-order (thank you KenRockwell.com).

Yes, DPP seems very limited, compared to what I am use to (C1, ACR in Lightroom and CS4). But...since I am working on Dad's computer it will have to do for now.

I have been unimpressed by ACR RAW conversion of Nikon NEF files. How is it for Canon CR2 files?
 
Jeff, thank you for posting. It is especially interesting to see the same crop posted with the various levels of sharpening. The file does seem to take sharpening rather well.

I recently sold my 5D with the thoughts of getting a 5D Mk II. I will likely have to wait a while to get one since I didn't bother pre-ordering, but that is OK since it gives me more time to weigh my options.

I look forward to more of your thoughts and photos from the 5D Mk II.

Mark
 
Jeff, do you know if the 5D focusing screens will fit the 5D Mk II. I ask because I still have a Brightscreen split prism focusing screen.

Mark
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Jeff FYI . I noticed yesterday that C1 4.6 is coming in a couple weeks and does support all the 5D II files. From my Canon day's i liked C1 on there files , not sure this still holds true since it has been awhile and we will have to see what profile is built for it. Look forward to seeing more images. Your one point on the AA filter is not good news IMHO.
 

Jeff Turner

Member
Hello Mark, and my pleasure for posting. I really love all the sharing that goes on in this forum and hope to contribute back. I will post more as time and weather permits.

It is not clear if focusing screens are interchangeable between 5D and 5DII. The model number designations are different, "Eg-" for the 5DII and "Ee-" for the 5D.

Guy, thanks so much for the heads-up regarding the new C1 version. I have always liked C1 vs. ACR. And I agree with you, the seemingly "heavy handed" AA filter is a disappointment to me as well. So we will see how much I really end up using this camera for back country landscape. I continue to plan for the move from larger format film to a MF digital back ala Don Libby with his Cambo RS and wonderful German optics (which I have always loved), or an Alpa Max. A Mamiya RZ is just too darned heavy to pack for miles. Still plan to use the RZ with whatever back I ultimately decide on and will probably also want a 645 or 6x6 for "tooling around town" photography.
 
B

Bhakti-rider

Guest
I'm no expert, but I know from Fred Miranda forums that I'm not the only Canon user who much prefers the result of raw conversion in DPP as opposed to ACR. I also have Bibble Pro, and it's definitely different; I'm looking forward to version 5. I'd like to try Capture One, but haven't yet.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
I have used C1Pro, LR2 and Aperture2 in the past years.

My ranking - which results from my observations of RAW converter quality mainly:

1) Aperture
2) LR
3) C1Pro
 

Jeff Turner

Member
I'm no expert, but I know from Fred Miranda forums that I'm not the only Canon user who much prefers the result of raw conversion in DPP as opposed to ACR. I also have Bibble Pro, and it's definitely different; I'm looking forward to version 5. I'd like to try Capture One, but haven't yet.
I haven't yet experimented with C1 with Canon files, and as of yet, C1 can't read 5DII files, so when that functionality becomes available (soon per Guy), I will compare all three (DPP, ACR, C1). Certainly for Nikon NEF files C1 generally does a better job than ACR, but not every time oddly enough. I tend to use whatever RAW conversion yields the best results for each image. Time consuming for sure, but for landscapes, time is less critical. For most commercial clients, work flow time is critical and I will use only the best RAW conversion for the file format.
 

Jeff Turner

Member
I have used C1Pro, LR2 and Aperture2 in the past years.

My ranking - which results from my observations of RAW converter quality mainly:

1) Aperture
2) LR
3) C1Pro
Hello Peter! Do you find this to be generally true regardless of the proprietary file format (NEF vs CR2), or is your observation apply just to Canon CR2 files?

Thanks!!
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Hi Jeff,

Thanks for posting these! You mentioned ISO 3200 had too much shadow noise for you, but I am really interested in seeing some 3200 and 6400 files if possible. Any chance you could grab a few simple inside the house at night shots at the higher ISOs and share them?

Thanks,
 

mark1958

Member
I bit the bullet and ordered one.. Should be shipped on Friday and arrive to me by Tuesday. I can do some high iso test images. Amazing how a few years ago we we had a canon with iso 100,200, and 400 and no one even wanted to touch 400--- and this was with a 3 megapixel camera...
 

Jeff Turner

Member
Hi Jeff,

Thanks for posting these! You mentioned ISO 3200 had too much shadow noise for you, but I am really interested in seeing some 3200 and 6400 files if possible. Any chance you could grab a few simple inside the house at night shots at the higher ISOs and share them?

Thanks,
Hello Jack:

Sure thing! I shot a few of "the fruit bowl" at increasing ISO. Shot on a tripod, same f-stop=11, varying shutter speed as I increased the ISO (tried to keep the exposures approximately equal), auto WB, lighting was just a few overhead kitchen incandescent bulbs.
 
A

aero

Guest
I'm on the fence, but really would like to trade up if possible. I've been reading about some sort of "black pixel" halo when shooting lights or high contrast imagery. That's my "thing"! Have you noticed any such issue with your 5D II?

Thanks in advance for any info,
-AD
 

Jeff Turner

Member
I'm on the fence, but really would like to trade up if possible. I've been reading about some sort of "black pixel" halo when shooting lights or high contrast imagery. That's my "thing"! Have you noticed any such issue with your 5D II?

Thanks in advance for any info,
-AD
Unfortunately I have not been able to do any shooting at night here in Port Angeles as I am also caring for my dad after his bypass surgery...and the weather has been....well...winter up here. I have read about these same strange black dots, typically at the right perimeter of the pinpoint light source. We'll see if in a week or so, I get the time to do some night shooting.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Hmmm it starts to go at ISO 1600 it looks like but 3200 and 6400 look pretty ugly. Look at the plate in front the small shadow area or grey area. Little surprised
 
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