Name of product:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLRApproximate date of purchase:
August 2010My Review
The Canon 5D has many options and really requires you to have a really updated computer to run the video from the camera, unless you are just plugging directly into your HDTV. I found the CMOS sensor lacking as compared to Nikon. My daughter has a D90 form Nikon, and she has taken some pictures that are far better than the Canon in sharpness and overall color balance. If you combined both cameras, then you really would have something to brag about. I have always been looking for a digital camera that would be close to film. The overall package of the 5D Mark II is pretty good, but I was still disappointed after spending $4,300 on the camera and an L series lens. I shoot closeups for displays and life-scape nature pictures. Yes, I may just be too picky in what I expect from a digital camera, but, after shooting pictures for 30 years for seminars, I know what I like.
The best thing you can do is go with a memory card to the store, shoot some pictures, and go home and play with them on your computer. That is the only way you will be able to make the choice that suits your camera needs. The Canon is a fine camera and has performed very well except for when we first got it. I set out on an $8,000 trip to northern Idaho, and the camera had a complete memory board failure. Now this is something that came from the factory, not dropping the camera, which I have never done with any camera in 40 years of taking pictures. Canon would not let me exchange it with a local Canon dealer. Fortunately, I had a backup camera to take my nature and creation pictures. The camera, I would rate at a "B+" in what I expect in picture quality. Canon's Service gets a complete "F-". Their attitude was: "We do not care if your camera failed on your $8,000 trip. Just send it into Irvine and we will fix it. That is all we are going to do. Even though there was a certified Canon distributor that could have exchanged the camera that was only 80 miles away, not 1,400 miles away. I even called the dealer and, yes, he had one in stock. So, I guess if you want customer service, check the Internet and see what the manufacturer offers for replacement if your equipment fails.
Camera "pros"
Very well built overall.
Camera "cons"
Picture quality was not what I thought a $2,500 camera body should deliver.
