Check out Jack Neubart’s recent review of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II on Photocrati.
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Get information and user reviews for this camera at Amazon: Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21.1MP Full Frame CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)
Imaging Resource
The Canon EOS-5D Mark II raises the standards of the entire EOS line, as it is the first EOS digital SLR camera to offer both still and video capture. That’s right, this high-end digital SLR can capture movies at 1920 x 1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. The Canon 5D Mark II is quite a camera, one that seems to trump the other two full-frame digital SLR cameras in this price range. Canon is making some very impressive claims about the EOS-5D Mark II, describing it to us as offering the highest image quality of any EOS digital SLR released to date, and noting that it offers noise levels significantly lower than those of the original 5D. Whether the Canon 5D Mark II’s high ISO performance will be as good as the 1Ds Mark III remains to be seen. So far, though, the Canon 5D Mark II has all that Canon needed to bring their consumer flagship camera back to the top of the heap. READ FULL REVIEW
Other Canon EOS 5D Mark II Reviews
Camera Labs
Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II certainly addresses several criticisms of its predecessor, while including all the latest features. As such, no-one’s surprised to find Live View and anti-dust features here, both of which were missing on the original 5D. Hot on the heels of the EOS 50D, it’s also no surprise to find the EOS 5D Mark II featuring a 3in VGA screen, HDMI output, Peripheral Illumination Correction and AF micro-adjustment. The big news here though is of course the 21.1 Megapixel sensor with 25,600 ISO maximum sensitivity and movie recording in nothing less than Full HD. It all adds up to a significant upgrade over the original EOS 5D, but existing owners may be disappointed by the relatively modest boost in continuous shooting from 3 to 3.9fps … the same AF system, and the continued absence of both a popup flash and an optical viewfinder with 100% coverage (although it is now closer at 98%). READ FULL REVIEW
CNET
The EOS 5D Mark II, will likely be a must-have upgrade, especially for the wedding photography crowd for whom the 5D is a workhorse. By all measures, it’s priced fairly aggressively, coming out as the least expensive of its cohort by several hundred dollars. As long as Canon can pull off the image quality–which we’ve seen it do with the same sensor in the 1Ds Mark III–the high-resolution sensor will prove to be an asset. The sacrifice, however, is in burst performance. It’s the slowest of all the new models. Based on the specifications, its autofocus system seems to lag as well, though specs only tell a fraction of the AF story. The most notable difference between the 5D Mark II and its competitors is the movie-capture capability. … All in all, the EOS 5D Mark II looks quite intriguing, but doesn’t provoke the knee-jerk WANT response I expected. READ FULL REVIEW
Photo.net
The new EOS 5D Mark II has 21MP full frame CMOS sensor, 3.9 fps continuous shooting, improved weather sealing, Digic IV processor, 14-bit A/D, Live View (with face detection!), high resolution LCD, ISO 100-6400 (expandable to 50 – 25600), HD movies up to 30 minutes, new battery with 30% more capacity. Looks like a winner to me! READ FULL REVIEW
Luminous Landscape
The 5D MKII externally looks almost identical to its forebears, the 5D. The sensor is a newly designed 21 Megapixel full-frame CMOS chip with ISO settings from 100 – 6400. With ISO expansion 50, 12800 and 25,600 are also available. The viewfinder now offers 98% coverage, and the same multi-mode Live View capabilities as the also newly introduced 50D is available. The LCD screen has 900,000 dots and is, as you’d expect, bright and high resolution. The rest of the specs are pretty much as you’d imagine from a late 2008 Canon camera – self cleaning sensor, nine high precision AF points, with six assist points. A Digic 4 processor is onboard and a 150,000 cycle shutter. They also added high definition video capability to the 5D MKII. The bottom line on this is that at least as far as the specs go, image quality is full HD, 1920 X 1080 Progressive, at 30 frames per second. The recording data rate is faster than on some pro video cameras. The depth of field is that of a 35mm full-frame camera, not one with a sensor 5X to 9X smaller. … State of the art. READ FULL REVIEW
Ken Rockwell
The 5D Mark II has such excruciatingly high resolution that you will need extraordinary lenses to use this to its fullest. Canon’s pro fixed f/2.8 super teles are great, but the state-of-the-art in Canon wide zooms isn’t there yet. I no longer have any interest in the 1Ds Mk III, because 5D Mark II also adds a far superior LCD. The LCD of the 1Ds Mk III has been an embarrassment. The Nikon D90’s 24 FPS rate is ideal for theatrical release; the Canon’s 30-frame rate will look more like video while the D90’s 24-frame rate will look more like film. Nikon has nothing competitive for landscape shooting, if resolution is important to you. Nikon’s best as of this week, the D700 and D3, have only half the area resolution. …As always, I expect that the Nikons are far faster and easier to use in the field, and that this inexpensive 5D Mk II just became the must-have camera for outdoor shooters who need the most resolution for huge digital prints. READ FULL REVIEW