Comments on: Canon EOS 5D Mark II – Camera from Hell

By: Andrew Murphy

Andrew Murphy — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:03:01 +0000

I was so pleased to get my 5Dmk2 at first,. Then it started ,soft focus. No mater what I did it was soft, occasionally it was brilliantly sharp. I only use the pro lenses by the way. The EF 100/400 lens fell off 3 times in 1 day, then I found out it’s happened to many others too yes it broke the lens. In 40 years of cameras I never had this before. Before you start. The lens was on properly all three times. Then there is the EF 24/105 L that has failed 2 times in the last 18 months and told it’s normal to have the auto focus iris replaced as a service item well it’s been 2 times now and I don’t think it normal. I’m off to Africa tomorrow so no time to have it repaired. The soft focus, told by Canon service dept that the lens and camera are within normal limits ?? The exposure mode dial stopped working, new one fitted at my cost etc, etc. 3 years of problems usually while I’m away on holiday and can’t get it fixed.
So, that’s it, I’m finished with Canon. I just can’t lug a heavy camera and lenses around the world if they don’t work. I’m selling all my Canon equipment after it comes back from service and repair and I’m moving to Nikon, enough is enough.
I just hope Nikon are more reliable
PS I had the 5D before the 5Dmk2 and it had a load of faults too, like the mirror fell off, switches failed etc. Twice bitten, not again.

By: Nick k

Nick k — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:38:19 +0000

REALLY need ur help,

im using a 5D mark 2 now, with the 21mm – 105mm, thought this camera would be a great to upgrade to but after reading a lot of what everyone has written i think i have the same problem,

Some of my photos by chance are sharp, some are not at all,
im a glam photographer, my work has been in zoo a couple times,
got some shots where im shooting at F9-12, front shot from hips to head and using single point focus of course focus on the face then lock that in and frame the rest of the photo, i have SO MANY SHOTS where even the distance from chest to face is out of focus. is there something wrong.

i thought it might be coz im standing to close even tho im shooting 65-80 mm,
so i stood back and still no difference.

just over the weekend i was shooting a friends art work, again shooting a F9 or so standing about 2-3meters away, opened up the photos and center is focused but the rest if soft.

i then used a 50mm yesterday, shooting a model, did all sort of shots, shooting at F9-11 most of it coz i was using bare bulb lighing, got a shot where she is laying down, focused on her face im shooting her full body lil bit of an angle focused on her face and her chest if soft.

i give up i dont know what to do,,, i sent my 24-105 away to canon on friday and see what they say… is it the camera or the lens … i need to get this sorted out . thanks for ur time guys.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:03:21 +0000

In my opinion the issue is like – 7D is for sport/action shooting, 5D for landscapes/portraits etc. This is Canon’s policy. That’s why I have two bodies – one for action and one for static pictures. Some sais that 5D mkIII will have better AF (like 7D now) – personally I don’t think so. They will make some adjustments for sure but 5D will never have such advanced AF like 7D.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 11:07:29 +0000

I bought the D700 over the 5D MK II because of the auto focus in low light.

That said, there are times when I feel like I might have made the wrong decision purely because there are sooo many Canon users compared to Nikon users. Not because there is anything wrong with the D700, in fact I would say that it’s an absolutely awesome body!
I think I may be a little envious of the higher MP count on the 5DMKII, apprently it gives better detail.

So I suppose reading people’s responses here makes me feel better but still, I bought the D700 very late, the replacement should be out this year or early next year.

Cheers.

By: Brent

Brent — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:43:13 +0000

I have to be honest here, I’m a little shocked at how severe the problems are with the 5DmkII.

Years ago I remember trying to decide between Canon or Nikon for my first DSLR and growing up I had always wanted a Canon. After doing lots of research I decided to go with Nikon. After a year went by I started getting asked to do weddings. Out of fear, I felt I needed a high ISO capable camera to cover the dim lit weddings and again I was at a point where I didn’t really have a lot invested in Nikon yet so I still could make the switch to canon if I wanted to. It came down to the D700 and 5DMkII. I lusted over the 5DmkII to be honest, only because many wedding photographers use it with jaw dropping finished results. My mentor uses a 5DmkII….in fact he just replaced his broken 5D (broken shutter) with it. He praises both his 5D and 5DmkII. Well I still went with the D700 and I do love it but looking at all of these gorgeous photos by the 5D and 5DmkII has given me envy at times….grass is greener effect I guess.

I went with him on a dual shoot for a catalog this past Friday working with models and the catalog’s line of clothing. We shot in the afternoon until that night from 2pm to 11pm. He used strobes the whole time until we got out side at dusk and his trigger/receiver setup quit working. He then switched to natural light….no strobes. I noticed he was getting tense and really cussing at his triggers for not working. I ended up getting his triggers back up and working for him but later he told me he was having a hard time AFing and that he was manual focusing that whole time when his triggers failed. He still had great shots to be honest, he just knows its limitations and how to work the camera for his liking.

The 5DmkII still has a mystique and presence with me……I’m not sure where it comes from other than what I hear and see with its results. Its almost like I can tell when a photo was done with the 5DmkII……I don’t know, it just has a good look to it in my opinion. One of these days I’d like to trade him cameras for a day and see what all the fuss is about. I bet he’d get completely stunning shots out of my D700….more so than I could.

By: adams

adams — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 06:51:52 +0000

FOR SALE: Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21MP DSLR Camera

Canon EOS 5D Mark II has a stunning 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 Image Processor, a vast ISO Range of 100-6400, plus EOS technologies like Auto Lighting Optimizer and Peripheral Illumination Correction. It supports Live View shooting, Live View HD videos, and more.

PACKAGE CONTENT:

1 Canon EOS 5D Mark II Body
1 Eyecup Eb
1 (EW-EOS5DMKII) Wide Neck Strap
1 (STV-250N) Stereo Video Cable
1 (IFC-200U) USB Interface Cable IFC-200U
1 (LC-E6) Battery Charger
1 (LP-E6) Battery Pack
1 EOS Digital Solution Disk
1 Software Instruction Manual

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By: Kent

Kent — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 04:48:49 +0000

Shoot manual

By: Karel Donk's Blog » Blog Archive » Canon EOS 5D Mark II – A Piece of Shit

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 01:40:54 +0000

[...] Canon EOS 5D Mark II: Camera from Hell [...]

By: Karel Donk

Karel Donk — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:08:49 +0000

There are those who are happy with their 5D Mark II, and there are many who aren’t happy, a lot of whom have switched to Nikon already. Those are “we’re”.

By: James

James — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 10:06:59 +0000

I think you are missing the point. Who are “We’reI”? I am not tired of waiting, I am happy, I love the 5DMK 2, more than happy, in fact, I am in awe of this camera.

By: Karel Donk

Karel Donk — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:26:53 +0000

I think you’re missing the point. I didn’t write all of this just for the sake of being negative, I wrote it to let people know about certain things instead of believing the hype blindly, and also as feedback to Canon Inc. so they know what to change for the next update. When I first started writing these, it was almost like I was alone, the only one bashing the 5D Mark II for its shortcomings. Today, there are many around the web that say the exact same things. Canon needs to up their game now, we’re tired of waiting.

By: James

James — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:06:47 +0000

Why would I buy something that I already own? Phhhh!! Did you not read my post? Obviously not.

Dude, your photos look great, you probably just are not a good business man if you are not able to earn good money doing what you do and just BUY THE GODDAMN NIKON GEAR!!!!! that you so desperately want.

I make enough to buy Canon, Nikon, whatever the hell I want but I guess I don’t spend hours upon hours maintaining a website of negativity and rants. I spend ALL my time taking photos, reading about taking photos and DOING! This website and the negativity surely must be mentally taxing and affecting your work. Stop letting this situation eat away at you and I am sure your work, finances etc will improve so you can move forward, purchase your coveted Nikon equipment and maybe, just maybe you can be happy.

By: Karel Donk

Karel Donk — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:29:07 +0000

Well if you think my reasons for not selling are lame, why don’t you buy it all then? I’d be happy to ship you everything as long as you pay me immediately so I can order the replacement Nikon gear at the same time.

By: James

James — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 07:09:16 +0000

I have used my 5DMkII for over a year and never have I had a bad word from my clients. They love all my work and I love my work.

Just not sure what this website is about. Dude just sell your stuff and move on. Your excuses fro not selling are lame. “I live in South America so I can’t sell my gear” WTF?? Lame

I have images on billboards that look awesome.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:48:49 +0000

I was after a FF DSLR recently & discover potn forum, a Canon forum dedicated to Canon gear & use. There were so many 5D2 users on that forum that swear blind that the 5D2 is an awesome camera and that any AF issues were due to user error.
My preference initially was to go with Canon, they had more stuff & were cheaper. That was until I actually tried otu a 5D2 & a D700 in a camera shop. The D700 focused on everything I pointed it at first time, every time. The 5D2 focused once or twice & only in the center. I thought that I was doing something wrong with the camera or with the settings so I gave it to the sales guy who said, ‘everything is ok, you’re doing it right’. I thought jeez! How can they charge so much money for a camera that doesn’t even focus?!?! Who cares what the LCD is like or how many mega pixels it has if it simply won’t AF on anything.
Needless to say that I went with the D700. It’s an awesome camera & the lenses are so sharp. The only dowsnisde I can see with the D700 is that Nikon is always more expensive, they have less models to chose from & the D700 has less resolution but these are a small price to pay to get photos that are in focus.

ANY money spent on photos that can’t be used is wasted money!

Cheers
S

By: onar olsen

onar olsen — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 07:09:22 +0000

I have 5d mk II, had the 7d. happy with both cameras, but AF is not impressing on 5d compared to both canon 7d or nikon d700. But for my shooting style, the 5d mkII has plenty good AF system, when using centre focus point.
I have to say, go out and TRY the gear, and choose the camera for your prefered shooting style.
BTW, 5d mkII has fantastic image quality…

By: Jon Woodbury

Jon Woodbury — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 16:10:29 +0000

These are the exact reasons I bought the 7D this spring. I saved the $800 difference and got a camera with very good autofocus. I will reevaluate the Mk III when it comes out and see if it merits an upgrade.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 03:32:07 +0000

It’s a landscape/studio camera, it doesn’t have fancy autofocus to keep the price down. It’s a fantastic landscape camera you don’t hear any landscape photographers complaining or moving to Nikon.

The only reason Nikon put top end autofocus in cheaper bodies was to play catch up when they were so late to the table with full frame sensors.

What people forget is that Canon are a company and their job first and foremost is to return value to shareholders, their system provides clear upgrade pathways to maximise their profit. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 00:25:43 +0000

The 5DmkII does what it says on the tin, and it does it well. Yes, the AF system should have been better, given that Canon HAD a 9-point, all cross-type system in the 40D and 50D before the 5DmkII was released. There is no doubt that the D700′s AF system is vastly superior.

Then again, if I shoot Nikon and I want ultra-high resolution full-frame images for the work I do in ample light, I have only one option: the $7200 D3x.

There are always trade-offs; the D700′s trade off is its (relatively) low resolution, the 5DmkII’s is its AF system, and the D3x’s is its ultra-high price.

By: Adi

Adi — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:04:55 +0000

why Nikon bodies seem to have better autofocus than Canon bodies? mainly because they have AF-assist light built into their bodies!

solution: put on a speedlight, and turn off the flash from the menu if you don’t want it.

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:02:52 +0000

Not sure why your camera sucks, but mine is awesome. Literally, the first thing I did when I got my 5D mkII home, was focus in a dark room (really really dark). With an f4 lens. Guess what, it worked perfectly. (and it’s worked great ever since, with a mixture of pro and personal work)

I also have a 1D mkII, and while it is better at low light focusing, the 5D mkII is no slouch. Not sure what all the complaining is about.

By: Karel Donk

Karel Donk — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 14:52:06 +0000

If they put autofocus functionality on the camera, I’m going to expect it to work.

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 14:23:56 +0000

You all need to learn how to shoot WITHOUT AUTOFOCUS. What have we become ? Machines ? who can not think for themselves. If I offended anyone, I am sorry, but I am stating truth. Joe

By: John

John — Sun, 16 May 2010 23:48:39 +0000

it doesn’t work.
True, some lenses need to be calibrated to the camera, but I’ve found with every mark II I’ve tested that you can “micro-calibrate” until you’re blue in the face, but the camera will still not give you sharp images.
I’ve tested this on 4 mark II bodies with 24-105 L, 50 1.4, 85 1.2, 16-35L, 135L.
This camera is a POS. If you already have a prior 5D, KEEP IT.

By: Darryl

Darryl — Sun, 16 May 2010 15:27:37 +0000

https://www.lensrentals.com/news/2008.12.22/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths.

Just in case another website can’t be listed:

The good news is newer cameras have taken all this into account and the fix is right at your fingertips. The following cameras all have a “lens microcalibration” feature: Canon 1DIII, 1DsIII, 5DII, 50D; Nikon D3, D3x, D300, D700; the Pentax K20D, the Olympus E-30 and E-620, and the Sony A900. I’m surprised at how many people don’t take advantage of this feature – its a bit time consuming to do, but once done each of your lenses is locked in the camera’s memory and it will automatically compensate so that each lens is at a nearly perfect focusing plane whenever you mount it on the camera. I find the feature makes such a huge difference for most of my better lenses that I consider this feature alone makes the upgrade to one of the above bodies worthwhile.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:41:27 +0000

I moved from canon 40d to 5dm2. I agree on the very disappointing autofocus . Suprised that canon shot its self in the foot, by putting this into such a competitive market.

By: gregorylent

gregorylent — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:27:33 +0000

nikon is NOT the answer, based on my auto-focus experience with that brand …

maybe the technology is just too early all around?

By: J.P.Robertson

J.P.Robertson — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:20:09 +0000

I’ve just recently purchased the 5DmkII, and it’s first outing was shooting a wedding under some pretty hard lighting conditions. the only bad thing i’ve got to say about the camera is that the off centre points aren’t sensitive enough. Having to focus and recompose can get pretty old pretty, quick, especially when things start to move at a decent pace.
The RAW image quality is fantastic, even upto ISO3200, and as with all high ISO shots, noise is generally not an issue if you nail your exposure in camera.

I love the camera otherwise.

By: Lawrence Dudley

Lawrence Dudley — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:03:00 +0000

I generally use the centre autofocus point and then reframe like others. It’s actually really easy once you get used to it – I’ve never used or wanted the other autofocus points for anything other than Sports photography where you don’t have time to recompose, but then again the 5D Mark II isn’t a sports-camera.

It works amazingly well, and yes it’s quirky but a lot of the people winging about this camera should just get out there and use it instead of complaining – despite it’s little quirks it’s an amazing piece of kit in the right hands.

By: Joe Goh

Joe Goh — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 08:22:30 +0000

Yes, the 5Dm2 AF system does look archaic next to D700′s 3D metering with 51 (!!) AF points. At least, even the 7D’s AF and metering could be better put to use in an FF rather than a crop frame camera worthy of 5D. I wonder… is it really that much more expensive just to put these 2 features into the 5Dm2? I shouldn’t think so, and Canon unfortunately wasted a bit of a golden opportunity win all scores with these improvements.

The focus-then-recompose method using the the center point might not be totally convenient/practical for wildlife, portrait, action/sports at all. I’m guessing, once I test out the Area AF or the fixed point (using the outer points) methods, focusing will be much slower. I’ll get back to you guys on that.

I think the resolution advantage does mean a huge sacrifice in ISO quality. Admittedly pixel peeping and checking actual print-outs are 2 different ways of judging the IQ. I agree we shouldn’t need to do much to get the best quality (that’s the dream promise of pro SLR cameras, right??) Then again, certain people advocates down-sizing images to smooth out the noise. Either way, photographers would have to see what their preferred workflows ought to be, to best use either D700 or the 5Dm2 features. Me, I rather not do too much touch-ups whenever possible