Destined Evolution My Ass!

Canon EOS 5D Mark II – A Piece of Shit

June 10th, 2011

By now you’re probably thinking I’m being too hard on this camera and I understand if that’s so. After almost 3 years my opinion on the Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR hasn’t changed at all. In fact, from what I’ve seen I’m just more convinced that so far this has been the biggest piece of shit camera ever released by Canon (maybe even by anyone), with the Canon EOS 1D Mark III very close behind it. From the moment this camera was announced by Canon back in September 2008 I knew it had issues. In fact, I was one of the very few who didn’t buy into the hype and saw the rather serious shortcomings of this camera. A few days after it was announced by Canon, I wrote here on my blog about one of the biggest issues that would haunt this camera during its lifetime, namely the old and crappy autofocus system. Many rushed to attack me and tell me how I was being stupid and wrong. The comments to all my posts about the 5D Mark II are still there and it’s quite amusing to go back and read them. It turned out that there were many more issues that we’d have to deal with when using this camera, among which the rather poor image quality it produces under certain circumstances (banding and noise issues).

And although in the beginning it seemed like I was almost the only one who didn’t like the 5D Mark II or had issues with it, as time passed and reviews started appearing and people actually got to use the camera professionally, more and more professional photographers started to express their frustrations with the 5D Mark II autofocus system and other issues. I have documented a lot of those instances in previous posts and in the comments of those posts. Below is a listing of my posts so far on the 5D Mark II:

In the past I’ve covered well known photographers such as Zack Arias and Lloyd Chambers expressing their frustration with the 5D Mark II autofocus system and other issues, as well as comments from many other pros. More recently celebrity stock photographer Lise Gagne made a blog post where she expressed her frustration with the recent Canon cameras, among which the 5D Mark II, and explained how she had to switch to Nikon:

I’ve always been a Canon addict. I was in love with the 1ds Mark II. Then the 1ds Mark III arrived, Ive bought one and, I was on shock, I was not able to have a good sharp image. After 3 months, I sold it, I continued to use the MarkII. Then, I’ve tried the hassel. I was in love with the sharpeness, razor sharp details, etc.. I’ve bought one. This camera is amazing, but.. this camera has been built for studio and to work with lot of strobes. In natural light, in low light situation or to capture a real moment, this camera is too slow, it needs lot of light to focus properly, so very hard to capture THE moment.
I’ve started to try the 5dmarkII’s Louis, to at least, produce some natural images, unfortunately, don’t know what’s wrong with that camera, but I just cannot autofocus properly! The focus goes everywhere except on the target. It looks like that camera only focus on the brigher point. I was quite disaapointed. So I’ve tried a couple cameras and, after those experiments, I’m now a Nikon’s user. The focus is where you want, the quality is awesome, it’s sharp, focus is real fast… It’s sad for Canon, I’ve always been loyal to them, but since the markIII and 5dmarkII, they’ve lost me. Hopefully they will come with a better one this year, I still keep all my lenses (anyway Louis uses them for video). Nikon will probably announce a new one even if I’ve just got mine (3dx for those who are interested, the dx4 might be announced this spring and will be available in fall for us). Then I’ll choose between them but my trust is now for Nikon.

Lise Gagne makes some interesting remarks about the 1Ds Mark III and the 5D Mark II. She was unable to get sharp images with both. Many people complained about soft images being produced by the 5D Mark II, and since the 5D Mark II was said to use a similar sensor to the 1Ds Mark III, or slightly “improved” even, then it’s possible that they both suffered from the same issues. It’s also possible that these issues are related to poor quality control. And in the case of the 5D Mark II, the softness produced by the 21MP sensor was compounded by the poor performance of the autofocus system. This would explain many of the comments I received about the 5D Mark II over the course of almost 3 years now. I sure am glad that I didn’t invest in the 1Ds Mark III myself. In fact, I almost did so but couldn’t get one in the beginning due to the low stock levels in the first few months, and then the autofocus issues with the 1D Mark III received publicity thanks to photographer Rob Galbraith and I decided to wait and not buy the 1Ds Mark III until the issues were solved (and they never were really solved).

If you think Lise Gagne is alone here, think again. Top stock photographer Yuri Arcurs expressed similar frustrations with the 1Ds Mark III in his comparison with the Nikon D3x. Arcurs was using the 1Ds Mark III when he later switched to the Nikon D3x because it has a better autofocus system, or to be more precise, it delivers sharper images compared to the 1Ds Mark III:

The Canon has lower noise levels and the lenses perform generally better, but what does this matter if your images are more out of focus, if the camera is much harder to work with on a daily basis and if you can get the same results form a Nikon by just choosing the right lenses and get another 3 mega pixel on top?

…

If Canon is to stay competitive then they have to start listening to their photographer’s needs and they also have to come up with a new top model within the next six months or so.

So issues with soft images may be related to the sensor being used in the 1Ds Mark III (and the 5D Mark II) and/or the autofocus systems on both cameras. I know for a fact that the autofocus system on the 5D Mark II is simply inadequate to do the job. But the sensor itself may also just be producing soft images making the problem much worse.

Wedding photographer Ryan Brenizer made the following remark on Twitter recently:

Always an adventure shooting a wedding with the 5D and its faith-based autofocus. The D3s in my other hand kept snickering.

Even award winning photographer and Canon Explorer of Light, Vincent Laforet, recently mentioned the old autofocus system on the 5D Mark II as one of its disadvantages:

Lastly – the autofocus system (for still photographers) is the same system that was found in the original 5D – therefore it is close to 5 years old relative to newer systems.

You have to keep in mind that Laforet often closely works with Canon and he can’t openly come out and be too critical of Canon and put his relationship with them at risk. Under normal circumstances this shouldn’t have to be an issue, but a lot of photographers seem to be afraid of Canon. And if I look at Canon’s recent behavior towards photographers, then I can certainly understand those fears. In the last 3 years I’ve received emails from professional photographers who agreed with me on many of the issues I was blogging about but weren’t willing to openly come out and say certain things about Canon in public. But I think that it’s exactly this behavior that has now caused Nikon to gain ground and be ahead of Canon. Nikon photographers were very critical of Nikon in the past and Nikon listened and fixed many issues (among which the noise issues) and came back stronger than ever. Now the latest Nikon bodies (consumer and pro) produce image quality that far exceed anything Canon can currently offer according to benchmark data from DxOMark. Even professional photographers, like Lise Gagne and Yuri Arcurs, have made similar comments. In fact, quite a lot of professional photographers have switched from Canon to Nikon in the last 3 years. I’ve written about some of those cases here on my blog, but Fake Chuck Westfall has also documented a lot of them on his blog.

Here’s what photographer Laurence Kim had to say recently:

That’s one of the frustrating things about Canon. The 5D produces gorgeous image files. In fact, I prefer the files from the 5D to any other dslr. But it’s saddled with a crappy focus system. So they come out 3 years later with the 5DmkII – more megapixels, better high ISO, video mode………..but still the same crappy focus system!

It’s not hard to understand what’s going on. Clearly, Canon wants to protect their flagship 1-series by deliberately crippling all of their “lesser” camera bodies. By contrast, look what Nikon is doing. They put their best professional focusing system in the D700 (their equivalent to the 5dMkII). Hell, they even put nearly as good a focusing system into their D7000 – a body that matches up against Canon’s 60D! To quote Thom Hogan, it’s as if Canon missed a memo somewhere.

If you want a great focusing Canon, you are forced to pay $5k for their (crop sensor) 1DmkIV. So in other words, there is no such thing as a full-frame camera with a top-notch focusing system from Canon!

And let’s not forget Thom Hogan:

Canon missed a memo somewhere. The camera market is changing, but they seem stuck on executing on the old memo. Basically: more pixels, more video, same camera. Some things (autofocus comes to mind) are getting a little stale in the Canon world, while other companies seem to be pushing lots of new tech into their equipment (pellicle mirrors, new focus systems, new metering systems, etc.). This needs to change or the overall trend of Canon being nibbled to death will continue. I don’t see any evidence yet that Canon is going to change, though. 2010 was more of the same. Everyone will be looking to see if 2011 is more of more of the same.

Although it took some time, many in the industry have come to agree with what I said right from the start. But this post is not to tell everyone that I told you so, although, yes, I told you so (even before the 5D Mark II was actually available):

So now you have a high resolution sensor, 21 megapixels, but guess what? You can’t easily take pictures that are in focus, eliminating the entire point of having that much resolution available! So now you have a sensor that is extremely capable for low light, high ISO photography, but guess what, you can’t quickly and accurately focus in low light conditions. But hey, you can shoot HD quality video!

The reason why I’m writing this post is that I hope that I and many others have done enough to make it clear to Canon exactly what it is that we want to see in future cameras. And since the successor to the 5D Mark II is probably going to be released this year, I hope that we’ll finally get the full-frame camera we’ve all wanted. Like Thom Hogan said, everyone will be looking to see if 2011 is going to be more of the same for Canon, and I’m very much hoping that it won’t be. Nikon has had a 51-point professional autofocus system (same from the D3s!) on the D700 for almost 3 years now and it can only get better for the D800. Canon needs to seriously step up their game with the 5D Mark III and in my opinion can’t afford to include anything less than the autofocus system from the 1D Mark IV in it. Because Nikon, aggressive as they are right now, are going to be throwing everything they’ve got into the D800, and then some (just look at what happened with the Nikon D7000 and the Canon EOS 60D). It will be interesting to see what happens in a few months.

Update June 12, 2011:

Photographer John Edgar, a Canon shooter, recently decided to try the Nikon system for a day and although he went in expecting not to like it, you’ll be surprised by his remarks about the difference between the Canon and Nikon systems. Just like many others are saying, and like I wrote above, Canon has a serious problem with autofocus. Here’s some of what Edgar said:

Generally, a pretty high proportion of my images shot with my Canon system are out of focus, mostly because it just can’t seem to focus on the right thing. This has been a frustration for a while and definitely my main friction point with the Canon system.

…

I realized that in less than 30 minutes of using the camera, it felt second nature to me. Believe it or not, after 10 years of shooting on the Canon system I still sometimes get lost and turn things the wrong way or forget where a setting is. I was very, very impressed with how quickly I was able to adapt and learn the Nikon layout, and found it extremely natural and ergonomic. Hours in I said to a guest who asked me about the camera, “it really is a joy to shoot with.”

…

This was the perfect time to test the higher ISO ranges. I sent a quick message to my friend Ryan Brenizer to confirm that the files are pretty clean around 6400 ISO before I went trigger-happy. He gave me the nod and with a smile I set the camera there and went to town. I shot for a bit and then zoomed in to 100% and checked the shadows. Just as Ryan had mentioned: very, very clean.

…

The AF focus system is, at worst, much better than anything I’ve experienced with Canon. In continuous focus mode, while a lot of the AF lag is gone, so is a lot of the accuracy. That being said, I still found more of the images to be in than out or at least acceptability soft. During the photo session, shooting with good light in AF-S, the focusing was almost always spot on.

The only thing Edgar didn’t like about the Nikon system was the way it renders bokeh, though he admitted that was more his personal taste. But if I have to choose between different bokeh and to have a working system with reliable autofocus, then the choice is very easy for me. And I don’t think I have to tell you what it is.

Pingbacks

the Canon EOS 5D Mark II is a piece of s*it | planet5D - HDSLR community (17/06/2011)
Karel Donk's Blog » Thoughts on the Canon EOS 1DX (26/01/2012)
Karel Donk's Blog » Canon EOS 5D Mark III Review (13/07/2012)
Karel Donk's Blog » I am Fake Chuck Westfall (10/06/2014)

Comments

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Heather L June 10th, 2011 at 10:35 pm

I also was a die-hard Canon girl until I bought a 5DMk2. I wrote an article for Canon Learning Center so I know a lot about what I do, but Canon service didn’t care and treated me like crap. Fake Chuck Westfall linked my horror story on his blog, but here they are if you want to read.
http://www.crickie.com/archives/2604
http://www.crickie.com/archives/2649

Reply
- Karel Donk June 10th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
  
  Thanks for the links! I had seen those before a while ago, I think I even blogged about it in one of my previous posts about the 5D2. 🙂
  
  Reply
  - Heather L June 10th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
    
    Yes, I actually just went back over your last posts and saw it! Duh. 😛
    
    Reply
- George June 10th, 2011 at 10:47 pm
  
  So Heather, what are you currently using ?
  
  Reply
  - Karel Donk June 10th, 2011 at 10:50 pm
    
    She switched to a Nikon D700.
    
    Reply
    - Heather L June 10th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
      
      Yep, D700 and I LOVE it.
Aizatk June 10th, 2011 at 11:52 pm

If the 7D came out with a FF model, then it’s the camera to choose!

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Gordon Lewis June 12th, 2011 at 3:17 pm

>>…if I have to choose between different bokeh and to have a working system with reliable autofocus, then the choice is very easy for me. And I don’t think I have to tell you what it is.<<

I think you do. As far as I can tell, you shoot with a Canon EOS 40D, which uses the same focusing system you criticize in your post. I'm not saying your statements about Canon's focusing system are are untrue, I'm just wondering if you've switched to Nikon as a result. If not, why not?

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- Karel Donk June 12th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
  
  Actually the AF system of the 40D is much better than the 5D Mark II. I haven’t yet switched because for me it’s not very easy due to the amount of gear I’d need to sell which isn’t easy where I am.
  
  Reply
Al June 12th, 2011 at 4:57 pm

Let me begin by saying “I’m not a Pro” I’m a weekend warrior. Do you guys set the Canon to autofocus and let it choose its focus point?

I’ve had the 5dmkii since day one and I had to change my shooting habits due to soft focus but since I’ve set it to center focus and use one of the rear buttons to focus and the shutter just “as a shutter” all my shots have been right-on… in low light leave the 580II to help focus even with the beam off and its been solid.

I know there are better focusing systems out there, I own a 7d which is really quick. The 5d mkii isn’t that horrible in my opinion. Its a work horse

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- Karel Donk June 12th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
  
  You’ll be more likely not to be satisfied when you shoot fast telephoto lenses (with apertures < = f/2.8 such as the fast Canon primes). If you shoot wide angle and small apertures (> f/5.6) focusing errors don’t show up much although they may be there. Also if you use just the center AF point on the 5D2 you’ll also have less issues.
  It also depends on how demanding you are. Pros are much, much more demanding when it comes to images being in focus and sharp. All those people with a 5D2 shooting their family occasionally and printing out small 10×15 images are going to be happy.
  
  Reply
  - Al June 16th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
    
    I have the EF70-200 2.8 IS and never had issues either… although I never used tele primes. Maybe you guys are shooting fast moving objects. I understand that Pros will have higher demands but the camera shouldn’t be labeled “A piece of shit” Maybe you want to steer traffic to the post using that tittle but in my opinion that description is far too degrading. Peace!
    
    Reply
    - Karel Donk June 18th, 2011 at 2:42 am
      
      This is one of the reasons why I’m glad I don’t have ads on my blog. I don’t care about traffic. I only care about pointing out these things, especially when I see that many are afraid to do it. I care about Canon listening and improving so I can hopefully buy a good camera by the end of 2011 or beginning 2012.
Gordon Lewis June 15th, 2011 at 9:57 am

>>…the AF system of the 40D is much better than the 5D Mark II.<<

It's exactly the same AF system. It may, however, work better in the 40D and other EOS 1.6X cameras because of the smaller format. Given the same framing with the same focal length, the 1.6X camera will be further away and will therefore have more depth-of-field to compensate for focusing errors. Regardless, although I don't agree that the 5D Mark II is "a piece of shit," I do agree it deserves a much better AF system. I wouldn't be surprised if its replacement uses the AF system from the EOS 7D, if not something better. One can only hope.

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- Karel Donk June 15th, 2011 at 10:04 am
  
  Actually the AF system in the 40D is much beter, check the specs. All points are cross-type on the 40D but on the 5D2 only the center is cross-type.
  
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Thomas Fitzgerald June 17th, 2011 at 11:58 am

I’ve been a canon shooter all my life. I started having second thoughts withe the 5D mark1 because it was a dust magnet (but I still liked that camera besides that), but the 5DII pushed me over the edge. It’s not just the focus issue either. The camera is soft on detail, even when the shot’s are in focus, and forget about recovering shadows even at base ISO. I had a post on my blog ages ago about the focus issue in particular, and I still get comments on it from people equally frustrated.

I think this camera has gotten so much attention because of its video. I’ve yet to see any noteable photographer other than pete souza who uses this for stills photography. maybe they do, but I think the vast majority of people raving about the 5D2 are doing so because of video.

I recently switched to a D700 and it’s a whole different world. Shots are clean, little or no noise in the shadows, metering is freakishly accurate, RAW files come out of the camera and they look like you’ve photoshopped them they have that much contrast and vibrance in them, and most importantly they are in focus. And I don’t miss the 21mp at all. The images are much sharper from the D700. There’s more to sharpness than megapixels, and I wish Canon had come out with a camera that had an improved 12mp sensor and fixed all the other 5D1’s foibles rather than the mess that the 5DII is.

What really bugs me though is the people that say you’re just using it wrong. You put the focus point over the subject and press the button. It’s not rocket science people.

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- Keepin it real November 13th, 2011 at 1:08 am
  
  ummmm, Some of the statements being made here are absolute bullshit.
  
  5Dmk2 was the camera that was used to take the first official portrait of Obama. It is not “shit”, it is a great piece of equipment.
  
  There are professionals, and there are those who think they’re professionals. I know which one you are, can you guess which one am I?
  
  bunch of dickheads
  
  Reply
  - Obamas fathers mistress November 18th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
    
    Obama is shit, they needed a bigger sensor to get a foto of that asshipe kkk pet dog and his butt ugly wife
    
    Don’t get me wrong I ain’t racists but he is as Racists as they cum, joined up with the world dominant drug addicts
    
    Reply
Rod Fountain June 17th, 2011 at 12:02 pm

I suppose I shouldn’t bite as this is blatantly an attention seeking article – but I have to say that I have been shooting professionally with a 5D2 and 1DMK3’s for a few years with flawless results. If your whining about the 5D2’s (poor) AF system, then you missed the point of this camera all together, especially considering the market 3 years ago. Yes, the 1DMK3 had a dodgy batch when it came to AF issues – but this was resolved…eventually. As were the 5d2 banding issues and ‘dots’.

I personally have never had any issues whatsoever, with both the 5D2 and 1DMK3’s. They both produce stunning images in the right hands with professional glass f2.8 or less. Superb cameras, as are the D700 & D3.

If your depending on the 5D2’s AF in a studio environment – perhaps you should familiarise yourself with manual focus? Especially is you are using slow glass.

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- meatwagon June 17th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
  
  Yes the 5DII has a crap autofocus system; but so what, I have to agree with Rod here. In the hands of a real professional – or competent amateur – the 5DII is capable of *consistently* producing images that hold their own against anything Nikon has to offer. I have no issues with softness shooting at f2, or any other aperture. I should probably divulge that I almost always focus manually.
  
  As for the author’s implications that this camera isn’t being used much for professional still photography, nothing could be further from the truth. I can’t tell you the number of jobs I’ve been on in NYC where the 5DII was being used. Very popular with fashion photographers; in fact a lot of them started using it in place of medium-format systems because it’s so bloody good. Even tabletop shooters are using it, and clients are also very happy w/ the images it produces. My girlfriend managed a busy commercial studio, and actually had the experience of clients (BIG ones) specifically requesting this camera be used on their projects because the results were so close to those achieved with Phase or Hassy systems, at a fraction of the cost.
  
  I used to shoot Nikon and really love those cameras. For features and ergonomics, they are certainly superior to Canon. But the 5DII makes incredible still images, and incomparable video. The author seems to think video capabilities are irrelevant marketing fluff, which doesn’t indicate much awareness of what’s actually happening in professional photography right now.
  
  Reply
  - Karel Donk June 17th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
    
    You’re asking so what? Don’t you think you should get a working AF system on your camera capable of doing the job if you pay $2700? Nikon certainly seems to think so with the D700. I don’t think video is irrelevant. As I said before in some of my posts, I think Canon should have taken care of the photography features on this camera more and then focus on video. This is afterall primarily a still camera. Also fashion shooters have complained about the 5D Mark II as well, I’ve covered that in previous posts.
    
    Reply
    - meatwagon June 17th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
      
      That’s a good point, you should certainly get a much better AF for the money, no argument there. But everyone knew about that issue from day one. For many AF-reliant shooters this was a big turn-off; the rest of us bought it despite the fact.
      
      I agree that Canon should have taken care of a *lot* of things on this camera.. but again, knew that going in, and acquired it for the end result, which has never disappointed.
      
      As for fashion photogs, in my *personal* experience this is a very popular camera with that set, but I’m sure they’re not *all* enamoured with it.
    - Karel Donk June 17th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
      
      I think it’s more a problem that there’s no alternative if you need 21MP. The fashion photographer I’m talking about continued using the 5D2 while being very unhappy because he had no choice.
  - Karel Donk June 17th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
    
    And on top of that Canon’s video implementation is half assed at best. You have to jump through all kinds of hoops in post production to get acceptable image quality, depending on your standards. They even couldn’t implement basic AF in video when Nikon already has it. People have had to hack the firmware in order to get some functionality on the cam that pro videographers have come to rely on. If you really want to shoot video, get a RED.
    
    Reply
  - Obamas fathers mistress November 18th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
    
    Everything around 6 to 10 k can shoot cinematic quality jack
    
    Red Scarlett
    Canon c300 4:4:4:
    Canon 5dmkii with a ziess cp2, or Nikon and nd filter or a panavision 35mm any combination will be between the same price.
    
    Even the video cameras with all the bells and whistles cost between the same and more.
    
    The 5d mkii with magic lantern and certain lenses that have fast auto focus can fix the focus issues on the 5dmkii when shooting videos, sometimes it’s also good to add a nd filter on certain lenses. You see it’s stops autofocusing at a certain point depending on the lens and amount of light,
    
    Most important point to remember is he results, the 5 d is still the cheapest route to capture videos at full HD out, has a sensor the size of a vistavision, so for video it’s very promising, BT by the time to rig this piece of shit up with all the lenses to eat around the bitch’s AF issues you could just buy a canon c300, shoots at 4:4:4 and you can smell the fotos, very clear crisp videos, but then you will still want other lenses, maybe the solution is around the corner
    
    Reply
Julian Gibbs June 17th, 2011 at 3:37 pm

I’ve made hundreds of thousands of dollars shooting video with the 5Dmk2 – never use the auto focus unless I’m taking a snap shot. By using a Cine profile I’m able to get plenty of detail in the bright and dark areas in post. Frankly, technology changes so quickly and is so inexpensive from a professional view point who cares if the auto focus sucks – buy another camera.

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meatwagon June 17th, 2011 at 6:09 pm

This, however… really? Half-assed? This is the camera that *brought* HD video to the DSLR platform, so how is it a ‘half-assed’ implementation? That wouldn’t make sense even if it were true. And for such a crummy implementation, it sure has taken cinematographers and DPs by storm… guess those guys must not know what’s good.

Custom firwares were popular in the beginning but Canon’s updates have pretty much obviated the need for those. It’s easy to find any accessory to add whatever ‘missing’ functionality a pro might require. Please tell me you aren’t going to complain that all these things aren’t already built in to the camera after you just pointed out that this is “afterall primarily a still camera”…

I totally contest your assertion that “You have to jump through all kinds of hoops in post production to get acceptable image quality”. Not true. If shot properly, quality is great right out of the camera, and positively phenomenal after doing post. And I can assure you my standards are extremely high.

I’ve worked on quite a few productions using the RED and while it is an unbelievably awesome camera, it’s not w/o some pretty serious issues of its own. It’s also not always the best tool for the job. The DP I frequently work for in NYC owns, and uses, both the RED and Canon DSLRs (often employing both in conjunction on a given project). I will direct him to your comments which instruct that if he “really want(s) to shoot video” he shouldn’t be using his Canon cameras; I’m sure he will be grateful to you for the correction.

And come on, what are you saying to everyone who can’t afford to make their movie w/ a $100K+ RED system (i.e. pretty much everybody)? Don’t bother doing it on a Canon? That if you do, it will be sub-standard? I think we’ve all seen that is not the case.

Finally: everyone here knows that a $2500 camera is a CHEAP camera, right? Right?? Anyway, enjoyed your comments, back to work for me now…

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- Karel Donk June 17th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
  
  It’s half-assed because there’s no fix for the rolling shutter issue for one, you can’t shoot action with it as a result, the colors sucked until the Technicolor profiles got released, and it presented everyone with challenges in post. The only thing that is attractive is the low cost of the gear compared to the expensive cinema cameras. But low cost video at this quality will soon be done right once the RED Scarlet becomes available and from what I’ve seen Canon can’t hope to compete with that, unless they somehow had a couple of engineering miracles in the last 2 years or possibly had Jesus himself show up to help. And no I’m not complaining about the videocapabilities on the 5D2 being half-assed, this is not a complaint. It’s an observation. I couldn’t care less about video on the 5D2. All I’m saying is that instead of doing a half-assed job and releasing updates later to address some of it, they could have focused more on pictures and included a better AF system and other features like HDR, focus bracketing etc. etc.
  
  Reply
  - Matt Pycroft August 2nd, 2011 at 9:03 pm
    
    “It’s half-assed because there’s no fix for the rolling shutter issue for one, you can’t shoot action with it as a result”
    
    Camp 4 Collective seem to disagree. They are one of the most successful mountaineering/climbing film companies in existence. All shot on DSLR.
    
    *Disclaimer* Before I get slated for linking a pro company that shoot almost solely on DSLR, it is important to note that this (I imagine, as an adventure cameraman) is primarily due to weight and how replaceable cameras are. It’s very easy to break them in those environments, and they are also light enough to take on technical climbs.
    
    http://camp4collective.com/
    
    Reply
Orestis June 22nd, 2011 at 3:50 pm

I’ve been using 5DII since it hit the stores and i couldn’t be happier. I had used a 1D3 in the past and loved the built quality and the pro-AF capabilities of that body, but the AF on the 5DII rarely fails me. I use 99% center AF point and in AiServo mode it is more than capable of tracking a ballet-dancer during his/her performance. I’m very well aware of the fact that the Nikon competitive body offers a pro-AF for the same price, but last time i checked the image quality from D700 is nowhere near the one from 5DII in base or middle range iso. For those who need better AF the can choose the Nikon or Sony camp, but the Canon offer is far from being “a piece of shit”. Sony a900 may offer better resolution and better AF but their lens line-up is no where near Canon’s.
By the way, a mint-used 1Ds2 is at the same price as a new D700 and it is better in almost every aspect , except the screen size and high-iso.

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Boy in the corner June 22nd, 2011 at 7:25 pm

Coming out of leftfield with this one but… has anyone thought about manually focusing the camera? I find using your eyes over the camera’s AF gives you sharp images…
Maybe though you need to shoot fast to catch THE moment as mentioned in the article, I believe this is why camera lenses have pre-focus scales on them so you can use your brain like photographers used to do instead of letting your camera do the work.

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Sean June 23rd, 2011 at 9:44 pm

This article is a piece of shit. What a load of negative hype. a dog turd is as good as a 5D mkII – what’s sort of dog shit comment is that? – just hype to get people to read your amateur experience with the camera.

The only criticism here worth warranting is the camera’s auto focus ability – I agree – it’s not as good as it should be for a camera in this range – but focus MANUALLY – like a professional – then you get to focus on any object you desire and create very sharp images – this is a great camera – perhaps only for those that know how to use a camera and not rely on lazy features like auto focus.

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- Karel Donk June 23rd, 2011 at 10:33 pm
  
  Tell people like Lise Gagne, Yuri Arcurs and other pros to “focus MANUALLY – like a professional”, and about how autofocus is a lazy feature. 😉
  
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Allan July 7th, 2011 at 4:16 pm

I must say I got a kick out of reading these posts. The term “Professional” is tossed around yet the actions of these Professionals lack professionalism. Over the years there have been revolutionary changes made to equipment while photographers have discussed and argued back and forth which is better. The bottom line is it doesn’t matter which equipment brand you shoot with. It is the image that matters most.

If the equipment is not meeting your expectations get rid of it and use something else that works. The costs of cameras today are a drop in the bucket compared what Professionals spent in the past on film and processing. I as many other working Professionals easily spent the cost of a current DSLR each month. Today’s cameras are throw away or disposable when a comparison is made to film and processing costs of the past. Each year my film and processing bills ran in excess of $50,000 per year. Working on movie sets required shooting black & white and color film, both wide and tight and may I add my four cameras were in soundproof camera housings or “blimps” I also had a camera around my neck often a Leica rangefinder for rehearsals and grab shots. Keeping at least five cameras loaded and ready certainly added up quickly to my hefty film and processing bills. In comparison today, image capture costs have never been so economical.

I managed over the years to produce acceptable images shooting at 1/60 of a second at f4.0. Yes I missed focusing, setting my exposure and without image stabilization even shook my camera and produced unacceptable images but all in all overall success was achieved.

There are many reasons for soft focus, poorly exposed or noisy images. A true Professional’s job is to correct or remedy the problem. Camera bodies and lenses may be out of alignment due to impact. Camera shake, photographer error or poor choices usually accounts for most unacceptable results. Determine what is causing the problem and find a remedy. If buying additional software, a new lens or camera to replace suspect equipment is the answer, do so and move on. Stop making excuses and blaming the equipment and take responsibility for the problem. Are you a professional photographer or professional crybaby?

My 1Ds finally got retired this week after four years and 60K exposures. I paid $3,000 on eBay. I shot with a 5D and 5D Mark II from time to time when a second camera was necessary and my results were excellent. I shot with a 300mm 2.8 AF non IS lens with the models running straight at me; my exposure was f5.0 with shutter preferred selected. To my delight my images were tack sharp and only when they ran closer than minimum focus my images were soft.

Had I shot at f2.8 some of the images may have been soft, however, my “Professional” decision to shoot at f5.0 insured all of my images were acceptable.

Yesterday I made another “Professional” decision and ordered a Canon EOS 5D Mark II body with grip and extra batteries from Samy’s Camera. At the moment the 5D Mark II is available, priced right and my two lenses 24-105 and 70-200 2.8 fit. I expect no problems but if for some reason it does not meet my needs, I’ll put it on eBay, take the hit and buy something that works. If that requires me to change brands, I’ll do so.

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Devlin July 12th, 2011 at 11:16 pm

Karel is clearly incredibly upset about this else he wouldn’t have repeated the same point, over and over again, consistently for two years running.

So endeavoring to change his mind is pointless. He clearly loves to hate the 5d Mark II

I sympathize with him and the other frustrated photographers here. They’ve wasted thousands on a piece of equipment which has failed to live up to their expectations. They’re well within their rights to express their disappointment and I’m glad they have.

However, I’m inclined to agree with Allans message completely. I was going to offer a similar opinion myself.

I own a 5d Mark II. I agree, it does have a poor AF system but fortunately for me, I don’t need it. I focus manually. I don’t need it’s video mode either because I’m not Steven Spielberg.

Personally, I feel the 5d Mark II is the greatest DSLR I’ve ever used (but that’s because it meets my needs and approach to photography perfectly)

I’m sorry the rest of you feel let down, it’s very disheartening to feel as though you’ve wasted money.

Nothing could make me hate this camera, it’s perfect for me and what I do.

Once some of you learn how to shoot manually, perhaps you’ll learn to love it too.

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John July 13th, 2011 at 1:12 pm

All these people harping on about focusing manually are missing the point.

Photographers have been cheated out of their hard earned money by a once reputable company who’ve taken to releasing inadequate equipment instead of producing quality tools for our trade. I used to trust Canon but not anymore.

For years they’ve marketed lie after lie after lie. The conduct of their behaviour is simply unacceptable.

I salute Karel and the other dissatisfied photographers here for their honesty and integrity. It’s refreshing to see photographers looking out for other photographers.

Thank you for helping me make an informed decision. I wish you all the very best of luck

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- Karel Donk July 13th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
  
  What John said is true. I hope Canon changes their course in the near future. This is why I am writing all of these posts.
  
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Ricardo August 23rd, 2011 at 3:28 am

Hi, thank you so much people and specially Karel, I am from Santiago de Chile. Sorry about my english…i have to improve it a little bit more. Im a photographer dedicated basically to art and documentary. I use different kinds of photo and video cameras to do my work. Until this year i have never owned a DSLR camera, because im still using film, and for digital i ve owned different “advanced compact” cameras that had gave me many satisfactions, like sony cybershot V3 (bought in 2005), and for the past two years the Lumix LX3….a little jewel!

This 2011 i was thinking about jumping from the compact size, to the attractive world of full frame cameras (crop of dx technology keep me distant from dslr world in the past). I first think on a nikon gear, because i own 2 slr 35mm bodies, and a couple of old nikon prime lens. I read a lot of discusions and comparative stuff, and finally by a friend suggestion decided to move to canon because of the 5dMKII, a camera supposed to be the direct competition to nikon´s d700, with some pros and cons, but basically with a 21million pixel sensor (almost twice a d700 WTF!) and the posibility to shoot full HD video with it.

I sold many stuff, my video cam, some other gear, and move all my energy to buy a 5DMKII and some canon lenses, flash, etc.

Finally a friend who is comercial pilot brought me by hand my wondering equipment. All this was a whole effort. I´ve owned this marketing gear for only two weeks to realize what a really really nasty piece of excrement it is. I love the title of this post because gave my smile back after 3 days of suffering and thinking: what the hell is this? and what im supposed to do now??

Im not a technician or a person who aspire to have in hands “the best of the best” to do a good job or to satisfy his technical expectations. I think in terms of equipmet, that sometimes with a little you can do a lot, and with a more than decent quality level. With a bigger tool you could do even more and the challenge is also bigger. But the response of this camera -CANON EOS 5DMK2- is UNACCEPTABLE. I definetely dont want to drop that mount of money and energy in a “supposed to be” piece of camera.

I ve read many things about the bad AF system, i m not an AF photographer so that was not extremely relevant for me, but after testing i can say, the AF of 5DMKII does really fails. But the real reason that made me fell to the ground WAS THE RESPONSE OF NOISE IN SHADOWS AT LOW ISO (100 OR 200), THAT SHITY BANNDING EVEN AT DAYLIGHT WITH ISO 100!!!!!!!!!??????

Have been two weeks taking photos every day, some of them testing-playing with my new camera, and some other part of my work. THAT DIGITAL ABERRATION OF THE SENSOR IS UNACCEPTABLE!! My Lumix LX3 has a better response by far, sounds like a joke. And it is, but a very bad one from CANON company.

I´ve test my 5D2 with a friend photographer that owns the same, and it is the same shit, even the banding lines are similar. This has no way to be a coincidence, this is crap technollogy sold as gold one.

Now i know there are plenty of reasons but, that final test + all that i ve read about including this excelent post, are far more than enough reasons to understand that i must replace this bag of fraud quickly, and get as soon as posible a nikon gear, as it was my original idea. I took a sight in hell but now im back to life, specially thanks to you people and your honest research and advices. I join john to salute Karel and all other cheated photographers.

CANON=FRAUD
destined evolution my ass!! That was excellent!
greetings!
Ricardo Portugueis

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- Obamas fathers mistress November 18th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
  
  I believe tha the solution lays in spending more for a Nikon lens with better focus ability, lol. If not canons plan was you to buy more lenses
  
  If the 5d sucks ass leaking diarhiah then I guess that means the 1d, 60d, 7d sucks dripping diarhiah ass from Hilary Clinton’s own body
  
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JC December 8th, 2011 at 9:59 am

For those of you posting negative about this article and all previous one. Listen up.

GO GET FUCKED. 5D Mk II is the biggest pile of SHIT ever. It’s not about bad AF. It’s about this:

-> 3 years + 3k dollars = 1 cross type + 8 line type AF 3 years + 3k dollars = 15 cross type + 30 line type AF <-

Pull the head out of your shit hole if you don't agree with this article.

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JC December 8th, 2011 at 10:00 am

3 years + 3k dollars = 1 cross type + 8 line type AF

vs

3 years + 3k dollars = 15 cross type + 30 line type AF

That didn’t come out right…

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Anon February 7th, 2012 at 4:43 am

This has been useful for me, just as a starting point to see the range of opinions on here. Karel, you seem to have a lot of the argument straight: nobody is trying to say that the AF system is anything great. I think even if Canon released the camera stating “we added video, better high ISO, more MP, and class leading resolution, but still have the old AF system” this camera would still sell itself. If you are in a rapidly changing environment and depend on AF to be spot on (wedding, journalism), sure it might not be a perfect match, but at release and years after, nothing short of medium format could touch it for IQ.

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alan mc February 16th, 2012 at 11:01 pm

Personally I want to thank Canon, If they hadn’t convinced me to buy a 5DM2 to accompany a large selection of canon lenses, if the camera hadn’t produced soft images and if they hadn’t returned it to me telling me it was fixed, I wouldnt have got mad enough to sell everything Canon I owned ,about 10K worth of gear! and used the money I got to buy a Hassleblad 500CM, that in its simplicity works flawlessly decades after it rolled of the assembly line. I also bought a Nikon F100 and lenses that also work flawlessly and spent the remainder kitting out my attic as a dark room.
So thank you canon for your terrible quality control and customer service, because of it I have rekindled my love of the simplicity of analogue photography and the dark room.
Al

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George May 26th, 2012 at 7:39 am

Yes, the 5Dmk2 is the biggest piece of shit camera ever released by Canon. But also the 5Dmk3 is a piece of shit: is really the same old 5Dmk2 whith a new auto focus, and they called it:” 5DmkIII”. The 5Dmk3 is the autofocus which costs 3500 $ and is called “improvement”. That is CRAZY. Nobody should give away 3500 $ for an AUTO FOCUS. Yes, also the 5Dmk3 is a big PIECE OF SHIT!
Canon NEVER make sharp fotos, only SOFT fotos because of a strong AA filter.
Fuck Canon. Nikon is BETTER! MUCH BETTER!

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- Z D January 3rd, 2013 at 2:56 pm
  
  Nikon is for kids, Canon is for adults, Pentax blows them both away.
  
  PERIOD!
  
  Reply
Z D January 3rd, 2013 at 2:55 pm

You people are amateurs..
The 5D Mark II has few problems.

You people are all whinners…

Not photographers.

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Nomad March 8th, 2013 at 8:38 am

Karel Donk is a piece of shit, not the 5D mk2 :))

Fucking Nikon fanboys!

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Anonymous June 18th, 2013 at 3:52 pm

You all complains for nothing.
People are lazy today.
Back in the 80’s AF did not exist.
All analogue Hasselblad cameras have manual focus.
I know, did own and used 500C, 500 EL/M, SWC and 2000 FCW
Nothing could beat the image resolution and sharpness.

Had to leave the analog world since it got more and more harder
to to find chemicals, film and photo paper for b/w and colour photography.

Learn your equipment and dare to go manual …

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- Scrofa October 18th, 2013 at 10:18 pm
  
  Its the same thing as buying an manual transmission car at a price of automatic one 😀 both can still took you everywhere faster than walk by foot 😀
  
  This dude really miss the whole point :nohope:
  
  Why should you do manual focussing when you are using somewhat $3000 gear on your hand? It this so called “shit” is sold at $500, i believe no one will shitting it like this though
  
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diman October 25th, 2013 at 6:56 pm

5D mark II is still fantastic camera. Look at images on studio comparision tool at dpreview. As for sharpness, detail and colors , this camera is better than mark3 and any other cameras, including newest. Autofocus is good. The only issue is noise in deep shadows if you try to pull them for 2-3 ev – what real photographer never does. All cameras have weak points , but images from 5dm2 are just amazing.

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Ivan muller April 17th, 2014 at 12:39 pm

mmmm, interesting to hear all the opinions on the net, generally I find people are a lot more outspoken here than in real life…re the 5D2, not the greatest AF, but I was more than happy with the center AF, in fact over four years of professional and personal photography I very seldom missed focus…you just have to learn how to use this (or any other ) camera. My mate who works for a magazine just bought my 4year old 5d2 plus kit lens for more than 50% of what I paid for it originally…not bad for such a flawed camera. Just got the 6D, with, again, more or less the same ‘shit’ focusing system, and I couldn’t be happier…the center point focuses in the dark where I cant even see detail or texture or anything! Outer points imo almost worse than the ‘old’ 5d2, just my impression have not tested it properly, but somehow I just couldnt bring myself to buy the 5d3 with its kickass AF for the extra money. Maybe us old timers that grew up in the MF time when cameras mostly used film just arent bothered that much about nit picking over the AF, for us its already a huge step forward from MF and its just not a deal breaker, and certainly not an excuse for not getting the shot…

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Viisshnu June 21st, 2015 at 8:22 am

All these people praising the mk II and mk III have never shot with a Nikon. Nikon blows the pants off any canon in any class. My 10 year old Nikon D200 kicks the ass of Canon 1Dx. Canon depends heavily on software and internal processing to fancify the garbage picture from the garbage sensor. I shot a commercial project for a client with a mk III and I decided that day I will stick with Nikon till they put me in the grave. My D200 saved my ass more times I can remember and I still use it as of June 2015. Not a single camera from canon can surpass the quality of the D200, let alone gems like D700, D750, D7000, D7100. Suck it Canon.

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Viisshnu June 21st, 2015 at 8:29 am

BTW great blog Karel. Looks like apart from photography we seem to share similar interests 🙂 nwo..redpill philosophy, masculism. Keep up the good work. Cheers and greetings from India.

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- Karel Donk June 21st, 2015 at 1:14 pm
  
  Thanks 🙂
  
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Adam September 6th, 2016 at 10:09 pm

That whole blog is just a pile of Donk ! sorry man – sorry guys – but y’all need to learn photography before you start crying about AF points and Nikon this or I’m a “pro” that … bunch of photo hipsters

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billy September 10th, 2018 at 7:35 pm

maybe it’s just you lol i’ve been using 5d ii’s for 10 years and they still shine.

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