Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Russ Juskalian — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:31:00 -0500

When Canon announced the 5D back in 2005, it was a game-changer. The camera was the first full-frame DSLR--meaning that its CMOS sensor is the same size as a frame of 35mm film, about 60 percent larger than the sensors in most DSLRs--in a standard sized SLR body, all for just a bit more than $3,000. Three years later, its successor, the 5D Mark II, pushes the image-quality bar higher and the cost of entry lower. But 2009 offers a more crowded field of competitors, and this camera comes with a few things--like full 1080p HD video--that puts it in a category all its own.

The second generation of Canon's 5D offers awesome stills and full 1080p video.

The price has come down, but at $2,699, the new 5D is certainly no entry-level camera. The price does buy quality, however. It’s chunky and well built, has monster resolution, and can produce images that rival anything you’re likely to achieve with a high-end consumer or pro camera.

It’s astounding that the Mark II, at 21.1 megapixels, offers nearly twice the number of pixels as its progenitor without incurring any negative consequences with respect to image quality. In fact, low-light images are actually cleaner--and the ISO range of the camera is as good as it gets--from 100 to 6400 standard, and it can be pushed all the way to 50 on the low end and up to 25600 on the high end.

Throw in automatic dust reduction, live view with contrast detect autofocus, a killer 3-inch LCD, advanced battery management that tracks shooting history and battery stats for up to six batteries, a micro adjust feature to perfectly calibrate the autofocus for each lens in your collection--and there’s enough here to get excited about, if you’re in the market for a high-end piece of photographic equipment.

But let’s be honest. What makes the new Mark II not just an awesome upgrade, but killer device, is what it can do with video: beautiful, crisp, 1080p HD video that easily rivals pro-level cameras.

Forget the stuff you get out of high-end HD digital video camcorders with three chips--this is something altogether different. Because of the huge size of the CMOS sensor in the Mark II, the camera is able to shoot video that looks like what you see in blockbuster films at the theater: totally isolated subjects with razor-thin depth of field (the so called “film look,” where one part of the frame is in focus and the rest is a buttery smooth blur), incredible low-light sequences, and the sharpest, cleanest colors this side of a Hollywood studio. Even the mighty Red One video camera doesn’t have a sensor as large as the one in the Canon.

But as with all good things, there are limitations, and the Mark II has enough video limitations that the world’s filmmakers probably won’t ditch their current rigs. For instance, the longest you can record at full HD is 12 minutes (around 4GB worth of video). It’s not the end of the world--how many films have any single shot that runs longer than a couple minutes? So although it’s not a deal-breaker, it is an inconvenience.

Worse, in video mode, one is left with little in the way of manual controls for things like exposure, aperture, and ISO. A workaround for these issues is to use the video mode with older manual focus, manual aperture lenses that are adapted to work with the camera. But this is a whole separate project.

Casio EX-F1

Zack Stern — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:10:09 -0500

Shaped and priced like a DSLR, the EX-F1 does a lot more—but also a lot less.

The EX-F1 is an unevenly performing camera that almost always seems to present a downside to counter each amazing high point. Its most unique feature is its ability to capture video at amazingly high framerates, all the way up to 1,200 frames per second. Five seconds of real-time footage turns into more than three minutes when played back, transforming a bumblebee’s flight and falling raindrops into a backyard ballet. But faster speeds severely limit resolution, curbing possibilities in both recording and playback. Still photos look good, with bright, accurate colors, but RAW images drastically slow down the camera.

Videomakers will get hooked on the camera’s high-speed potential. We recorded eggs shattering, water pouring, matches lighting up, and more. In each experiment, we uncovered hidden action that normally goes unnoticed. The EX-F1 is a rare tool that can shift your perspective on the world; it had us constantly searching for new truths in ordinary activities. But even at 300 frames per second, the camera squeezes its resolution down to 512x384 pixels, which is lower than standard TV. At 600 frames per second, it shoots at 432x192 pixels, and at the astounding 1,200 frames per second, you get the peephole size of 336x96 pixels. These tiny, wide resolutions can be hard to line up when recording, and they’re not big enough to use in most videos other than those shot just for the Web.

HD video performance is also mixed. The EX-F1 records in either 1080i or 720p, the two most common high-definition resolutions. But 1080i clips don’t play on Macs without an unsupported, third-party video codec. And both resolutions have a hard time defining objects in indoor lighting, while panning and tilting outdoors blurs details. We had better results shooting at 640x480 pixels—a common benchmark for standard-definition video.

Photos look great compared to those shot with a midrange point-and-shoot. Although the EX-F1 is priced like a DSLR, don’t expect that kind of performance. When capturing JPEGs, the camera is always speedy, even able to burst 60 shots in a second at its 6-megapixel maximum. It can fire a high-speed burst with the flash at 7 shots each second. Almost every aspect of the camera is tuned for speed.

We captured vibrant colors, even indoors without the flash, although we got the best results in daylight. The image stabilizer worked well in low-light situations to keep the frame steady, and we noticed great image details when scrutinizing repeating objects and patterns. Auto-exposed photos looked good, but complete control over aperture, shutter speed, and other manual settings will satisfy experienced photographers. The EX-F1 even shoots times as fast as 1/40,000th of a second, or long exposures up to 60 seconds—great for night landscapes.

When shooting in RAW, however, the EX-F1 feels like a different camera. Its response plummeted in our tests. It still captured single shots almost instantly with the shutter button, but we had to wait a few seconds before taking another.

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Canon EOS 5D Mark II

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