gordnanaimo Loc: Vancouver Island

There has been some discussion pertaining to the 5d mark 2 One owner claiming to be a technition says that they were the WORST cameras ever made. They were a major problem with noise and resolution and that by no means should one ever buy one. My experience is exactly the oposite. While I notice some noise at high iso and low light. The Colour, contrast, and resolution is superb. Does any one else, especially the pros out there, have any problems with this camera?

colo43 Loc: Eastern Plains of Colorado

No problems for me, I love the camera.

Dixiegirl Loc: Alabama gulf coast

No problems whatsoever with mine. Very little noise, and I use high ISO a lot, because much of my shooting is in low light conditions. No problem with resolution either. Can't imagine anyone having a problem with this camera.

skidooman Loc: Minnesota

I also have one, been doing weddings with it for a couple of years now. I think if you push any iso high enough you can get noise,,,I'd like to know what is meant by "high iso" these days? The answer could be pretty subjective depending on who you are talking to. 800, 2000, 4000 or higher?. Cameras keep getting better at reducing noise,,and software gets better at dealing with it also. Bottom line,,,,I love my 5D MII and have no issues with it whatsoever.

nolte1964 Loc: Des Moines, Iowa

Great camera only wish the focus was better.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Hot, dead and stuck pixels brand new straight out of the box at base ISO - not many at first but I don't think it should have had any at all.
Yes I could deal with it in post but should I have had to?
Problem gets much worse quite quickly with longer times and higher ISO.


Cross hatch noise from this and the 7D sensor looks very very crappy and because of the pattern is harder to fix than speckled noise.


Intermittent problem with banding problem in bottom half of pic on long exposure images - possibly a temperature or power supply problem but doesn't happen all the time. Has happened on 3 or 4 shoots out of maybe 180.
That's not many I hear you say, I say it's 3 or 4 too many. That could be the time that the "money" shot presents itself.
These occured with exposure times of 30 secs to 3 minutes, some day shoots with Big Stopper, some night shoots unfiltered.
Not always with same lens.
30 secs & ISO 100 is way too short for temperature problems to occur.
Bottom third of image looks to be exposed differently than the top third (landscape format) and also looks warmer colour. Taken at a variety of F/stops and shutter speeds. Less shutter time does lessen the amount of effect but only a rest fixes it.
It is NOT light leakage. Let me repeat that - it is NOT light leakage.
Happens with vertical or landscape orientation but always on the same portion of the image.

The thing that really annoyed me though was the chorus of Kool-Aide drinkers espousing the virtues of the camera especially low light work - until the 5D3 comes out.... and then the chatter is .... "yeh well we all knew the 5D2 had that problem, and this problem etc etc etc but now the magic 5D3 is here, thats all fixed now"

nolte1964 Loc: Des Moines, Iowa

It is possible that you had a bad sensor from the get go. Things don't not always get manufactured perfectly. I had dust right out of the boz annoying but correctable. In your case I would have returned it for a new one.

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

I have both the 5DMKii and 5DMKiii. No problems with either camera. I can subsitute my 5DMKii with the 5DMKiii in studio with no noticeable difference in either camera. In Low light I use the 5DMKIII. Its better at higher ISO's but the 5DMKII is fine for 1600-3200 and below. I loose one stop on either side of my EV in camera for the MKII. MKII goes from -2 -+2 while the MKIII goes from -3-+3. Because I shoot HDR for background composites I always choose the MKIII for HDR. I sometimes need the extra stop. I shoot all my HDR manual(Without AEB). Because I now shoot with the 600exrt's(I have three) I don't use the 5DMKII for portraits outside of studio. The 5DMKII has a radio transmission problem using radio transmission with the 600's sync speed is limited to 1/125. i.e. you can't do highspeed sync. I use my 5DMKII exclusively to shoot textures for backgrounds, shooting the street, shooting landscapes non HDR, shooting architecture and sometimes doing portraits in studio. I purchased my camera from B&H several years ago and would have sent my camera back if I had problems. Both the 5DMKII and 5DMKIII have served me well and I am glad I have both cameras. The MKII is my backup and keeps my shutter count down on my MKIII.
JER has both the cameras as well... Maybe he can chime in. From previous post he has the same issues that I just mentioned.. None of which dealt with quality of either camera. Unfortunately with any product bad items get through. It just hasn't been the case for me.
I wouldn't worry about what the technicians say. Go look at their photos.. If you can find any.

nolte1964 Loc: Des Moines, Iowa

I am looking at getting the MKIII first part of next year. Every one I know that has one just loves the performance.

obeone

I've used the MK II since it was first released and have never had any problems. Yes,there is some noise at high ISOs of 4000+, but I expected that. The noise in shadows and low light levels was much better than anything else that was available when the camera came out. How it compares to the newest models, I can't attest to as I've not used any of them, but I'm sure they've improved due to advances in sensor technology and better algorithms.
Sound like some people got lemons that should have been sent back for repair or replacement.
I think its the best camera I've ever owned.

rjriggins11 Loc: Colorado Springs, CO

I didn't say they were the worst, just that they were frought with problems from the start and many owners I have talked to were disapointed in the image quality.

nolte1964 Loc: Des Moines, Iowa

People buy cameras experience expecting the results to be out of this world right out of the box but the fact is you have to learn how to use the tool to get the best out of it and that doesn't happen over night.

Squint Loc: Stockton, CA

Same as everyone else (with one exception) - no problems, ever. Best camera I have ever owned. It would be nice to extend the AEB for HDR but there's plenty of workarounds - including manual (what a concept!)

nolte1964 Loc: Des Moines, Iowa

I have prefered the images out of the 5dmkii over the 7d which is why I decided to sell the 7d and just go with the 5dmkii.

gordnanaimo Loc: Vancouver Island

That's the same response (All favourable) That I get in the other forums and in my local association. I guess you can't please all the people all the time and there is always someone with a bone to pick. Even the last guy who was perfect had his detractors 2000 years ago.