I got the new Canon 5DMKII

[DVC Jen]

And - I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

Got a call from the store yesterday - and it was in. Just in time for Emily's Christmas dance recital.

I haven't had much time to really play with it or even process many of the photos from last night.

So far it seems to get really good results at high ISO settings. MUCH MUCH better than my 30D ever did. I had it set to ISO 6400 and was able to get the shutter up to 1/750! I could never do that with the 30D.

I played a tiny bit with the video last night - now I am not a huge home movie taker - but I think this is a cool feature. It takes a bit to hand hold and focus - so using a tripod is going to be essential - but for a camera thats primary purpose is still photos - it really did pretty well in my opinion.

The settings are quite different than the 30D and I am not even sure I have every thing set right yet. By the time I got the camera, go the battery charged - I had about an hour to play with the settings before I had to get Emily to the performing arts center for rehersal.

Here is one photo I do have processed that I can share.

Settings - full manual
ISO 6400
Aperture f/5.6
Shutter 1/750

used the 24-105L IS kit lens

I will post more when I get a chance - we are making christmas cookies today so it may be tomorrow before I get to the rest.

 

[annnewjerz]

Congratulations!

Great first pic - I love How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Almost as importantly, have fun baking cookies..that's what I've been doing all day, it'll definitely be a New Year filled with a few extra sweat sessions at the gym.

 

[deletedpenguin]

Congrats with your purchase! I'm sure it will continue to make you happy, and the rest of jealous, for a great while.

 

[Suburbanmom]

Woo Hoo, Jen!!! That's great. And that first picture is good too. Looking forward to more photos.

 

[handicap18]

Good for you Jen! Happy picture taking!!

Tis the season to take pictures........

 

[AndrewWG]

Jen, that looks fantastic for ISO 6400! Wow. You are getting me thinking again. Maybe I can sell my car and get a nice bike. Nah, I DO have to start saving some extra money though. I will want that camera in the upcoming year or so. If it takes as long to upgrade it as the original 5D, I have plenty of time. Congrats!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I've decided that I'll probably hold onto mine. Still, I'm not enamored with it yet. It's frustrating me a bit because it is rather different from my other camera.

I'm also annoyed at how close to greatness they made the video. If they'd have given me a manual video exposure mode, I'd be much happier. Instead, to set the aperture for a shot, I have to literally resort to hand waving. Even with that, I've only got four available apertures. Sigh. I wonder if they are saving humanly controllable video for the 1D Mark IV's.

 

[boBQuincy]

"I work in the solar power industry. The company I work for specializes in finding solar energy that was stored millions of years ago and making it available today. Even my car is solar powered.

Mark, you are actually in the nuclear fusion industry. The main reactor just happens to be located about 93,000,00 miles away and has been running for a long, long time.

Jen,
the photo looks great! I hope some of that technology trickles down soon, to the small, light, affordable range!

 

[jfinke]

I've decided that I'll probably hold onto mine. Still, I'm not enamored with it yet. It's frustrating me a bit because it is rather different from my other camera.

I'm also annoyed at how close to greatness they made the video. If they'd have given me a manual video exposure mode, I'd be much happier. Instead, to set the aperture for a shot, I have to literally resort to hand waving. Even with that, I've only got four available apertures. Sigh. I wonder if they are saving humanly controllable video for the 1D Mark IV's.

Some of the suggestions I have seen is getting some older manual everything lenses. That way you can control the aperture.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Congratulations. Looks good so far.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Mark, you are actually in the nuclear fusion industry. The main reactor just happens to be located about 93,000,00 miles away and has been running for a long, long time.

I know, but there aren't a lot of nuclear energy fans. Everyone seems to adore solar, so I'm empahsizing the connection of my business (oil and natural gas) to solar energy.

Can you think of any commrecial energy sources that didn't start as solar energy? Obviously, there is the nuclear industry. Wind is just solar energy used to unevenly heat air causing movement that we then translate to electricity. Hydro runs off of solar powered water evaporation eventually translated into mechanical energy. Coal, oil, and natural gas are just stored solar energy. I guess tidal energy isn't really solar. Anything else?