We are not alone. Plenty of people on the web have the same objective and they brought us exactly that: A wealth of comparisons, parallel tests and face-to-face reviews for the newest contenders for the title of “Most attractive enthusiast-targeting photo camera with a Full Frame sensor”.

• Low Light Comparison of the Canon 5D Mark II, 5D Mark III, and Nikon D800 from Joe Marine (via PetaPixel): It’s an impressive show of the Canon video performance (even calling the old 5D MkII in)
• DxOLabs does a number of reviews and comparisons aiming at the sensor quality (D800 & 5D MkIII): does not leave any doubt about the photo ability of the Nikon sensor (or should I say Sony sensor?).



• Nikon D800 vs. D3s and D7000 comparison by Cary Jordan: is obviously impressed by the D800 performance (as an excellent FX camera and as a very good DX/APS-C camera, too.)
• Canon EOS 5D Mk III Vs Nikon D800 at PhotoAnswers: is rather balanced but shows very nice D800 pictures.

Amateur

The obvious priority of the amateur will be, for sure, to completely master his/her budget, while keeping in mind that wildlife photo requires a large focal length.

So, at Canon, there is no doubt about the lens to select; This will be the famous 100-400mm f/4-5,6 L IS USM. After all, for a price somewhat reasonable (taking into account the maximum focal length of 400mm), it is a good lens. Not perfect (it does not have the quality of the prime tele-lenses from the same brand and the maximum aperture has nothing to impress while still compatible with auto-focus), but terribly powerful (the focal length variation is done just by pushing the “pump“).

photo credit: damir.ME

I should also say that this the zoom that its owners love to hate. There are some real issues, but they can be handled:

• The useful “pump” earns its name when working in a dusty environment. The sensor will be copiously dusted even without removing the lens from the body.
• The stabilization is using Canon’s first generation technology. It would be good to upgrade it now. But Canon does not seem to be ready to prepare a version II yet.
• This is all the more annoying because this stabilization has the bad reputation of breaking down (too?) often. And Canon, considering that this is a wearing part, excludes it from the warranty and will charge more than 400€ for repair.
• Last but not least, this 100-400mm also has the bad fame of being subject to sample variation in quality. Some go to the extreme of recommending not to buy it online without a return warranty.

All in all, this is not a surprise that this lens is so frequently present in safari cars and in bird hideouts.

In order to provide an SLR body up to the task, I would suggest the Canon EOS 60D (rather than the Canon EOS 550D) for its reactivity, its well contained price and its weather resistance always needed for outside operation. Moreover, the 18MP sensor will be perfect to support significant re-framing without too much quality loss.

As you will also take some time to do some landscaping, put a 24-105mm f/4 IS USM in your bag. It will ideally complement the tele-zoom in terms of focal length and it has a nice price.

Enthusiast

However, the expert photographer will not be satisfied with the quality of the 100-400mm (it shows its limits on the EOS 7D). He/she will look at the prime lenses. Canon has a superb offering but you need to have very deep pockets and strong shoulders to haul most of the L-series gear. Otherwise, there are some possibilities to check thoroughly, tele-lenses that are no longer in the news but which kept there excellent image performance.

In order to keep a good coverage, I recommend to select the 300mm f/4 L IS USM and the 400mm f/5,6 L USM. These two lenses are often ignored (the 400mm because it does not have the image stabilization) but they have optimal quality). Their maximum aperture is nothing great but this won’t be an issue with the high sensitivity of today’s sensors. Moreover, they can accept the x1.4 focal multiplier (The focal doubler from Canon will be left alone because it degrades images too much).

Now, about the body, Canon has exactly what you need to power these tele-lenses: The Canon EOS 7D. It brought a clear progress for auto-focus and continuous shooting to a range that was in dire need compared to Nikon’s most recent offering. Its ability to produce good pictures at ISO 1600 will be appreciated to compensate for the limited aperture of the selected tele-lens primes.

The only thing left is to complement this with shorter focal length. The excellent 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II USM cannot be beaten. And we will add the nice EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM which, while not part of the L series has the needed definition to correctly feed the strong needs of the Canon EOS 7D sensor.

There’s more: The advantage of slightly old tele-lenses is that they are relatively easy to find on the second-hand market (for example on eBay). This will reduce the tab too; It was already climbing quite high.

Pro

Now, we need to go from tabs to major invoices. The pro photographer has requirements widely over the limits of most wallets, even the more enthusiast ones. If you don’t want to be frightened here, you should no longer look at the prices: Most people will buy a car for the kind of prices we are going to reach to equip a pro wildlife photographer, but we cannot be greedy if we need top quality.

Canon L-series tele-lenses are at the top of the shopping list. First and foremost, the 300mm f/2,8 L IS USM is king here. It has been considered by most reviewers as simply the best lens ever. The price is scary but the weight is also frightening: 2.55 kg / 5.6 lb. Its successor is coming around the beginning of 2011, with a slightly lower weight but the cost will climb toward 7000€.

It will probably be associated to a superb 500mm f/4 L IS USM, despite being even heavier and more expensive; But you will feel like Michel and Christine Denis-Huot when they wander on the Masai Mara plains in Kenya.

The recommended body will also be a Canon EOS 7D (Yes! It has seduced many pros including those mentioned above). But if you are attracted to large sensors, a Canon EOS 5D MkII will add very pro video capture.

As before, the tele-lenses will be complemented with the 70-200mm f/2,8 L IS USM and EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM.

But, if you went the Full Frame way, you’ll need some changes. To start with, the 17-55mm wide-angle zoom does not cover the field of the large sensor, it will be replaced with a EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM. Then, if you don’t want to compromise quality with a x1.4 focal multier, the 300mm and 500mm will probably be replaced with a 400mm f/2,8 L IS USM and a 600mm f/4 L IS USM. But the weight is becoming really astounding (prohibitive?) and the tripod is now unavoidable.

Conclusion

It is easy to admit that the choice offered by the lens offering from Canon is impressive and this explains how anybody can find what they want, what they need, what they can pay.

Mads Peitersen creates paintings of this kind for several objects from our geek life.

What seems pretty simple could well be a revolution for those who loose too easily the position of this dial and find themselves shooting in a mode very different from those they expected (personally, on a Sony A700, I shot quite a number of pictures, unwillingly in manual or sunset mode…)

Price is still unknown but probably a little over $100 or 100€. Whenever it will come to Europe.

A firmware update (version 2.0.8) for the Canon EOS 5D Mk II.

• Fix for not using the user mode (C1, C2, C3) in video capture
• Fix for not releasing the shutter when Auto Power is set to “on”
• Fix for an over-exposure in LiveView mode when ISO setting is on L
• Fix for resetting the Speedlite transmitter ST-E2 when the camera and the transmiter are both set to Auto Power “off”
• Fix for a wireless sync bug when using Macro Ring Lite (MR-14EX, MT-24EX)

Download freely right now: http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eos5dmk2/firmware.html

Actually, the most important of his issues was with ISO sensitivity and general behavior of the Canon EOS 5D MkII in low light (including digital noise and AF). Despite that the Canon is still a very strong seller, the reduced sensor resolution of the Nikon D700 has been superbly exploited to provide maximum sensitivity and minimum noise. I cannot help but agree with Allister.

A visit to his post will also show a nice set of pictures made during a wedding in the Gosfield Hall in Essex (England) and showing his excellent documentary style.

Firmware v2.0.4

Canon is not much more precise than that yet (some users are speaking about sound issues, though). But if you did not already rush to get this specific (and important) firmware version, I’d suggest you think a little more and wait for some more news and a possible update.

photo credit: Javier Paredes

You have to admit that you would like to know if the first Sony SLR camera supposed to be a pro photo camera, the Sony Alpha 900, is really up to the real-life constraints of a pro camera. Some people would really test it: Michael Reichmann from Luminous Landscape, simply took a Sony Alpha 900, a Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G tele-zoom and 5 other lenses, for two weeks of photo travel in the Southernmost countries of this world. Result: A rather positive opinion, no real issue after submitting the photo camera to low temperatures and high humidity that were out of its normal operating range.

He also noted the incidents other cameras suffered around him (no less than 77 other photographers!). For example, the Canon EOS 5D MkII which did not survive in cold rain.

The Sony A900 test in Antartica.

• EOS 5D Mark II Instruction Manual from Canon USA
• Manuel d’instructions du modèle EOS 5D Mark II en français depuis le site de Canon Canada

Actually, this firmware is not from Canon. The Magic Lantern firmware has been designed by Trammell Hudson but it is usable on your Canon EOS 5D MkII.

I don’t know how he did that. I am sure that it voids your camera warranty. But, it brings impressive features, which are exactly what is missing from the Canon firmware and what serious film-makers needs from their camera.

• On-screen audio meters
• Disabled Automatic Gain Control (AGC)
• Manual gain control
• Zebra stripes (for over-exposed zones)
• Crop marks for 16:9, 2.35:1 and 4:3

Source : Magic Lantern firmware.

More information

• Links to download firmware v1.10
• PDF manual about how to use the new features in English/French/Spanish
• PDF manual about how to use the new features in Japanese/English/Chinese

• Karel Donk starts with an issue of autofocus precision. Essentially, it seems that after micro-adjusting the AF for each lens the camera may often have an issue with a very soft focus. Being slightly off-focus becomes quite an issue when you bring 21 mega-pixels to the user. What was acceptable on a 6MP camera becomes awful four years later on a state-of-the-art camera. And some photographers are troubled that this issue may be popping in more than a few cameras.
  This seems to be more visible in low light and low contrats situations (difficult for AF precision, of course). And most observers of this phenomenon tend to put the blame on a Canon AF sub-system that has been lacking in significant technology upgrades.
• Michael Reichmann, at Luminous Landscapes, had really bad experience(s) during an Antartica trip with repeated failures. Probably caused by some sensitivity to moisture and humidity.
• Some photographers observed significant vignetting associated to the LiveView mode. And this could be associated to some issues with white balance, which may be exarcerbated by Auto Lighting Optimizer.

As you can see, this is quite interesting. Not automatically reasons not to buy, but enough to stop being purely ecstatic about the Canon EOS 5D MkII.

• Nikon D3x: 15 reviews
• Canon EOS 5D Mk II: 21 reviews
• Sony Alpha 900: 21 reviews
• Nikon D700: 16 reviews

A lot of reading for those who are either ready to shell several grands on a Full Frame SLR camera or are still waiting to get a new camera in a few years from now.

Firmware Update Version 1.0.7.

The origin is still quite difficult to determine, but the fact that this is visible on the sRAW1 images suggests a hardware source. But it is still very hard to say, for now.

It took only a few days of Internet forum exchanges before Canon reacted. Today, in a press release that you will find hereafter, Canon admits the issue and tells us that they are working on it.

This is good news for several reasons:

• On the opposite of cases we will not repeat here again, Canon had a sane reaction and did not wait in strong denial state.
• The Canon EOS 5D MkII is not rendered useless, only a bit limited.
• The solution could appear quickly in the form of a firmware upgrade.

We still have to wait and be patient to see Canon’s next moves (supposing that you have a 5D MkII, of course).

Canon Service Notice

EOS 5D Mark II Body support

Support & Service

Black dot phenomenon and Vertical banding noise

Posted on: December 17, 2008

To Owners of the EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera :

Thank you for using Canon products.

We have learned that some users of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera have indicated two types of image quality phenomena that appear under certain shooting conditions.

1. “Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)
2. Vertical banding noise

We are currently investigating ways to improve and/or mitigate these phenomena. An announcement will be made on the Canon Website when measures to address these phenomena have been decided.

The phenomena are likely to occur under the following shooting conditions.

1. “Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black) When shooting night scenes, the right side of point light sources (such as lights from building windows) may become black. The phenomenon may become visible if the images are enlarged to 100% or above on a monitor or if large prints of the images are made.
2. Vertical banding noise If the recording format is set to sRAW1, vertical banding noise may become visible depending on the camera settings, subject, and background. The following camera settings can reduce the phenomenon.

* Set the recording format to RAW or JPEG.
* Set C.Fn II-3: Highlight tone priority to 0: Disable if the recording format is set to sRAW1.
* The vertical banding noise is not noticeable if the recording format is set to sRAW2, but please set C.Fn II-3: Highlight tone priority to 0: Disable if you are concerned about noise.

Canon always strives to provide the highest quality products to our customers. We apologize for any inconvenience these phenomena may have caused. We appreciate your kind patronage and support.

• Nikon D3x
• Canon EOS 5D MkII
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1

Reminder: Each of the camera descriptions appearing in the database in the menu on the left of these pages contain a list of interesting previews, reviews and tests. They are organized by language (usually, English, French and Spanish).

Comparing two SLR cameras with very very different prices is realy a tough task. So tough that it is often useless. In the Online Photographer, Michael Johnston still tries this daunting task of comparing the Sony Alpha 900 and the Nikon D3.

These are two cameras that are mostly linked by the fact that they have a 35mm Full Frame sensor. Their prices are not even in the same ballpark and the Sony is brand new, while the Nikon is on the market for more than a year now. However, I think that the comparison is quite interesting. To the point, that I invite you to read it from top to bottom.

There is no mere conclusion, but interesting comments that could be summarized by a few items:

1. The D3 is much faster in nearly all aspects; It’s also bigger and heavier.
2. Michael Johnston prefers the digital noise quality of higher ISOs from the Sony (but I think this is very subjective).
3. From the photos shown, I would say that the Sony Alpha 900 is helped by a better dynamic lighting optimization, but the added pixels are helping a lot images that need to be enlarged (or cropped) somewhat. Photoshop and DxO and other Raw file developers may compensate this, but shooting nearly right from the beginning is important.

This kind of comparison is also quite interesting because it emphasizes the important differences that we can find between high-pixel count Full Frame cameras and high-ISO (low-pixel count) Full Frame cameras. If you stay at relatively small images sizes (or printouts up to A4/Letter size) the Nikon D3 and its sibbling Nikon D700 are very powerful beasts that will run to the darkest place a camera can shoot. And this can be amazingly dark.

But if you start shooting large images (or print more than A4/Letter-size, or intend to significantly crop your images; like for large panoramic photos), a larger pixel-count may become quite critical. Then, you start looking at the Sony Alpha 900 or the Canon EOS 5D MkII. It really depends on the kind of use you have.

The comments from Michael Johnston about the “shoot-to-carry ratio” (ratio between shooting time and effort, and carrying time and stress) are also quite interesting and a very urgent reminder for all people who may be tempted to follow the Full Frame madness. If you go from a relatively light-weight camera to one of the heavier models, you should really think about the impact on your photographic behaviour. If you keep the camera to the eye and/or shoot a lot, a heavy camera is not a critical issue (that’s for pros), but if you carry the camera around and shoot only sparsely the mere weight may become a burden (that’s for many amateurs, even enthusiasts).

• Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
• Canon EOS 5D
• Canon EOS 5D MkII
• Nikon D3
• Nikon D700
• Sony Alpha 900

As a matter of fact, this is a considerable advantage of the big/large sensors which can make use of pixels whose size is proportionnelly bigger and so apter to capture light without using the ammplification devices (usually generating or increasing noise image defects).

This is a good reason to find it interesting to go and check the images présented by DPreview in its Sony Alpha 900 test. They compare some of these cameras at sensitivity settings between 50 and 6400 ISO.

Think about what any other SLR camera would do at the same settings (ISO 3200, no less!): More or less colored blurred blotches.

The presentation of some new impresssive accessories (or should I rather speak of hardware fixture or heavy-duty complements, to be more adequate?) is changing the context a little further.

Two companies recently presented such machines to allow video shooting in conditions that could be defined as “reall pro-like” (we have to admit that handling, stability, sound recording, etc. are quite difficult with dSLR cameras like the Canon 5D Mark II and the Nikon D90).

Didn’t I tell you that it was impressive? I did not kid you.

Sources: Redrock micro, Zacuto.

Via DSLR user.

A perfectly planned teasing with announces, leaks, partial information banners, specialized mini site, etc. The public is held panting in advance waiting for the launch on September 17th (08:00 AM in Europe).

But the photo press has been hit with strong arm tactics to respect the embargo included in the Non-Disclosure Agreement. This is all natural and normal; here. Except that the information is leaking from every possible source right now, because the embargo signed by some (all?) has a deadline… before the dreaded 17th September.

Consequence: Canon is now trying to convince all the press to respect a rather flimsy silence clause. It probably covers all the spectrum from “Please, wait a little more” to “Boy! if you squeak, you’ll see the judge” through a more humane “if you speak now, we will never give you any Canon information in the coming century“.

Of course, this is not easy (neither for Canon, or for the press). It’s hard to boldly ignore Canon, but the temptation to speak a little is there. See EOS-Numérique, see Chasseur d’Images, etc. The one who speaks attracts a lot of attention, a lot of advertising, a lot of readers. The silent one knows that Canon will appreciate it, but may be loosing readers, visitors, and maybe some money…

Canon marketing and communication, you should be ashamed of yourself.