Official 5DMKII users thread

[bkling1]

I though they will further enhance the video capability by new firmware..

 

[canonid]

Firmware updated! So happy.. I don't think 5dmk3 will be out this year due to the update...

 

[Berkins]

Firmware updated! So happy.. I don't think 5dmk3 will be out this year due to the update...

Any significant differences or impact?

 

[daineax]

Hi there,

Could I have advice on the CF card you are currently using with 5D MK II please?

I am planning to buy the SanDisk CF Ultra 8gig 30mb/s one, as I heard that the 60mb/s one is not neccessary/the 30mb/s one works decently? Price is an issue for me but I would also like reliability as it's a one-time purchase. I also read something about the firmware update raising the mb/s to 45 mb/s so with the current firmware update, the 60mb/s ones are the most recommended by Canon? (Honestly I tried to google more than one source about that statement and kind of confused now.)

However, I heard that some people have had problems with video freezing up with the Sandisk 8gig 30mb/s cards in particular.
http://lightingmods.blogspot.com/2009/06/tip-canon-5d-markii-video-locks.html
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=798749

May I know if anyone has experienced this while shooting video?

Price/location of where you got your CF cards would be much appreciated too, I only found this very old thread on CF cards.
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/threads/659775-CF-Card-Prices

I am planning to check out Best Bargain tomorrow and of course I would do the legwork on prices myself, just wondered if anyone happened to have bought recently.

 

[crabball]

Was using 30mb/s ultra 3. No issue for video using that. Have since upgraded to the 60 mb/s extreme

 

[daineax]

Thank you crabball! Was there a particular reason you had for upgrading?

 

[oracle0711]

I have been using the Sandisk Extreme 16GB 60MB/S UDMA since day 1 of ownership of the 5D mark 2. So far it has been serving the cam and me very well for both still and a little bit of video (coz I dont shoot video but did tried it out once or twice simply for the fun of it). No performance and reliability issue so far.

Hi there,

Could I have advice on the CF card you are currently using with 5D MK II please?

I am planning to buy the SanDisk CF Ultra 8gig 30mb/s one, as I heard that the 60mb/s one is not neccessary/the 30mb/s one works decently? Price is an issue for me but I would also like reliability as it's a one-time purchase. I also read something about the firmware update raising the mb/s to 45 mb/s so with the current firmware update, the 60mb/s ones are the most recommended by Canon? (Honestly I tried to google more than one source about that statement and kind of confused now.)

However, I heard that some people have had problems with video freezing up with the Sandisk 8gig 30mb/s cards in particular.
http://lightingmods.blogspot.com/2009/06/tip-canon-5d-markii-video-locks.html
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=798749

May I know if anyone has experienced this while shooting video?

Price/location of where you got your CF cards would be much appreciated too, I only found this very old thread on CF cards.
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/threads/659775-CF-Card-Prices

I am planning to check out Best Bargain tomorrow and of course I would do the legwork on prices myself, just wondered if anyone happened to have bought recently.

 

[crabball]

Thank you crabball! Was there a particular reason you had for upgrading?

Ha ha. I upgrade becoz the space on my ultra 3 is not sufficient for my usage.

 

[daineax]

I see. Thank you both. Leaning towards getting the 60mb/s ones to be on the safe side cos I plan to shoot video at times.

crabball, sorry to ask again, but did you notice any differences between your 30mb/s and 60mb/s when you upgraded? (dumb qn just that I read that for normal use and not shooting like 100s of continuous images, not much difference other than upload speed to computer or something)

thanks all for advice, much appreciated

 

[crabball]

I see. Thank you both. Leaning towards getting the 60mb/s ones to be on the safe side cos I plan to shoot video at times.

crabball, sorry to ask again, but did you notice any differences between your 30mb/s and 60mb/s when you upgraded? (dumb qn just that I read that for normal use and not shooting like 100s of continuous images, not much difference other than upload speed to computer or something)

thanks all for advice, much appreciated

Based on my normal usage which is most of the time on single shot, there's no difference in terms of performance in camera apart for the fact the transfer of data from the CF card to computer is about 2 times faster than my older ultra 3 card. This can be seen from the time required to complete the copying of files.

Let me do a test this few days and see whether there's any difference in performance in continous shooting.

 

[daineax]

Thanks for the feedback! Don't need to do the continuous shooting haha, waste shutter count. I doubt I'll be continuous shooting much either

 

[crabball]

Thanks for the feedback! Don't need to do the continuous shooting haha, waste shutter count. I doubt I'll be continuous shooting much either

So far. i dont feel any difference when i am doing exposure bracketing... haha... if i got chance to take more than 3 shots, i let you know. Personally, I belief that even if there's a difference, it will only show after the camera buffer is used up. There should not be any difference except for the buffer to CF transfer rate and that is if the read/write controller supports 60Mb/s transfer rate . Let see what happens

 

[Blackwolf]

Need some advice from master here. I currently have 3 lenses and they are 17-40 f4 , 24-105 f4 and 70-200 f4 if I wanna get a prime lens for protrait should I go for 50 mm f1.4 or 85mm f1.8?

 

[zeunice]

Need some advice from master here. I currently have 3 lenses and they are 17-40 f4 , 24-105 f4 and 70-200 f4 if I wanna get a prime lens for protrait should I go for 50 mm f1.4 or 85mm f1.8?

I'm using 5D Mark II with 85mm F1.8 so far i got no issue.. 50mm and 85mm lens almost the same prices. For me i preferred 85mm lens for longer range.

 

[raydio]

Need some advice from master here. I currently have 3 lenses and they are 17-40 f4 , 24-105 f4 and 70-200 f4 if I wanna get a prime lens for protrait should I go for 50 mm f1.4 or 85mm f1.8?

For portraits, the Canon 85 f/1.8 is the way to go. You may also wish to consider the new Sigma 85 f/1.4 which has received stellar reviews and is very reasonably priced (compared to the Canon 85 f/1.2).

 

[daineax]

In case anyone needs a CF card for their 5Dm2, I just bought the sandisk 60mb/s 8gig card for $62.50 from best bargain. i think the 16gig version is 100$. the 30mb/s 8gig card is 40$.

best bargain is on the 5th floor of sim lim square, #05-02A. They also offer 5 years warranty for their cards. compared with artworkfoto who quoted me 80$ instore with no warranty.

Sorry if this is not a good deal or anything. Thank you very much to those who helped me with the cards' information

 

[Jolex]

Thanks for sharing Daineax. Btw, I'm using a 8G ultra and have no problems of bursting 6 shots in raw. Never tried pushing it to the max as I usually stop at 3 to 6..

 

[Blackwolf]

I'm using 5D Mark II with 85mm F1.8 so far i got no issue.. 50mm and 85mm lens almost the same prices. For me i preferred 85mm lens for longer range.

Thanks for the advice now I more or less had norrow down to 85mm .

For portraits, the Canon 85 f/1.8 is the way to go. You may also wish to consider the new Sigma 85 f/1.4 which has received stellar reviews and is very reasonably priced (compared to the Canon 85 f/1.2).

Oh No another delimma hahaha I do a search on the sigma 85 f1.4 is a wonderful lens but the price is 3 time more compare to the canon 85 f1.8.

 

[lszomb]

does anyone know what is the latest street price for 5k mark II kit with 24-105 F4/L? thanks in advance.

 

[eleveninth]

Just FYI BHphotovideo.com having sale on thier Sandisk extreme cards.