The speed of the auto focus has been improved in the 5D Mark II and the camera now also offers AF Microadjustment in the auto focus custom function menu. For the most part the auto focus system was handed down from the original EOS 5D. The auto focus system has nine AF points arranged in an elongated, horizontal diamond pattern. The maximum shutter speed is 1/8000 second and the flash syncs at a respectable 1/200th second. The sensitivity range is ISO 100 to 6400, expandable to ISO 50 and ISO 25,600. It also has three custom “Camera User” settings that can be programmed with pretty much any settings you want. It has program (P), aperture priority (Av), shutter priority (Tv), manual (M), bulb (B), full auto and the Creative Auto mode (CA), which allows a little more control than full auto – but it doesn’t offer any scene modes. The 5D Mark II was designed for serious photographers and the exposure options reflect that. Video sound with the built-in microphone is mono but there’s a microphone terminal on the left side of the camera that can accommodate an external stereo microphone.
CANON MARK 5D II REVIEW UPDATE
Initially, video exposure was automatic with exposure compensation but a recent firmware update made manual exposure control during video capture possible. There is no auto focus in the video mode so it’s best to switch to manual focus and prefocus your shot. To record video, you enable Live View and then press the Set button in the middle of the Quick Control Dial on the back of the camera.
The video mode is actually sort of a subset of Live View. Live View is a standard feature on digital SLRs now and Canon has added a dedicated Live View button to the left of the viewfinder.
CANON MARK 5D II REVIEW 1080P
That processing power is also critical for video and makes the 30 frames-per-second 1080p video possible. The RAW files from our studio tests range in size from about 24MB all the way up to almost 40MB! The 5D Mk II needs some serious processing power to handle those files – especially at the 3.9 frames-per-second high-speed capture rate. The 21.1-megapixel sensor captures huge files. First and possibly most important, there’s the new Canon DIGIC IV image processor. There’s a lot more to the Canon EOS 5D Mark II than the full frame 21.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, 1080p HD video and 3-inch 920k-dot LCD display.