After a wait of close to 3 years, Canon finally released the replacement of the popular Canon 5D. The fact that it managed to survive so long in an environment where cameras are being "upgraded" every 18 months or so is a testament to how good it was. With the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon hopes to give us something that eclipses all that we could hope for in a DSLR and set new benchmarks. Their success is still much debated in many camera forums but one thing is for sure, the release of the 5D Mark II marks the start of an era where full frame DSLRs and video recording are bedded down together.

First Glance
Picking up the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, you would not know much difference if at all between it and its predecessor as far as size and weight are concerned. The change is mainly in the back of the camera where you now have a very prominent 3-inch LCD which delivers high quality resolution at 920K dots. This is pretty much something that we can expect as standard in all high quality DSLRs in the future. Once you've experienced it, it's hard to go back to the 230K resolutions LCDs. It's not only great for Live Views but also for quick checks of your images. The clarity of that alone is something that's a must have when you are working with the high resolutions that the Mark II can deliver.

The light sensor just below the LCD is also a nice touch. Automatically adjusting the brightness of the LCD in accordance to the light conditions, you don't have to keep tinkering with the brightness to view the LCD correctly. The availability of 3 sets of custom settings at the Mode Dial is another added convenience. It's often hard to work with just 1 set of settings and so this would be appreciated by many. The addition of the Creative Auto mode is also available but we'll digress for now.

Camera in Action & Image Quality
Probably the number one question that most of you are interested to know would be: How good is the image quality with this high resolution. Yes, forget all the fringe features for now and discuss how the 5D Mark II measures up as an out and out camera first. The 21.1 megapixels CMOS sensor coupled with the DIGIC 4 Processor ensures that the large raw images are handled comfortably and we can see that image quality is very good and consistent. We can see more of this in the ISO test further on.

The EOS 5D Mark II's response in shooting is very fluid. Those used to the 5D or even the 1Ds will find it very responsive and familiar with the exception that the shutter is very quiet in comparison. With its 9 point AF and 6 Assist AF points, you may at first feel disappointed that no major improvements were made here but it's best to remember that it is already very good at doing its job. It may also be a bit too much to ask for the focusing system of the 1Ds given the price of the 5D Mark II. While the number of points is still the same, you are offered some improvements with a new AF Microadjustment Feature for more control and precision. Furthermore, although it's just a 2% improvement over the 5D, the 98% coverage offered by the 5D Mark II gives a much brighter and wider view.

ISO Test
With Canon boasting that a redesign of the pixels in the sensor will help minimise noise, we were very keen to see how the 5D Mark II handles noise from its base sensitivity of ISO 100 all the way to the extended upper limit of ISO 25600. The test was carried out with using the EF 24-105mm f/4 L USM lens with settings at 105mm, f/9 and white balance at 4000K. Spot focusing was used with the central point selected.

We can see from the above that the noise handling is really very good with only slight noise appearing on the ISO 6400 sample. Even at ISO 25600, the noise is very much within usable standards.

Processing Power and Features
While Canon's specs tell us that you could shoot up to card capacity with a UDMA memory card. Using our SanDisk Extreme III 8GB CF Card (a non-UDMA memory card), we only managed 19 shots before it slowed a bit while maintaining its burst. We also found that when we increase ISO from 100, which we used to get the previous figure, to 25600, the burst slowed earlier. The 3.9 frames per second may be slightly less than the 5 to 8 frames per second touted by other full frame DSLRs but given the resolution you get with it, it's a reasonable compromise. The DIGIC 4 sensor not only provides more powerful processing, it also offers more options in Live View as well as handling movie recording.

With Live View, we have 3 AF modes: Quick AF, Live Mode (based on contrast detection) and Live Mode with Face Detection. The improved contrast detection on the 5D is similar to that seen on the 50D and makes focusing faster without having to temporarily disable Live View as in the Quick AF mode. Face Detection also contributes greatly as it allows for more accurate focusing and exposure control.

Full HD Movie Capture
The Canon EOS 5D Mark II is the first full frame DSLR to offer Full HD movie recording. Now this is all well and good but does it really work out from a practical standpoint. Before we go further into this though, please note that we are not professional videographers but rather photographers exploring a new feature on this DSLR and comparing it with the other camcorders offering Full HD on the market.

While the lack of autofocus in video recording was initially perceived as a nightmare, it really isn't. You must understand that manual focus allows you to be very creative with what you shoot. Given the depth of field you could obtain with fast lens, manual control allows you to control where to focus on and thereby blurring the foreground or background as required. It's not just a fun function in an amateur level, or a marketing gimmick as some may think. With the quality of L lenses, high end noiseless COMS sensor of extremely high resolution, you are able to create absolutely stunning video footage unmatched by any consumer or prosumer camcorders.

There are a few key concerns that you need to note to get the most out of it though. The first and foremost is shakiness. When using a non-IS lens and shooting handheld… expect the shakiness to show clearly… the camera is not really built with video in mind and so moving it about is going to feel a bit clumsy. More so when you take into the factor that a lack of autofocus means that you have to fiddle with the manual focus ring. This is likely to cause some more shakes to your filming. Finally, most photographers will think as photographers and tilt the camera to portrait view from landscape as the composition requires… doing this will have cause your footage to end up at right angles upon viewing… don't do it! The good news is that all this could be avoided with the clever use of a tripod and thereby setting you up for some excellent footage that the 5D Mark II is well capable of.

Another thing to watch out for though is the advertised benefit that you can take pictures at the same time as filming. While this is true, we found that taking photos during recording gives you breaks in the filming which looks like skipped frames during playback of the video. This is obviously a major drawback to shooting during movie recording.

Creative Auto Mode
Along with the Movie mode, there is also the Creative Auto (CA) mode which many were not initially expecting on the Canon 5D Mark II. A mode geared more for those unfamiliar with DSLR settings or for those of you looking for a quick way to achieve certain affects, the CA mode simplifies the settings of DSLR photography while at the same time giving you more control than standard AUTO modes. The only reason I can imagine why it's offered on a semi-pro (no disrespect to the pros using the 5D) body like the 5D Mark II is for those with less experience to benefit from the advanced feature of this camera and to try the HD movie feature.

Eclipsing Competition?
Whether you were thrilled with the idea of the HD movie recording or not, one thing is for sure and that's the Canon EOS 5D Mark II has improved over its formidable predecessor and offers solid performance as a semi-pro camera. With Creative Auto mode and other user friendly settings like Auto ISO, Canon has made this full frame DSLR a lot more approachable to enthusiast who can handle its price tag. It may be that DSLRs of the future will all become as easy to use as point and shoots. Regardless of how you may feel about that, it may not be such a bad thing for photography. At the end of the day, it's the photographer which makes the difference no matter the equipment. Having said that… the Canon EOS 5D Mark II will no doubt have you itching for it once you've experienced its performance.