I finally have a 5D Mark II

[iceman]

On the day of the 5D Mark III announcement, I finally get myself a 5D Mark II :)

I'm not disappointed though - I wouldn't be able to afford the MkIII, so I'm really really happy to finally have a Mk II.

I'll use my 24-105 on it for now, and then I'm still deciding what to use for an ultra-wide for landscapes. I'll probably get the 17-40 f/4L mainly for landscapes.

The 16-35 would be good, but twice the price. The 14-24 Nikkor would be better, but 3x the price of the 17-40 :)

Can't wait to give the 5D Mark II first light!

[Dennis]

Congratulations Mike – I look forward to seeing your photos with the camera and reading about your impressions, especially on the topics of moving from a crop camera to a FF.

I don’t know, with the MkIII coming out, the iPad3 launch imminent, etc., it looks like we’ll be working the rest of our lives to afford these latest releases, or maybe selling our soul to the devil might be quicker!;):lol:

Cheers

Dennis

[h0ughy]

great news mike - where did you end up gettng it?

[iceman]

Thanks Dennis, I'm looking forward to the extra field of view, the lower noise and the higher sensitivity over the 40D.

Thanks Dave, I got it from a friend who works at Canon, and was kind enough to buy it for me with his staff discount. So it ended up a few hundred cheaper than the grey imports. I'm very happy.

[Octane]

Welcome aboard. Finally!

H

[Omaroo]

Congrats Mike, and welcome to the.. uhmmm.. club. :) It's very different to the 40D which, like most of us, I also upgraded from. At least you'll be able to get the best out of the 24-105 now too.

I'll endorse your interest in the 17-40. Great value for money. It's probably my favourite lens now.

Don't forget to update your signature ;)

[avandonk]

I pushed my poor old 5DH for about five years and more than 300,000 shutter actuations. Most of these at -12C in the frankenfridge. In my opinion the 5D Mk II is a far better camera than the 5D. Mike you will not regret getting the 5D Mk II. It has better signal to noise than the 5D and smaller pixels.

I look foward to seeing what you can do with it.

Bert

[astroboy]

Good on you Mike you won't regret it , as for ultrawides the 14-24 nikkor is the pick of the bunch quality wise but losses in every other department , that is its heavy , cant take filters , you need a Novoflex adaptor costing $300 .
Having said that I don't regret buying it but would like to have a light wieght fixed 17mm for less critical stuff.
While I have your attention Mike , I'm reopening the observatory , whats the best way of letting people know .

Thanks
Zane

[gregbradley]

Congrats Mike.

Looking forward to seeing your Kimberley landscape shots with this your new camera.

As far as latest models go I think other factors like lenses, user competence, framing and the myriad of choices one makes to take a shot are far more important than the latest model or how many pixels or low light performance etc etc.

Greg.

[iceman]

Thanks guys


Yeh it's been on my 'want' list for about 3 years :)
Sig updated, thanks for the reminder.


Thanks Greg, and quite right. I can't wait to use it in the Kimberley, and wanted to get it with enough time to practise beforehand.

BTW, I'm going to be selling my modded 40D - if anyone is interested pre-listing, let me know!

[iceman]

Oh and the spending never stops.

Yesterday I also bought:
- 3 new batteries for the 5D Mark II
- A new 32G CF card
- A new (faster) card reader
- A couple of camera hot shoe bubble levels :)

No doubt more to come.

[Octane]

You haven't even bought (good quality) circular polarisers or (good quality) graduated neutral density fliters yet, either.

Expect to spend another $500-$1,000. The torture never stops. :)

H

[iceman]

I know :/ The wishlist grows..

[Omaroo]

Don't forget the AC adapter...

[iceman]

I know, and the 12v adapter too. Already on the list.

[acropolite]

Congratulations Mike, the 5DII is a fine Camera; you will notice the difference. If you buy a 17-40 or 16-35, if possible, take some test images before buying as there is a wide variation in quality, despite both being L series.

IMO, despite the enthusiastic reception by the punters, the 5DIII isn't really going to be that much of an improvement, the better low light capabilities will certainly be nice, but given correct exposure and attention to focus, I doubt you'll see any improvement in image quality from the MKIII.

[Ausrock]

Sorry for interupting the thread but here seems as good a place as any to ask................for someone planning on acquiring a DSLR for both general and astro photography, is the 40D suitable for a beginner. I have kind of narrowed down my choices to either a 1000D or the 40D, a 5D while desirable is to far out of reach.

[Octane]

Chris,

The 40D is a superb astro camera. I used one to produce some beautiful images.

You can pick them up on the cheap nowadays, too.

It was the first Canon to deliver 14-bit images and has Live View, too.

Do it. :)

If you'd like me to post sample images of what's possible, feel free to ask.

H

[iceman]

You can purchase my modded 40D :)

[gregbradley]

I use a 40D for terrestial images and I also used it to shoot Comet Lovejoy.

I really like it. Its quite an advanced camera and is quite low noise with a big improvement in image quality over the very good 20D.

Greg.

[iceman]

I just found out on the weekend that the 5D Mark II has no flash :)

Now adding an external flash to the wishlist!!

[Omaroo]

You're kiddin'! I just thought mine was missing one! :)

One 430EX-II coming up for Mike eh? :thumbsup: Both Humayun and I run 430 EX-II's and sync them up quite regularly for our studio fun time. Very versatile units with a 5D-II. I suspect that some lenses in the range, along with their hoods, would simply block much of the light from a top-mounted flash anyway given their diameter. I'm very happy not to have one there anyway, as I've always found these flashes to be the main source of any rattles in a camera.

[iceman]

Yeh that's the one I've been looking at for a while. With the new flashes coming out maybe these ones will come down in price... hopefully :)

[iceman]

For anyone interested in upgrading from a point and shoot, 350D, 400D, 20D, 30D etc (or any range of Nikon's ;)), I'm selling my Canon 40D (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=87559).

[Ausrock]

Unfortunately, as much as I would have liked, I just couldn't jump onto Mike's 40D :(.......that's got to wait for a while.

Just had a silly thought.........I've got an EOS50, I've got all my B&W processing gear (enlarger, drum processor,etc.), haven't got spare time.........:question:

[Phil Hart]

well done mike.. i also don't think the difference to mkIII will be as big as difference between early generations and mkII.

money is a huge obstacle when choosing between L lenses, but if you're serious about astro you need to consider that the 17-40mm at f4 is great for star trails but not so good for night sky scenes. it's also quite a lot of overlap with your 24-105 (which i also use as a great all purpose lens).

there are some copycat primes that are not too bad.. or you could at least try adding 28mm f1.8 for astro. so many choices..

Phil

[iceman]

Thanks Phil.

I've now got access to a prime 24mm f/1.4, so that'll do me well for nightscapes and timelapses. I used one up at IISAC and it's great.

But I still need something wider.
I'm still tossing up between the 16-35 f/2.8 and 17-40 L.

Although the Samyang 14mm is still in the mix.