The superb Canon EOS 5D Mark 2 5mm single lens reflex camera — but do you need it?
In a sense you can divide most people’s photographic career into two. There was the bit where you, if off on a trip, you lugged around a single lens reflex, sometimes with extra lenses. And a lot of film which you kept cool and got developed at a horrendous price. And the one where you packed the equivalent of a box brownie and took pictures which were, frankly, not of the best.
The results normally depended not on the camera but on your eye and, to a lesser extent, your experience.
One of the best cameras in the serious division for this was the Canon EOS and there was a sort of friendly rivalry between photographers as to the virtues of the Nikon versus the Canon. It was generally agreed the Nikon was heavier but had better lens.
In Australia, back then, press photographers were called monkeys by journalists.
The union ruling was such that journalists were simply not allowed to take pictures. It would be wrong to suggest there were a lot of intimate friendships between journos and monkeys. Normally they stayed in different hotels.
Today it has all changed.
Any journalist can, and does, carry a pocket camera which offers, say, something like 8 megapixels. It may have a small optical zoom lens. By carrying a lot of memory cards and remembering to keep it charged the results are very acceptable. Sometimes better than that.
So why would a photographer use a Canon EOS 5D Mark II to go and get pictures?
Partially it is because you get a viewfinder which means you can frame pictures better. A second reason is the relatively high speed motor drive and the large buffer which allows more shots before the camera has to stop to write to disk, especially if shooting RAW which stands for RAW and nothing else. Quite accurately the RAW image. It has not been compressed or otherwise messed around with.
Partially it is because the Canon EOS 5D Mark II body and a good working wide-angle lens is the EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM is an extraordinarily versatile outfit. (More pros take most shots at a much wider angle than amateurs)
And for a second lens there is a Canon 70-200mm f/4.0 L IS which is, relatively, lightweight and has higher sharpness at 200mm.
This relative lightweight bit is important. Because you are carrying the EOS you look like a photographer out to do serious work.
Note that these pictures are going to end up on memory cards. This is not film. This is a still digital camera.
It has on it lots of useful items a professional might, but not always would, use including several sensors.
The great joy is the viewfinder and most pros are pretty much totally lost without one.
The Canon EOS 5D Mark II has a large and clear viewfinder which shows, among other things, what ISO you are working at, shutter speed, remaining battery life, aperture and exposure compensation in the viewfinder.
There is also a large monitor that shows you the same and it can be very help for a accurate checking of shots and menus. I guess it is a question of eyesight. Mine is not what it was.
At the end of the day you need to compare the difference in the pictures produced. Speaking as a publisher who has handled, literally, tens of thousands, it would have been impossible for me to immediately tell the difference.
What the big EOS camera will do is work with very small natural lighting, not use a flash and still produce excellent shots
Is it worth lugging around all that gear for that minimal improvement in results?
I do not believe so for one moment.
Plainly, there is a very strong group who believe the digital SLR cameras are the only way to go if you want seriously excellent results.
I simply do not agree with them.
For most, repeat and stress most, pictures, a pocket camera with a small optical zoom will do the trick.
Some Digital SLRs are very expensive. Some eminently affordable with this Canon being an example. If I had to use a digital SLR it would be the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. But I do not need to use a digital SLR.
But, it is very difficult for me to imagine a situation where that sort of horsepower would be needed.
On the other hand, I would die for the viewfinder.
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