The Canon EOS 5D Mark II is a 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS digital single-lens reflex camera. It succeeds the EOS 5D and was announced on September 17, 2008.
Used in Independent Film and TV
The Canon 5D Mark II has been embraced by the independent film community for its low light sensitivity, shallow depth of field, interchangeable lens selection, and relatively low cost. In March 2010, Canon released firmware version 2.0.4 for the 5D Mark II, adding 24p frame rate and manual audio recording, making the camera an attractive option for low-budget, independent filmmaking. The 5D has been used mostly for video production, with two exceptions—Sensory Perception and A Beautiful Belly.
Notable film and television productions which used the Canon 5D Mark II include (in order of release):
• The opening title sequence for the 35th season of NBC's Saturday Night Live, first broadcast on 26 September 2009. The camera, alongside the Canon 7D, was used due to its size, which allowed covert shooting on the streets of New York City, and depth of field capabilities, making it a suitable substitute for the series' usual 35mm film.
• The House episode "Help Me", broadcast by Fox on 17 May 2010, was shot entirely on the Canon 5D Mark II, replacing the drama's usual 35mm film format. All of the seventh season was also recorded with a 5D Mark II.
• The BBC Two comedy series Shelfstackers, first broadcast on 4 September 2010, is the first BBC programme to use the camera. The corporation had initially refused its use due to "lack of quality" but were persuaded otherwise by the series' director. All six episodes of the series were shot on the camera for a total budget of £160,000.
• The Road to Coronation Street, broadcast by BBC Four on 16 September 2010, is the first UK television drama to be shot on the Canon 5D Mark II. The drama's director of photography was impressed and plans to use the camera on the upcoming seventh series of the BBC One drama Hustle.
• Korean mini-series Jungle Fish 2, broadcast by KBS, was shot entirely in Canon 5D Mark II. It is the first Korean drama to do so.
Features: Improvements compared to original EOS 5D
Notable film and television productions which used the Canon 5D Mark II include (in order of release):
• The opening title sequence for the 35th season of NBC's Saturday Night Live, first broadcast on 26 September 2009. The camera, alongside the Canon 7D, was used due to its size, which allowed covert shooting on the streets of New York City, and depth of field capabilities, making it a suitable substitute for the series' usual 35mm film.
• The House episode "Help Me", broadcast by Fox on 17 May 2010, was shot entirely on the Canon 5D Mark II, replacing the drama's usual 35mm film format. All of the seventh season was also recorded with a 5D Mark II.
• The BBC Two comedy series Shelfstackers, first broadcast on 4 September 2010, is the first BBC programme to use the camera. The corporation had initially refused its use due to "lack of quality" but were persuaded otherwise by the series' director. All six episodes of the series were shot on the camera for a total budget of £160,000.
• The Road to Coronation Street, broadcast by BBC Four on 16 September 2010, is the first UK television drama to be shot on the Canon 5D Mark II. The drama's director of photography was impressed and plans to use the camera on the upcoming seventh series of the BBC One drama Hustle.
• Korean mini-series Jungle Fish 2, broadcast by KBS, was shot entirely in Canon 5D Mark II. It is the first Korean drama to do so.
Features: Improvements compared to original EOS 5D
• 21.1 megapixel (5,616 x 3,744 pixels), compared to 12.8 megapixels (4,368 x 2,912 pixels)
• DIGIC 4 image processor, compared to DIGIC II
• 100-6400 ISO (expandable to L (50), H1 (12800), H2 (25600)), compared to 100-1600 (expandable to L (50), H (3200))
• 3.9 frames per second continuous shooting (78 JPEG or 13 Raw in a single burst), compared to 3 fps (60 JPEG or 17 Raw)
• Small Raw modes: sRAW1 mode (10 megapixel/3861 x 2574 pixels), sRAW2 mode (5.2 megapixel/2784 x 1856 pixels)
• 98% viewfinder coverage with 0.71x magnification, compared to 96% coverage
• Larger 3.0-inch (76 mm) LCD display with 640 x 480 VGA resolution (307,200 pixels/921,600 dots), compared to 2.5-inch (64 mm)
• 1800mAh LP-E6 battery, compared to 1390mAh BP-511A
Features: New features
• Movie recording full HD at 1920x1080 and SDTV at 640x480 resolution.
• Monaural microphone for audio during video recording, speaker for playback and microphone jack for external stereo microphone
• Live preview with ExpSim LV 'exposure simulation' live preview (full exposure preview control utilizing ExpSim LV, a first for video in a DSLR)
• Live preview with contrast-detect autofocus
• HDMI video output for live preview or playing clips and images on an external monitor via Type C MiniHDMI port
• Dust reduction system to perform automatic sensor cleaning
• Battery management software
The 5D Mark II is the first camera in the EOS line to provide video recording functions.
Still photography during video recording is possible, but the camera suspends recording video until the final still frame is captured.
The Li-Ion battery for the 5D Mark II (LP-E6) has a 1800mAh capacity. Each battery contains a microchip with a unique identifier for reporting charge status and battery health for display on the camera. The 5D Mark II's 'Battery Info' screen can track battery health and shooting history for up to six LP-E6 batteries.
Video recording
The 5D Mark II was the first DSLR to feature 1080p video recording. The Canon PowerShot SX 1 IS followed with full HD in a bridge digital camera soon after. The 16:9 aspect ratio portion of the sensor used in video mode is equivalent in sensitive area to a VistaVision 8/35 frame, even larger than the Super 35 frame of the much more expensive Red One camera. This large sensor allows videos to be recorded with very shallow depth of field for a "film look". The 21 megapixel sensor is downsampled to HD resolution by only using every third line and 4:2:0 chroma subsampling, leading to concern about Moiré patterns in recorded video.
Movie clips can be up to 4 GB in size, approximately 12 minutes of 16:9 HD (1920x1080) or 24 minutes of 4:3 SD (640x480) footage (depending on scene complexity). These limits stem from the 4 GB maximum file size supported by the FAT32 filesystem format used on Compact Flash cards. The camera also imposes a hard maximum clip length of 29 minutes 59 seconds if the 4 GB limit has not already been reached. Video clips are recorded as Quicktime MOV files with H.264/MPEG-4 (Base Profile @ L5) compressed video and uncompressed PCM audio at 48 kHz. HD bitrate is approximately 38 Megabits per second (4.8MB/sec) and SD bitrate is approximately 17 Megabits per second (2.2MB/sec). Although the internal microphone is mono, stereo audio is supported through the audio input jack. When recording for long periods, especially in warmer climates, increased video noise may occur due to CMOS overheating.
Video functionality
The EOS 5D Mark II is capable of video recording in low-light situations and it is sold for a relatively low price, compared with professional video cameras. For the first eighteen months of its release, the camera only had a 30 frame per second (30p) video mode. On March 15, 2010, Canon released a firmware upgrade to add a 25p mode for PAL format compatibility and a 24p mode for compatibility with motion picture film cameras. The firmware update also modified the 30p mode to record 29.97 fps and the new 24p mode actually records 23.976 fps to have the same frame rate as drop frame timecode. Lastly, the update added manual control of the audio record levels and an official way to disable the Automatic Gain Control.
Following the success of the Canon Hack Development Kit (CHDK) for Canon's PowerShot cameras, third party firmware was also produced for the 5D Mark II. The Magic Lantern firmware provides many additional video and cinematography related controls and meters such as zebra stripes for exposure control, depth of field estimates, audio VU meters and disables the automatic gain control on the microphone input (although some of these features have since been added to Canon's official firmware, as noted above).
Third party video, digital cinema, and 3D production rigs and lenses
Several aftermarket vendors have developed professional video accessory packages, to take advantage of the large 35mm sensor, which provided cinema-like depth of field. Redrock Micro, & Zacuto are two of these.
For 3D video shooting Anachrome 3D is offering several dual camera mount packages, which make use of several short focal length Canon prime lenses. Specialized "shifting prisms" compensate for the "too wide" spacing of the pair of cameras. By inverting one of the cameras, the spacing is further reduced. Sync issues are also addressed in these 3D packages, with a "sync comparator" as "gen-locking" two 5DM2s is not readily doable at this early stage.
A company in Los Angeles, CA, Hot Rod Cameras, is offering cinema style PL lens mounts, which will allow a few of the larger cinema lenses used on Arriflex film cameras to be fitted to the 5DM2. The sensor is actually the size of two motion picture 35mm frames, similar to a 20th century wide-screen process promoted by Paramount Studios, Called "Vista-Vision". This was 35mm film, run horizontally through the taking camera, using twice the area of a normal 35mm cine frame.
Included Software
The included software package contains the following software:
• Digital Photo Professional
• ZoomBrowser EX / ImageBrowser
• PhotoStitch
• EOS Utility
• Picture Style Editor
