The Canon EOS 5D: A field evaluation and comparison.
Written: Jul 23 '06 (Updated Apr 12 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Interface and Controls: |
 |
|
| Durability and Reliability: |
|
|
|
Pros: Great image quality.
Cons: Below average build quality, slow fps rate, average ergonomics, significantly over-priced versus competition.
The Bottom Line: Not recommended for professional photographers due to poor build quality and slow fps. Recommended for photo enthusiasts who need more than the 30D and have money to burn.
|
|
|
| jvandegr's Full Review: Cobra MR-HH400X VP Marine VHF Value Pack |
Introduction
I shoot with both Canon and Nikon digital cameras. Both manufacturers have been pushing the digital imaging field with some impressive innovations. In the past, I've also shot with both Canon and Nikon film cameras and I've always been very happy with both brands. I think the Canon vs. Nikon and Nikon vs. Canon debate is mostly pointless because both manufacturers produce great cameras and lenses that allow me to get the images I need and that's always the bottom line for me.
I am not going to review the specifications and features of the 5D. This information is readily available on many websites, including Canon's official site and many digital photography review sites. Instead, I would like to describe my shooting experience with the 5D, which is probably more valuable information for most readers.
On a recent assignment, I spent a demanding day in the field with my Nikon D200, putting it through its paces. Most of the press had left by the time I arrived at the scene on a rainy Saturday. I shot for about 20 minutes and then noticed another photojournalist had shown up. We worked around each other, shooting hundreds of frames in some pretty nasty conditions. There was a pause in the action and we said hello and started talking shop. She was shooting with a new Canon 5D and I asked her if I could try it out. She was more than happy to let me do so, because she wanted to try my D200. We had already shot a lot of what we needed for our stories, which gave us time to play around and not worry too much about missing shots due to unfamiliarity of new camera controls.
Performance
Speed
My first observation of speed with the Canon 5D was that the shutter lag was minimal, but still noticeable. I've shot with the Canon 20D and I could swear it had less shutter lag, but maybe I'm imagining that. Hard to believe a camera that is over a year newer and costs twice as much would have more shutter lag but if it does, Canon is having some design problems here. For a lot of photographers, the minimal shutter lag of the 5D will have little or no impact on their ability to get the shots, but I felt like it interrupted my shooting flow slightly compared to the D200. Some of this may be the travel of the shutter release button itself and not really shutter lag.
My second observation of speed with the 5D was that the buffer didn't handle continuous RAW shooting quite as well as the D200. It certainly wasn't slow by any stretch of the imagination, and I still got some good shots without worrying about it while I was in the process of shooting. Again, for most photographers, this will never be a problem.
Autofocus speed with a short USM zoom was just as fast as my D200 with a similar lens - no complaints here. I've always been impressed with the speed of Canon's USM lenses and the 5D takes advantage of their speed nicely. However, focus accuracy was not as impressive. Reviewing images on the viewfinder, it appeared that everything was properly focused. Back in my digital darkroom for closer inspection and a different story emerged. About 20% of my shots lacked critical focus when it should have been there. Not the fast action photographer falling backward shots, but the stable and easy to focus shots. This is a higher percentage of missed focus than I've experienced with most other cameras. A lens problem perhaps? I asked my colleague to review some of the shots she had taken with other lenses on the 5D and she indicated that she was able to find a few additional examples that may support my concern that this is a camera problem. However, we have both agreed that we can't say for sure.
The 5D offers only 3 frames per second (fps) vs. the 5 frames per second that is usually the minimum required by most photojournalists and sports shooters. Does this matter? Since I don't photograph Indy cars, antelope, or track races, I was pretty sure it didn't because three shots every second is still pretty quick. As I discovered, for street level photojournalism, the extra two fps offered by the Nikon D200 (as well as some of Canon's other digital cameras), can make the difference between getting the shot or not, but only on occasion. My colleague was able to capture some critical motion with my D200 that I missed with her 5D, but I can't convince myself this is solely due to the slower fps rate of the 5D. Perhaps her timing was slightly better than mine and there's always that thing called luck too. However, If you shoot a significant amount of action, I can't recommend the 5D due to its relatively slow fps rate.
Ergonomics
Immediately, the ergonomics of the Canon 5D spoke volumes to me about the lack of understanding of Canon's engineers of what makes a camera a photographic tool. Many frequently used settings are buried in a menu. These menus are reasonably intuitive most of the time, but I still struggled to find a couple critical settings when I needed them. This camera has a much longer learning curve than the Nikon D200. Nikon takes a different approach and makes camera functionality more accessible with buttons on the outside of the camera body. The Nikon D200 is one of the most ergonomic cameras I have ever used and now I'm spoiled by it. I found the 5D to feel more like a computer that you can mount a lens to than a camera that works with your senses to help you capture images. Perhaps this is a more personal preference than I'm aware; there are probably photographers out there who prefer Canon's deep menu system to Nikon's button approach. If this is you, then the 5D may work better for you than Nikon's offerings. Please do not let my criticisms of Canon's ergonomics ruin this camera for you - go to your local camera store and spend some time with the camera to see if it works for you.
Camera handling was good. The grip is deep and the body of the camera feels robust but again, not quite as robust as the Nikon D200. The vertical grip also fit my hands well and provide serious vertical control that definitely extends the reach of the 5D toward becoming a pro camera.
Durability
Beyond buttons and menus, the physical dials and buttons themselves do not inspire confidence on the 5D. The first time I had a chance to play with the 5D was in a Best Buy store (a $3000 supposedly professional camera at Best Buy - seems strange to me, but maybe the market is changing). My first impression of the camera's build quality after adjusting the mode dial was "this is a plastic toy." Wow, that sounds harsh. Too harsh, I figured, and decided not to pass judgement just yet. Unfortunately, after using the 5D in the field, my impression has changed much. Other than the strong magnesium alloy body, this camera feels somewhat cheap and plastic-like. In the field, the buttons and dials all worked fine, but not as well as those found on the D200. There is no significant improvement here over the Canon 20D, which is disappointing for a camera costing this much. My first impression is that the controls of the 20D feel even slightly better built than the 5D. Does this matter if the buttons keep pushing and the dial keeps turning? Yes, it still matters because photographers need to have confidence in their equipment. The plastic post of the mode dial of my Canon EOS Elan IIe broke after 2 years of light use, rendering the camera inoperable and I missed some good shots because of it. Since then, plastic dials have not inspired confidence in me. Of course, I was very happy with the mostly metal body of the 5D and would expect nothing less for the price.
Here's where it gets scary. I gave the 5D back to my colleague when the action picked up again. The rain seemed unstoppable. Everything was wet and it had all been wet for over an hour. Lens, bodies, memory cards, it was all wet. Not much we could do about it other than retreat to our cars to change lenses or memory cards and that just wasn't an option if we wanted to get the shots we were after. I was slightly worried about my D200 because even though it has weather sealing around the buttons, I could see water pooling around the edges of the buttons and all over my non-sealed lens. But I needed the shots so I kept going, trial by fire. Her 5D was soaked as well, but she already had hundreds of shots and everything seemed to be just fine. I stepped in closer to the action and lost sight of her for awhile. When I looked up to make sure I wasn't going to run into her, she was gone. She was running back to her car frantically. I kept one eye on her to make sure everything was alright and one eye on the action. She came back with a somewhat desperate look on her face and her camera held against her leg rather than to her eye. I assumed her batteries were dead and I thought it was somewhat unprofessional of her to not bring additional power. It was the weekend and she said she had jumped out of bed without grabbing her spare body. I couldn't figure out why she said "body" instead of "battery". I had almost done the same that morning, but I threw an F5 and some film in the backseat just in case. We weren't in competition for this story and I already had a lot of shots, so I raced back to my car and gave her my F5 with a fixed 35mm on it. She shot until the film was exhausted. Later, I was shocked to discover what had really happened. Apparently, the top LCD of the 5D turned gave a strange display, then the camera shut off. She swapped in a fresh battery, and it behaved the same way. I told her I had read that the camera wasn't water-sealed and the rain may have eventually found its way inside. Her jaw dropped in disbelief. She thought I was kidding. She said her manager had bought the 5Ds to save money over the EOS 1D's. The sports shooters get the 1Ds, she gets the 5Ds. That might work on paper, but not in practice. To this day, neither of us can confirm water caused the problem because we didn't open up the camera to find out. It's probably sitting in the "dead camera" drawer at the office right now and I don't know if we'll ever know for sure. However, based on my experience, this could easily be a water related problem. I've worked with several non-sealed cameras in the rain that never had a problem, but I always knew it was a possibility and I guess I've finally seen it happen. The bottom line: no weather sealing on a $3000 camera? Absolutely inexcusable. Canon has dropped the ball in a big way here.
The optional vertical grip for the Canon 5D seems to be where Canon has some advantage over Nikon. This grip almost feels like it is made of magnesium alloy like the camera body, and perhaps it is. In any case, it feels more durable than the Nikon MB-D200 vertical grip. I haven't had any problems with the Nikon grip, even on this day of relentless rain, but it feels considerably more plasticy than the 5D's vertical grip. I think Canon has done a really nice job with this grip.
Professional?
Before I say anything about image quality, I'd like to address the issue of professional vs. amateur cameras. Many reviewers are under the impression that a lot of megapixels makes a camera professional grade. If I put Kodak e100GX pro film in my $50 point and shoot camera does it become professional? Of course not. The Canon 5D is an advanced amateur camera, but it is certainly not a professional camera. Yes it can yield professional quality images, but the camera itself would be a liability to the majority of professionals for all of the reasons mentioned above. However, it makes for a fantastic advanced amateur camera, if you can afford the unreasonably high price tag.
Image Quality
I browse the digital camera review sites like everyone else. I look at the noise patches to see if there is any significant difference in noise between cameras. Almost always, there is not. I look at the dynamic range plots to see if there is some substantial difference somewhere. Again, usually there is not. The Canon 5D is no exception. Looking at the images I shot of the same scene with the Nikon D200 and 5D, these cameras have the same dynamic range and the same visible noise characteristics. I've heard that laboratory tests show that the 5D has less noise at extremely high ISO's, but I found no difference whatsoever from ISO 100 through ISO 800 in my real world tests. When I asked my colleague what her opinion was of the image quality of the D200 and 5D, she said she thought the D200 resolved detail slightly better. I was surprised she said this, considering the extra two megapixels on the 5D's sensor. Another review of the photos I shot and I couldn't convince myself that one camera was obviously better than the other in terms of image quality, but I could occasionally find slightly more detail in some of my Nikon shots. My feeling is that this is due to the better Nikon glass in my lens, in this particular case.
I was surprised to find vignetting in some of my 5D photos taken at maximum or near maximum apertures. My colleague didn't have a fat filter or lens hood mounted on her lens, so I'm not sure what caused this problem. Perhaps this is attributable to user error in some way, or perhaps the full frame sensor has issues with certain lenses. If anyone else has seen this and has an explanation, please feel free to leave a comment.
At the end of the day, I was still happy with the shots I was able to capture with the Canon 5D. It is certainly capable of producing superb image quality. Despite some minor issues such as the slight vignetting, this camera is still a winner for image quality and joins the ranks of other superb digital cameras including the Nikon D2X and Canon 1D in this respect.
Conclusions
Remember the days of interchangeable film? You select the film you like based on your shooting preferences and conditions and you put it in your camera. Camera companies introduced a new body once every few years, but only after extensive testing and only after making sure that they had something that was a well-designed photographic tool. Gone are those days and here are the days when we need to consider both film and camera body all at once when making a purchasing decision. The Canon 5D unfortunately exemplifies this. This is a noticeably misplaced and overpriced camera that is not suitable for a lot of pros, and overkill for most amateurs. That being said, if you do find yourself owning a 5D, you are unlikely to be disappointed - this is still a decent camera capable of helping you capture amazing images. Just remember its shortcomings and make sure that a 30D won't do the same thing for you for less than half the price.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): n/a
Primary Location of Use: Inshore waters and bays
Primary Type of Use: All-around recreation
Length of Boat: 0-10 feet
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.