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romy ocon | profile | all galleries >> Equipment Tests and Other Photos >> Trying out a pre-production Canon 5D Mark II at wild birds tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Trying out a pre-production Canon 5D Mark II at wild birds

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Thanks to Canon Marketing (Philippines), Inc., I got hold today of a pre-production Canon 5D Mark II which I hope to try at wild birds in the next couple of days, both stills and video. I just spent the afternoon familiarizing myself with the controls of the 5D2 and shooting a few clips at backyard birds, just playing around…. nothing serious yet.

Off-hand, I’m amazed by the lowlight video capability of the camera – I shot this footage in dim light at 1600 mm (maximum lens aperture is f/11)*, and the video is still very clean! This practice footage is unedited except conversion to 1280x720 WMV file. The ambient audio is as picked up by the built-in mic. I supported the combo with a Manfrotto 475B tripod and a 3421 gimbal head.

Link to first bird video (Yellow-vented Bulbul) - http://www.vimeo.com/1920723

Special thanks to Mr. John Chua for negotiating the loan of the pre-production camera, and to Mr. Jay-R Romero of CMPI for the accommodation. I hope for some good weather and cooperative birds in the next two days so I can do justice to this revolutionary new imaging tool.

*Correction - it appears that the ISO and Av are not user-setable in video mode (I had the wrong impression that the ISO and Av set during still capture in Live View will be the one used by the video... Mea culpa).


I'll update this gallery as images are captured. :)
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Second bird video taken October 10, 2008 (Brown Shrike) - http://www.vimeo.com/1930146

Third bird video taken October 10, 2008 (Collared Kingfisher)- http://www.vimeo.com/1931249

Fourth bird video taken October 10, 2008 (Philippine Woodpecker)- http://www.vimeo.com/1931375

Fifth bird video taken October 10, 2008 (Indigo-banded Kingfisher)- http://www.vimeo.com/1937925

Wasp Macro (video) - http://www.vimeo.com/1937581

DOF fun with the 5DM2 (video) - http://www.vimeo.com/1941248

Wasp Macro with thin DOF (video)- http://www.vimeo.com/1999433

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UPDATE - in response to some queries I got about the exposure setting controls of the 5DM2 video recording, here's my current personal understanding on the matter (10 am, Oct. 13, 2008, Manila time), which I posted in a thread at DP Review:

First Post.

Additional Post.

From Canon-USA - EOS 5D Mark II: Movie Mode Basics.


Romy Ocon
21 MP PHOTO @ ISO 400: Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata, immature, ca. 4.25 total length) 5DM2 + 500 f4 L IS, 475B/3421 support, M mode, default settings, jpeg straight from camera (unedited except watermarking and saving as PS quality 10), about 25-30 feet subject distance, available light. Note - an out of focus blade of grass near me partially blocks the tail portion of the bird.
IMG_0814-FF-Jpeg.jpg

21 MP PHOTO @ ISO 400: Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata, immature, ca. 4.25" total length)
5DM2 + 500 f4 L IS, 475B/3421 support, M mode, default settings, jpeg straight from camera (unedited except watermarking and saving as PS quality 10), about 25-30 feet subject distance, available light. Note - an out of focus blade of grass near me partially blocks the tail portion of the bird.

 Processed and cropped from RAW using DPP 3.5.1.
IMG_0814-DPP-1200x900.jpg

Processed and cropped from RAW using DPP 3.5.1.

 21 MP PHOTO @ ISO 3200: Brown Shrike(Lanius cristatus), 5DM2 + 300-800 f5.6 + Canon 2x TC, 475B/3421 support, available light, default settings, jpeg straight from camera (unedited except watermarking and saving as PS quality 10). Note that this was taken with a 2x teleconverter, this sample is posted as a reference point to compare with the video grab also posted in this gallery.
IMG_0722-FF-Jpeg.jpg

21 MP PHOTO @ ISO 3200: Brown Shrike(Lanius cristatus), 5DM2 + 300-800 f5.6 + Canon 2x TC, 475B/3421 support, available light, default settings, jpeg straight from camera (unedited except watermarking and saving as PS quality 10). Note that this was taken with a 2x teleconverter, this sample is posted as a reference point to compare with the video grab also posted in this gallery.

 21 MP PHOTO @ ISO 3200: Brown Shrike(Lanius cristatus), 5DM2 + 300-800 f5.6 + Canon 2x TC, 475B/3421 support, available light, RAW converted with DPP 3.5.1 (unedited except watermarking and saving as PS quality 10). Note that this was taken with a 2x teleconverter, this sample is posted as a reference point to compare with the video grab also posted in this gallery.
IMG_0722-dpp.jpg

21 MP PHOTO @ ISO 3200: Brown Shrike(Lanius cristatus), 5DM2 + 300-800 f5.6 + Canon 2x TC, 475B/3421 support, available light, RAW converted with DPP 3.5.1 (unedited except watermarking and saving as PS quality 10). Note that this was taken with a 2x teleconverter, this sample is posted as a reference point to compare with the video grab also posted in this gallery.

 Resized full frame processed from RAW with DPP 3.5.1.
IMG_0722-dpp-1-1350x900.jpg

Resized full frame processed from RAW with DPP 3.5.1.
21 MP PHOTO @ ISO 800: Wasp Macro - 5DM2 + Canon 100 f/2.8 USM macro, Manfrotto 455B tripod/410 geared head, default settings, available light, jpeg straight from camera (unedited except watermarking and saving as PS quality 10).
IMG_0768-FF-Jpeg.jpg

21 MP PHOTO @ ISO 800: Wasp Macro - 5DM2 + Canon 100 f/2.8 USM macro, Manfrotto 455B tripod/410 geared head, default settings, available light, jpeg straight from camera (unedited except watermarking and saving as PS quality 10).

 21 MP PHOTO @ ISO 800: Wasp Macro - 5DM2 + Canon 100 f/2.8 USM macro, Manfrotto 455B tripod/410 geared head, converted from DPP 3.5.1., daylight WB (unedited except watermarking and saving as PS quality 10).
IMG_0768-DPP.jpg

21 MP PHOTO @ ISO 800: Wasp Macro - 5DM2 + Canon 100 f/2.8 USM macro, Manfrotto 455B tripod/410 geared head, converted from DPP 3.5.1., daylight WB (unedited except watermarking and saving as PS quality 10).

 Processed and cropped from RAW using DPP 3.5.1.
IMG_0768-DPP-1200x900.jpg

Processed and cropped from RAW using DPP 3.5.1.

Unedited video grab (except labeling, water-marking and saving for web as PS quality 85%), 1920x1080 pixels, pre-production 5DM2 + Canon 100 2.8 USM macro
MVI_0767-1.jpg

Unedited video grab (except labeling, water-marking and saving for web as PS quality 85%),
1920x1080 pixels, pre-production 5DM2 + Canon 100 2.8 USM macro

 Processed video grab from a pre-production 5DM2 + Canon 100 2.8 USM macro (cropped, levels/contrast, USM, NR, slight resizing).
MVI_0767-2-1000x750.jpg

Processed video grab from a pre-production 5DM2 + Canon 100 2.8 USM macro (cropped, levels/contrast, USM, NR, slight resizing).

Unedited video grab (except labeling, water-marking and saving for web as PS quality 85%), 1920x1080 pixels, pre-production 5DM2 + 300-800 mm f/5.6 + Canon 2x TC, 1400 mm
MVI_0724-1.jpg

Unedited video grab (except labeling, water-marking and saving for web as PS quality 85%),
1920x1080 pixels, pre-production 5DM2 + 300-800 mm f/5.6 + Canon 2x TC, 1400 mm

 Unedited conversion from DPP 3.5.1. - ISO 400, zero NR, 3 sharpening, full frame, AF on 46.
IMG_0793-DPP.jpg

Unedited conversion from DPP 3.5.1. - ISO 400, zero NR, 3 sharpening, full frame, AF on "46".

Unedited video grab (except labeling, water-marking and saving for web as PS quality 85%), 1920x1080 pixels, pre-production 5DM2 + 24 mm f/1.8 (blemish at lower left corner is surface defect of the chess table)
MVI_0784-1.jpg

Unedited video grab (except labeling, water-marking and saving for web as PS quality 85%),
1920x1080 pixels, pre-production 5DM2 + 24 mm f/1.8 (blemish at lower left corner is surface defect of the chess table)

 A pre-production Canon 5D Mark II
IMG_3239-1000x750.jpg

A pre-production Canon 5D Mark II

post a comment
Devilgorgor 29-Dec-2008 06:31
too soft than I expected. just wait another new camera come up
romy ocon 14-Oct-2008 03:35
Settings of the camera used for stills:

1. Large Jpeg, AWB, sRGB, Standard Picture Style (3 Sharpness, 0 Contrast, o Saturation, 0 Color Tone)
2. Long exposure noise NR - 0 (off)
3. High ISO speed NR - 0 (standard)
4. Highlight Tone Priority - 0 (disable)
5. Auto Lighting Optimizer - 0 (standard)

As of now, I can't say if the video recording uses any, some, all or none of the above.
Andreas 14-Oct-2008 00:40
Fantastic work, Romy!
I spotted a bit of NR-atifacts or gradation problems in the bokeh of the videos and caps.
Which High-ISO-NR setting did you use - and did you get the impression this CFn works in video mode?
Videocams don´t offer such a smooth out of focus image so the 8bit 4:2:0 resolution won´t be such a problem there (unless processed).
I hope Canon will set the video-luminance-NR to a more natural level or that the Hi-ISO-NR also works in video mode.
With a less processing the output of the 5Dmk2 would be even more stunning!

Best Regards, Andreas
Guest 13-Oct-2008 22:48
Romy my old friend, I am sooo jealous!!! LOL! :)

Excal
Rudi Knust 12-Oct-2008 17:39
Wonderful job Romy. The 5D II is on my list for early next year.
Guest 12-Oct-2008 13:57
Wonderful job. Could I ask what video editing progrm did you use and does it let you watermark?
Thanks
Colin Key 12-Oct-2008 12:45
Excellent Romy; I have been watching the reviews on this camera (I own a 1dMk3) which have been "mixed". It would be nice think that this video feature will be included in the 1DMk4. Compared to a lot (most!) of the professionally published video sequences (e.g. BWPi), your first attempts are miles ahead. Well done - look forward to seeing more.
romy ocon 12-Oct-2008 07:00
Hi Luigi, I used a 16 GB Cf card, and I filled just about half of it.... haven't tallied the actual total minutes of footage, but according to estimates I've read it's about 4 GB/12 minutes of footage.
Luigi Fernando 12-Oct-2008 04:38
Great work Romy, keep them coming. How many minutes of HD video did you manage with an 8 GB card?
romy ocon 11-Oct-2008 22:57
I shot almost 8 GB of footage and the single, freshly charged battery I used still had about 40-50% power left at the end of the day. An AC adapter wasn't provided with the pre-prod camera loaned to me.
Ravitej Khalsa 11-Oct-2008 19:03
Great videos. Might open up a whole new way of birding.

I noticed you had the battery grip on the 5DII. Shooting multiple videos, did the battery life become an issue? Did you have the AC adapter that needs to grip to function? If yes, did you use the AC adapter and was it needed for longer video sessions? Did you try just a single battery only? Thanks.
Guest 11-Oct-2008 06:31
Very impressive videos can't wait to see high speed still quality.
Tom W 10-Oct-2008 23:32
I'm glad that you got to try a 5D2, Romy. I know that you'll get some great results with it. I look forward to some of your stills, since I am considering one of these in the near future.
BrianDC 09-Oct-2008 15:12
Can't wait to see what you capture with this camera.
To say I'm jealous is an understatement!
click on thumbnails for full image