Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Encyclopedia
The Canon EOS 5D Mark II is a 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS
CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is a technology for constructing integrated circuits. CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits...

 digital single-lens reflex camera
Digital single-lens reflex camera
Most digital single-lens reflex cameras are digital cameras that use a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera....

 made by Canon. It succeeds the EOS 5D
Canon EOS 5D
The EOS 5D is a 12.8 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera body produced by Canon. The EOS 5D was announced by Canon on August 22, 2005, and at the time was priced above the EOS 20D but below the EOS-1D Mark II and EOS-1Ds Mark II in Canon's EOS digital SLR series...

 and was announced on September 17, 2008.

Improvements compared to original EOS 5D

  • 21.1 megapixel (5,616 × 3,744 pixels), compared to 12.8 megapixels (4,368 × 2,912 pixels)
  • DIGIC 4 image processor, compared to DIGIC II
  • 100–6400 ISO
    Film speed
    Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system....

     (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 frame/s (60 JPEG or 17 Raw)
  • Small Raw modes: sRAW1 mode (10 megapixel/3861 × 2574 pixels), sRAW2 mode (5.2 megapixel/2784 × 1856 pixels)
  • 98% viewfinder
    Viewfinder
    In photography, a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and in many cases to focus, the picture. Most viewfinders are separate, and suffer parallax, while the single-lens reflex camera lets the viewfinder use the main optical system. Viewfinders are used in many cameras of...

     coverage with 0.71× magnification, compared to 96% coverage
  • Larger 3 inches (76.2 mm) LCD
    Liquid crystal display
    A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....

     display with 640 × 480 VGA resolution (307,200 pixels/921,600 dots), compared to 2.5 inches (63.5 mm)
  • 1800mAh LP-E6 battery, compared to 1390mAh BP-511A

New features

  • Movie recording full HD
    1080p
    1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scan, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i display standard....

     at 1920 × 1080 and SDTV
    Standard-definition television
    Sorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...

     at 640 × 480 resolution.
  • Monaural
    Monaural
    Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...

     microphone for audio during video recording, speaker for playback and microphone jack for external stereo microphone
  • Live preview
    Live preview
    Live preview is a feature that allows a digital camera's display screen to be used as a viewfinder. This provides a means of previewing framing and other exposure before taking the photograph. In most such cameras, the preview is generated by means of continuously and directly projecting the image...

     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
    HDMI
    HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...

     video output for live preview or playing clips and images on an external monitor via Type C MiniHDMI port
  • Dust reduction system
    Dust reduction system
    A dust reduction system, or dust removal system, is a technology employed by several manufacturers of digital system cameras to solve the problem of dust particles adhering to the image sensor. Some systems remove or clean the sensor by vibrating at a very high frequency—between 100hertz and...

     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
MAH
The National Security Service was the governmental intelligence organization of Turkey between 1926 and 1965, when it was replaced by the National Intelligence Organization ....

 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
1080p
1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scan, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i display standard....

 video recording. The Canon PowerShot SX 1 IS followed with full HD in a bridge digital camera
Bridge digital camera
Bridge cameras are cameras which fill the niche between the single-lens reflex cameras and the Point-and-shoot camera. They are often comparable in size and weight to the smallest Digital SLRs , but almost all digital bridge cameras lack an optical viewfinder system...

 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
VistaVision
VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35mm motion picture film format which was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954....

 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
Depth of field
In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...

 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
Chroma subsampling
Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma information than for luma information, taking advantage of the human visual system's lower acuity for color differences than for luminance....

, leading to concern about Moiré pattern
Moiré pattern
In physics, a moiré pattern is an interference pattern created, for example, when two grids are overlaid at an angle, or when they have slightly different mesh sizes.- Etymology :...

s 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 (4.8 Mbyte/s) and SD bitrate is approximately 17 Megabits per second (2.2 Mbyte/s). 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
Active pixel sensor
An active-pixel sensor is an image sensor consisting of an integrated circuit containing an array of pixel sensors, each pixel containing a photodetector and an active amplifier. There are many types of active pixel sensors including the CMOS APS used most commonly in cell phone cameras, web...

 overheating.
Five of these cameras were used simultaneously and exclusively in making of commercial mainline Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

 movie Dongala Mutha
Dongala Mutha
Dongala Mutha is a Telugu-language film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Ravi Teja, Charmme Kaur, Prakash Raj, Lakshmi Manchu, Bramhanandam, Subbaraju, Supreet and Ajay. This film is the first of its kind in Indian cinema as it was shot with just 7 crew members and in a...

 as an experiment for the first time in Indian Film Industry by director Ram Gopal Verma.

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
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...

 format compatibility and a 24p
24p
In video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second frame rate with progressive scanning . Originally, 24p was used in the non-linear editing of film-originated material...

 mode for compatibility with motion picture film cameras.
The firmware update also modified the 30p mode to record 29.97 frame/s and the new 24p mode actually records 23.976 frame/s to have frame rates compatible with NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...

. 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
Firmware
In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...

 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
Zebra patterning
Zebra patterning is a feature found on some prosumer and most professional video cameras to aid in correct exposure. When enabled, areas of the image over a certain threshold are filled with a striped or cross-hatch pattern. Often, two thresholds are available: 70% and 100%...

 for exposure control, depth of field
Depth of field
In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...

 estimates, audio VU meter
VU meter
A VU meter is often included in audio equipment to display a signal level in Volume Units; the device is sometimes also called volume indicator ....

s and disables the automatic gain control
Automatic gain control
Automatic gain control is an adaptive system found in many electronic devices. The average output signal level is fed back to adjust the gain to an appropriate level for a range of input signal levels...

 on the microphone input (although some of these features have since been added to Canon's official firmware, as noted above).

Independent film and television

In March 2010, Canon released firmware version 2.0.4 for the 5D Mark II, adding 24p
24p
In video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second frame rate with progressive scanning . Originally, 24p was used in the non-linear editing of film-originated material...

 framerate and manual audio recording.

Notable film and television productions that used the Canon 5D Mark II include (in order of release):
  • The opening title sequence for the 35th season of NBC
    NBC
    The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

    's Saturday Night Live
    Saturday Night Live
    Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

    , 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
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

    , and depth of field capabilities, making it a suitable substitute for the series' usual 35mm film.
  • The House
    House (TV series)
    House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

    episode "Help Me
    Help Me (House)
    "Help Me" is the twenty-second episode and season finale of the sixth season of the American medical drama House. It first aired on May 17, 2010. The episode covers a crane collapse in which House tries to save one of the victims, Hanna, who is trapped in rubble...

    ", broadcast by Fox
    Fox
    Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...

     on 17 May 2010, was shot entirely on the Canon 5D Mark II, replacing the drama's usual 35mm film format. Portions of the seventh season
    House (season 7)
    House entered a seventh season on September 20, 2010. House and Cuddy attempt to make a real relationship work and face the question as to whether their new relationship will affect their ability to diagnose patients. The new season features a new opening title sequence...

     were also recorded with a 5D Mark II.
  • The BBC Two
    BBC Two
    BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

     comedy series Shelfstackers, first broadcast on 4 September 2010, is the first BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     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, Dom Bridges. All six episodes of the series were shot on the camera for a total budget of £160,000.
  • The Road to Coronation Street
    The Road to Coronation Street
    The Road to Coronation Street is a British drama first broadcast on BBC Four documenting the journey of Coronation Street, the UK's longest-running television soap opera, from conception to its first transmission in December 1960...

    , broadcast by BBC Four
    BBC Four
    BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....

     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 seventh series of the BBC One
    BBC One
    BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

     drama Hustle
    Hustle (TV series)
    Hustle is a British television drama series made by Kudos Film and Television for BBC One in the United Kingdom. Created by Tony Jordan and first broadcast in 2004, the series follows a group of con artists who specialise in "long cons" – extended deceptions which require greater commitment, but...

    .
  • Behzat Ç. Bir Ankara Polisiyesi
    Behzat Ç. Bir Ankara Polisiyesi
    “Behzat Ç. Bir Ankara Polisiyesi” is a TV crime series based on the novel of the same name by Emrah Serbes. It's lead actor is Erdal Beşikçioğlu and Canan Erguder. The series take place in Ankara. It began 19 September 2010 on Star TV.Orginal Page: tr: Behzat Ç. Bir Ankara Polisiyesi-Plot:Behzat Ç...

    , a Turkish TV series is being shot on Canon 5DmkII.
  • Rubber
    Rubber (2010 film)
    Rubber is a 2010 French comedy film about a tire that comes to life and kills people with its psychic powers. It was directed and written by Quentin Dupieux. The film was shown at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...

    , a 2010 French horror movie directed by Quentin Dupieux, was entirely shot on Canon 5DMkII.
  • Dongala Mutha
    Dongala Mutha
    Dongala Mutha is a Telugu-language film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Ravi Teja, Charmme Kaur, Prakash Raj, Lakshmi Manchu, Bramhanandam, Subbaraju, Supreet and Ajay. This film is the first of its kind in Indian cinema as it was shot with just 7 crew members and in a...

     a 2011 commercial mainline Telugu
    Telugu language
    Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

     movie was shot entirely using five Canon 5D MarkII cameras simultaneously. Each shot was captured in 5 different angles at the same time as an experiment.

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 do-able 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.

Software

The included software package contains the following software:
  • Digital Photo Professional
    Digital Photo Professional
    Digital Photo Professional is the software that Canon ships with its digital SLR cameras for editing and asset management of its Canon RAW files. It can also work with the older .CRW format of select models, and also JPEGs and TIFFs from any source...

  • ZoomBrowser EX / ImageBrowser
  • PhotoStitch
  • EOS Utility
  • Picture Style Editor

Firmware updates

Early buyers of the camera reported black pixels appearing in high contrast situations. In late 2008, Canon officially acknowledged that there was an issue with black dots and vertical banding noise in certain circumstances. On January 7, 2009, Canon released firmware update 1.0.7 to address these two problems.

Originally the camera lacked manual control when filming video. On 2 June 2009 version 1.1.0 of the firmware was released which provided control over aperture, shutter speed and ISO while recording video.

On 17 December 2009 Firmware Version 1.2.4 was released to support the WFT-E4 II wireless file transmitter and to correct an issue where visible noise may appear in photos taken in continuous Bulb shooting.

On 16 March 2010 Firmware Version 2.0.3 was released to support 1080p at NTSC 29.97 frame/s, 1080p at PAL 25.00 frame/s and 1080p at cinematography 23.976 frame/s. It also added a function for manually adjusting the sound recording level (64 levels), a histogram display (brightness or RGB) for shooting movies in manual exposure, shutter-priority AE mode (Tv) and aperture-priority AE (Av) mode to the exposure modes for shooting movies and changed the audio sampling frequency from 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz. On 17 March 2010 the firmware was found to have some bugs with the audio functions and thus retired.
On 19 March 2010 Firmware Version 2.0.4 was released to solve the 2.0.3 bugs.

On 19 October 2010 Firmware Version 2.0.8 was released to solve several issues related to the camera operations under specific circumstances.

On 30 May 2011 Firmware Version 2.0.9 was released. This update improved performance with certain UDMA cards and solved other issues.

On 14 Nov 2011 Firmware Version 2.1.1 was released. This update fixes a phenomenon where shooting stops after capturing one image when in continuous shooting mode or auto exposure bracketing (AEB) continuous mode. It also corrects wording in the Dutch language menu screen.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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