Canon 5D pros and cons

In order to get access to the Canon 5D at the Media Loan Shot I had to research the pros and cons of using the camera. Obviously everything I'm about to write is researched online from review websites. I'm sure I'll find more pros and cons once I get used to the camera.


I started by looking at some videos on Youtube and Vimeo. So by starting with this I can't help and start with the pros. The quality and beauty of the videos is the thing that makes everyone go crazy for these cameras.
The main field I am interested in is Performing Arts Photography, this is why I looked at videos and photos of performances. I've embeded the one that impressed me most below. I chose to embed the other two videos because they show the range of environments the camera can 'cope' with. The second one is a video of snowboarding, therefore has the probability to very overexposed and plain with a normal video camera. The third video is filmed with a macro lens which imressed me because of the detail and sharpness i.e. when it shows very closely how the cigarette burns.

(double click on the videos to watch them in full size as the youtube ones don't fit on the page)

Dance In Light- Canon 5d mark II from Aharon Rothschild on Vimeo.

Other pros than the video quality are top LCD which will allow me to change settings a lot faster when shooting a dance performance or a gig; The 3 camera custom modes will enable me to save custom settings for the appropriate environment. Another pro for me personally is that I currently own a Canon as well (450D) so I'm used to the menus and settings. Plus I have two lenses (70-300mm and 50mm) and a Flash so I can use them with the 5D as opposed to the Nikon whose lenses aren't comatible to all camera ranges. Also the colour representation is acurate and natural (when correct WB is used) which will help during performing arts shows, which are usually colorfull. At the same time the sets are quite most of the times dark, therefor the fact that the camera has a full frame will allow me to use higher ISO with less grain than the Canon I'm using currently.

It wasn't easy to find specific cons for the camera as it is quite a subjective area. Each user will find something else they are not happy with. Some reviewers were complaining about some buttons being in the wrong places and hard to reach, or about the menus. These kind of cons are subjective and as mentioned earlier you need to get used to the camera to find them yourself. Another con that I found online and that Bex mentioned in the induction was the screen use in bright daylight conditions being impossible to see. This is an issue I have with my Canon 450D as well, and it is probably quite hard to find a camera that doesn't have this problem.
Another issue that I can see myself having problems with is the 12 min video limi; I won't be able to use the camera for filming dance or theatre performances as they are usually abour 40-60 min long without intervals, so this is quite a big con for me, plus the low sound quality which is very important in a theatre performance. Also it takes longer to auto focus in low light which would cause problems when taking pictures of performing arts, but again this problem is common in all cameras.


Sources:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/5d-mk-ii.htm

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5dmarkii/page2.asp

http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=3944&review=canon+5d+mark+ii