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Nikon D80

Canon EOS 5D 12.8 MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

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Brand: Canon
Category: Photography

List Price: ~~$2,499.00~~
Buy New: $1,999.00
You Save: $500.00 (20%)

New (17) Used (15) Refurbished (4) from $1,250.00

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

114 reviews
Sales Rank: 5612

Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Display Size: 2.5
Maximum Resolution: 12.8
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.4
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.9 x 6.8
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.

MPN: 5D Body
Model: 5D Body
UPC: 013803056853
EAN: 0013803056853
ASIN: B0007Y791C

Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 114

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Great Camera - minor flaws January 17, 2006
James
75 out of 86 found this review helpful

I don't usually write reviews but I was fortunate enough to be in a position to purchase this camera as soon as it's available and their aren't that many user reviews out yet so I'll add mine:

This camera is a fantastic pro machine. It makes me wonder if Canon et al will eventually offer their top of the line 1Ds etc. in the same form factor (ie: without the depth). It's light and the image quality is as good as everyone says it is.

I particularly wanted to add some negative comments to balance out everyone's positive ravings(!) which is usual with new tech gear. And 4 stars too.

There are mentions of the screen being too glary in sunlight. Be warned, it's almost unusable. Even if you shade it with your hand. I guess making the screen more viewable from any angle menas that it also reflects light from more angles... On the plus side, it has encouraged me to use the screen less to check my shots. If you know what you're doing (and you should if you're spending money like this) and you spot meter on good sources, then you should learn to trust your instincts. Yes there are always times you need to check the screen and I sometimes find myself excusing myself to walk over to the shade. That's good too - it can slow a professional shoot down!

The other thing that irks me is the lack of dust seals. Read up on charged sensors and you'll learn that they make your camera a vaccuum - very hard to clean too. Bearing in mind that most users will likely afford Canon's 'L' series lenses (that ARE dust, moisture sealed) I wonder why Canon left this out of the camera. It's a pain. Nikon's new budget D200 DOES have seals. At 10mp and only $1700-1900 I would have gone with Nikon in a heartbeat - if I hadn't already invested thousands in Canon lenses!!!

That's it really - it's a little slow (shutter speed) but if you want a faster camera get the 1DII (or again the Nikon). And it's expensive(!). It has however, TRANSFORMED the way I shoot by focusing so DAMN FAST in even low light. Which is why I bought it in the first place. Happy shooting.

4 out of 5 stars

Should be 4 and half stars December 12, 2006
adovelikeboy (Seattle)
50 out of 50 found this review helpful

The 5D is worth it, and then some. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. Visually it performs better than anything else I've seen. I'm VERY attached to 35mm and this camera either matches film (beautiful tones; sumptuous shadow detail) or outperforms film by a margin (flexibility, detail, the utter lack of noise at high ISO settings).

I completely disagree with the assertion elsewhere that vignetting is inevitable. I shoot wide open almost all the time because I dislike flash. You'll find me indoors in the dark Seattle winter with the aperture wide and the ISO cranked to 800. The low noise/high resolution sensor is perfect for this. It out performs my 30D by a huge margin under such conditions.

Build quality? There's probably a grain of truth there. I hear the Nikons are better sealed, but the 5D feels neither cheap nor shoddy.

I use both the cheapy 50mm/f1.8 and the expensive 24-70 f2.8L series. They only time I've seen any vignetting is when shooting at 24mm under bright sunlight; f4.0 to f8; I see some light roll-off in the corners as noted by M.Ryley, but none of the softness that he mentions. This phenomenon is simply not there at all with longer focal lengths.

As for speed - maybe I have faster CF cards since I bought them recently, but this hasn't been an issue for me at all. However, I do prefer to use my faster 30D for sporting events where speed is of the essence.

I'm a semi-pro; I've been taking picture for over 20 years. I asked 5 full time professionals and a few gifted amateurs to recommend a camera before I made this purchase. Every one of them recommended the 5D - citing image quality. It gives probably three-quarters of the performance of the 1D at only one third of the price.

I recommend this camera.

5 out of 5 stars

You will love it! It's real. July 11, 2007
Bruce Fields (New York, New York USA)
46 out of 46 found this review helpful

I've been shooting professionally since the 70's and most of my work has been in the still life arena. My personal interests have always been more in the area of portraits, landscapes and street shooting (Cartier-Bresson is one of my icons). View cameras and mid-format were my mainstay until I had to start using digital and I came in early, buying the then new Kodak DCS-560 which was the EOS 1N converted to digital and providing state of the art at that time (6.2 MP), for the humble sum of $25,000. Yes, that's right.

I used it as a studio camera and got decent results, pleasing most clients. In later years I rented the latest top runners for jobs as needed and the last one I used in this way was the Mark II. It was great to shoot with and I was able to produce 30x40 tack sharp portrait posters for the client with no trouble, using the RAW files it produced.

So why all this yaddayadda you might ask? Only to establish a) I have a base of experience which may be of some value and b) I am probably pretty fussy about my equipment.

With this being said I bought the 5D because I believed it would give me what I needed (and wanted). I could have bought the Mark III, but I was looking for a camera to do what the 5D does and didn't require the extra features of the Mark III, most of which are really much more technical than even most professional photographers could ever really utilize. I was concerned with what I consider "reality." The DCS-560 is the same general size, shape and weight as the Mark III. I know what it's like to carry that around the world. What would the Mark III offer me that I must have that the 5D wouldn't? Better image quality? Not really. Truth is that the 5D image quality is extraordinary and I can't think of a single purpose I will ever encounter where the supposed "improvement" of the MIII would be needed or, really, even apparent. If I were doing some really technical shot which required a feature of the MIII which the 5D lacks, I'll rent one. My opinion is it will never happen.

What about build quality? I like the fact that the MIII is weather proofed and it would be reassuring, certainly, if the 5D were as well. Again, truth is I take very good care of my equipment and always treat it with respect. I don't see myself exposing my 5D to harm by moisture (I can use a camera glove if I need to shoot in a downpour, not a very common occurrence I wouldn't think). Otherwise, the 5D is solidly built, feels very sturdy, and will not succumb to uselessness if exposed to marginal weather conditions, as long as I remain aware enough to just take proper care while using it. It's not hard to do. A journalist or someone who needs to shoot a lot in really serious weather would need to have a MIII. I don't. And that leaves burst speeds. I don't shoot sports and when I need to catch a moment in people shots where I'm looking for a particular expression, for example, the 5D speed works just fine. At a certain point, a higher burst speed is really overkill.

All cameras have strengths and weaknesses. To my thinking, the 5D's strengths are apparent: superb image quality (be sure to use the best optics. L series lenses, the 100 macro and a few others work for me), excellent build quality and finish, the best ergonomics I have ever found in a camera (shared by the EOS series as a whole) and a really great price. Compared to that $25,000 DCS I bought so many years ago (yes, the technology has advanced and the prices have come down) and even to the MIII, the price is a bargain. The only "weakness" would have to be the lack of extra insurance of a weather proofing construction.

So far my experience with this camera has been excellent. I just love it. It satisfies all my requirements and I don't feel that I am compromising any of them, simply because a higher priced and more feature filled model exists. The results I have been getting amaze me. Detail, lack of noise, color saturation and tonality, ease of operation, relative size and weight, battery life, ease of quickly changing modes and shooting parameters, the feel of it in my hands, all speak well to me. Right now it's my favorite camera. I like it so much, and it does so much of what I actually want and need, I don't think I'll be looking to replace it for quite a while. If you can embrace reality and not get sucked into hype (what you don't need), you will love it too. Highly recommended!

5 out of 5 stars

true professional quality... February 24, 2006
J. OConnor (Silver Spring, MD USA)
44 out of 48 found this review helpful

I am a professional user who has been using a Canon EOS-1Ds as my main camera for two years (so much so that I actually sold all my well-loved Hasselblad equipment that I couldn't bear to see gathering dust any longer...). I bought the EOS-5D as a "back-up" to the 1Ds but have been using it as my #1 camera due to it's superior file size and truer color rendition. I shoot with Macbeth Color Checkers and have found the 5D's color to be truer throughout the range than the more expensive (though older technology) 1Ds. That, along with the huge, bright preview screen, push it to the #1 category in my book (at least, until the EOS-2 comes out this fall).

A note to those that wonder...I didn't get a EOS-1Ds Mark II, because for $8000, I didn't feel it represented a big enough leap over the 1Ds (that I had already spent $8000. on...)

5 out of 5 stars

Canon EOS 5D March 9, 2006
James B. Henderson (Mukwonago, WI)
41 out of 48 found this review helpful

Although the camera is a bit pricey at just over $3000, it is a full-frame 35mm sensored camera, and more then $4500 cheaper than the highest price full-frame CMOS sensored camera which is the Canon EOS 1DS Mark II (selling for around $7500 USD). Start up is speedy, focus with a USM lens is extremely fast and saving large images to even a standard CF card is miles ahead in speed as opposed to my first camera, a Nikon 5700 (which I don't recommend anyone buy). Lots of versatility built into the camera and great pictures come out of it.Feature-rich camera, well built and a delight to use. The one I just bought is a company camera, but I'll probably buy another one for my personal use. Lots of good lenses available, but the best ones are not cheap. Buy the camera from a reputable seller like Amazon. Stay away from shady characters like Express Camera and other NY area retailers who originally price the camera low just to hook you into buying overpriced gray market lenses. At first they say the have the camera in stock and as soon as you reject their junk lenses, they then say the cameras are on back-order and won't be able to ship for 10-12 weeks. And then for no real reason given, just cancel your order. I'd never hesitate to buy from Amazon.com.

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