Because I shoot with a Canon 5D, I was intensely interested in it’s recently announced, and soon to be available successor, the 5D Mark II.  Canon states that the image quality is better than their flagship 1Ds Mark III, which is just astounding considering the price point for the 5D Mark II is around $2,700 and the 1Ds Mark III is priced at $7,000.

Canon has added a lot of new features for the 5D Mark II, including excellent high-iso capabilities, rivaling the Nikon D3, as well as the ability to shoot 1080p High Definition video. The pixel count is also equal to the 1Ds Mark III at 21.1 megapixel.

With the higher resolution sensor, and the ability to capture up to 4 GB of video in one take, you have to take a serious look at your supporting computer system to make sure it’s ready.

Are You HD Ready

I downloaded the unedited 1080p video clips that other photographers have created with the 5D Mark II and my computers can’t play them without the video skipping.  I don’t even have a monitor that is high enough resolution to display a single full-size frame grab from the 1080p video without shrinking it down.

My hard drive system, while well suited for image editing, isn’t ready for video.  Not just in terms of the size of the files that can be generated, but also in terms of storage and playback.

Here’s my short list of upgrades needed when moving to the 5D Mark II:

• Monitor
• Graphics Card
• Larger Compact Flash Cards (UDMA)
• UDMA Compact Flash Reader
• Raid 5 Hard Drive System
• Larger Backup Drives

So, while I love to be at the forefront of new technology when I can, I’m going to be postponing an upgrade to the 5D Mark II until I can get my back end updated as well.

Digital Photography 5D Mark II, canon, dslr, upgrade