5d Mark ii help and advice

J

jtopp

Member
I just sold my HMC150 and have enough money to buy a 5d mk ii kit. Should I get the kit or body and maybe other lenses? I will be doing video work primarily but will also get into photography on the side as I get to learn the camera.

So, if you had $3500 to use for this, what would you do?

thanks for input..
 
Would be helpful to know what kind of video you're shooting. If you tell us you are shooting NFL football we will certainly give a different answer than if you are shooting weddings.
 
I'm a 5D owner but there are less expensive options.
I'm still booking very well paying gigs with my HVX200.
The 5D is very much a specialty item among my clients and I couldn't pay the rent with it.

I guess my advice is to buy a camera to suit your client's needs.
 
Honest Advice:

1. Put your money in the Bank.
2. Find a friend that owns a 5D and will rent it to you for the jobs you need to shoot with it.
3. 3 months from now buy a camera that literally blows the 5D to smithereens in terms of image quality.
 
I'm trying to shoot short movies and films when I get good. I have a gh13 now and want another dslr with lenses that I can share I'd possible. I have a wedding in sept October but that's not my main use for the camera and filming sports is not my thing. I know its a guess, but when would you think the next version of the 5d would be released. Spring is too far off to wait but are their any other camera events that are coming up that canon "might" release another product? I thought I read on this forum that the 1d might have an update but would that camera be better in terms of video than the 5dmkii?
 
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jtopp said:
I'm trying to shoot short movies and films when I get good. I have a gh13 now and want another dslr with lenses that I can share I'd possible. I have a wedding in sept October but that's not my main use for the camera and filming sports is not my thing. I know its a guess, but when would you think the next version of the 5d would be released. Spring is too far off to wait but are their any other camera events that are coming up that canon "might" release another product? I thought I read on this forum that the 1d might have an update but would that camera be better in terms of video than the 5dmkii?
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Please don't take this the wrong way - so you already have a GH-1? What is it that a 5D is going to get you that your GH-13 doesn't have? Lenses? You can get a set of Either:

A. Contax Zeiss - which will adapt to Canon, or GH-1

or

B. Zeiss Nikon, or Manual Focus Nikkors that also adapt to canon or GH-1

or did you not know that you can share manual focus lenses across these two cameras?

the only real benefits of the 5D over the GH-13 might be:
standard def monitoring out of the HDMI port while recording
manual audio recording
22mp stills
full frame (which is actually NOT an advantage for 9 out of 10 people shooting HDSLR video)
h.264 instead of an AVCHD based codec? but is this really an advantage with the right Ptool settings for your GH-1.

Your money is better spent in lenses - especially the undervalued contax which you can get on KEH.com for pretty cheap. Cameras come and go - but lenses will only go up in value I think - unless you get autofocus canon lenses because those are limited and will soon be replaced by new versions.

also - please don' complain about being broke in your sig if you are thinking of buying a 5DII and you don't plan on shooting anything that pays you money for a while. Learn to use what you have, and become a master - then upgrade your camera later. Trust me, the GH-1 is not limiting your creative abilities.:engel017:
 
jtopp said:
I just sold my HMC150 and have enough money to buy a 5d mk ii kit. Should I get the kit or body and maybe other lenses? I will be doing video work primarily but will also get into photography on the side as I get to learn the camera.

So, if you had $3500 to use for this, what would you do?

thanks for input..
Click to expand...

DO NOT BUY THE DEFAULT LENS THAT COMES WITH ANY PACKAGE!!

this is what I tell all photogs and video people getting into it. Make sure you
get lenses that can have aperture as low as 2.8 and you really don't want
ones that change aperture number when zoomed in or out.

good lens for the price
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/350973-REG/Sigma_548101_24_70mm_f_2_8_EX_DG.html


this is a great lens for the 5d mark ii and its what I used to shoot most of this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhokcT7HhEo


Nothing is more disappointing than buying a 5d and having crappy lenses
....okay that not true, the camera is great, but with a decent lens
you love it so much more
 
I would disagree with you on the kit lens for only the 5d Mark II

The 24-105 IS f/4 lens on the Mark II is a pretty solid choice for shooting video. Granted, you will be shooting at f/4 almost all the time to get your creamy bokeh, it stays at f/4 throughout the entire zoom range. Image stabilization is really needed for any kind of handheld shooting, which is what you will be doing mostly with this camera.

Now being able to go f/2.5 or 1.8 is very nice but those lenses can be expensive to get, and are always fixed focal length.
 
you can get a canon 50mm 1.8 for under $100 and on a full frame camera like the 5d 50mm is great.

a 24-105 f/4 is better than some, but I would say that on digital slr you might find yourself
realizing 105 is farther than you ever shoot.

the 2.8 lens I recommend is not fixed its a 24-70 which with my 5d is my favorite range

this is also the opinion factor, we all prefer different things I guess, but I always stand by this :)
 
vic777 said:
Bad advice ... the worst thing you can do right now is ... put your money in the bank.
Click to expand...

Fair Enough. What I meant is "horde your money" or buy gold bricks, a shotgun, dried bacon, and a mule and then head to the hills and hide out until either:

Panasonic AF-100
GH-2
5D Mark III
Scarlet

are released or buy lenses that will work with ANY of these cameras.

If you think the value of the dollar is dropping wait until 3 months from now when we'll see how September of 2008's hot camera ( Yes, the 5DII was released in 2008 in case anyone forgot) fares on the used market place as everyone dumps it because of its shitty false detail, lack of color information, moire and aliasing, and standard def monitoring out of a fragile sub-consumer quality connector.
 
I tend to believe in "Put money in things that make you money" not stocks, but say marketing materials that get you more clients or things of that nature
 
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