My new 5D arrives today. Do you guys have any advice regarding differences in the two cameras? Is the current 5 good to go right out of the box? Or are there firmware issues I should know about?

The current firmware (2.0.8) has been out for a couple of months so if you bought the 5DmII new, it should be ready to go out of the box. You can check the firmware version in the menu. If it has older firmware, the file is available at the Canon site:

Canon U.S.A. : Consumer & Home Office : EOS 5D Mark II (http://usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_5d_mark_ii#DriversAndSoftware)

and very easy to upgrade -- but of course as with any firmware, follow the instructions exactly for a happy outcome!

Thanks, Pete, it does indeed have that version of the firmware. I bought it new from B&H. I imagine they turn them over pretty quickly there, so I bet I got a recently manufactured one.

I don't know about right out of the box...you'll still have to go through all the setup, turning off all the auto stuff, etc., that you would have done with the 7D. I made the switch early last year. The 5D isn't quite as ergonomic as the 7D, and may be a little frustrating at first, but once you get it all setup and go into the menu and get the live view setup right, the manual audio, etc., you'll love it. I wouldn't go back. The only real issue i have to work around sometimes is that the DOF is way more shallow than the 7D, so there are some situations where I have to boost ISO to get enough DOF to follow focus. And that's another thing--after my first shoot with the 5D I ordered a follow focus system. You can live without it on the 7D but it's difficult on the 5D.

Hi Evan,

I wrote a rather long diatribe regarding optimizing the 5D2 for filmmaking based off my own experiences and experiences of others. You may find it helpful, or not, as the case may be:

http://kriskoster.com/2010/08/optimising-your-5d-mark-ii-for-filmmaking/

The ISO settings section is controversial with some here believing it makes no difference and others who stick to specific ISOs. Do some tests and judge for yourself!

Have fun playing with your new toy!

Kris do you have a ISO-noise chart like that for the 7D?

Ethan -

I'm afraid not and that 5D2 test isn't even mine. I grabbed it from another forum before it went to the ether. The test has been challenged here by some, I can't remember the thread. But I still think it's pretty accurate.

Kris--very nice article. The Zacuto tests confirmed the ISO thing. There was some disagreement some time back but I believe that was from still photographers. If you're shooting stills, it's possible different ISO settings are cleaner, but for video those have been proven to be the best.

I know there are a lot of opinions about optimal ISO settings out there.

One school of thought holds that 160, 320, 640 etc. are lower noise because they're a "pull" from the chip, while 100, 200, 400 etc. have better dynamic range. 125, 250, 500 etc. are just bad--worse noise and dynamic range. On my monitors, this appears to be the case, but the differences are subtle. Because DR is way more important to me than noise in most cases, I've been using 100, 200, etc.

Your thoughts?

The only real issue i have to work around sometimes is that the DOF is way more shallow than the 7D,...

There is no difference at all in DOF between the 5D & 7D bodies, it is the aperture of the lens that you bayonet onto the bodies that controls DOF.

This depends on how you look at it. When you set the view of both cameras identically (say, a 50mm lens on the 7D and 80mm on the 5D2) and set the exposure (including aperture) identically, the 5D2 will have shallower focus.

On the other hand, with the same lens and same settings on both cams, the DOF will be about the same, but the 7D image will be zoomed in.

And sure, you can adjust aperture to deepen focus, but there are limits depending on available light.

One thing to do with a new camera is to test it for any dead pixels. Get somewhere dark, set it to 3200 and film a wall or something uniform. Take the footage and inspect it for any white dead pixels. If manual sensor cleaning doesn't fix it, b&h will replace it and even have their sales guy check the unit before they ship out the new one.

A dead pixel is no problem because it would definiteley not show on a video. Even a stills image taken at full resolution would only show the pixel when you examin it very closely at 100%. When you view a 21MP Raw image at 33% in ZoomBrowzer EX, this will be what it will look like when printed in a magazine or book, and you will definitely not see a dead pixel in the print. Footage captured in video mode, with one or two dead pixels on the sensor, would almost be impossible to see even if blown up and watched on a big screen. Dead pixels would only be an issue if numerous dead-pixels were grouped tightly together on the sensor.

Yes you will see dead pixel on your tv or print if the dead pixels are on the chip, if the dead pixel is on the lcd then you won't see it, I would hook up your camera to your monitor by the hdmi cable and put a lens cap on and crank up your iso to 3200 or so, if you see dead pixel then do manual cleaning like Greg suggested, if that doesn't fix it return it for another.

I was of course not talking about pixels on the LCD screen, as this has no connection whatsover to the actual stills image or video footage.

Note: "Dead" pixels are actually black; "Hot" pixels are white; and "Stuck" pixels are generally red/blue/green.

It should also be noted that out of the 21,026,304 pixels in the 5D Mark II, a fail rate of 40 pixels would be within normal tolerances. Canon works hard to bring those tolerances down to even lower levels, so a few defect pixels would actually relate to extremely good quality.
I'm sure if you were to take a random large selection of 5D cameras from around the world and tested them for defect pixels, most of them would exibit at least one or more defect pixels out of the array of 21MP+ in each sensor.

If you notice the odd defect pixel, then do a manual sensor clean - go to Menu, Sensor Cleaning, and then press "Clean Manually" - this will do a sensor clean with the mirror locked up and attempt to remap, then turn power switch to off.

A stills image with a few extremely tiny white spots is not a big problem, and as mentioned, will not show up in actual 300dpi images, and even if they do show in extremely large blow-ups, then a simple 2-seconds with a 'clone' tool set at smallest circle in photoshop cleans it no problem.
As mentioned, I do not see any need to worry with the odd defect pixel in the much lower rez moving image at 1080 or 720p in video. Video at 3200 ISO is so noisy that a tiny defect pixel would be the least of my problems. If it does bother you, there is software to clean pixels in video, although it is not so simple as using a clone brush for normal stills.

The clean manual method I've read needs to go for 1 minute from what I've read.

I'm just speaking from experience. You don't want to get a new camera, film a whole wedding and have to deal with the red/white dot in post. The 7D's are much better in this regard (less of a chance of getting a stuck pixel), but the 5d mark II was more of an issue. I use cc wireframe removal to get rid of the stuck pixel, but my camera was still under warranty and they sent out a new one that was perfect (manual cleaning did not fix my situation). Its just better to be aware of it upfront so that you can do something about it during your warranty period, rather than having it become an issue later on. It was disheartening to see this thing come up in my footage, and when played on my plasma screen was very obvious. I've read its expensive for Canon to have to reset the pixel matrix in their repair facility.

Still images are a different story.