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The Canon 5D is really the first practical, affordable, generally useful full
frame Digital SLR. Sure there is the Canon EOS 1Ds MkII, but it currently sells
for $7200 while the 5D's street price is now just under $3000. Yes, there was the
Kodak DCS Pro 14n, but the fact that it's no longer made tells you something
about it. OK in a studio maybe, but not really a practical camera for general
use.
The Canon 5D is, I think, something of a landmark camera and shows how much
digital technology has advanced in only a few years. The first "affordable" DSLR
of any kind was the Canon EOS D30, a 3MP APS-C sensor camera which originally
sold for over $3000 in October 2000 (Original price 380,000 yen). Only 5 years
later (October 2005) we have a 12.7 MP full frame camera selling for about the
same price ($3000). I'm pretty sure that in another 5 years we will be seeing a
15MP full frame camera selling for under $1500. But the Canon 5D will be seen as
the "full frame" breakthrough camera, just as the D30 is seen as the first really
practical DSLR that ordinary people could afford. 5 years prior to the D30 all
you could get was a 1.3MP DCS 3, and it would have cost you almost 2,000,000 yen
(almost $20,000) or a 6MP DCS 1 selling for 3,600,000 yen (upwards of $30,000).
I'm sure the rate of progress is slowing down now as the technology matures, but
it certainly hasn't stopped!
What's in the box?
Canon EOS 5D
BP-511A Lithium-Ion battery
CG-580 / CB-5L Battery charger
Neck Strap with Eyepiece cover
USB cable
A/V cable
Camera Manual
Software Manual
Software (Windows)
ZoomBrowser EX 5.5
RAW Image Task 2.2 (RAW conversion for ZoomBrowser)
CameraWindow 5.4 (transfer / camera settings application)
EOS Capture 1.5 (tethered capture)
Photo Record 2.2
WIA/TWAIN driver 5.5/5.7/5.8
PhotoStitch 3.1
Digital Photo Professional 2.0
Software (Macintosh)
ImageBrowser 5.5
Digital Photo Professional 2.0
EOS Capture 1.5
PhotoStitch 3.1
Note that you do not get a memory card with the Canon 5D.
Here are some of the highlights and a comparison with the 20D:
Full Frame Sensor - The Canon 5D has one, the 20D
doesn't
Pixel Count - The 5D is 12.8MP, the 20d is 8.2 MP
Continuous shooting - The Canon 5D is 3fps for 60 JPEGS, the
20d is 5fps for 23 JPEGs
Viewfinder - The 5d viewfinder is larger than that of the
20D, plus it has interchangable viewfinder screens
Built in flash - The 20D has one, the 5D doesn't.
Flash sync - The 20D is 1/250th, the 5D is 1/200th.
Spot meter - The 5D has one (3.5%), the 20D doesn't - the
best it has is a 9% partial metering "fat spot".
ISO - Settings from ISO 100-1600. The Canon 5D has ISO
adjustable in 1/3 stop steps, the 20D has ISO adjustable in 1 stop steps. The 5D
can add ISO 50 and ISO 3200 settings, the 20D can only add ISO 3200.
LCD monitor - the Canon 5D has a larger LCD then the 20D
(2.5" vs. 1.8") with more pixels and a wider viewing angle.
AF - the 5D has a newly developed 9-point auto focus system
features 6 additional invisible Assist AF points located inside the spot-metering
circle.
Wireless - The Canon 5D can be used with a wireless adapter,
the Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E1
External views
The Canon EOS 5D is much more like an upgraded EOS 20D than it is like a 1D Mk
II N or 1Ds Mk II. That's not a bad thing, just that it looks very similar, has
an almost identical control layout and is very similar in size and weight as well
as using the same BP-511/512 battery (the 1D series bodies use the Ni-MH pack
NP-E3). Like the EOS 20D it does not have Canon's pro level all weather sealing.
The major external difference is that it doesn't have a built in flash. I'm not
quite sure why they left it out. One reason the 1D series (and 1 Series) cameras
don't have a built in flash is supposed to be that it would make it very
difficult to provide all weather sealing around a pop-up flash - as well as the
fact that no self respecting professional wants to be seen using one! I suppose
the latter could apply to the Canon 5D, but since it isn't weather sealed anyway,
a built in flash wouldn't make it much worse in that respect. There's also the
issue of available space, since the prism required for full frame cameras is
larger than that required by smaller frame cameras - though that never seems to
have been much of a problem in film cameras like the EOS Elan series. Anyway,
whatever the reason, Canon didn't put a pop-up flash in the Canon 5D.
The other obvious difference between the 20D and 5D is that the Canon EOS 5D
has a significantly larger LCD (2.5" with 230,000 pixels on the Canon 5D, 1.8"
with 118,000 pixels on the EOS 20D). This is nice, especially for aging
photographers whose close-up vision isn't all that it used to be. With the EOS
20D I sometimes have to remember what the menus say (or hold the camera at arms
length), whereas with the Canon 5D I can actually read what's on the screen. It
also makes reviewing images and checking focus somewhat easier. The Canon 5D LCD
also has a wider viewing angle than the EOS 20D LCD, in fact Canon specify it to
be viewable over a 170 degree angle.
In Canon's own words, the Canon 5D is built on "a highly rigid magnesium alloy
exterior (including the Battery Grip BG-E4), a solid stainless steel internal
chassis, and a mirror box of high-strength engineering plastic".
Viewfinder
Looking through the viewfinder you see another difference between the Canon 5D
and 20D. It's bigger. In fact it's very similar to the size of the viewfinder
image that you get with EOS film bodies. The 9 AF points are arranged in a
diamond pattern, though the pattern seems to cover the same area as it does in
the 20D. In the 20D it covers a reasonable amount of the frame, while with the
larger frame of the 5D the AF zones seem somewhat clustered about the center of
the frame. The 5D AF system also has 6 AF "assist" points which can't be selected
but which improve the accuracy of focus tracking when working with moving
subjects. The Canon EOS 5D has 96% coverage, another contrast with the EOS 1D
series bodies which have 100% coverage. The EOS 20D has 95%.
Three viewfinder screens are available for the Canon EOS 5D, The standard Ee-A
screen, the Ee-S Super Precision Matte for easier manual focus and the Ee-D
Precision Matte with grid. These different screen result in slightly different
metering characteristics, which can be compensated for via Custom Function CFn-00
which should be set to "0" for the Ee-A, "1" for the Ed-D and "2" for the Ee-S.
Canon recommend using lenses f2.8 or faster with the alternate screens.
Controls
The control layout will be very familiar to EOS 20D users, since it's
virtually identical. The mode control dial is slightly different since the Canon
5D doesn't have positions for the program modes (sports, landscape etc). There is
also a "C" (custom) mode which is user programmable. Via a menu option you can
"register" all current camera settings for the "C" mode. This includes things
like ISO, metering pattern, white balance, shooting mode and pretty much
everything else including custom function settings.
On the back there's also a "print" button for printing directly from the
camera (you can also do this from the 20D, but it doesn't have a dedicated
button). Otherwise I think all the external controls on the Canon 5D are
identical to those on the EOS 20D
Menu controlled Functions
Most of the menu controlled functions will again be very familiar to EOS 20D
users since they are mostly the same. Below are the various menu options. Most of
them are self explanatory. This is a composite image made up from 5 shots of the
screen in order to show all the menu items.
One new item on the menu of the Canon 5D is the picture style modes which
allow the user to adjust sharpness, contrast, saturation and color tone on the
various preset and 3 additional custom "picture styles". These make it easier to
control "straight out of the camera" images shot in JPEG mode, though of course
they make no difference to RAW files which are designed for post-exposure
processing and so contain all the original shooting data unmodified. There are 8
levels of sharpness (0 to 7) and 9 levels of contrast, saturation and color tone
(0, +/-4)
The available styles are Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful,
Monochrome, User 1, User 2 and User 3.
Custom Functions
Most of the custom functions are the same as found on the EOS 20D, though
there are a few changes, for example the 5D has CFn-00 which adjusts the metering
calibration to compensate for the use of alternative viewfinder screens and
CFn-08 enables both an ISO 50 and ISO 3200 setting, while on the 20D it enables
only ISO 3200.
CFn-01: SET button function
0: Default (no function)
1: Change quality
2: Change Picture Style
3: Menu display
4: Image replay
CFn-02: Long exposure noise
reduction
0: Off
1: Auto noise reduction
2: On
CFn-03: Flash sync speed in Av
mode
0: Auto
1: 1/200s Fixed
CFn-04: Shutter button / AE lock
button
0: AF/AE lock
1: AE lock/AF
2: AF/AD lock, no AE lock
3: AE/AF, no AE lock.
CFn-05: AF-assist beam / Flash
firing
0: Emits
1: Does not emit
CFn-06: Exposure level
increments
0: 1/2 stop
1: 1/3 stop
CFn-07: Flash firing
0: Fires
1: Does not fire
CFn-08: ISO expansion
0: Off
1: On (enables"L", ISO 50 and "H", ISO 3200)
