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There are 6 different size/quality settings plus RAW. In addition you can save images
as both RAW and any one of the JPEG combinations simultaneously
Large/Fine: Approx. 4.6MB (4368 x 2912 pixels)
Large/Normal: Approx. 2.3MB (4368 x 2912 pixels
Medium/Fine: Approx. 2.7MB (3168 x 2112 pixels)
Medium/Normal: Approx. 1.4MB (3168 x 2112 pixels)
Small/Fine: Approx. 2.0MB (2496 x 1664 pixels)
Small/Normal: Approx. 1.0MB (2496 x 1664 pixels)
RAW: Approx. 12.9MB (4368 x 2912 pixels)
Exact file sizes depend on the subject, ISO speed, Picture Style, etc
Metering modes
In addition to the standard metering modes found on the EOS 20D (35-zone evaluative,
partial and center weighted), the EOS 5D also adds a 3.5% spot metering mode. The partial
mode on the 5D is also slightly tighter than that of the 20D (8% vs. 9%). The area
of the spot meter is marked on the viewfinder screen by a circle as shown below.
Sensor Noise and ISO settings
The amount of sensor noise is something that's always of interest with any new digital
camera. The EOS 5D has a native range of ISO 100 to ISO 1600 in 1/3 stop steps, plus it
can be expended via a custom function setting to add ISO 50 (L) and ISO 3200 (H).
When setting ISO, the current value is displayed both on the top LCD and in the
viewfinder, so as long as you remember which button to push you can set ISO without taking
your eye from the viewfinder! ISO is not displayed in the viewfinder during normal
operation, only while its value is being set.
Below are noise samples (100% crops) from a series of images of a grey card shot with
both an EOS 20D and EOS 5D. They are all direct crops from large/fine JPEGs shot using the
camera's default parameters and with no post-exposure processing. What you see is what I
got!
Are there differences in noise? Yes, I'm sure there are. Are they significant? No, not
really. Essentially the noise levels of the EOS 5D and 20D are the same, or at least very
similar. Both are very good up to ISO 800, noise starts to appear at ISO 1600 and it's
fairly pronounced at ISO 3200, though image quality is still quite usable even at ISO
3200, probably better than film pushed to the same speed.
Dynamic Range
Dynamic range is always a little tricky to measure but my impression from shooting high
contrast subjects and deliberate overexposure is that if there are difference in dynamic
range between the EOS 5D and and EOS 20D, they are small enough to be of no consequence
(or use!). It is worth noting though that the "L" setting in the expended ISO
range (equivalent to ISO 50) does reduce dynamic range somewhat (maybe by a stop or so) at
the highlight end or the range. This is no doubt why Canon make it a custom function
selectable choice rather than a standard ISO setting. When using ISO 50 you have to be
aware of this and expose accordingly. While I have not personally tested the dynamic range
of the 1D series bodies, the general consensus seems to be that their dynamic range is
also similar to the EOS 20D, so dynamic range seems to be a function of sensor technology,
and is pretty much the same for all the current Canon EOS DSLRs.
Flash Sync
The flash sync on the EOS 5D is 1/200s, which is 1/3 stop slower than the 1/250s sync
found on the EOS 20D, 1Ds MK II and ID Mk II N. Whether this 1/3 stop difference is of any
consequence is a matter of debate. I don't think it's going to be a big deal for 99% of
users. Those wanting much faster sync in a Canon digital body have to go back to the
original 4MP EOS 1D, which had a 1/500s sync speed. Of course all the current Canon EOS
DSLRs support high speed sync mode with compatible speedlites which gives sync at any
speed (but the faster the shutter speed, the lower the effective power of the flash
becomes).
Shutter
The EOS 5D shutter is rated for 100,000 cycles. Not as many as the 1D series bodies,
but more than the Digital Rebels. Compared to the sound of the EOS 20D shutter/mirror
noise, it sounds a little quieter and less harsh. Here is a .WAV file comparing the
shutter sounds. First is a burst of shots from the EOS 5D followed by a burst of shots
from the EOS 20D. Shutter Sounds. I didn't measure
shutter release lag time, but Canon specify it as 0.075s (75ms), which is very fast. The
camera "wakeup" time is specified as 0.2s (200ms), again very fast and almost
not noticeable. The camera seems to have "instant on".
Exposure
I found that the EOS 5D I tested consistently gave slightly lighter images than the
comparison 20D. The difference was usually around 1/3 stop and didn't depend too much on
subject or metering pattern. Of course with only one sample of each camera I can't say if
all EOS 5Ds and all EOS 20Ds will compare similarly, but for what it's worth, the ones
used in these tests did.
Overall exposure accuracy using evaluative metering was good. Of course as with any
DSLR you have to make sure that you don't clip highlights when shooting scenes of high
contrast with bright areas. The 5D has the same histogram display as the 5D for checking
overall exposure and clipped highlights will flash black/white if the review image is set
to display information. However in addition to this, the EOS 5D can display individual
histograms for the red, green and blue channels, making it easier to detect clipping in
just one channel.
White Balance
The EOS 5D shows the typical pattern of Canon auto white balance behavior. It's very
good outdoors and not bad indoors under fluorescent lighting, but it's very warm under
tungsten lighting. Here are crops from images taken of a grey card illuminated by a
standard 75W tungsten household light bulb.
As you can see, the image shot with auto white balance has a strong red/yellow bias.
With "Tungsten" white balance selected there's still a small red/yellow bias,
but it's much less. Both Canon digital Rebels, the 10D and 20D all show similar
performance with a strong red/yellow bias under tungsten light in auto white balance mode.
It has been suggested that this is deliberate (and I think it must be) because people
expect indoor shots under tungsten light to look very warm. Even the 1D series bodies show
this effect though, and you'd expect maybe professionals would prefer a more neutral white
balance, even under tungsten light.
The available white balance options are:
Auto
Daylight
Shade
Cloudy
Tungsten
Fluorescent
Flash
Custom
Kelvin temperature (2800K to 10000K)
Both white balance correction (+/- 9 levels) and white balance auto bracketing (+/- 3
levels) are available via menu functions.
Continuous Shooting
Below are the 1st and 12th shots in a continuous sequence. The time difference between
the shots is 3.59 seconds, which means the average time between shots is 0.326s. This is
equivalent to 3.06 frames per seconds. Pretty close to the Canon specified 3
frames/second!
Canon specify the buffer size as 60 images in large/fine/JPEG and 17
images in RAW. With a fairly slow CF card (Kingston 1GB CF) at ISO 100 shooting at 1/125
with the lens in manual focus mode shooting a uniform target I found that I could shoot 18
RAW images before the buffer filled up. In fine/JPEG mode I got 132 frames! Of course JPEG
files of uniform targets are much smaller than those of images with detail in them so this
would represents and unrealistic condition. Shooting in more normal conditions using ISO
400 and a "typical" scene with a "typical" amount of detail I got 68
frames in fine/JPEG mode and 17 frames in RAW. With a faster card you might expect to do a
little better with JPEGs, but probably not much. Once the buffer fills up the camera
pauses and then shoots at a much slower rate. Using a CF card rated at 60x (X Digital
Media) the rate in RAW mode slowed down to 1 frame every 2.6 seconds. With the slower
rated Kingston card the rate dropped to 1 frame every 3.2 seconds. With the X Digital
Media Card shooting JPEGs, once the buffer was full the camera shot 3fps rate bursts
of 2 frames at 2.15 second intervals.
Here are a couple of sound files in .WAV format.
1 - RAW shooting. This is the sound of
shooting in RAW mode using the slower Kingston CF card. The transition when the buffer
fills isn't hard to spot!
2 - JPEG shooting. This is the sound of
shooting JPEG using the faster X Digital Media CF card. Again the point at which the
buffer fills is very obvious.
I didn't record all the time spent shooting while the buffer filled. These
files are just meant illustrate the difference between the 3fps frame rate while the
buffer is filling and the behavior after the buffer fills. Faster cards would certainly
somewhat lower the time between shots after the buffer filled.
Full Frame vs. APS-C
I was initially going to include a section in this review that dealt with
this topic in detail, but I soon realized that to do it properly, it would take up more
space than the rest of the review combined! So I decided to write about this separately
later, and in more detail. Suffice it to say for the purposes of this EOS 5D review, that
as long as you are using good quality optics, the EOS 5D is capable of yielding images
which are superior in quality to those which you can get from an APS-C sensor camera such
as the EOS 20D. One exception to this is if you are limited by available focal length and
need to crop the 5D image, as, for example, a nature photographer might need to do if
their longest lens wasn't long enough and they couldn't get closer to a subject. Under
those circumstances the higher pixel density of the 20D can yield better results.
The image below shows crops from the center of two test shots, one using a
5D and the other using a 20D, upsized using bicubic interpolation to yield the same final
image size. The lens used was a 50mm f1.8, set to f8. The distance to the target was
different for the two shots in order to equalize the linear field of view (i.e. fill the
frame with the whole target set). As you can see the 5D image has higher sharpness and
resolution.
Sample Images
Here's a link here to the Canon page
which has full size high resolution EOS 5D
images. They vary in size from about 6MP to 12MB, so you'll really need a high speed
connection (or a lot of spare time) if you want to download them!
Conclusions
As I said at the beginning of this review, the 5d is more of a big brother
to the EOS 20D than the little brother of the 1Ds Mk II or 1D MkII N. The 1Ds Mk II has
everything - a 16.7MP full frame sensor, full weather sealing, 4fps continuous shooting, a
built in vertical grip, a high capacity battery, the ability to use both CF and SD cards
etc. However it will cost you $7200. The 1D MkII N has "only" an 8.2MP 1.3x
sensor, but it has full weather sealing, a built in vertical grip, CF and SD card
capability, high capacity battery and it can shoot at 8.5 fps for 48 frames (high
resolution JPEGs, 22 RAW frames). However the price is somewhat lower at just under $4000.
The EOS 5D has a 12.8MP full frame sensor (less than the 1Ds but more than the 1D) , 3fps,
no weather sealing, only takes CF cards, has a smaller battery and no built in grip - but
the price is just under $3000.
The Canon 1Ds Mark II is the clear choice for the professional photographer who
must have the very highest possible image quality is the most rugged possible body.
However you have to be pretty serious to spend $7200 on a digital camera body. The 1D MkII
N is the clear choice for the professional sports and action shooter or photojournalist
who regularly has to work outdoors in all weather and who really needs a lightning fast
frame rate. However it does have a 1.3x sensor which means that you can't get a
super-wide-angle and it is "only" 8MP. It's not the camera you would probably
pick for studio or landscape work.
The EOS 5D is a good compromise for a sizable number of photographers who
want high image quality combined with the ability to shoot wide-angle without resorting to
EF-S lenses (in fact you don't have the option since EF-S lenses won't mount on the 5D)
and who would like the advantages of full frame (e.g. smaller DOF). If you don't need
super high frame rates and don't need to regularly shoot outdoors in pouring rain, at
around $4200 less than it's nearest full frame competitor (the EOS 1Ds Mk II), it's a very
attractive camera. Under most shooting circumstances and with good lenses it can
yield higher quality images than the EOS 20D and it's undeniably a nicer camera to
use with the larger viewfinder, clearer LCD screen and additional firmware functions such
as the style modes and RGB histogram. However there are a few circumstances under which it
is possible for the EOS 20D to outperform the EOS 5D, such as when the 5D image must be
cropped because of the lack of a long enough lens. The obvious solution for this dilemma
is of course is to buy both an EOS 20D and an EOS 5D! It's still about
$3000 cheaper than a 1Ds Mk II.
