Questions for Canon 5D owners/users

My new DSLR plan comes closer to reality. I am now taking a closer look
at the 5D. If acquired, I think I shall get together with the 24-105/4L
IS and the 430 flashgun to start my new DSLR system.

Just wish to seek assistance from you 5D guys on the following:-

1. Any *real* sample photos to share? Any 5D *user* galleries? (your
own or simply providing URLs ot those are just fine);

2. Have you ever wrongly chosen/used an unwanted ISO speed because of
there is no ISO displayed all the time neither in the viewfinder nor in
the monochrome LCD?

3. How about the wide angle image corner performance with the 24-105L,
especially at wide opened at f/4 at 24mm?

4. Is the combo (5D + 24-105L) too heavy for casual family shootings?
Or, maybe the set will be even heavier with the 430 flashgun plus the
spare battery pack too. Well, we all know that the 5D don't have the
handy built-in flash :-( for its professional status as ranked by Canon


5. Anything I should note before I get this (seems to be) wonderful
piece of DSLR "Kit"?

Any comments and inputs will be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance
very much for any help!

Regards,
RiceHigh
http://www.geocities.com/ricehigh

"RiceHigh" wrote in message
oups.com...
My new DSLR plan comes closer to reality. I am now taking a closer look
at the 5D. If acquired, I think I shall get together with the 24-105/4L
IS and the 430 flashgun to start my new DSLR system.

Just wish to seek assistance from you 5D guys on the following:-

1. Any *real* sample photos to share? Any 5D *user* galleries? (your
own or simply providing URLs ot those are just fine);

http://www.pbase.com/skipm/people
http://www.pbase.com/skipm/lenstests
The latter gallery consists of images meant to be as difficult for the
camera/lens combos to handle as I could make it that day. Real world
shooting hasn't duplicated some of the softness/light fall of I got on these
images.

2. Have you ever wrongly chosen/used an unwanted ISO speed because of
there is no ISO displayed all the time neither in the viewfinder nor in
the monochrome LCD?

No. Since the ISO comes up when it's being changed, that's rarely an issue.

3. How about the wide angle image corner performance with the 24-105L,
especially at wide opened at f/4 at 24mm?

4. Is the combo (5D + 24-105L) too heavy for casual family shootings?
Or, maybe the set will be even heavier with the 430 flashgun plus the
spare battery pack too. Well, we all know that the 5D don't have the
handy built-in flash :-( for its professional status as ranked by Canon


I can't comment on either issue, since I don't have that lens, but as far as
the built in flash, that has its limitations, too, like being blocked by
large diameter lenses and lens hoods, and a very limited range (guide number
of 12 vs 43 for the 430.)

The camera does impress me as being a bit on the overkill side for casual
family "shootings." For more casual work that, for some reason requirse and
SLR, I take along my 20D. But, to each their own.
--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

If RiceHigh actually goes through with this plan, you will soon be
treated to endless tomes on Canon quality issues, badly photographed
test charts, and lengthy letters to the CEO of Canon. You will not be
treated to photos of living beings, objects that exist in nature, or
anything else. But he will eventually move to Nikon....

In article .com,
"RiceHigh" wrote:

My new DSLR plan comes closer to reality. I am now taking a closer look
at the 5D. If acquired, I think I shall get together with the 24-105/4L
IS and the 430 flashgun to start my new DSLR system.

Just wish to seek assistance from you 5D guys on the following:-

1. Any *real* sample photos to share? Any 5D *user* galleries? (your
own or simply providing URLs ot those are just fine);

2. Have you ever wrongly chosen/used an unwanted ISO speed because of
there is no ISO displayed all the time neither in the viewfinder nor in
the monochrome LCD?

3. How about the wide angle image corner performance with the 24-105L,
especially at wide opened at f/4 at 24mm?

4. Is the combo (5D + 24-105L) too heavy for casual family shootings?
Or, maybe the set will be even heavier with the 430 flashgun plus the
spare battery pack too. Well, we all know that the 5D don't have the
handy built-in flash :-( for its professional status as ranked by Canon


5. Anything I should note before I get this (seems to be) wonderful
piece of DSLR "Kit"?

Any comments and inputs will be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance
very much for any help!

Regards,
RiceHigh
http://www.geocities.com/ricehigh

--
One is always considered mad when one perfects something that others can
not grasp.*- Ed Wood

In article .com,
RiceHigh writes

Just wish to seek assistance from you 5D guys on the following:-

1. Any *real* sample photos to share? Any 5D *user* galleries? (your
own or simply providing URLs ot those are just fine);

Over a dozen available in full resolution jpg format at:
http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/canoneos5d_samples/

2. Have you ever wrongly chosen/used an unwanted ISO speed because of
there is no ISO displayed all the time neither in the viewfinder nor in
the monochrome LCD?

No - the screen displays both shutter speed and aperture and if that in
combination with the subject isn't enough to clue you in that the
selected ISO is not close to your intended speed then this is probably
to complex a camera for you in any case. Most folk with a little
practice can guess exposure to at least a stop accuracy - and there
isn't much difference in the performance of the 5D if the ISO is out by
less than that.

3. How about the wide angle image corner performance with the 24-105L,
especially at wide opened at f/4 at 24mm?

Surprisingly sharp - though obviously not as good as a 24mm prime. There
is a little barrel distortion throughout the range with this lens but,
unless you have straight objects (eg. horizon or verticals) close to the
frame edge you won't notice it. Actual geometric distortion is a lot
less than the 24mm Olympus OM lens I have - I found all of the OM wides
tended to make objects close to the side appear wider than they really
were. None of that with this lens.

4. Is the combo (5D + 24-105L) too heavy for casual family shootings?

Depends on what you are used to. Its a chunky bit of glass, no doubt
about it, but the 105mm reach makes it less obtrusive than it could be.
A small prime, such as the 35mm or even a cheap 50mm would be a lot more
discrete for that type of application. And a P&S even more so.

Or, maybe the set will be even heavier with the 430 flashgun plus the
spare battery pack too.

Again, a fast 50mm means you will need the flash even less. I use the
580EX and that doesn't disturb the balance of the 24-105L very much.

5. Anything I should note before I get this (seems to be) wonderful
piece of DSLR "Kit"?

Good:
Noise is exceptional. I estimate I get similar noise at ISO 1600 as I
used to achieve on ISO 50 Velvia film.

Initially irritating:
The flash system takes a bit of getting used to unless you are familiar
with the Canon way of doing things already - conventional TTL metered
flash requires the camera to be set to *manual* mode, otherwise it
defaults to fill flash.

Annoying:
Shutter and mirror damping quite poor - despite the heavier body, a long
lens may require a tripod upgrade for moderate shutter speeds.

Concerning:
Reports of dust leaking in behind the non-user removable AF indicator
plate that sits over the interchangeable focus screen, which is
virtually immovable.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=16928769

Haven't experienced anything worse than standard SLR problems myself yet
(an occasional air blast inside has kept mine clean for a couple of
months now) but there are a *LOT* of reports about it on the net, and
Canon are apparently "investigating".
--
Kennedy
Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he's ****ed.
Python Philosophers (replace 'nospam' with 'kennedym' when replying)

Rice, every one of the questions you ask suggests you're going OTT by
considering a 5D. If money's no issue then go for it and be happy. If not,
then don't worry, a 5D won't get you any better photo's than a 20D, D70, any
other decent DSLR
--
Simon
http://www.pbase.com/stanmore

Thanks a lot for your sample galleries. To me the wide angle
performance of the 5D with L lenses are acceptable, e.g. 16-35 at 16
and 24-70 at 24, although some blur and softness can be seen when
viewed 100%. For a high pixel count of the 5D, viewing 100% really
means a very large picture, though. When viewed at 70%, which is
roughtly equivalent to 100% at 6M, it blows my 6M Pentax DSLRs away
easily.

RiceHigh
http://www.geocities.com/ricehigh

Your Sig quote say it all for what I ought to reply to your
prediction:- "One is always considered mad when one perfects something
that others can
not grasp."

You should note again I encounter NO "quality" issue with ALL of my
film Pentax FA lenses and my Pentax MZ SLR bodies. The problems only
occurred with *ist D, *ist DS and the digital DA lenses.

I am sure that you haven't read my letter you mentioned in full, here
it is:-
http://www.geocities.com/ricehigh/A_...rporation.html

(You may not bother to read btw, I post the link here just for others'
reference)

RiceHigh
http://www.geocities.com/ricehigh

Oh, too bad :-(

Thanks a lot for your detailed reply! They are very useful. :-)

Regarding the shutter and mirror damping, I hope it would be better
such that the IS is not needed to compensate for the vibration which
the camera itself creates :-( Could you tell me more on actually how
bad you experienced with this? Is the problem serious enough or just
things are just not as good (as 1Ds or 1D etc.)?

The absence of ISO indication is not ideal but I guess I can live with
it.

For Dpreview samples, I am not a believer for Phil Askey, frankly
speaking. Just becoz he managed to take excellent sample shots with
whatever camera he had!

RiceHigh
http://www.geocities.com/ricehigh

Hi,

Sorry, what's meant by "OTT"?