Amazon.com: Canon EOS 5D 12.8 MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only): Camera & Photo

Average Customer Rating

4.7 out of 5 stars (123 customer reviews)

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

106 of 107 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Camera for both professional and amateurs alike!, January 4, 2007

By	Hidenori Inagaki "Hidenori Inagaki" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is one of the greatest things ever in my opinion for both professional, and amateur photographer. Af least, it was for year 2006.

And I am very happy to tell everyone that many of my current works for magazine are actually using this wonderful camera.

There are several distinct advantage using this camera in the professional environment.

1. They are affordable full size sensor camera. Output quality will meets most of requirement given by the client.

2. Battery is interchangeable with 20/30D, so it is ideal candidate for 2 camera configuration with 20D/30D.

3. As far as Portrait photography are concern, it is currently one of the best in image quality and compared to the 1DS's older design sensor, when situation is ideal, it sometimes create superior result.

4. Very low ISO noise, it is really useful for anyone who frequently shoot for low available light situation. ISO800 was useable even for the magazine purpose.

5. Relatively lower shutter noise compared to the 20/30D that are helpful for some of noise sensitive shoot.

6. Availability of third party add on are actually important to me when I looked for camera. 5D is very good with availability and compatibility or such 3rd party equipment. And I am very happy to use many of 3rd party products with 5D.
1DS, due to the its form, has major difficulty with some of affordable 3rd party tool, most notably bellows system.

7. Weight is considerably less compared to the 1DS series and it is still full sensor size camera.

8. DOF of full size sensor camera thus great Bokeh can be archived if used with great lens.

9. Ability to shoot AdobeRGB color space RAW format

10. Fairly easy to find additional equipment at the local camera store, when you are on the road (I think
that is very important)

There are some disadvantage for this camera

1. It is 12.8M pixel despite the fact it is full sensor (or Leica format) size and it is 4M pixel smaller than 1DS MKII. And there are few occasion, it will not be enough for the given assignment(You really need to consider type of work you do)

2. It does have lower burst rate compared to 1D MKII or 20/30D that is not exactly ideal for the performance art, sports events, or outdoor bird photography.
Due to that fact, I normally bring my 20D with me, so if I need decent burst rate, I will rely upon my 20D instead.

3.It is not weather sealed, thus, you really cannot take it out when weather is not exactly ideal without shortening camera's life. So, it is not ideal camera for field photographer who shoot at challenging environment.

4. It is still expensive for the amateur and, it is still expensive for the professional photographer with rather low fee structure.

5. 9 point sensor is more than enough for the most of people. It is however, not for the some of professional who requires quick focus and shoot. It is bit frustrating to work with its AF, if you are used to with 45 point sensor of 1D/1DS series.

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107 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Major positives and minor negatives, February 21, 2007

By	Ahamed B. Iqbal - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Here are the basics that I considered and have found out from about 9 months of ownership. Keep in mind opinions on photography equipment varies greatly by the user and what the equipment is used for so while I think the 5D is near-perfect, others might not.

While the positives and negatives seem even in number, the positives FAR outweigh the negatives. I have no regrets about my purchase.

Positives
+Full frame sensor: allows me to acheive true wide angle photographs with no crop factor
+Image size: I have had a number of large (20"x30") prints made and the results are flawless
+Ability to shoot in RAW: While the files are huge (12MB+ each), the information and options this format provides has really expanded my technical and creative abilities.
+Build quality: While I haven't tried the true Canon Pro series (1 series), the 5D is pleasantly sturdy and feels solid in my hands. I can see how some might find it too heavy, especially with an L series lens.

Negatives-
-Lens requirements: Because of the full frame sensor, the 5D brings out the best (and worst) out of the corners and edges of your lenses. You will be able to tell a lesser quality lens more easily on the 5D than on a cropped sensor lens. The obvious negative is that better lenses like the L-series are generally much more expensive ($600+)
-No flash: Not a big deal to me but I've noticed that people are surprised when they see the 5D has no flash. This doesn't matter that much since built in flashes are rarely useful in most situations.
-Dust in sensor: Make sure you get a good sensor cleaning kit shortly after getting the 5D. There are steps you can take to minimize dust like changing lenses rarely and always indoors but you will need to clean the sensor every few months depending on use. To test if you need to clean (on any DSLR), put the camera on a tripod or flat surface, point it at a white wall , focus, and shoot with a long exposure and small aperture (5+ seconds and f/16 or smaller). If there is any junk on your sensor you should see it.

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56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Should be 4 and half stars, December 12, 2006

By	adovelikeboy "CJF" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

The 5D is worth it, and then some. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. Visually it performs better than anything else I've seen. I'm VERY attached to 35mm and this camera either matches film (beautiful tones; sumptuous shadow detail) or outperforms film by a margin (flexibility, detail, the utter lack of noise at high ISO settings).

I completely disagree with the assertion elsewhere that vignetting is inevitable. I shoot wide open almost all the time because I dislike flash. You'll find me indoors in the dark Seattle winter with the aperture wide and the ISO cranked to 800. The low noise/high resolution sensor is perfect for this. It out performs my 30D by a huge margin under such conditions.

Build quality? There's probably a grain of truth there. I hear the Nikons are better sealed, but the 5D feels neither cheap nor shoddy.

I use both the cheapy 50mm/f1.8 and the expensive 24-70 f2.8L series. They only time I've seen any vignetting is when shooting at 24mm under bright sunlight; f4.0 to f8; I see some light roll-off in the corners as noted by M.Ryley, but none of the softness that he mentions. This phenomenon is simply not there at all with longer focal lengths.

As for speed - maybe I have faster CF cards since I bought them recently, but this hasn't been an issue for me at all. However, I do prefer to use my faster 30D for sporting events where speed is of the essence.

I'm a semi-pro; I've been taking picture for over 20 years. I asked 5 full time professionals and a few gifted amateurs to recommend a camera before I made this purchase. Every one of them recommended the 5D - citing image quality. It gives probably three-quarters of the performance of the 1D at only one third of the price.

I recommend this camera.