Canon EOS 5D Mark II

[ Music ] ^M00:00:02 >> Hi, I'm Lori Grunin, Senior Editor with CNET and this is the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. This is one of our Editor's Choices for digital SLRs, because it provides such a great value for a mid-range to high-end camera. It's a full-frame sensor 21 megapixels, and, like the Nikon D90, it provides video capture. While the video capture isn't one of the reasons I really picked it to be an Editor's Choice, it's still really neat and it works very well. It produces great images; it's fast, although not for continuous shooting; it's still not a sports shooter like the higher end EOS 1D series, but for single shots, it's really good. This camera also has Canon's relatively new creative auto mode, which the company introduced in the 5th DD. It makes even less sense to have it in this model than it did in the 5th DD. Creative auto is kind of a "dumb down" mode, where you pick, like, "brighter" or "darker". That's really not suitable for the level of user who's going to pay $2,700 for a camera. Pretty much all Canon digital SLRs - it has the same electronic controls, which you drive via a combination of button and dial presses. I miss having some real buttons and switches that directly control; for instance, like Nikon and Sony on the A900, have a metering switch that you just select - you don't have to press and move. I find [inaudible] metering switch a little easier to use than the combination of buttons and dials, but if you're a Canon user, you'll feel immediately at home with this camera. It also has the joy stick and control dial that you'll find on a lot of the other digital SLRs and those I really like - haven't gotten tired of those. It uses the same 3 1/2 inch LCD that most other digital SLRs in its class use, nice and bright, but still, you don't really want to be making a lot of exposure and color decisions based on it. It's very comfortable to shoot with and of course, it's a lot lighter than its older siblings, the EOS 1Ds, which have the vertical grip and those are very heavy. So if you're looking for a pro camera that's not as heavy as those and can do most of what you need, the Canon EOS 5D Mark II will fill the bill. I'm Lori Grunin, this is the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.