Friday
Jan162009
Amazon has the 5D Mark II in stock for list price!
Friday, January 16, 2009 at 5:57PM 
As I write this, Amazon has the Canon 5D Mark II body in stock for the list price of $2,700. Free shipping and Amazon Prime shipping apply. If you’ve been looking for an excuse to grab one, this may be it, especially if you believe the rumors of forthcoming firmware updates to shore up the video deficiencies.
Oh, you’re all here? Sorry, I was just having a conversation with myself.
UPDATE 1/17: And like that, it was gone.
Reader Comments (11)
The question is... Do you think it's worth taking the risk? What if Canon never comes out with a firmware update to fix the frame rate and manual controls? I saw a blog site where people want to "hack" a firmware update even if Canon won't (raising money to give to the person that comes up with the firmware update).
Another thing I've been meaning to ask you.
I still have an SD camera (Canon's XL2). From my experience, even the best footage I've shot with it still looks like video... so why not get a 5D MkII that shoots nicer looking video? I'm aware of its shortcomings (rolling shutter, compression issues, etc), but I guess I'm wondering if I'm holding off for a "perfect camera" that will never come. Especially when I feel stuck with a camera which is filled with its own shortcomings (weight, resolution, depth of field, etc).
I'm really conflicted about this camera, as you seem to have been.
I've got mine :)
mainly for still photography. Improved video would be nice, but after playing around with the video feature a bit, I can see situations where it will be useful.
Am planning to do a little test film and shoot with the 5dm2 and my XH A1.
I was so tired of waiting for the perfect camera that i decided to buy a canon hv20 two days ago and filming instead of waiting for something i cannot afford.
The video mode becomes much more interesting when you pair it with custom Picture Styles. The default Picture Style for movies has crazy crushed blacks and a bit too much saturation for my taste.
You can plug the camera in via USB and see the live view on your laptop. Capture a reference frame and open it in Picture Style Editor, and now you can tweak the saturation, brightness, contrast and even curves. You can do this for every shot if you want...
I took the easy way out and created a couple "flat" picture styles that have lower contrast (via Curves) and a very slightly boosted black. The 5D's bitrate is good enough that you can actually do some nice color correction, so I figure there's no harm in shooting "flat."
Thanks Ben, that's a great tip! I did what I could in terms of creating a custom "flat" picture style using the in-camera controls for my Stunt People 5D shoot, but it sounds like you have a lot more control with the Picture Style Editor, something I must confess I've never used.
Ben, is your "flat" picture style something you can share?
Hey Stu, James Miller over at DVinfo.net has posted a bunch of different flat picture styles. Check them out here: http://www.millermiller.co.uk/canon5dmk2/Presets/
Sorry about deleting the previous, had a huge typo.
Hello? Can anyone one here help me with the name of the song that is playing in this 2006 Stu Maschwitz commercial (you need Quicktime to view it)?:
http://theorphanage.com/ocp/?q=portfolio/brand/1071/1001
I first found the link on the June 4, 2006 blog post about this commercial, but the comments went dead a long time ago. Even if anyone can give any hints or leads to the band and/or year of release I would be grateful. I have asked about this on several message boards, but have gotten no such luck.
You definitely have way more control with the PSE. I'd be happy to donate the flat styles for the public good. I'll shoot you an email.
Hi Michael. The reason you may have had trouble finding that song is that it was composed specifically for the spot. However, if you like it, you may find that you also like a song called http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001O3OA0I/?tag=prolost-20" REL="nofollow">Swollen Summer by The Bravery. I'm just sayin.' :)
Easy Come Easy Go.
Bring on the Nikon D400 all the same! ^^