Got my 5D + full res sample

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I just picked up my 5D from Campkins in Cambridge, who gave me a very
resaonable part-exchange on my 10D (a lot more confidence-inspiring than
selling it on eBay). Apparently it was the first one that they'd sold
through their main shops, although they'd sold one earlier today through
their professional outlet.

Initial impressions - *loveley* viewfinder. The AF selection mechanism is a
vast, vast improvement over the 10D. I like the new RAW conversion software
as well. Had a brief play with AI-servo - it seems to be a lot cleverer
about tracking the real object.

The spot meter is nice and precise, and seems to correspond very well with
the focus point in the viewfinder. Ergonomically, the camera feels a lot
like the 10D, but there are several obvious improvements, and one
disappointment. First the improvements - the viewfinder and focus point
selection I've already mentioned. In addition to being bigger and brighter,
the finder is a lot better for manual focus as well. ISO display in the
viewfinder is nice. The LCD is *huge* and bright.

This thing is *fast* too. Startup is instant, image replay, zooming and
panning are smooth and fast. Very nice.

The disappointment is a bit obscure - they've taken the function key away,
which I kept for FEL, and replaced it with a pointless "direct print"
button (is this an IXUS? I don't think so). As far as I can tell, this
now makes it impossible to use FEL and EL simultaneously, or use FEL at
all with the focus assigned to the * button. This is a shame, as it was
one of the really handy things about the 10D. :-(

Anyway, on to the sample. It's here (caution, 3 megabyte JPEG, dialup users
beware):

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/narcissus/5D_Rose.jpg

Image details - EOS 5D with Canon 50mm f/1.4 EF USM. 1/100 sec, f/8, 100
ISO, shot RAW and converted with the software that came with the camera.
Some levels and contrast adjustment, and a bit of USM in Photoshop.

As for the lens performance, some of the threads here recently would have us
believe that this camera is bound to be a complete lemon unless you use
lenses with the magic "digital" word on them, or gold-plated L lenses. Well,
this was shot with the decidedly non-designed-for-digital 50mm f/1.4, and
oh, my eyes! It hurts my eyes! Seriously though, the's a tiny bit of
chromatic abberation visible in the budding rose in the top right corner,
and a little bit on the other flower at the far left. Pretty insignificant
though, and easilly fixed in Photoshop, once the 5D is supported.

As for print quality - I did an A3 print of that image. It looks like the
10D does at A4, and while it's clearly not as sharp as a similar sized print
from my Mamiya 7 (6*7 medium format slides), it's not shamed by it in the
same way that 6MP digital and 35mm are.