After a very long wait...

[cedmondson]

...my 5D Mark II has arrived .
It was ordered on 9th January from DABS who I've had good experiences with in the past for computer stuff. Their early pricing was rather competitive so I think queues have been long. Now it's here, I'm glad I waited, but as delivery estimates have come and gone it's been a bit frustrating along the way.
Once the thing arrived and the battery was charged, it was late so I headed to the nearest National Trust property (The Vyne) for a few quick snaps. Seemed fitting as I took my 40d there the day it arrived too. I didn't have time to try too many aspects of its performance so I stuck on a 17-40L (also new) and cranked the ISO up to (mainly) around 1600.
Here's one of them:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/...1df351d2_o.jpg


My first thoughts on the camera (coming from a 40D).
1. Difference in size and weight from the 40D are far less than I would have expected. I can barely detect an increase.
2. The viewfinder is lovely. I was immediately struck by how much easier it is to scan around the frame to adjust composition and identify factors I might not have spotted so readily.
3. Stupid, I know but....the shutter sound is so smoooooooth
4. The value of being able to reliably check focus by fully zooming in on the LCD exceeded my expectation. I shall probably chimp much more .
5. Uploading 21Mp RAW files takes a long long time. This was tedious... However, I wasn't aware of any significant delay doing a few Lightroom adjustments. I'd been worrying that I may need to upgrade the PC - maybe heavy duty PS processing will change my mind but at least if I stick to the knid of basic PP I usually do, the PC can cope.
6. Moderate - High ISO images still look noisy at 1:1 resolution but the noise is barely detectable under normal viewing conditions. I'll reserve judgement till I've tried making a few largish prints.
7. I was much more aware of geometry issues with the 17-40L than I ever was with my Tokina 12-24 on the 40D. Not sure whether this is solely a lens issue, or a full-frame issue or perhaps a bit of both?

[Liquid101]

Congratulations on the new bit of kit.

Lovely shot too - looks like a very controlled exposure, especially with the fading light.

[cedmondson]

Oops - sorry about the file size Zone. My Lightroom preset for output destined for AVF clearly doesn't work with this camera - I'll check in future.

[Zone]

Full frame CMOS sensors have that effect I find!!!!

Jealous moi?

[Martin.D]

Congrats! One day I will own a full frame camera!

Love the picture too, perfect exposure...

On a side note I bought a 50D yesterday! We now have something in common! We both have camera's that start with a 5!

[cedmondson]

Originally Posted by Martin.D

Congrats! We now have something in common! We both have camera's that start with a 5!

Enjoy I loved my 40D to bits & I'm sure the 50D is better. Even got a bit (cough, cough) damp-eyed packing the 40D up but the fact it's gone to a good friend helped

[jonnypb]

Originally Posted by cedmondson

...my 5D Mark II has arrived .

hmmm very nice. i'm jealous

maybe one day

[T0MAT01]

I hate having to wait for stuff to be delivered, but it possibly means that you enjoy it even more when it does turn up. Look forwards to seeing more from your new camera Colin. This ones superb!

[tracymae]

Congratulations
I don't know how you survived waiting since January, having no patience what so ever I would have been threatening to camp outside DABS main office doorway until I had it in my hands
Glad your 40D found a good home, I am sure you won't miss it too much now your new 'baby' has arrived.