Canon 5D MII

Canon 5D MII is Canon's Advanced DSLR camera first announced on February of 2009. The camera uses a 21MP, CMOS Full frame sized sensor and has a peak resolution of 5616 x 3744.

Canon introduced this camera in order to upgrade the older Canon 5D (Read Full Comparison) & subsequently introduced the fresher Canon 5D MIII (Read Full Comparison) in order to upgrade this camera.

The 5D MII is rated #37 out of 92 in Advanced DSLR cameras & all around #207 out of 1465 for cameras in our list. You can use our Advanced camera search to get camera ratings based on your customized factors.

Below is a diagram of multiple criteria used in the scoring system.

The Canon 5D MII is part of a family of cameras. You can view the complete range below.

You can see the 5D MII from various angles in the gallery underneath.

Below is a checklist of advantages and disadvantages of the Canon 5D MII based on criterias that are typically seen as useful in a camera.

The Canon 5D MII is powered by the Digic 4 chip. The measurement of the sensor in the Canon 5D MII is 36mm x 24mm (Full frame). The 864 mm² sensor can resolve 5616 x 3744 pixels at aspect ratios of 3:2.

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The CMOS sensor has 21 megapixels and supports a native ISO range of 100 - 6400. This ISO can be increased digitally to 50 - 25600. RAW photos are saved which means that the user has wider margin for error.

The picture below illustrates the 5D MII's sensor dimensions in comparison to other common sizes. The 5D MII sensor has a crop factor of 1 and is outlined in green.

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To get a sense of various aspect ratios, you can refer to the visual below.

Canon 5D MII is 1.87 lb (850 grams / 29.98 oz) & the over all size of the camera is 152mm x 114mm x 75mm (6.0" x 4.5" x 3.0"). The weight of general Advanced DSLR camera is 776 grams so the Canon 5D MII is very similar in comparison with its rivals.

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Below is a visual of the Canon 5D MII besides a soda to help you to get a sense of its scale.

The top view directly below will illustrate the button design on the 5D MII.

The 5D MII uses the Canon EF mount and has 306 lenses that you can purchase. Below is a few of the lenses we have in our collection which will fit the 5D MII.

ModelVisualizeFocal LengthApertureStabilizedWeight

Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG Aspherical HSM12-24mmf/4.5-5.6 600g

Tamron SP 35mm F1.4 Di USD35mmf/1.4805g

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Venus Laowa 25mm F2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro25mmf/2.8400g

Tamron SP 15-30mm F2.8 Di VC USD15-30mmf/2.8 1100g

Tamron SP AF 60mm F2 Di II LD IF Macro60mmf/2.0 400g

Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG Macro105mmf/2.8 460g

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Samyang 20mm F1.8 ED AS UMC20mmf/1.8497g

The 5D MII has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• HDMI Yes

Cameras which include NFC and / or Bluetooth compatibility are able to be controlled wirelessly by smartphones. You will be able to send photos and usually alter camera settings without connecting physically to the camera.

Some applications even give a Liveview and press the shutter whenever you aren't near the camera. If the camera provides a HDMI port, it can easily be connected to an external screen. Nearly all cameras will allow you to recharge the battery using the USB socket.

The highest video quality in the Canon 5D MII is 1920 x 1080 and you can capture in H.264 format. 1080p quality offers a decent balance for quality and file sizes but FULL HD is not going to give you any room to crop. Although the camera contains a mic jack, it is unfortunately lacking a headphone jack which means that you will not have the ability to monitor your sound levels.

Canon 5D MII has got weather sealing making it a very good selection for use for challenging climates. This is especially helpful when you are not sure about the conditions you may face for outdoor photography.

The Canon 5D MII houses a 3 inch fixed display boasting a resolution of 920 thousand dots.

Unfortunately the display is not a touch screen. The 5D MII also includes a Top display so its possible to quickly see camera settings.

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The ViewFinder specs for Canon 5D MII are as follows:

• ViewFinder Optical (pentaprism)
• ViewFinder Coverage 98%
• ViewFinder Magnification 0.71x

Viewfinders are very useful for bright outdoor conditions which can easily make the camera display washed out and very difficult to see.

Canon 5D MII can shoot continuously at 4.0 frames per second. The highest shutter speed is 1/8000 seconds.

Canon 5D MII comes with external flash ability but is without built in flash. The highest flash sync speed is 1/200 seconds.

Canon 5D MII comes with both Phase Detect Auto Focus as well as Contrast Based Auto Focus. Phase Detection focusing is a lot snappier & accurate compared with Contrast Based focusing. The camera boasts Face detect making it valuable for people photography.

The Sensor boasts 9 focus points to select from. It also includes Tracking Auto Focus for moving objects. Canon 5D MII boasts manual focusing if required for low light or you want to have more accurate control on focusing.

The battery power (LP-E6) on the Canon 5D MII is built to last for 850 photographs with respect to the CIPA measurements which is about the same as it's competitors. The typical Advanced DSLR camera battery life is 909. Nikon D780 features the highest (2260) battery life for this range of cameras.

Here is a number of Advanced DSLR cameras that come with the highest battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Nikon D780
5D MII vs D7802260 yesnoyes

Nikon D850
5D MII vs D8501840 yesyesyes

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Nikon Df
5D MII vs Df1400 yesnono

Canon 90D
5D MII vs 90D1300 yesnoyes

Nikon D500
5D MII vs D5001240 yesyesyes

The following diagram indicates a analysis of the Canon 5D MII for specific types of photography. To read more, browse to the specific section below.

The Canon 5D MII receives a rating of 79 which is superb, meaning that it is a great choice for portrait images. Shooting portrait images favors heavily to sensor dimension, support for RAW files in addition to the option to work with external flash.

Getting a modest score of 59, the Canon 5D MII is somewhat suitable to buy for street photography. A good street photography camera features a good balance of image quality and portability.

A nice sports photography rating of 70 means the Canon 5D MII is a respectable option for taking photos of sports. A camera needs good focusing and shutter speeds for sports photography.

Size is pretty important when selecting a travel camera. Overall, the Canon 5D MII gets a moderate 55 as a travel camera which is relatively adequate to take on your holidays.

If you're looking to choose a camera for landscape photos, the most critical aspect will be image quality. The Canon 5D MII with it's above average grade of 70 for a landscape camera is a fine option among it's competition.

A vlogging camera really should posses a moving screen, mic input and preferably IBIS. Taking all things in to account, the Canon 5D MII is just not good as a vlog camera as it delivers a lousy rating of 29.

If you need replacements to the 5D MII, below is a collection of the highest rated cameras which fall within the class of Advanced DSLR.

The line chart down below shows you a bird's eye view of the 5D MII compared to it's highest rated rivals suggested earlier.

Following are several cameras you might have a look at as alternate options. To read a complete comparison, go to the "compare" link.