Digital Cameras

Luminous Landscape’s first impression review of the Canon 5D digital camera: “The easiest way to visualize a 5D is to imagine a Canon 20D that has a somewhat thicker body and larger prism. Because this is a full-frame camera the mirror box needs to be larger than that in a 1.6X factor body, as does the prism, and so the body is somewhat fatter and slightly taller. Indeed, if you mount the accessory battery grip the 5D and the 1Ds MKII is quite similar in size, if not in weight. Note though that while the 5D is based on the paradigm of the 20D, it is a completely new body size.”

Rob Galbraith writes about the Canon EOS 5D DSLR :

At first blush, it looks like what Canon has put together is a 20D with a larger sensor. But the camera really represent a hybrid of features, some unique to the 5D, some pulled from the 20D and others it shares with Canon’s 1-series digital SLR models (and the EOS-1D Mark II N in particular).

For instance, the control layout of the camera closely mirrors that of the 20D (though the 5D is closer in size to the original EOS-1 without its power booster), the 35-zone metering component is the same, the AF system is an improved version of that found in the 20D, the viewfinder information is nearly identical and the new Battery Grip BG-E4 is similar in design to the 20D’s BG-E2.

But the 5D operates at 3 fps rather than the 20D’s 5 fps, it has longer shutter lag and mirror blackout specifications, a slower standard top flash sync of 1/200 (compared to 1/250 in the 20D) and lacks a built-in flash.

DPreview has a Canon EOS 5D Hands-on Preview and writes:

“By ‘full frame’ we mean that the EOS 5D’s sensor is (virtually) the same size as a 35 mm negative, this means that lenses used on the camera will produce the exact same field of view as they would on a 35 mm film camera (as they were designed). This is especially advantageous when shooting wide angle as we will get a much wider field of view than we would on a digital SLR which ‘crops’ (such a the EOS 20D). The diagram below demonstrates the difference in field of view between the EOS 5D and the EOS 20D using the same lens with a focal length of 17 mm. The EOS 20D would only be able to capture a portion of the center of the field of view produced by the lens, the EOS 5D captures the entire view. ”

Read more about the Canon EOS 5D Digital SLR

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 25th, 2005 at 4:41 pm and is filed under Canon, Digital Camera News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.