Got my brand-new 5D Mark II today! Any setup tips?

As the title says, I got my new 5D Mark II today!!! WOOHOO!!

Anyway, wasn't sure if there were any settings that you guys like to set initially, such as turning off "Shoot with card", which I've already done. Someone else had mentioned turning on Highlight Tone Priority.

Anything else?

Thanks!!

Congrats, just got mine a couple of weeks ago as well. Happy shooting. Still working my way through it.

Sure, put a lens on it and start shooting. Congrats!

Set the common features the same as you 7D. I wouldn't turn on HTP unless you're shooting JPEGs and need the safety net.

windpig wrote in post #13276975
Set the common features the same as you 7D. I wouldn't turn on HTP unless you're shooting JPEGs and need the safety net.

For the 7D I set the Standard profile to 4 for sharpening, and switched to AI Servo. Not sure if I need to change the Standard profile for the 5D2 though.

I'm not too familiar with Highlight Tone Priority, will research that.

Thanks for the tips all! I have my 24-70 on it now and will shoot like crazy tomorrow!

Your 24-70 will feel like a wholly different animal on your 5D2. Just saying.

I was about ready to just sell mine off, and now...well. She's awesome.

And, yeah, set the same things you would on the 7D. Not much else that you NEED to do.

Yes, your 24-70 will be a completely different lens

I'm an exposure, signal to noise freak, so I have to say that if you're shooting RAW and don't need out of the camera JPEGs, I would set up both cameras as follows, especially the 7D which is prone to noise.

This is to get a close to an unbiased histogram as possible so that you can be sure your capturing the max data by being able to see if you're clipping any of the channels while exposing to the right within reason.

Picture Style Neutral with -4 contrast, 0 everything else.
Use non intermediate ISOs only
custom white balance if you can, else I use 5K.


I'm sure these comments will stir up a hornets nest

One thing I do for my cameras, is make my picture styles have 0 or neutral.

As to Highlight Tone Priority, if you are shooting jpegs, sure, whatever helps, but make sure you have your Picture Styles right and that you "nail" the exposure.

If you are shooting Raw, I'd suggest you take time to studying the Raw format and how it can benefit you, and as to whether Highlight Tone Priority may stand in your way of getting the most out of your images.

rick_reno wrote in post #13276954
Sure, put a lens on it and start shooting. Congrats!

This ^^^

Additionally one of the first things I did for my 5D2 was bought it the 24-105mm IS L lens.

.

Green box mode!

wfarrell4 wrote in post #13278397
Green box mode!

Oh my....

wfarrell4 wrote in post #13278397
Green box mode!

There's one in every crowd

tonylong wrote in post #13277937
As to Highlight Tone Priority, if you are shooting jpegs, sure, whatever helps, but make sure you have your Picture Styles right and that you "nail" the exposure.

If you are shooting Raw, I'd suggest you take time to studying the Raw format and how it can benefit you, and as to whether Highlight Tone Priority may stand in your way of getting the most out of your images.

I will probably do both. Going to use it for my all-around body, and use the 7D for my sports. I'll shoot JPG for family-type stuff, and RAW for more serious stuff.

I will do my research. Thanks for the tip!

Buy some big CF cards! Your .jpegs can be as big as 10MB or more!

And have fun with your lens lineup, as well.. the 70-200mm f/2.8 becomes an awesome zoom and your nifty fifty will take on some new life as well!

Have fun... keep in mind that it's not fast, but has AWESOME high-ISO performance. Your dof will seem more "shallow" when shooting at large apertures. Have fun pixel-peeping... the 5616p x 3744p jpegs are huge!