5D Mark II upgrade from my XSI

So I took order of the Mark II Friday and shot with it all weekend. Here is my thoughts and wanted to know If I need to give the camera a chance before sending it back.

1) Images are very soft straight from the camera. I quit shooting RAW as I find Canon's JPEGs to be excellent. Yes I know people will smack me for this, but honestly I only use Lightroom once in a blue moon, tiredof processing pictures.

2) The mirror slap seems to cause more OOF shots. Not sure if I can quantify this one, but I seem to get more OOF shots over my XSI. I know DOF is shallower, but this camera has a hell of slap when pressing the shutter.

3) Body feels wonderful in my hands.

My problem is under ideal situations (good light) the 5D Mark II doesn't look significantly better than the XSI. The XSI images look a bit sharper to my eye, maybe the AA filter is at fault. Is this user error ? I kinda expected the 5D Mark II to 'wow' me, I am expecting to much, do I need to give the camera more time before shipping it back to Amazon. I love the body and want to justify it, but $1800 more of a camera I am not sure I feel it. Maybe the 60D is the better camera for me ?

What lens are you using? I have had a 5Dc for about a week and it is absolutely horrid at focusing the 50mm f/1.8 II. The lens works fine, and I really like it on my 60D. Even in good light (ISO:100, f/2.8, 1/320) the lens/camera combo just doesn't work. Camera works fine with all my other lenses. Try another lens. And please, post a few shots with EXIF intact.

For what its worth, I don't PP many images, either. Only when shooting really high ISO or in odd WB situations.

Mirror slap doesnt cause OOF shots, it might cause motion blur with longer shutter speeds but not out of focus. If you are only shooting .jpg for web sized viewing then you may not notice any difference. One of the problems with viewing the 5DII images and comparing them to the XSI is that the image has to be seriously compressed to be viewed at the same size as the xsi, which will make them appear softer.

Are you only comparing the images via the back LCD of each camera? Don't bother with that. You could have your picture style on your XSI set to a higher sharpness setting than the 5D2. I never trust the back LCD for pixel-peeping, its just meant to be a preview.


Are you looking at the images side by side in a software like Photoshop or Lightroom? If you are just using a Windows Photo Gallery Preview (whatever it is called - or the Mac alternative) that compresses the image so it can load it fast enough. Again, not meant to be a pixel-peeping preview. Best option if you want really critically look at the two images, look at them in a Photoshop or Lightroom program. Even better, shoot in RAW. Any JPEG - even the ones created in-camera, are compressed. You lose detail, pixels/resolution. What size of JPEG do you have the 5D2 set to in-camera? Like it was said above, if you are shooting web-sized jpegs, no you probably won't see a difference between the XSI. Probably almost any camera would look similar in resolution, resized to web jpegs.

If it is soft as in out-of-focus, or no definitive focus area? - What are your shutter speeds on those shots? What lenses are you using on the 5D2? There are tons of variables that could be the problem, and its usually rare that it is the camera body itself. Almost always its user or environmental. For instance, shooting through smog for a cityscape.

I am not sure they can be compared. Each has it's stated goal and user target base. Seems people are always comparing a crop sensor to a FF.
But to really be fair you need to follow Ms. Christina's advice. She is spot on. Shoot imagines in RAW and use Adobe RAW 7.2 in PS and do the examination. I prefer Adobe over DPP.

TSchrief wrote in post #15263897
What lens are you using? I have had a 5Dc for about a week and it is absolutely horrid at focusing the 50mm f/1.8 II. The lens works fine, and I really like it on my 60D. Even in good light (ISO:100, f/2.8, 1/320) the lens/camera combo just doesn't work. Camera works fine with all my other lenses. Try another lens. And please, post a few shots with EXIF intact.

For what its worth, I don't PP many images, either. Only when shooting really high ISO or in odd WB situations.

Just have one lens 50 1.4. This lens is super sharp on my XSI, even wide-open.

watson76 wrote in post #15263844
So I took order of the Mark II Friday and shot with it all weekend. Here is my thoughts and wanted to know If I need to give the camera a chance before sending it back.

1) Images are very soft straight from the camera. I quit shooting RAW as I find Canon's JPEGs to be excellent. Yes I know people will smack me for this, but honestly I only use Lightroom once in a blue moon, tiredof processing pictures.

2) The mirror slap seems to cause more OOF shots. Not sure if I can quantify this one, but I seem to get more OOF shots over my XSI. I know DOF is shallower, but this camera has a hell of slap when pressing the shutter.

3) Body feels wonderful in my hands.

My problem is under ideal situations (good light) the 5D Mark II doesn't look significantly better than the XSI. The XSI images look a bit sharper to my eye, maybe the AA filter is at fault. Is this user error ? I kinda expected the 5D Mark II to 'wow' me, I am expecting to much, do I need to give the camera more time before shipping it back to Amazon. I love the body and want to justify it, but $1800 more of a camera I am not sure I feel it. Maybe the 60D is the better camera for me ?

I've heard the XSi / 450D AA filter is weak because there is no video but the pics from a full frame model should look better if you in shoot in RAW and process using unsharp mask before converting to jpg

watson76 wrote in post #15264112
Just have one lens 50 1.4. This lens is super sharp on my XSI, even wide-open.

OK. We are reasonably certain it is not the lens. Two things come to mind. The XSi, being a consumer oriented camera is designed and setup to put out punchy-contrasty-very saturated images. The 5D2 is geared for the more seasoned shooter. It will, by default, a less tampered-with image, when shooting JPGs. The Picture Styles of each camera are independent of each other. Parameters have different bases and adjustments make slightly different changes. Have you tried tweaking the Picture Styles?

The other thing is that the 50 1.4 will appear to be about 40% shorter on the 5D2. Perhaps you are just not accustomed to the perspective difference between the APS-c XSi and the Full-Frame 5D2. I have only had my 5Dc for a week or so. It took me an outing or two to realize that my 50 1.8 II is not the same lens on a FF body that it was on the 60D. I like the lens on my 60D. I much prefer the 85 1.8 on the full-frame camera. If this may be the case, try moving closer (about 40% closer) than you think you should be.

Don't give up on the 5D2, yet. Unless you can determine that it is defective, which is my third possibility.

Shooting jpeg should not be the cause of your issue nor should it looks significantly softer as the pixel density between the two cameras are about the same. You might post a picture clearly showing the issue with EXIF data intact.

Oh, and BTW, under good conditions, the final image should look almost identical. For the most part you should not see a differance. There are a few cases where the 5DII will shine but there are others where the XSI will do better.

I made the same jump from an XSi to a 5D2 and to be honest, if you're expecting a huge "WOW" difference in pics, I don't think that you will find it. To be honest, the XSi is quite a camera and very capable of producing quality images. I think many people think by upgrading from a Rebel to a 5D or a pro series body you will automatically notice a difference in images; but with the advancement of recent entry-level cameras, I don't think that difference is as noticeable as it used to be anymore. Yes, a bunch of other cameras in the Canon lineup are much better and more capable, but that doesn't mean you will get the equivalent of a jump from a non-HD television picture to a 1080p HD one. Additionally, the 5D2 is a ton heavier than the XSi--maybe that could be contributing to the OOF shots you refer to, or perhaps the focusing mode you're in?

With that said, what exactly were you looking for by switching to the 5D2? A bigger more durable body? Full frame DoF? The 12megapixels from the XSi is more than enough for many hobbyists or advanced users--perhaps a better lens is really what you were after?

jubu wrote in post #15264401
I made the same jump from an XSi to a 5D2 and to be honest, if you're expecting a huge "WOW" difference in pics, I don't think that you will find it. To be honest, the XSi is quite a camera and very capable of producing quality images. I think many people think by upgrading from a Rebel to a 5D or a pro series body you will automatically notice a difference in images; but with the advancement of recent entry-level cameras, I don't think that difference is as noticeable as it used to be anymore. Yes, a bunch of other cameras in the Canon lineup are much better and more capable, but that doesn't mean you will get the equivalent of a jump from a non-HD television picture to a 1080p HD one. Additionally, the 5D2 is a ton heavier than the XSi--maybe that could be contributing to the OOF shots you refer to, or perhaps the focusing mode you're in?

With that said, what exactly were you looking for by switching to the 5D2? A bigger more durable body? Full frame DoF? The 12megapixels from the XSi is more than enough for many hobbyists or advanced users--perhaps a better lens is really what you were after?

unless you really need full frame sometimes it makes sense to stick with crop models and good lens

I noticed a big jump in iq when shooting portraits, other subjects not so much. If you aren't seeing an increase with 5d2, you surely won't notice as ump to 60d.

Get better glass, then upgrade.

FWIW, my 50/1.4 is stunning on my 5d2...

watson76 wrote in post #15263844
So I took order of the Mark II Friday and shot with it all weekend. Here is my thoughts and wanted to know If I need to give the camera a chance before sending it back.

1) Images are very soft straight from the camera. I quit shooting RAW as I find Canon's JPEGs to be excellent. Yes I know people will smack me for this, but honestly I only use Lightroom once in a blue moon, tiredof processing pictures.

2) The mirror slap seems to cause more OOF shots. Not sure if I can quantify this one, but I seem to get more OOF shots over my XSI. I know DOF is shallower, but this camera has a hell of slap when pressing the shutter.

3) Body feels wonderful in my hands.

My problem is under ideal situations (good light) the 5D Mark II doesn't look significantly better than the XSI. The XSI images look a bit sharper to my eye, maybe the AA filter is at fault. Is this user error ? I kinda expected the 5D Mark II to 'wow' me, I am expecting to much, do I need to give the camera more time before shipping it back to Amazon. I love the body and want to justify it, but $1800 more of a camera I am not sure I feel it. Maybe the 60D is the better camera for me ?

Definitely user error. First, if you don't shoot RAW, why bother with this kind of camera? The sharpening in JPG is likely stronger on the Rebel. Second, mirror slap doesn't cause OOF shots. Also what lenses do you have? If you're putting crappy lenses on this camera, you aren't doing it justice.

Numenorean wrote in post #15265401
First, if you don't shoot RAW, why bother with this kind of camera? The sharpening in JPG is likely stronger on the Rebel.

Excellent point.

Numenorean wrote in post #15265401
...Second, mirror slap doesn't cause OOF shots. ..

It doesn't cause OOF but it can impart camera blur and the 5D has a full length mirror to slap up so at shower shutter speeds you may see this as a soft image of an image that looks OOF. Below is a pic I took of the ISS at 17mm 30 seconds. You can very clearly see the shake of the camera due to mirror slap. BTW, the camera was tripod mounted on a pretty substantial tripod. At 1/30 of a second the shake may be enough to cause some camera blur.