5D MKII AF really that slow??

Hi all,

Finally able to go out and buy a new 5Dii. The only thing holding me back is everything i hear about the sluggish af. My main interests are shooting my kids (above everything else), portraits, landscapes and street photography.
Some would say the 7D would be fine and at $1000 less it could go towards some more glass, but since i really only use centre af, i'm sure the af system on the 7D would be wasted.
So to any of you 5Dii owners out there, is the af really that much of a prob? And for my style/interests in shooting, is the 5Dii the way to go.

Thanks in advance,
SM

How old are your kids? And how active are they?

Over all, I think you would be happy with the 5D2, I got mine yesterday, and even tho I have not been able to play with it all that much, I do not think it is as slow as they make it sound.

Also, if you go with the 5D2, what glass will you be using?

Oh, I also have the 7D

I use my 5DII for everything except birds in flight and motorsports... and even then sometimes I get away with it. Its good still - people over hype things. Or, rather, under-hype things.

mahoni wrote in post #11602652
Hi all,

Finally able to go out and buy a new 5Dii. The only thing holding me back is everything i hear about the sluggish af.

I'm not sure what you mean by sluggish autofocus. I was curious if the camera body makes any difference to focus speed so I just took my Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM lens, which has quick ring USM, and mounted it on my original digital Rebel (300D), a 5D classic, and the 7D and autofocused back and forth to various distances. In all cases the focusing was done quickly and accurately. Any time difference between bodies was imperceptible. Focus speed seems to depend only on the lens, not the body.

Do 5D mkII cameras have something terribly wrong with their autofocus? Does it take a long time to start once you press the button or does it somehow tell the lens to move slowly?

mahoni wrote in post #11602652
Hi all,

Finally able to go out and buy a new 5Dii. The only thing holding me back is everything i hear about the sluggish af. My main interests are shooting my kids (above everything else), portraits, landscapes and street photography.
Some would say the 7D would be fine and at $1000 less it could go towards some more glass, but since i really only use centre af, i'm sure the af system on the 7D would be wasted.
So to any of you 5Dii owners out there, is the af really that much of a prob? And for my style/interests in shooting, is the 5Dii the way to go.

Thanks in advance,
SM

Don't pay attention to that nonsense! The center point is identical to your 50d center point( Cross sensors for 5.6 and 2.8 and faster) I've shot them together and they're the same.

99% of the people who talk trash on the 5d2 AF.. Don't own one! And most of them are 7d owners justifying their choice of crop over FF. They get tired of hearing how great FF is.. So they talk about the AF.. Like a puppet.

The next time you see someone bashing the AF of the 5d.. Just simply look down at their gear list. If they have the 5d, then they're probably worth listening to. If they don't... Just chalk it up as another puppet repeating what the last puppet said.

Drozz119 wrote in post #11602809
Don't pay attention to that nonsense! The center point is identical to your 50d center point( Cross sensors for 5.6 and 2.8 and faster) I've shot them together and they're the same.

99% of the people who talk trash on the 5d2 AF.. Don't own one! And most of them are 7d owners justifying their choice of crop over FF. They get tired of hearing how great FF is.. So they talk about the AF.. Like a puppet.

The next time you see someone bashing the AF of the 5d.. Just simply look down at their gear list. If they have the 5d, then they're probably worth listening to. If they don't... Just chalk it up as another puppet repeating what the last puppet said.

Well said, I've got to admit I never heard of any troubles with the 5Dii until I joined this forum. It hasn't deterred me, and If I ever get the chance to get one I still will......

Get a 5DII. Unless you shoot sports or action 90 percent of the time, it's not going to matter to you that the AF isn't anything special.

I want a 5D real bad. The only reason I don't buy one is because it can't keep up with that I shoot the majority of the time. Slow frame rate, non-tracking focus = won't cut it for the sports I shoot a lot of. Other than that, I'd like to get a 5DII to complement my 7D.

I plan to buy a second 7D very soon, but if 5D2s start going for cheap after the MK3 comes out, I want to scoop one up for non-action work.

Anyone who can't give you specific examples of why the 5DII won't work for them, is just complaining for the sake of complaining. The only reason I'd tell you to get a 7D over the 5D2 is because it's cheaper and your original post sounds like you're not incredibly demanding of your gear... the 7D, or even a 50D will make you very happy for a fraction of the price.

The 5dM2's autofocus is the same as that in the 40d, 50d, 30d, 20d, etc. I have a 50D, 20D and 7D. The 5DM2 isn't any better or worse than any of the xxD series. It's definitely not as good as the 7d though. I shoot with both and I can get some great action shots with the 5dm2 but the keeper rate is low compared to the 7d's.

Drozz119 wrote in post #11602809
Don't pay attention to that nonsense! The center point is identical to your 50d center point( Cross sensors for 5.6 and 2.8 and faster) I've shot them together and they're the same.

99% of the people who talk trash on the 5d2 AF.. Don't own one! And most of them are 7d owners justifying their choice of crop over FF. They get tired of hearing how great FF is.. So they talk about the AF.. Like a puppet.

The next time you see someone bashing the AF of the 5d.. Just simply look down at their gear list. If they have the 5d, then they're probably worth listening to. If they don't... Just chalk it up as another puppet repeating what the last puppet said.

At the end of the day, it's a FF. Unless you need the high frame rate like the 7D. Go ahead and get it. 7D is a good camera but I sold mine after using a year. I shoot mainly landscape, portraits, still life. So 7D was a bit to much for me. The AF is pretty good but 5DM2 not that bad after all. So the decision is yours...

I shoot similar subjects to you and have never had an issue with AF.

The "sluggish" AF of the 5D series has become some sort of urban legend.

What's said above is true: it's just as good as the AF of the XXD series. And I actually find it a bit faster and more accurate than that of the 40D I used to own but that might be a subjective impression.

It will allow you to shoot anything. And I do mean anything. It's not because it doesn't have the ultra-sophisticated AF of the 1D series that it won't be any good for sport. I shoot a lot of equine action with it and it never lets me down. When I get OOF shots (say, 1 out of 30), I know it's my fault and not the camera's.

You've got some good glass in you sig already but you would need to get rid of your 10-22. And the 28-135 might not be the best lens to pair with a 5DII. In the same focal range you'll get more out of a 24-105L IQ-wise. So that might be the downside of choosing a 5DII.

Disagree, it is worse than the XXD series, I have both and it is definitely worse. Outer points on a 5D2 are unusable in anything but daylight. Centre point on 5D2 is usable, but not as sensitive as XXD series. Can't say much for accuracy as my 40D didn't have AF microadjust so I couldn't get a clear idea. 5D2 is also slower than the 40D

Drozz119 wrote in post #11602809
Don't pay attention to that nonsense! The center point is identical to your 50d center point( Cross sensors for 5.6 and 2.8 and faster) I've shot them together and they're the same.

99% of the people who talk trash on the 5d2 AF.. Don't own one! And most of them are 7d owners justifying their choice of crop over FF. They get tired of hearing how great FF is.. So they talk about the AF.. Like a puppet.

The next time you see someone bashing the AF of the 5d.. Just simply look down at their gear list. If they have the 5d, then they're probably worth listening to. If they don't... Just chalk it up as another puppet repeating what the last puppet said.

Disagree, the 5D2 is usable, for most applications, but leaves a lot to be desired. It is very different from the 40D/50D. The 40D/50D have much more sensitive AF points and are able to lock onto things the 5D2 cannot.

Low light tracking is not very possible.

That said, every Canon camera's AF is terrible, but in different ways.

Wow. I guess I'll just toss my 1D Mark IIN and my 1D Mark III. They're junk.

Mahoni,

Are you going to sell your 50d? When I previously owned a 50D I found the AF to be nice and responsive. The 5Dmk2 seems very close to a 50D as you navigate the body controls and center point locks on extremely quick.

I think most that complains the 5dmk2 and original 5D is the outer focus points. Yes there are times I have missed photographic opportunities because of the slower response in locking on subjects using outer focus points. This locking issue friggen drives me nuts but I work around it by braving the use of focus/recompose (not ideal). On my 1dmk3 I never use that method.

As a helpful hint I'd recommend using outer focus points when composing a photo. This is where the 50D helps composing compared to a 5d AF system. The 5d AF system is crippling in this respect.

As far as IQ is concerned the 5dmk2 would be a substantial jump compared to going 7D in terms of IQ. 7D will have improvements such as more advanced AF, cleaner ISO's and video. Jumping to a 5dmk2 i still feel for your application the 5dmk2 will be a better compliment to your 50D.

Using your 70-200 on a 5dmk2 will amaze you. Your two primes will have a dramatic difference in "pop" when you shoot wideopen or close to it.

Nice thing about jumping to a 7D is that you will have an UWA lens still. You cannot really take advantage of your UWA lens on a FF. If you jump 7D you can always buy a 5dmk2 when its even cheaper down the road when a 5dmk3 is introduced. My gut feeling would be that Canon does something ridiculous like put a 9 point cross sensor in a 5dmk3 instead of using the Af system from a 7d. This will segregate the 5dmk3 and 1dsmk4. Looking at the hiccup of evolution they did on the 50d to 60D I'd say canon removing MA (Micro adjust) they went backwards in evolution in the xxd series. Canon marketing team must have been responsible for this "step backwards".

Moving to a 5dmk2 your going to get maximum IQ out of the current smaller body. Since you dont own a FF you may find some characteristics of a FF to be beneficial.

PixelMagic wrote in post #11602939
Wow. I guess I'll just toss my 1D Mark IIN and my 1D Mark III. They're junk.

Yeah they are, feel free to toss them to me

Actually skip the Mark III I already have one of those paperweights

I don't like the Mark III AF, it's extremely jumpy and it's very hard to just get a stable sequence of photos in focus. I have a Mark IIN on order so we'll see how that goes. I've always suspected it may be just my lack of skill, but on second thoughts, how hard can it be? You aim the camera, you focus, you fire the shutter...it's not rocket science, so if the hit rate is low, then I think the AF system is to blame.

The only times when AF is acceptable to me is 5D2 using single shot with the AF assist light, with the 35 or 85L lenses. 100% in focus rate, used fully wide open