By Jeff Lewis

www.jefflewisphotography.com

I photograph sports and events and needed a full frame camera for all of my non-sport shoots–and possibly to shoot sports features–and I figured the 5D Mark II would be perfect. It has a full-frame, 21-megapixel CMOS sensor, a large, clear viewing screen, and as an added bonus, I can record video in full 1080p, all for $2,700.

So I bought one. For the past several weeks, I have been toting it around to NFL games and basketball games, shooting pre-game warm-ups and just a little game action. My main camera for action is still the 1D Mark III and will not be replaced by the 5D Mark II for the simple fact that the 1D Mark III shoots at 10 frames per second (the 5D Mark II shoots 3.9 fps).

ISO: 400        Shutter Speed: 1/1600          Aperture: f/5.0

Above: USC tailback Stafon Johnson stretches before playing against USC in a football game on Dec. 6, 2008 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo copyright Jeff Lewis)

I am fully satisfied with the camera for the needs that I have for it. The focusing is great. It locks onto subjects as it is supposed to and at least for what I have used it for, it has not jumped out of focus. It also works excellent in low light situations. I have found myself, before games, picking this camera up first for that very reason. The games I have been shooting are also night and indoor games in less than favorable light, and even at ISO 2000 and higher, I see no noise. I am always confident that the images are going to be large, dynamic, and sharp, even at night and indoors.

This camera is my first full-frame camera in the digital age. For the first time for me since film, my fish eye is an actual fish eye, my 70-200mm is actually 70-200mm, so I am able to fit my subject in the frame without the crop factor and use Canon’s lenses the way they were created to be used and at 21 megapixels, the images are crisp and clear.

ISO: 400        Shutter Speed: 1/80          Aperture: f/3.5

The sun sets behind Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. (Photo copyright Jeff Lewis)

I experimented with the video mode a little bit. At this point, I have really no use for it but as for the future–being a freelance photographer–a client might ask for video and stills. In today’s Internet age, we are seeing more video clips of events on blogs and Web sites and being able to adjust and shoot that as well is a definite positive. I am not saying that this is a full-fledged, great video camera: It’s a digital still camera with the added bonus of video, but it’s still a digital still camera.

I put the camera on my 400mm a few times and tried to video record football. The one drawback I found was that you had to pull the camera away from your face and manually focus it. This is very difficult because the focus ring on the 400mm is already a foot away from the camera; pulling it back another few inches makes it hard to reach and hard to maneuver to follow a play.

ISO: 1000        Shutter Speed: 1/125          Aperture: f/2.8

Chicago Bears tackle John Tait waits to run out onto the field before playing the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 11, 2008 in Chicago. (Photo copyright Jeff Lewis)

The cool thing, though, is the ease with which you can switch back and forth between video and still. I can see myself at a press conference one day working for a client requesting both still and video and using this camera to perform with ease–as long as it’s not with a 400mm f/2.8.

Overall, I think Canon got it right with this camera, and at a price of less than half of the 1Ds Mark III, its definitely one to strongly consider.

ISO: 100        Shutter Speed: 20 seconds          Aperture: f/10.0

The sun sets over the Jacksonville Main Street Bridge on Dec. 17, 2008 in Jacksonville, Fla. Jeff Lewis took this 20-second exposure using his iPhone as a makeshift tripod. (Photo copyright Jeff Lewis)

Sample full-resolution photo:

Click here to download the file.

Sample Video:

Canon 5D Mark II HD Sample from askthephotographer on Vimeo.

Check out the quick clip above Jeff Lewis shot at a USC game using the Canon 5D Mark II’s video feature.

Canon’s info page:

Click here to head to Canon’s 5D Mark II page for the full breakdown on the camera’s statistics and features.

Jeff Lewis is a freelance photographer based in Southern California. He has covered numerous high-profile sporting events such as the Superbowl, the NBA Finals and the World Series for The Associated Press, The NFL Network, The Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper and US Presswire. Some of his other clients include Samsung, Verizon, Icon SMI and Warner Brothers.

Learn more about his work at www.jefflewisphotography.com.

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