Absurd Singularity

So the big news of the day in the photography world is that the moon is finally full and Canon's 5D Mark II has officially been revealed. And they weren't kidding when their tag line was "Destined Evolution." The 5DII is, for its intended market (landscape, studio & product photographers), not a shabby update. For everyone else, namely those who want a more well-rounded full-frame sensor body in a smaller form factor, it has one possibly major flaw. Namely it appears that the autofocus system has been retained from the original 5D, with a few minor improvements. Yes, the 3-year-old 9-point (only center point cross-type for f/2.8) AF system is still there. My initial reaction was, "Are you f*ckin' kidding me???" And that's pretty much still my reaction now. I don't know if I'm placing too much faith in Canon by thinking that maybe it won't be exactly the same as the old 5D, that they probably tweaked it a bit on the software side so that it works better in low-light than the original (I think I read that somewhere). Chuck Westfall, Canon's director of media and consumer relations, stated that the reason they kept the original AF was because tracking in AI servo mode on the 5D gave better results than the newer (and seemingly better spec'ed) system that are currently on the 40D/50D (9 point as well but all cross-type). Mainly because of the six additional invisible focus assist points surrounding the center point on the 5D that kick in during AI servo. What that means is that if you want to shoot in AI Focus or Servo mode to keep track of something, you have to always use the center point. What kind of crap is that??? I tried to use AI Servo using a non-center point a few days ago and it suuuccckeeddd. It sucked bad.

Most likely Canon's train of thought was that since the 5DII has 21MP, on the odd occasion that a 5DII owner will want to shoot something in motion, forget about composing in the viewfinder. Just use a wider lens, shoot with the center 1+6 points, and compose during post by cropping. You've got plenty of pixels to throw away so why not? Argghh!!!! And word is the reason they did this is because they want the folks who want a better AF system to upgrade to their pro 1D line instead. Not exactly a choice for me because the 1DIII isn't full frame and the 1DsIII that's full frame is $7-8k. Plus I want to keep the smaller body size, not lug around even more mass.

*sigh* So for me, the AF on the Nikon D700 wins for the type and style of shooting I like to do. The new AF microadjustment feature on the 5DII is nice though. Can store adjustments for up to 20 lenses or just set one overall adjustment for the body. As for the IQ of the 5DII, I'm pretty positive that even with the jump in megapixels, its IQ at high ISOs will be pretty impressive. I'm not talking about the ridiculous 12800+ ISOs but anything between 1600 and 6400. If it's as good as the D3/D700 and with 9 more MP, there's nothing to complain about there. The multiple Live View modes and new HD movie mode earns a "meh" from me. May be useful but not sure how much I'd actually use it until I have a hands on. It's nice that they crammed an infrared sensor in the 5DII though. That means the cheapo infrared RC-1 remote that until now only worked with the entry-level Rebel line will work with the 5DII. Cheap wireless shutter tripping, yay!

After shooting with the D700 for the past couple of weeks, it's really, really hard to go back. As a purely photo-taking machine, the D700 is pretty much flawless. Action shots taken in C mode (equivalent to Canon's AI Focus mode) worked very well regardless of which AF point used. 51 selectable AF points can be a pain in the butt to cycle through though so I have it configured down to only 11 selectable. And the Auto ISO functionality, lord how I love thee. Granted, Canon in the 5DII also has auto ISO but it's not as configurable or extensive. With Canon's auto ISO, you can set the ISO only up to 3200 and the camera will keep the shutter speed at 1 over whatever your lens length is at the moment. However, 1 over the lens length is often not enough to cleanly stop motion. With Nikon's auto ISO, not only can you select from the entire possible ISO range, you can also set the minimum shutter speed. So for chasing Devon around, I usually set the max ISO at 6400 and the shutter speed at 1/125s and then just shoot. No more time and moments lost checking on shutter speed and ISO settings, it just works. And when you're chasing around a toddler, every moment counts. =) It's like the D700 just became a large and heavy automatic point and shoot camera but I haven't seen a pocket P&S that will give me such quality results in ISO 800 much less 6400.

The only holdup with Nikon is still their lens lineup. Their 70-200mm f/2.8 VR needs a revamp to stop the vignetting when used on a full frame sensor. While their prime lenses are ancient, my recent experiences with their 50mm f/1.4 leads me to believe that it (and by extension the 85mm f/1.4) is perfectly acceptable for my uses while I wait around for new ones to come out. So I have basically two usable lens (although they are sufficient for the majority of my shots currently), the 50mm and the 24-70mm f/2.8. And that zoom is heavy. Maneuvering around with a 5D + 135L felt so light after a few sessions with the D700 + 24-70. It'd be pretty super if they came out with a 70-200mm f/4 VR that was comparable in IQ, size and weight to Canon's version.

So, even after Canon's 5DII was revealed, I'm still in the same predicament as I was before. Nikon should just hurry up and reveal their new lenses (if any) for Photokina. Not having a lens range > than 70mm is going to be problematic for me. Hear that, Nikon? One lens, one lens is all you need to bring out to win another convert. ;-p Ah, who am I kidding? My mind changes on photography stuff every other day. =p