Canon EOS 5D

Auto Mode (8.0)
The Canon 5D includes both a Full Auto mode, designated by a green box on the mode dial, and a Program Auto Exposure mode. Both modes assume control over exposure; however, when shooting in Program AE mode, users retain some control over the look of the image.

Full Auto mode transforms the camera into a straight point-and-shoot interface. Once Full Auto is selected on the main dial, the camera will set the AF mode to AI FOCUS, select Evaluative Metering, and put the camera into Single Shot drive mode. These settings cannot be altered. Full Auto mode is indeed fully automatic. Users relinquish the ability to alter AF point selection, set ISO, White Balance, and Exposure Compensation; also, the camera will only record images as JPEGs.

Program Auto Exposure mode is also a fully automatic mode as far as exposure is concerned. However, users can still impose a significant degree of control over the appearance of the image. Aperture and shutter speed values are determined by the camera, but users can alter the tonal values in the exposure using exposure compensation. Users can also elect to retain the Exposure Value suggested by the camera but alter the visual effects (motion and depth of field) present in the image using the Program Shift control. This control enables users to scroll through paired aperture and shutter speed combinations without altering the camera-selected Exposure Value.

Unlike Full Auto, Program AE mode also grants users the opportunity to exert control over AF mode and AF point selection, Drive and continuous shooting settings, ISO, white balance, metering, Auto Exposure bracketing, AE lock, depth of field preview, Custom Functions, Compression, Picture Styles parameters, WB bracketing, Color temperature selection, and color space. Users will also gain control over flash settings when in Program AE: Manual flash, High-speed sync (Focal Plane Flash), FE lock, flash ratio control, flash exposure compensation, flash exposure bracketing, sync mode, and modeling flash.

As you can see, Program AE offers the auto exposure assistance provided by the Full Auto mode while enabling the user to retain control over the image. Program AE will likely be used occasionally by manual shooters who opt for a different avenue of manipulation or need to make quicker adjustments (e.g. shape exposure with the Program shift and exposure compensation). However, this is not the case with the 5D’s auto mode. It is just what it advertises – fully automatic. While an understandable inclusion, I can’t imagine too many 5D users comfortable with that level of camera reliance.

For those who elect to utilize the camera’s offered assistance, the 5D Full Auto exposure levels were impressive in practice. At times, some shots containing a lot of darker tones were a bit underexposed, but in the positive capture world of digital imaging (unlike black and white negative film), it is better to go under than over and preserve image information in the highlights. However, for the most part, exposures were right on. This was true of shots recorded with both lighter tonal values and nearly black scenes. For those who do opt to let the camera control the exposure, it will do a pretty good job.

Drive / Burst Mode (7.5)
Canon reports that the 5D can shoot about 3 frames per second at shutter speeds of 1/250 and above. Remarkably, it will also shoot bursts of up to 60 Large JPEGs or 17 RAW files in a burst. Considering that its RAW files take up nearly 13 MB worth of space, the 5D handles a huge datastream quite efficiently.

While some users will undoubtedly quibble about the 5D’s subsequent recording rate when contrasted with the 20D’s 5 fps continuous burst, users should keep in mind that the CPU inside the 5D is far faster than the one in the 20D. Files produced by the 5D are much larger than the 20D’s and thus require more effort to process. Those discontented readers should also bear in mind that this is nothing new for Canon and Nikon. Most high-end DSLRs are focused towards a specific parameter; some are intended for speed while others are optimized for resolution and picture quality. While the 20D may be a more even blend of the two, resulting images cannot compare to those of the 5D in terms of image quality.

Movie Mode (0.0)
The Canon 5D does not offer a movie mode. DSLR technology does not currently lend itself to continuous video capture.

Playback Mode (7.5)
Playback mode on the 5D is entered using the play button, placed to the lower left of the LCD screen on the back of the camera. Once it’s engaged, users can view prerecorded images in single frames, as an index display (up to 9 images), or magnified (1.5x up to 10x); users can also opt to protect or erase images, or access shooting information.

Shooting information includes: Shooting time and date, shutter speed and aperture values, exposure compensation and flash exposure compensation levels, file number, playback number/total images recorded, whether the image is protected or locked, file size, color space, white balance, white balance correction, ISO speed, metering mode, and shooting mode.

Single recorded images can be viewed as just the recorded frame, the image with exposure information and numbering superimposed over the file, or as a smaller shot alongside the histogram and full shooting information.

The histogram can be viewed in two ways: as a bright display or as an RGB display. The addition of separate Red, Blue, and Green channel displays is new to the 5D and was not available on the 20D. The RGB histogram offers a more focused analysis of tonal distribution in the frame and indicates the degree of detail and saturation in each of the three color channels.

The 5D also includes a highlight alert feature, often referred to as a blinker warning. This feature causes blown out highlights to flash in the playback screen, indicating a lack of recorded information.
Users can also view the utilized AF point on the recorded frame, rotate images, and jump through the recorded frames. With the 5D’s revised jump feature, users can move ahead or back by 10 or 100 images, by date, or by folder.

Playback mode on the 5D is adequate and should appease most users. The only issues arise on account of the LCD screen. When not in direct light, the 5D’s 2.5-inch screen will be a nice tool for review; however, in bright overhead light, images will be difficult to see and a check of focus will be virtually impossible. Since this is likely to be one of the main uses of the LCD, it falls short of expectations.

Custom Image Presets (0.0)
The Canon EOS 5D does not contain any of the traditional preset modes that more consumer-oriented cameras often supply. The 5D includes image parameters optimized for Portrait and Landscapes shots, but they are not automatic modes. For further elaboration refer to the Image Parameters section of the review.

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