| Section |
The Good |
The Bad |
 |
Product Tour |
Ruggedly built body, tight-fitting port covers |
Dual-function buttons potentially confusing |
 |
Color |
Most accurate color results of tested cameras under well-lit conditions |
Color accuracy suffers badly under low lighting |
 |
Noise |
Strong performance, effective noise reduction processing |
No significant problems |
 |
Resolution |
Very good resolution at wide-angle setting |
Sharpness suffers in the area between the image center and corners |
 |
White Balance |
Very accurate in auto mode with daylight and fluorescent |
Auto mode has incandescent light problems |
 |
Playback |
Fast, flexible image browsing; useful software, including remote camera control |
No in-camera editing |
 |
Hardware |
Full-frame sensor enhances wide-angle shooting options; excellent 3-inch, 920,000-dot LCD; HDMI out for HDTV connection |
No built-in flash, autofocus assist lamp or wireless flash control; slow Live View focus; incompatible with smaller-sensor-format lenses |
 |
Controls |
Three Camera User Settings; Picture Styles work like choosing a film type |
No scene modes; limited self-timer flexibility |
 |
Design & Handling |
Solid non-slip grip; well balanced; dual control wheels; well organized menus; good user manual |
Finicky joystick control |
| |
| |
| Video Section |
The Good |
The Bad |
 |
Video: Color & Noise |
Strong, accurate colors |
Noise levels were a bit higher than other DSLRs. |
|
Video: Motion & Sharpness |
Captured motion looked smooth and crisp |
No alternate frame rates offered (only 30p) |
|
Video: Low Light Performance |
Decent sensitivity, excellent color accuracy, low noise levels |
Nothing of note |
|
Video Features |
Plenty of manual controls (thanks to the new firmware upgrade) |
Stationary LCD isn't good for framing video, lack of live autofocus during recording is disappointing |
| |
 |
The full-frame, 21.1-megapixel Canon 5D Mark II aced our color accuracy and dynamic range tests, and captures 1080p movies with extraordinary quality. But it's not the perfect all-in-one still and video camera: there are still too many quirks.