Canon EOS 5D Mark II In-depth Review

Camera Menus

If you're coming from the original EOS 5D the Mark II's menus will look quite different, gone is the single long scrolling page of options, now replaced with the new Canon standard multi-tabbed / page layout. The menus look very similar (in fact almost exactly the same) to the EOS 50D with higher resolution fonts (thanks to the new high resolution screen), more stylized icons and a rather pretty fade effect when you change tab / options. You navigate pages using the multi-selector or main dial and use the quick control dial or multi-selector to move up and down options, press SET (or the multi-selector) to change. Colors (red for shooting, blue for play etc.) are used to distinguish the different categories of options.

Shooting section (red)

Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Quality	• RAW - RAW SRAW1 SRAW2  • JPEG - Large Fine Large Normal Medium Fine Medium Normal Small Fine Small Normal	- JPEG Large = 5616 x 3744 - JPEG Medium = 4080 x 2720 - JPEG Small = 2784 x 1856 - RAW = 5616 x 3744 - SRAW1 = 3861 x 2574 - SRAW2 = 2784 x 1856 Turn front dial to select RAW options, rear dial for JPEG options.
Beep	• On  • Off	Enables auto focus confirmation beep. Also used for self timer.
Shoot w/o card	• On  • Off	Allow shot to be taken without CF card inserted.
Review time	• Off  • 2 sec  • 4 sec  • 8 sec  • Hold
Peripheral illum. correct.	• Enable  • Disable	Corrects vignetting depending on the attached lens.
Expo. comp./AEB	• +/-2 EV  • 1/3 or 1/2 EV steps (C.Fn I-1)	Turn front dial to select bracketing level, rear dial to set exposure comp.
White balance	• Auto  • Daylight  • Shade  • Cloudy  • Tungsten light  • White fluorescent light  • Flash  • Custom  • Color temp. (Kelvin)
Custom WB	• Set custom WB	Select image for custom WB.
WB Shift / BKT	• Shift: B9-A9, M9-G9  • Bracket: BA+/-3, MG+/-3	Configures WB shift and WB bracketing.
Color space	• sRGB  • Adobe RGB
Picture Style	• Standard  • Portrait  • Landscape  • Neutral  • Faithful  • Monochrome  • User Def. 1  • User Def. 2  • USer Def. 3
Dust Delete Data	• OK  • Cancel

Picture Style

The Picture Styles are a range of pre-programmed image parameter sets intended to deliver the best results in different situations. Each Picture Style has its own preset mapping for tone and color response as well as providing the ability to tune sharpness, contrast, saturation and color tone for each. For instance the default sharpening for the Standard Picture Style is level 3, if you prefer less strong you can just adjust it downwards. Sharpness has 8 levels, contrast, saturation and color tone all have have 9 levels.

Playback Section (Blue)

Option	Notes
Protect images	Protect mode, allows you to browse images either in a single image or thumbnail view and mark each image as protected (or un-protect). This simply sets the read-only flag on the CF card file system.
Rotate	Rotate mode, again, this can be performed in either single image or thumbnail index view. This option allows you to rotate an image on-screen by 90 or 270 degrees. Doesn't actually rotate the JPEG file, but marks its orientation.
Erase images	• Select and erase images  • All images in folder  • All images on card
Print order	Allows you to create a DPOF print order file, for use with compatible printers or photo finishers.  • Select images  • By folder Mark all in folder Clear all in folder  • All images  • Set up Print type Standard Index Both Date On Off File no. On Off
Transfer order	Allows you to create a transfer order file, for use with automatic image transfer software.  • Select images  • By folder Mark all in folder Clear all in folder   • All images Mark all on card Clear all on card
Highlight alert	• Disable  • Enable
AF point disp.	• Disable  • Enable
Histogram	• Brightness  • RGB
Slide show	Start an automated slideshow of images on the CF card, delay between each image is preset at four seconds.
Image jump	• 1 image  • 10 images  • 100 images  • Screen  • Date  • Folder  • Movies  • Stills

Setup Section (Yellow)

Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Auto power off	• 1 min  • 2 min  • 4 min  • 8 min  • 15 min  • 30 min  • Off	Sets camera power off time, this is the amount of "idle time" before the camera powers itself off. In the power off state the camera can be woken by half or fully depressing the shutter release (or by cycling the power switch).
Auto rotate	• On (play mode and EXIF)  • On (EXIF)  • Off	Chooses whether orientation information is recorded and if the camera should rotate in play mode.
Format	• OK  • Cancel	Format the CF card
File numbering	• Continuous  • Auto reset  • Manual reset	Controls the numbering method used for filenames.
Select folder	• Select folder  • Create folder Create folder nnn ?
LCD brightness	• Auto 1 - 3  • Manual 1 - 7	Turn front dial to select Auto or Manual brightness control, rear dial to set level (or offset in the case of Auto mode).
Date/Time	• Set Date & Time  • Set Date format
Language	• English  • German  • French  • Dutch  • Danish  • Portuguese  • Finnish  • Italian  • Ukrainian  • Norwegian  • Swedish  • Spanish  • Greek  • Russian  • Polish  • Czech  • Hungarian  • Romanian  • Turkish  • Arabic  • Thai  • Simplified Chinese  • Traditional Chinese  • Korean  • Japanese	Select menu language.
Video system	• NTSC  • PAL	Select video system for video out connector.
Sensor cleaning	• Auto cleaning Enable Disable  • Clean now Cancel OK  • Clean manually Cancel OK	Defines the settings for the built-in cleaning system, by default the system is enabled and cleans at startup and shutdown (although can be interrupted). The 'clean manually' option locks the mirror and shutter up.
Live View / Movie function settings	• Live View function setting Disable Stills only Stills display Exposure simulation Stills + movie Stills display Exposure simulation Movie display  • Grid display Off Grid 1 Grid 2  • Silent shooting Mode 1 Mode 2 Disable  • Metering timer 4 sec 16 sec 30 sec 1 min 10 min 30 min  • AF mode Quick mode Live mode Live mode with face detect  • Movie record size 1920 x 1080 640 x 480  • Sound recording On Off	Defines parameters for Live View. The second tier setting under 'Live View function setting' is the type of display used in live view (this depends on the function mode). With Firmware Version 1.10, setting 'Stills+movie' coupled with 'Movie display' enables full manual control of exposure when shooting movies (when the mode dial is set to 'M').
Battery info.	• Remaining capacity (display)  • Shutter count (display)  • Recharge performance (display)  • Battery info (press INFO) Register Delete battery info.	Pressing INFO while in the battery info display screen allows you to 'memorize' the state of individual batteries (by serial number).
INFO. button	• Normal disp.  • Camera set  • Shoot. func.
External Speedlite control	• External flash function setting  • External flash C.Fn setting  • Clear external flash C.Fn setting	(Options only available with Speedlite attached).
Camera user setting	• Register Mode dial: C1 Mode dial: C2 Mode dial: C3  • Clear settings Mode dial: C1 Mode dial: C2 Mode dial: C3	- Records current camera settings to a mode dial 'C' user setting for easy recall.
Clear settings	• Clear all camera settings  • Delete copyright information  • Cancel
Firmware	Select to load new firmware from CF card	Also shows current version, on our camera; 3.6.1 63 (00)