5DmkII or 7D. Jeez this is tough

"No wonder my stacked 400 ISO JPG star trails looked so clean lol. Camera is applying noise reduction to the JPG if you want it or not. "

Ya Mike, I was reading about that the other day too. I think shooting jpegs works if you are good enough to nail everything in place in camera and don't have to do too much post editing. I once accidentaly shot a really good storm in jpeg and hated myself for that mistake. They don't tolerate much correction and have reduced dynamic range.
 
It's my understanding the 5D2 shoots 30p not 29.97P. The 7D shoots 29.97P. As was mentioned, Canon should be coming out with a firmware update in Mid March to fix the rate to 29.97.

I turn the power button off when changing lenses on my 5D2 to keep it from sucking dust in from miles around. If you're cleaning the sensor a lot you might try it too to see if it helps.

For Storm Chasing I use zoom lenses exclusively. Cheaper and I can frame it up much faster. Sometimes you have seconds to get that shot.

copy/paste from Canon:
London, 2nd March 2010 – Canon today pre-announces the release of a firmware update for the multiple award-winning EOS 5D Mark II. Originally announced in late 2009, the update adds 24* and 25 frames per second (fps) recording to the camera’s EOS MOVIE video function, and will be available as a free download from the middle of March.

Developed following feedback from photographers and cinematographers, Firmware 2.0.3 further enhances the EOS 5D Mark II’s excellent video performance. The addition of new frame rates expands the camera’s video potential, providing filmmakers with the ability to shoot 1080p Full HD footage at 24fps (actual 23.976fps) – the optimum frame rate for cinematic video. 25fps support at both 1920x1080 and 640x480 resolutions will allow users to film at the frame rate required for the PAL broadcast standard, while the new firmware will also change the 30fps option to the NTSC video standard of 29.97fps.

A new histogram display for shooting movies in manual exposure, shutter-priority (Tv) and aperture-priority (Av) have been added, and exposure modes will also be available in movie mode. Improved audio functionality will allow users to set sound record levels manually using a sound-level meter displayed on the LCD screen. The audio sampling frequency has also been increased from 44.1KHz to 48KHz, providing the optimum audio signal typically required for professional or broadcast material.
 
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I hope they enable slower shutter video recording beyond 1/30th for 30fps. I guess not that I'll be able to use it for video on storms anyway. Since it will be busy taking stills. Starting to not care about video mode at all as I already know I'd need another 5D and another set of lenses to be able to shoot video. Even if I got a T2i or T1i for video I'd still need another fast wide angle lens with it. Hmmm, going to be annoyed on the whole video aspect yet another year I am sure. Probably pick up a HV30 or HV40 and give the 30P thing a try since my HV20 doens't have it, and it is supposed to really help in low light.
 
Mike, you interested in a canon 24mm f/2.8 in good condition? :D

I almost picked up a used 5D classic and a grip today... I decided it was not too much of an upgrade from my 30D. The 5D classic is like a 20D with a larger sensor, a bit better high iso performance, slightly larger files. I did not think the "upgrade" was worth the 1380 that was being asked. A t2i has crossed my mind and perhaps a 24-70L or 24-105 f/4L IS or even a 17-55mm f/2.8 IS EFS. I just don't want to fiddle with 2 cameras. Heck, the thoughts of a 24L or 35L or 50L have ran through my head. If I blow my cash on the 5DmkII, well, I don't really have any quality wide angle glass to pair with the camera. And your comments on video for storms does kind of concern me as I am thinking about doing the same exact thing, well watching from my home.
 
I need to buy a bigger CF card for this season, been looking at the new SanDisk 16Gb 60 Mb/sec and 90 Mb/ second cards. Question is, considering the high price, what do I really need. From what I can tell shooting my 5DMII in RAW as fast as I can the buffer fills up long before the CF card is an issue. I get roughly 18-20 shots before it starts to hang up using both Ultra III and IV cards. If my little test is correct then only downloading to my laptop would be the benefit of owning the expensive 16GB 90Mb/second extreme card.....

comments
 
If the buffer room is enough for what you shoot, the slowest card will work. If it is not, then you'd need something faster. All it really comes down to I think. Other than yeah, downloading to computer. I got a 16 gig extreme with my cam thankfully and it's awfully damn fast at downloading to the computer. Think it said 60 mb/s on the side. I damn sure wouldn't buy one for that however. I bought a backup 8 gig Kingston one for $40 or something on bh. Not sure I even cared enough to take notice of the speed. They are all pretty much fast enough now it seems.
 
You need the SanDisk Firewire 800 (aka UDMA) card reader to take advantage of the faster transfer speed to the computer. Most PCs and laptops don't have the 9pin firewire 800 port (Macs and Macbook Pro do). You can put in a firewire 800 PCI card in the Tower and that will work. If your laptop has an express card slot you can get an FW800 express card adapter and that will do the job just fine too. I'm getting about 45MB/sec transfering from a 16GB Extreme IV card to the computer via firewire 800.
 
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You need the SanDisk Firewire 800 (aka UDMA) card reader to take advantage of the faster transfer speed to the computer. Most PCs and laptops don't have the 9pin firewire 800 port (Macs and Macbook Pro do). You can put in a firewire 800 PCI card in the Tower and that will work. If your laptop has an express card slot you can get an FW800 express card adapter and that will do the job just fine too. I'm getting about 45MB/sec transfering from a 16GB Extreme IV card to the computer via firewire 800.


But what about dumping via the camera/usb cable? USB 2.0 = 480 mb/s max....which is 60 MB/s. I've never used a card reader and have always dumped this way. Mostly as it seems better to take the card in and out as little as possible. Seems one would be able to get up to the cable speed using the camera to dump. Not that it matters, as the camera is dishing them out plenty fast as it is this way. I should try and count some out and see. Seemed it was doing at least one a second, 25-30 MB files.
 
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Great information guys.... Mike the camera speed is what I'm after and you appear to come up with the same answer I did. If the buffer chokes then it's not getting to the card (fast or slow) anyway. As for download to the computer/laptop. From my experience dedicated card readers do speed things up, but chances are most of us are downloading after the event anyway.

Gene
 
Yeah I just mean if you won't need more than 14 consecutive shots at 3.9 fps there's no need to worry about card speed. I think unless one is shooting for sports illustrated they aren't going to need to worry. Seems even if one had a close tornado they wanted a billion fast shots of, 14 in a row in under 3 seconds would push what was needed. Faster card will just free that up quicker obviously...and help out in getting shot 15+ off.
 
Echoing Bryan...People seem most pleased overall with the SanDisk Extreme III or Extreme IV cards. For my crop cam I use a 4GB SanDisk Extreme III and will buy that brand again soon (in a larger capacity). With a full frame camera, I think you will want at least an 8GB and probably more than one for a chase (depending upon how often you can pull images off it onto a laptop).

I completely agree w/the SanDisk Extreme III (or IV, if you can afford it). When I do band (concert) photos, I take many successive shots. When you use a slow card, you wait forever for the buffer to clear...and it's annoying.

Just be very careful not to buy any bootleg cards; There are a lot out there.

And for the record, I LOVE my 5DMII. :)
 
If things go right, I may be able to order this bad boy in the next few weeks. The 5DmkII. The way I see it, the 5DmkII would almost double my lens collection :D

Those cards with the faster write speeds are mostly for the HD video. I think an extreme III should be okay if you are just shooting photos or IV if you are shooting video. Or you should just be able to tether the camera to your laptop via USB or if you got the funds with the wireless transmitter
 
If things go right, I may be able to order this bad boy in the next few weeks. The 5DmkII. The way I see it, the 5DmkII would almost double my lens collection :D

Those cards with the faster write speeds are mostly for the HD video. I think an extreme III should be okay if you are just shooting photos or IV if you are shooting video. Or you should just be able to tether the camera to your laptop via USB or if you got the funds with the wireless transmitter

Supposedly you only need "at least 8MB/s for the video".
 
Well this sucks. I checked to see if B&H was still tossing in the free 16gig sandisk card and bag, they are not. Looks like I got to push things back yet another paycheck. If thats the case, maybe I should toss in a 580ex flash. But with the low light capabilities of the 5DmkII I guess a flash would be redundent
 
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