Unboxing: Canon 5D Mark II

I will sometimes refer to Macworld Expo as second Xmas -- for many years, it has been tough not to come home from Macworld with a new tech toy. In 2005, I came home with an iPod Shuffle; in 2006, I came home and ordered a MacBook Pro. In 2007, I saw the iPhone, and held off buying a new cellphone until I bought an iPhone in September. In 2008, I resisted the temptation to buy MacBook Air (probably because I had bought a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM only a few weeks prior. Since this year Apple's announcements were relatively unexciting (come on, Apple, where's my Core i7 MacPro and LED 30" Cinema Displays?), I instead dropped $2699 on my current object of lust, the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

When the Canon EOS 5D Mark II was announced, I wasn't sure if I wanted one, but after seeing the excellent low light performance in the prototype Vincent LaForet used , and that the latest firmware fix solved the early models' problems, I jumped headfirst into ordering one.

One of the things I've noticed lately is that shipping boxes are very random; in this case, the box they shipped the camera could probably fit two or three of the very same camera...

The actual box is about the same size as the previous generation 5D and contains 2 CDs of software and drivers, a pair of manuals, a camera strap, cables for USB and RCA, battery, charger and camera strap.

When I first pulled it out of the box, the body seemed larger, but in truth the old and new 5Ds are pretty similar in size. The Mark II can be distinguished by additional buttons and a microphone on the back of the camera, as well as a larger LCD screen. The shape of the head of the Mark II is also slightly different, and the flash mount is not as recessed as the original.

One of the buttons that I bemoaned the existence of was the DirectPrint button on the back of the 5D; there are infinitesimal chances that I would ever use the button, so it might as well not be there. On the Mark II, the button is still there, but it serves a dual-purpose: to switch the camera into Live View Mode, which is necessary for taking video. (video is not viewable from the viewfinder, which may take some getting used to).

Flickr: Canon 5D Mark II Unboxing