Canon EOS-5D Mark II officially announced

Yes, it’s now confirmed, the Canon EOS-5D Mark II is a real camera! After months (or was it years?) of speculation on how Canon would update the full–frame 5D, it is now finally here. Unfortunately, it’s not even close to the rumored 5D update we wrote about last March.

Highlights of this new camera:

• New 21.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor with improved EOS Integrated Cleaning System (E.I.C.S.)
• New Full HD 1080 resolution movie recording
• 3.9 frames per second continuous shooting
• High performance DIGIC 4 providing superb image quality
• Maximum 310 large JPEG images in a single burst with a UDMA card
• 3.0” VGA (920k dots) Clear View LCD
• ISO 100-6400 (expansion from 50 up to 25,600)
• 9 AF points + 6 Assist AF points

Not to be outdone by Nikon’s D90, movie recording is available at HD 1080p, besting the Nikon which maxes out at the not–too–shabby 720p setting. Certainly, most of the changes are evolutionary, except for the new CMOS sensor which stands out, almost doubling the 12–megapixel model it replaces. And with sensitivity expansion reaching ISO 25600, the 5D Mark II will certainly be in the bags of Canon–shooting pros pretty soon.