Canon 5D – Canon EOS R5 – EF 100mm f/2.8
Canon 5D Classic
Four months after saying goodbye to my Canon 5dMkIVs and embracing the future with a mirrorless camera set up, I’ve gone back in time and bought a Canon 5D. The Mark 1, the Classic.
The Canon 5D is a 12.8 megapixel full-frame DSLR which Canon announced in 2005. I might just be old, but 17 years doesn’t seem that long ago, it is however, an age in the evolution of digital cameras.
It was notable for being the first of the standard body sized full-frame cameras, and for being half the price of the other full-framers on the market at the time.
Its sensitivity range of ISO 100-1600 is expandable to ISO 50-3200, it can shoot 3 frames per second, and has 9 autofocus points. It has really nice colour and was the last of Canon’s full frame cameras to not have a video function.
Swing – Canon 5D – EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Why?
The reason I’ve bought one now is the result of a number of things, mostly daft, and almost all about feeling.
Four years ago I borrowed a 5D for a weekend when I was in Cornwall and came back with a haul of images that I love to this day. I debated about buying that one and decided that it was stupid. I should just use my MKIIIs instead.
The nagging suggestion that I should get one hasn’t left me though, and I’ve toyed with the idea over and over again. I tried to temper the temptation by reminding myself that it was a lovely weekend, and I would likely have loved the pictures regardless, but still, it nagged.
Coupled with this nagging sensation, is my ongoing search for an everyday, not-for-work camera. I want a light camera, that didn’t cost the earth, and does all thing things I want it to, and as little else as possible.
Zoom – Canon 5D – EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
In this search I’ve tried a Ricoh GR1, an Olympus MJU II, I tried a Ricoh GRIII, played with a Sony RX100, even my Canon F1 and EOS 1 have been in the running at some point. At last count I’d decided to double down on my phone camera.
The search never ends of course and when I bought my R5 bodies, I bought an RF 50mm f/1.8 in case they could then double as a non-work camera. That hasn’t happened. I just don’t want to take a £4k camera to the park on a rainy Monday with the intern.
The 5D has a few things going for it in that regard. Paired with a 50mm f/1.8 it is lightish, sort of, and it does all the things I want it to do. I’m going to be sad when it dies or I drop it, but not heartbroken, and not also worried about how I will fulfil my business obligations.
Grumpy Intern – Canon 5D – EF 85mm f/1.8
It cost me about £200. It’s one of the later ones, but not one of the last ones. Which means that there is a solid chance that the mirror will fall out at some point (the Classics do that). The battery has pretty much had it, and will need replacing at some point.
It costs me around £20 to shoot a roll of film, because I shoot a lot of Portra and send my film to labs and have it scanned. Ten rolls of film processed is going to cover the cost of the investment, which is 360 frames.
I’ve already taken 160 frames with the camera, which I’ll admit I shoot more freely than I would my EOS 1, even so it won’t take long to make back the money I’ve spent on the camera.
I don’t want to stop shooting film but as it gets more expensive, (as it must if the ecosystem is to remain sustainable), I do want to spend less on the general crap I shoot from day to day, and then I can save film for the stuff that warrants it.
Colours – Canon 5D – EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
The Rubicon
In the four years since I took the 5D to Cornwall, I’ve come to rely on my Canon EOS 1 as a testbed for shooting new films, and to really enjoy using it. It struck me that it could be a go everywhere do everything type of camera. More than once when I’ve been out with it I’ve wondered whether having a 5D would be even better. Would it offer all the niceness of the EOS 1 without the cost implications?
If electronic assistance were a litmus test, my 4×5 camera would be acid, my phone would be alkali, and the EOS 1 and 5D would be pretty close together in that green neutral bit in the middle. They’d be on on either side of the digital/analog Rubicon, but they’d be able to see each other from the bank and wave.
The 5D is my digital EOS 1. I can shoot it and not run up a dev bill or wait a few weeks to see whether I got the shot.
Garage – Canon 5D – EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Convenience and complacency
It’s amazing how quickly you can get used to things. When I made the jump to the Canon R5 I retired my old USB3 Multi card reader and moved to a dedicated Sandisk CF-E express card reader. These cards can be read at 1700mb/s, which means I no longer have time to make a coffee while the cards are downloading after a job.
To avoid having to break the CF reader out of my accessory stash, I decided to connect to the camera directly, and had ample time to stare into the abyss while a dozen of the 12mp raws edged their way down a USB-mini cable, (my first in years).
The screen on the back is smaller than I remember and I’d forgotten what it was like to not have 100% coverage in the viewfinder. I’d forgotten that was even a thing. It’s just odd to find things on the edge of your frame that you thought you’d edged out. The 5D offers 96% coverage, leaving a border so small I wouldn’t have thought it wouldn’t be noticeable, and yet it absolutely is.
Lego & Panetone – Canon 5D – EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Buyers Remorse
Was it a silly purchase? Quite possibly yes, but I have spent more time playing with it over the last week than I have any of my other cameras. This could be because it’s new, it could be because it’s The Answer.
After parting with most of my EF glass in the switch to RF mount, I’m less encumbered by lens choice. I have a 50mm f/1.8 which has pretty much lived on the camera and an 85mm f/1.8, which I’ve had a play with.
There are others, a 24mm, 100mm and some more specialised lenses, but I don’t see them getting much action.
Tourist enjoys photo op – Canon 5D – EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Conclusion
Buying this camera now makes a certain amount of sense. The fact that I’ve wanted one for ages combined with the fact that it is no-longer a primitive clone of my work cameras makes the purchase more understandable, or at least more forgivable. (Until then the desire felt like a failure of character).
There are very few images that I make that wouldn’t be more easily constructed with my work cameras. There is no logistical reason why I can’t make everything with an R5. It can crop square, no need for the Hasselblad, post-production and film emulation take care of the look of my film SLRs, tilt-shift lenses and photoshop take care of the 4×5 camera.
To this argument I remind myself that the picture is the result of a process, and not always the most important part. My experience of making the image is important and each of my cameras has a character of it’s own. The 5D isn’t characterless, but it isn’t a powerhouse of computational technology like my R5, or as beautiful and unforgiving as my 4×5 camera.
It doesn’t make me as happy or weigh as much as my Hasselblad, and it doesn’t keep me honest when I shoot film like my EOS 1.
I really like using the Canon 5D, it’s uncomplicated, primitive by today’s standards, but I like the experience, the colours, and making pictures with it.
It’s just a camera. Free to fire, cheap to run, with the focal length I want and not too heavy to take everywhere. If I drop it in a rock-pool while paddling, I’ll be sad, but at least I’ll have been in the sea with a camera.
Park Life – Canon 5D – EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Still Life – Canon 5D – EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Flock – Canon 5D – EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Rockwell Moment
I got my Canon 5D from those nice people at London Camera Exchange. I know that I work for them occasionally and so might be a little biased, but the people are the reason I work there.
You can see all their new and used stuff here.