5D MkII

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Had mine for 3 months now, and am finally settled in. Upgraded from 30D and 40D and got a bit of a shock.

Initially it is heavy to hold but if you have large hands like me, then you lose touch of the weight with the comfortable fit in your hands.
The shoot options are limited to the basic (P, TV, AV, M, B) plus 3 customisable settings and of course the Video Function.
I haven't tried the video function and at this time have no desire to. Not to say i won't try it - but not at this time.

The menu system is similar to the 40D onwards and the screen on the back is certainly clearer and more usable than the earlier models. By that i mean you can make a much better assessment of whether a picture has worked before getting to a monitor etc.

The 21mp Digic IV sensor. Amazing clarity and so much room to play with on a RAW imaged output at 21mp. This sensor also handles low light incredibly well - with an iso option of up to 25600 you can comfortably move into iso 1600 without any fears and go up to iso 6400 with real confidence that you will come away with a usable shot. Iso 25600 is grainy as to be expected and yet i can find no real need for it. The only time i used it was on its initial outing in June when used at 22:30 at night and it made the scene look like sunset or dawn - my shutter speed was coming in at 1/500th plus with an aperture setting of f4!

This camera has two real issues. It exposes poor quality lenses like no tomorrow - absolutely whicked to "Non L Class" lenses or equivelant (non Canon lenses) although it does love the 50mm f1.8 plastic fantastic so worth a try.
The other real issue i have discovered is it exposes flaws in your pictures with a vengeance. Camera shake - no escape with this camera. Dust - that sensor will get it. A minor distraction that looks like a speck on a 10mp sensor acquires a life of its own on the 21mp sensor!

The up side as i said  is with camera shake etc is that you can up the iso considerably and get away with it. I recently took some shots at Kew in the Lilly Hose with a 2x converter sandwiched between the body and a 70-200mm F4 lens with a 580 EX bolted on top. This is not a light piece of kit to hand hold. The Lilly House is a warm building. I was getting f64 at 1/1000th with an iso of 1600 and the shots looked every bit as good, if not better, than the shots i got with my 30D on a tripod at iso 100.

In summary - it's expensive but you really do get what you pay for if you are into landscape, portrait, lowlight etc. Not an action camera - not to say it won't have a go - just for the price of this camera you can almost make a good used 1D MkIII or the new 7Dwhich are more suited to that role.