On this day 2008: Canon launches EOS 5D II, the filmmakers' DSLR

The EOS 5D Mark II was also one of the first mass-market cameras to use the ‘Mark II’ naming system. In an era of R5 IIs, K-3 IIIs and a7RVs, this has become the norm, but it wasn't standard practice at the time.

Just five days after the arrival of first Mirrorless camera, and 16 years ago today, Canon revealed a camera that would help define the final years of DSLR dominance: the EOS 5D II.

This was no simple upgrade to the original EOS 5D, though in a move from 12.8MP to a better performing 21MP CMOS sensor, the addition of an improved viewfinder and the gain of features such as liveview, it was that, too.

What famously set the 5D Mark II apart was its ability to capture Full HD video, the first DSLR to do so. The Nikon D90 had added 720p HD capture about two weeks before but it was the Canon that caught the world’s imagination.

This was helped by the option to download the Cinestyle color preset developed by film processing company Technicolor and a successful PR stunt that involved an entire episode of the TV show ‘House’ being filmed using the camera.

In hindsight, the 5D II is a relatively basic filmmaking tool: all is footage is 8-bit, so has limited grading latitude (an official Canon Log option wouldn't arrive until the Mk IV), there were no tools such as focus peaking to help with focus and to monitor your sound you needed all manner of adapters to get at the audio feed from the A/V socket. It didn't even gain full manual exposure control in video mode until a post-launch firmware update.

The 5D II became a popular video camera at colleges and schools around the world

But the 5D II became a popular video camera at colleges and schools around the world, putting the flexibility and ‘look’ of a full-frame sensor in the hands of budding film makers and letting them use relatively affordable EF lenses.

Beyond this, the Magic Lantern open source software project created an extensive array of video support tools to boost the 5D II's capabilities way beyond those that Canon had developed for it, including focus peaking, false color and control over the A/V output level.

There are plenty of people that used the 5D II solely as a stills camera, and it certainly represented a major step forward, compared with its predecessor: it had a larger, higher resolution screen, a sensor happier to shoot at higher ISOs and could shoot 30% faster than the Mark 1, despite the much higher pixel count. It also gained features that we take for granted, such as Auto ISO.

The newer sensor in the 5D II allowed a maximum expanded ISO of 25,600: three stops higher than on its predecessor. Image: Don Wan

Its top speed of 3.9fps looks disappointing once you've got used to the option to capture the 30fps burst that its spiritual successor, the EOS R5 II can manage. But, even though 4K and 8K modes have become commonplace in the sixteen years since the 5D II’s launch, a well lit, well-exposed and interesting video shot with the 5D II still looks pretty great, even on a big TV.

In the original review we referred to its video capabilities as its ‘party trick.’ Well it proved to be quite the trick, and over a decade and a half later, we’re all still at that party.