5D2 officially discontinued!

[sekhar]

Canon has officially discontinued the legendary 5D2, looks like: Canon Rumors.

 

[Derrel]

Their statement that the 5D-II was ,"Quite possibly the most popular and influential DSLR in history." is patently ridiculous!!!! No, it has never, EVER been "popular." In both Canon and Nikon brands, full-frame d-slr cameras comprise around 5% of total d-slr sales. The 5D series has **always** been priced well,well above the purchasing price point of the vast majority of shooters, hence the normal M.O. in the 5D series: introduce at $3,499. After a while, offer rebates. Then drop price to $3199. Then offer rebates to move more stock. Then drop price to $2999. Offer occasional rebates. And a very,very slow,gradual decline in the retail price over several years' time. Meanwhile, the camera companies sell millions of $899 bodies. Those are the "popular" cameras.

"Popular"??? The 5D-II....uh...no...written about, yes, a lot. But in actuality, a very,very poor seller. Only the most-serious users have been able to afford a 5D camera. The "most-popular" and influential d-slr in history??? Stepping away from the hyperbole, and using an accurate and proper definition of "popular", the consumer models like the FIRST sub-$1,000 d-slr, the original Canon EOS Digital Rebel was a huge seller, and got many people into d-slrs and away from film SLRs. The original, sub-$1,000 Nikon D70 was popular, but the Nikon D40 was Nikon's single largest-selling d-slr EVER...for a long,long time...

In Canon, the "most-popular" d-slr??? Not sure, but it surely is not ANY of the 5D series. Again...sales figures show that the full-frame Canon and Nikon bodies make up only around 5% of the sales of d-slrs...just look at the cameras listed in the profiles of TPF members...mostly the "top" members are the ones who can see their way clear to buying a 5D series camera...

 

[keith foster]

I bought my Canon 5d MkII two years ago for $2400 for just the body. I understand now that the MkIII is out the MkII's are selling new in the $1600 range. In certain circles they are popular but that is mostly been rich amateurs, very serious hobbyists, and working professionals. If you walk into a room of 100 Canon shooters you will find at least 75% are shooting something from the rebel series, 20% are shooting something from the D series like the 7D, 40D, 50D or 60D, and the rest will be shooting a fullframe camera.

I am not whining about the lowering of the prices either. If I had waited till now to buy a MkII there are a ton of shots I wouldn't have been able to take especially working in small or dark spaces.
Personally I suspect Canon ends product lines once in a while so that dealers with see the inventory fly off of the shelf forcing people to buy the new models when they want to upgrade.
So I am in total agreement with Derrel.

 

[nathfromslg]

It is expensive but still #1 on flickr's canon camera lineup,
how?

 

[Dao]

I do think 5D mkii had a key role in the cinematography with DSLR.

 

[sekhar]

I'm pretty sure he meant popular in that range. I don't think anyone will dispute that 5D2 has bee a revolution of sorts for video folks, especially indie filmmakers. When I first made my short (like 10 years back...seems so long ago), my best option in the 2K-3K range was the GL2, and it was a 1/3" without interchangeable lenses. The XL2 had those, but was out of my range. If you were an indie like me, you could only dream of of video cameras with larger sensors.

Then comes the DSLR revolution culminating with the 5D2 full frame, and lo and behold indie filmmakers (and makers of music videos, ads, etc.) could suddenly shoot video with a full frame sensor that's bigger than what you got with the stuff like Panavision Genesis that the big houses were using. As you all know, if there's one thing indies are obsessed with, it's making their low-budget video look like big-house film. And shallow depth of field is front and center in that pursuit.