SLR Geek

Be warned by the title, this is not a direct comparison of every feature per feature pinning the Canon 5D mkii versus the Nikon D700; that’s been done countless times before. Nor is this a brand debate between Canon and Nikon. I am firmly against any argument that says “brand X is better than brand Y” solely on the basis of a name, or how well it sells. With that said, we can move on.

So, what’s this about anyway?

It’s about flash photography, and how each stacks up for the aspiring inner-strobist. So for those of you looking into awesomeness of well-lit photography via speed-lights, read on. We’ll look at a few variables that aid in flash photography and what each camera stacks up in those categories. And just for reference during this article, I will call the Canon 5D mark ii as “5D2″, and the Nikon D700 as “D700″, only for simplicity sake.

Shutter sync speed

The 5D2 has a high speed sync of 1/200s. The D700; 1/250s.

Winner: D700 by a 1/3 stop.

Why is this important?

Sync speed is directly tied to your shutter, and how fast your flash can communicate with it. The faster, the better. It allows you to fine-tune ambient light and especially useful in outdoor / sunny sutuations. 1/3 of a stop of light is marginal, but just know it for reference.

Shooting in the dark

A common request among a strobist is to kill all ambient light (if at all possible), and within these situations, auto-focus can be a pain. Luckily the D700 has a built-in AF assist illuminator on the front of the camera that will help you get focus lock 4 out of 5 times over the 5D2 which has none.

Winner: D700

Why is this important?

It’s not terribly important, but it’s easy to miss a shot just because of a simply auto-focus error. The 5D2 just requires a little more patience in the dark. It has been said that sometimes “live view” can help fine-tune your focus when looking through your viewfinder is difficult.

Rear/second curtain sync

The good news is, both cameras have the ability to sync at the end of an exposure. This is generally a nice effect for shutter speeds longer than 1/8s since it freezes your subject at the final moment and makes blur seem less noticeable. The bad news is that with the 5D2, you can’t access or change any of your flash settings unless you have a Canon EX-related flash sitting on top of your camera’s hotshoe. Talk about a buzz-kill! So much for your wonderful single-off-camera-flash setup. Not even your brilliant Pocket Wizard Tranceivers mounted on your hotshoe will fix it. With the D700 you all-access to your flash settings (via Custom settings → E-1-7), however to the point, you can change your curtain settings to via the on-camera flash button by holding it down, and twisting a dial.

Winner: D700

Why is this important?

As mentioned, rear curtain allows you to reduce the amount of blur as it freezes the very end of your scene, which is most useful on longer shutter speeds. But moreover, you should generally be able to change all your flash settings without having a flash attached. That’s just silly.

Remote flash capability

This setup requires more than just your camera, as of course you need a speed-light. So with the 5D2 we can assume you have a brand new shiny 580EXii, and with the D700, let’s pair it with a SB-900. On-camera, both of these pairs work as intended. But of course, not the way a strobist intends to use them (off-camera). Straight out of the box with the Canon setup, you’re out of luck. But with the Nikon pair you can use the built-in pop-up flash, set it to commander mode (Custom Settings → E-3), drop the power setting to “–”, and you’re golden! You can even control the power settings on your remote flash from your camera!

Winner: D700

Why is this important?

For the ameatur, this is great. Granted, professionals won’t use this setup, but it’s always there in a pinch for D700 users. With the Canon setup, you’d have to get an extra speedlight transmitter, but at that price, why not binge for another speedlight?

ISO

Now we’re not talking about crazy high ISO, we’re talkin’ “how low can you go” ISO. If we look at the unbiased comparison from DXOMark, we can see that the 5D2 has a low ISO of 73 (set on both ISO 100 & 50), whereas the D700 struggles to get down to 162 (set on both ISO 200 & 100). And yes, if you were wondering, both camera manufacturers are lying to you. But for the record, the 5D2 is clearly able to dip lower.

Winner: 5D2

Why is this important?

Similar to having a high sync speed, reducing your ISO can also help reduce ambient light albeit it also taking away flash light too. ISO is essentially “light sensitivity,” which is “all light.” However we can conclude that this “sort of” makes up for the 5D2′s 1/3 stop loss in shutter sync speed.

In Conclusion

It would be too easy to say that the Nikon D700 is the clear winner in regards to the needs of a strobist. Most of the things are small issues, but Nikon has essentially won in four out of the five categories. Nevertheless a counter argument can be made for each. For example with high speed shutter sync, you can pop on a new Mini TT1 and even the playing field at 1/500s shutter syncs. Or if you’re shooting in the dark, carry around a tiny $7 Maglite from Radioshack. And as for rear/second curtain sync? Hehe. Buy another flash. And as for doing remote flash, get some Pocket Wizards or a pair of Cactus 2′s for $32. Not to mention a simple PC cable will do the job for a few meezly dollars.

So to the basic point, money adds up for 5D2 shooters. And if you’re a professional studio shooter, then the money will add up no matter what camera system you’re using. This comparison is an “out of the box” experience with no extra accessories. In the end, you make the decision.