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Canon EOS 5D Mark II

This Canon 5D Mark II has shot over 2.2 million photos

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On the used camera market, the question you always see is “How many actuations does it have?” It’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask. It’s no more weird than wanting to know how many miles the used car you’re about to buy has done. The more it’s done and the more it’s been used, the less life there’s likely to be left in it, right?

While some manufacturers don’t post the numbers publicly, pretty much all cameras come with some kind of expected shutter life count. These days, that number hovers somewhere between 100K and about 300K depending on the level of camera you buy. The Canon 5D Mark II was rated to 150K when it was released back in 2008. But this one, acquired by YouTuber FoxTailWhipz has over 2.2 million actuations and is still going strong.

Obama’s official portrait was taken with a Canon 5D Mark II. Trump’s with a Canon 1Ds Mark III, which is even older

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Here is an argument that may shut the race for new gear. President’s Trump’s official portrait was taken with a Canon 1Ds Mark III. Now, it’s a great camera, but it’s also almost a decade into the market. It was announced in august, 2007. President Obama’s portrait, on the other hand, was taken with a Canon 5D Mark II. (Obama was also the first president to have his portrait taken with a digital camera – and we owe that to Pete Souza).  Obama’s second portrait, by the way, was taken with a 5D mark III (Announced March, 2012)

Here is the interesting thing though, the 5D mark II was announced on Sep, 2008, it’s actually a year newer than the 1Ds Mk III that was used to photograph president Trump.

Photographer blends reality with CG to produce amazing surreal landscapes

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We’ve all had that feeling of being in a beautiful or dramatic landscape, wanting to capture it, and then found it was missing just a little something once we got it home and saw the images big on the computer screen.

German architectural photographer, Andreas Levers has also felt that on occasion and decided to do something about it by blending the real with the computer generated.

DIYP spoke to Andreas to get a little more information and some insight into his work and process.

Has the White House photographer ditched DSLR in favor of Sony’s mirrorless a7R II?

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Many oohs and ahhs were heard when Sony announced the a7R II, and it turns out that one of the camera’s new users is none other than the Chief Official White House photographer Pete Souza.

The EXIF data belonging to the latest photo uploaded to the official White House Flickr account, one of President Obama on the phone with Cuban President Raul Castro, was taken just under three weeks ago and shows Souza’s got a new camera.

Along with the mirrorless a7R II, Souza used a Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA lens.

So is September 2015 to be remembered as the time the White House left DSLRs behind and switched to mirrorless?

How I Fixed My Canon 5D Mark II Shutter With A Screwdriver And A Sense Of Bravery

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The shutter on my old Canon 5D Mark II died while on a trip to Fiji earlier this year. It happened quickly; I was shooting a panorama when horizontal black bars started appearing in some of the shots. After about 10 more photos in between turning the camera off and on again, it was dead. The shutter was stuck closed and powering the camera on yielded a helpless sounding soft ‘clunk’ and an “Error 20″ message. I was quoted around $500 to get this fixed at a repair shop. But.. an OEM replacement shutter is only $90US on eBay. So, after about 6 months of putting it off I finally built up enough #YOLO fever to have a crack at fixing it myself, saving $400 and learning a few things along the way.

The result? Watch the video for the abbreviated version, or continue reading on below for the guide!

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