Of all the things - photography related - that I’ve done over the years, I’ve had plenty of missed opportunities, and made plenty of mistakes. However, there’s only really one thing that I truly regret. And that’s selling my Canon 5D Mark II and 24-105mm lens. There isn’t a year that goes by that I don’t regret that decision.

Dublin's Famous Customs House - One of my first shoots with the Canon 5D Mark II

So why did you sell it then?

I always had a bit of a love / hate relationship with the 5D Mark II. It could produce some wonderful images, but it was at times, incredibly frustrating to use. My biggest issue with it was that it was hard to see the in-viewfinder display when wearing glasses or in bright sunlight. This made it quite difficult to actually see what settings that you were using at times.

Which is kind of a fundamental thing for a photographer.

Obviously not everyone had this problem, or the camera wouldn’t have sold very well. I assume it was some combination of the glasses I wear and whatever way I held the camera. Anyway, I found it annoying.

The other issue I had, was that it was a nightmare to keep the sensor clean. The Canon 5D Mark II was one of the last mainstream cameras to lack some kind of sensor cleaning tech, and it got very dirty fast. Even with the best lens changing etiquette it was really hard to keep it clean.

The other issue was the autofocus. The Canon 5D Mark II had major issues with autofocus, which were well documented at the time, and caused lots of flame wars on various forums. I got attacked quite a few times for saying that it was less than perfect.

I had sort of switched to Nikon after a while, and while I loved my Nikon D700 it lacked the resolution of the 5D Mark II. Which was fine for the most part, but occasionally you would need it for specific purposes.

I generally don’t re-sell old gear, as I kind of hold on to things for sentimental purposes - or because they might become classics in the future. In the end I sold it, because I needed the money, and someone offered me a good deal for it. Financially, I was in a position at the time that I didn’t really have a choice.

cyclist on Dublin's stephen's Green before the Luau

Why do you regret it?

Whenever I look back on photos I took with the 5D Mark II there was something about them that was special. They had a distinct look that’s hard to replicate with another camera (and I’ve tried). I think it was the combination of sensor and canon’s colour technology.

I’ve always thought that the difference between Canon and Nikon was that Canon’s colours were more film like, and Nikon’s colours were more realistic looking (or video like). That distinction has changed significantly over the years, but Canon’s colours still have a filmic quality to them that you don’t really see in other brands, except maybe Fuji.

Part of this is of course the whole “grass is always greener on the other side” syndrome, but I do wish I could have kept it a bit longer.

But what I really wish I hadn’t done is sell my 24-105mm lens with it. That was a superb lens, and in my mind is still one of the best lenses that I ever owned. (The other is the Canon 100mm macro, which I still have.) If I still had that it would be easier to switch back to a canon body today.

I could, of course buy one second hand, and I do keep an eye out for them every now and then, but it just doesn’t seem worth it now, given how far the technology has come. So while I wouldn’t be still using one as my main camera today (although who knows - I still use the D700) I do still regret selling it. I do wish I still had the lens though.

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