MikeT9

I’ve had the R5 since last September with the eye tracking AF the main selling point to me. I’d been shooting with a 1DXII for nearly 5 years mostly birds and wildlife and as far as I was concerned the images from this camera were amazing but it’s one drawback was AF tracking on a moving subject. I’m not saying it wasn’t possible, it certainly is, BUT for 99.9 % of the time in order to make sure that you can lock onto, say the head, then a single AF point in the centre of the viewfinder is used. The downside of this is that you end up with little choice in composition, other than trying to move the AF point around the screen. This is somewhat difficult if you’re back button focussing and so you have to zoom out to keep your subject in view as it moves around with a fixed centred AF point.
With eye tracking on the R5, once you acquired and locked onto the subject you can forget about focusing and just concentrate on the composition of your subject in the frame as the AF point moves around the viewfinder. How many time in the past have I got a perfectly focussed head with half the rest of it out of view.
Believe me it’s a game changer, my 1DXII just doesn’t get used now as it can’t compete.

jdmiles Loc: Texas

I will save you some time. You will spend a lot of time to find negative comments from professional reviewers. Well at least that is my experience. The positive reviews are well deserved but I am not sure they will give you a feel for how well it really works. I have commented a few times on UHH about the viewfinder and the focus system.

Doc Barry Loc: Huntsville, Alabama USA

Hi CHG_CANON,
I have all Nikon gear now, but I'm convinced that Nikon will be no better than #3 in the mirrorless gear race. Sony and Canon will have to fight it out. Who's dreaming? Once this virus stuff passes and we can travel again, I'll be buying. Been thinking about becoming an illegal immigrant and heading to NYC since it was reported a few days ago that they will be handing out $15,600 checks to illegal immigrants. Grab my check and head down to B&H and help the economy!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

There are tons of reviews of the R5 online. Go to Youtube and search for Fro Knows Photo. He's got lots of sports examples shot with it... plus many demos of it's AF system (often directly compared with Nikon and Sony). Much as I find his antics a bit too much sometimes, I do appreciate the way he does some of those demos... side-by-side-by-side of exactly what you will see through the viewfinder of the cameras while shooting. That lets you compare the speed of the AF, how far away it can pick up subjects, as well as viewfinder "blackout" (or the lack of it).

Tony and Chelsea Northrup also have done a lot of Youtube reviews of the R5. They go back and forth between using Canon and Sony gear.

You mention the frame rate... Note that the 20 fps is using the electronic shutter. With sports and other action photography you have to be concerned about "rolling shutter" effect that occurs with electronic shutters (not just the R5's, either). 45MP images at 20 fps also will fill up memory cards and hard drives at an alarming rate! Even at 12 fps, "you're gonna need a bigger disk".

Also, you mention indoor sports and basketball, in particular. The R5 has a very useful feature called "Anti-Flicker", which solves much of the exposure problem shooting sports under fluorescent, sodium vapor and similar types of lighting. Those lights cycle on and off rapidly.... so fast we don't notice it with our eyes. But our cameras sure "see it" and the result is a large number of underexposed images. Aside from using a flash, in the past the best solution was a slow shutter speed.... 1/30 or slower. However, that doesn't work for sports. We need at least 1/250 and probably a lot faster to freeze subject movement. So all we could do was take lots and lots of extra shots, because we knew about half of them would be severely under-exposed.

In 2014 Canon introduced the 7D Mark II with Anti-Flicker. When that's enabled, the camera detects the cycle of the lighting and times the release of the shutter for the lights' peak output. From using my 7DIIs "under the lights" a lot... often in the same venues I'd shot previously with earlier camera models... I can tell you IT WORKS! Where I used to see around half or more images poorly exposed, now those images are a rarity! I worried that it would cause delays and problems timing my shutter release with the action, but it usually doesn't. Once in a great while I notice a little lag... but usually I don't.

Canon has since expanded this to almost all the DSLR and mirrorless models that have come out since the 7DII, including the R5. In fact, currently the only Canon DSLRs that don't have that feature are their most entry-level T7/1500D/2000D and 4000D. All the R-series have it. But among the APS-C format M-series, only the M6 Mark II has it.

Finally, you are correct. The new in-body image stabilization feature of the R5 and R6 is said to be fabulous... especially when used with IS lenses that also have built in stabilization. Everyone who has used them together says that 4 or 5 stops worth of assistance is easy and sometimes even more is possible.

CHG_CANON gave you a couple links to some very in-depth, thorough reviews at The-digital-picture and Ken Rockwell's web sites. Those should be helpful.

glennk

The R5 is now my primary body. My R is the backup body. I haven't used my 1DX3 or 5D4 since I got the R5.

The AF is accurately described in many, many reviews. The tracking is top notch, both for wildlife and sports. The resolution and frame rate will not disappoint. Although I didn't think I really needed IBIS, taking handheld images of waterfalls at 0.3" will seal the deal for you.

Short answer = Yes

alphadog

I have some great photo friends who have switched to this R5 model, but they also have $$. they certainly make fine photos daily. None of them are pros, just very serious skilled amateurs.


I use a Canon 5D mk III w/500 f4 L lens + TC 1.4x , for two reasons.

1. least expensive great canon body [ when compared to other models in cost ranges]
2. the 500mm lens is the least expensive and last level, potentially hand-holdable for short bursts for older guys or gals

The R5 when hooked up this older 500mm f4 L lens will NOT shoot the advertised FAST BURSTS, so to get that happening, one must buy the NEWEST electronic lenses, which cost a small fortune. Unless one is a pro making a living, or a person with a great retirement and SS benefits... not likely to happen.

alphadog

I use a Canon 5D mk III w/500 f4 L lens + TC 1.4x , for two reasons.

1. least expensive great canon body [ when compared to other models in cost ranges]
2. the 500mm lens is the least expensive and last level, potentially hand-holdable for short bursts for older guys or gals

The R5 when hooked up this older 500mm f4 L lens will NOT shoot the advertised FAST BURSTS, so to get that happening, one must buy the NEWEST electronic lenses, which cost a small fortune. Unless one is a pro making a living, or a person with a great retirement and SS benefits... not likely to happen.

Rob Simpson

We have two and another is ordered. I agree with the first reply. The attached image was taken with a EF 600 mm L IS ll with a 2x converter at ISO 12800. With Topaz processing you will have no grain at extremely high ISO. The eye focus is sci-fi like even with the EF lenses. The RF 100-500 mm IS L is a wonderful addition for lots of power and speed (even with the 1.4x and 2x converters).

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goldstar46 Loc: Tampa, Fl

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Cactuspic...

Canon has issued an approved list of the lens to work with the R5/R6 focus bracketing

The compatible lens list is in the below URL

https://th.canon/en/support/8204818900

Cheers
George Veazey
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cactuspic Loc: Dallas, TX

Thanks George. I know about the list. The list, however is not exclusive. I have shot over a myriad of focus bracket stacks with my R5 using my Sigma 180mm 2.8 macro with the adapter. The lens and the camera communicated perfectly. Here are a few recent cactus and succulent stacks. (In my prior recent posts, I realized I made a math error and overdownsized my downloaded images by a factor of 10x, which I hope I have corrected. ) At least with the R5, If the lens is not on the list, it is worth testing because the lens might work

Irwin

Irwin

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Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

Thank you for your comments George.

nrowe Loc: Rhode Island

I have had the R5 since December. It is fast and has good resolution. The auto focus can't focus on black subjects very well. I have to use manual focus. It does have a symbol that tells you when its in focus manually. Good luck!

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

I like your photos Irwin.

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

Thank you for your feedback Rob.

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

Thank you for responding alphadog.