Teardown: Canon EOS R5 by Lensrentals.com

Canon Rumors Guy

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The guys at Lensrentals.com have started their teardown of the Canon EOS R5. This teardown focuses on the camera design choices by Canon. I have been told that a further article about the thermal performance of the camera will come a little bit later.
Lensrentals.com is also offering 15% off all orders that arrive before October 2, 2020, with the coupon code SEPT15 during checkout.
The original ‘Uncle Roger’ breaks it down as only he can.
By Roger Cicala
Published September 8, 2020
Let’s get one thing out of the way in the first sentence. If you’re here to understand the mysteries of thermal flow in the R5 I can tell you everything I know without opening the camera up: It’s small, it’s weather-sealed, and photo-body...

Continue reading...
 
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Joules

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...and very little thermal padding....ha ha ha
Don't know about that. Those aluminium plates looked pretty beefy. As Roger noted, it is one thing to move heat around in an enclosed space and another to get it out and away from the enclosure.

Anyway, the only real take away for me here is that there is little space to add components that would help with thermals without massive redesigns, Roger didn't point out any flaws that were obvious to him and the sealing looks fantastic compared to the R (which when tested still technically survived a lot of water).
 
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Don't know about that. Those aluminium plates looked pretty beefy. As Roger noted, it is one thing to move heat around in an enclosed space and another to get it out and away from the enclosure.

Anyway, the only real take away for me here is that there is little space to add components that would help with thermals without massive redesigns, Roger didn't point out any flaws that were obvious to him and the sealing looks fantastic compared to the R (which when tested still technically survived a lot of water).

The R6, from what I recall, doesn't seem to have as much Thermal Padding as the R5 (the website I saw the R6 teardown has the article but no longer shows the photos: R6 Teardown link ) . So maybe I jumped the gun with my post (but still think it was a funny reply, ha ha) . But, I would think enough thermal padding to cover the entire processor would/could have been used on the R5 but that wasn't the case here. What do I know, lol.
 
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usern4cr

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Since this thread is about the R5 teardown, I'll mention what recently happened to my R5:

I got my new R5 and lenses a while back (yay!). So I decided to put it on a tripod with a RF 70-200 f2.8 lens with lens hood and put it out on my outside deck at minimum focus distance for 200mm at my hummingbird feeder. I started an unlimited 8K raw video with a formatted 325GB Prograde Cobalt card. My goal is to extract, from the video, some nice 8K pixel wide still frames of hummingbirds in flight or in a good pose while sitting there (in pre-determined focus). Since this is about the fourth time I've done this, I thought I'd go back inside and get on the computer and come back after the CFExpress card filled up.

After getting distracted for about an hour while focused on my computer, I looked outside and marveled at just how hard the rain had been coming straight down for the last 5 minutes or so. Then it hit me - BAM - wasn't my camera outside on the porch? DOHHHHHH!!!!!!

I ran to my deck, grabbed the camera & tripod (still in the pouring rain) and brought it inside. I got some nice quality towels (the kind they use at car washes) to slowly dab the water off the camera & lens. When I got most of it off I dared to look inside the lens hood to see how much water got on the front lens - and saw there wasn't a drop on it! - There wasn't any moisture at all on it! Wow - that long lens hood really made a difference, way more than I'd expect. After getting all the water off it (including the back LCD) that I could see I left it in a dry location to sit for a few hours. After that I opened the battery door (remembering seeing Sony Alpha videos of water running out of its battery compartment when people did an intentional water test with it). There was no water there - not a speck of moisture. The top LCD had no moisture anywhere (including under the glass itself which I really worried about). The back LCD & EVF had no moisture on them or under the glass. Next I slowly took the lens off and saw that there was not a speck of water around the mount surfaces, at the back of the lens or inside the camera that I could see. Looking through the lens, there was no water or moisture at all that I could see. I couldn't find any moisture anywhere.

In the few days past, I have used the same R5 and lens for lots more pictures, and there was no problem whatsoever.

All I can say is "Thanks, Canon! You did a great water sealing job!", followed by "I hope I'm never this stupid again!"
 
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snappy604

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Since this thread is about the R5 teardown, I'll mention what recently happened to my R5:

I got my new R5 and lenses a while back (yay!). So I decided to put it on a tripod with a RF 70-200 f2.8 lens with lens hood and put it out on my outside deck at minimum focus distance for 200mm at my hummingbird feeder. I started an unlimited 8K raw video with a formatted 325GB Prograde Cobalt card. My goal is to extract, from the video, some nice 8K pixel wide still frames of hummingbirds in flight or in a good pose while sitting there (in pre-determined focus). Since this is about the fourth time I've done this, I thought I'd go back inside and get on the computer and come back after the CFExpress card filled up.

After getting distracted for about an hour while focused on my computer, I looked outside and marveled at just how hard the rain had been coming straight down for the last 5 minutes or so. Then it hit me - BAM - wasn't my camera outside on the porch? DOHHHHHH!!!!!!

I ran to my deck, grabbed the camera & tripod (still in the pouring rain) and brought it inside. I got some nice quality towels (the kind they use at car washes) to slowly dab the water off the camera & lens. When I got most of it off I dared to look inside the lens hood to see how much water got on the front lens - and saw there wasn't a drop on it! - There wasn't any moisture at all on it! Wow - that long lens hood really made a difference, way more than I'd expect. After getting all the water off it (including the back LCD) that I could see I left it in a dry location to sit for a few hours. After that I opened the battery door (remembering seeing Sony Alpha videos of water running out of its battery compartment when people did an intentional water test with it). There was no water there - not a speck of moisture. The top LCD had no moisture anywhere (including under the glass itself which I really worried about). The back LCD & EVF had no moisture on them or under the glass. Next I slowly took the lens off and saw that there was not a speck of water around the mount surfaces, at the back of the lens or inside the camera that I could see. Looking through the lens, there was no water or moisture at all that I could see. I couldn't find any moisture anywhere.

In the few days past, I have used the same R5 and lens for lots more pictures, and there was no problem whatsoever.

All I can say is "Thanks, Canon! You did a great water sealing job!", followed by "I hope I'm never this stupid again!"

bet that got your heart going :)
 
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SteveC

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Since this thread is about the R5 teardown, I'll mention what recently happened to my R5:

I got my new R5 and lenses a while back (yay!). So I decided to put it on a tripod with a RF 70-200 f2.8 lens with lens hood and put it out on my outside deck at minimum focus distance for 200mm at my hummingbird feeder. I started an unlimited 8K raw video with a formatted 325GB Prograde Cobalt card. My goal is to extract, from the video, some nice 8K pixel wide still frames of hummingbirds in flight or in a good pose while sitting there (in pre-determined focus). Since this is about the fourth time I've done this, I thought I'd go back inside and get on the computer and come back after the CFExpress card filled up.

After getting distracted for about an hour while focused on my computer, I looked outside and marveled at just how hard the rain had been coming straight down for the last 5 minutes or so. Then it hit me - BAM - wasn't my camera outside on the porch? DOHHHHHH!!!!!!

I ran to my deck, grabbed the camera & tripod (still in the pouring rain) and brought it inside. I got some nice quality towels (the kind they use at car washes) to slowly dab the water off the camera & lens. When I got most of it off I dared to look inside the lens hood to see how much water got on the front lens - and saw there wasn't a drop on it! - There wasn't any moisture at all on it! Wow - that long lens hood really made a difference, way more than I'd expect. After getting all the water off it (including the back LCD) that I could see I left it in a dry location to sit for a few hours. After that I opened the battery door (remembering seeing Sony Alpha videos of water running out of its battery compartment when people did an intentional water test with it). There was no water there - not a speck of moisture. The top LCD had no moisture anywhere (including under the glass itself which I really worried about). The back LCD & EVF had no moisture on them or under the glass. Next I slowly took the lens off and saw that there was not a speck of water around the mount surfaces, at the back of the lens or inside the camera that I could see. Looking through the lens, there was no water or moisture at all that I could see. I couldn't find any moisture anywhere.

In the few days past, I have used the same R5 and lens for lots more pictures, and there was no problem whatsoever.

All I can say is "Thanks, Canon! You did a great water sealing job!", followed by "I hope I'm never this stupid again!"

This sounds like Canon did a hell of a good job.

As did your cardiologist.
 
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usern4cr

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Thank you for inadvertently testing the weather sealing on the Canon R5 and RF 70-200 mm lens for the rest of us. ;) In all seriousness, I am glad that there were no immediate issues and that the camera and lens has worked since that time
You're welcome. And I'm glad it's just like new, too!

I hope I don't have any more "tests" like that ever again.
 
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usern4cr

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This sounds like Canon did a hell of a good job.

As did your cardiologist.
And I'm a Grand-pa, so I'm just glad I didn't have to change my pants! :ROFLMAO:

But seriously, the most embarrassing thing about that moment of shock is having to admit to yourself just how much of an idiot you can be when you're not careful! Now I don't leave it outside unattended unless I check the sky, the weather report, and set a timer on my phone (oh, and make sure I'm carrying my phone, ... and its battery is charged ... and the volume is full ... hmmm ... anything else?) :rolleyes:
 
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SteveC

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And I'm a Grand-pa, so I'm just glad I didn't have to change my pants! :ROFLMAO:

But seriously, the most embarrassing thing about that moment of shock is having to admit to yourself just how much of an idiot you can be when you're not careful! Now I don't leave it outside unattended unless I check the sky, the weather report, and set a timer on my phone (oh, and make sure I'm carrying my phone, ... and its battery is charged ... and the volume is full ... hmmm ... anything else?) :rolleyes:

Weld the camera into a padded steel box.

It might--mind you might--be safe from user error that way. :D
 
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I slipped over and completely immersed my 80D and 100-400mm II in a saltwater rock pool a few years back. The 80D died due to a small leak in the top dial - an impressive result given we are talking completely underwater and not the greatest sealing as Canon models go. A writeoff, but it still turned on.

The lens still worked, so I decided to use it till it broke, and Im still waiting for it to break. To say I was impressed is putting it mildly.

Having the chance to survive saltwater is my gold standard as thats where I seem to I kill cameras. Knowing they further prioritised sealing is good news to me, particularly given I still get unlimited 4k with it.
 
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It's good that the R5 seems to be weather sealed well. But wouldn't you expect no impact of rain on a weather sealed camera and lens? I never stop shooting with my 5D4 when it starts to rain, it simply gets wet. Never had a problem, but would you guys consider that careless?

My 5D Mark III also took a few baths in downpours right after buying it in 2012, it hasn't skipped a beat. I also used to use old Rebels for storm chasing and never had one fail, those were abused.
 
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