Production of the Canon EOS 5DS and Canon EOS 5DS R has ended

[AlanF]

I am satisfied with my 5DsR for birding but I realize that you have your reasons.Still, I think of it as a downgrade. Of course it is strictly my personal opinion and YMMV.

My personal opinion is that if you are using just the OVF, the 5DSR has better AF (central points at f5.6 and faster but the centre plus helpers is still good at f8), the advantage of FF and is not much outresolved by the 90D because of the absence of the AA-filter. The 90D scores for liveview because it is nearly as good as a mirrorless as the M6 II. I've decided to take the 5DSR rather than the 90D on our next birding holiday because of the FF, and I find that the 100-400mm II on the 5DSR takes the 1.4xTC very well when required, with still good AF.

 

[AccipiterQ]

I took a 5DsR to Iceland this summer. I was satisfied with the IQ; it didn't blow me away until you realize the scope of the file size you're working with. One thing that struck me though: With how magnificent the landscapes were when combined with the photo size, you almost have to print your shots up LARGE to really make use of the camera. Not that I'm complaining, but I think a lot of people that didn't like the 5Ds/R were using lower resolution monitors and maybe not printing or using it for broad panoramic shots where it really shines. It's about use-case.

 

[AccipiterQ]

My personal opinion is that if you are using just the OVF, the 5DSR has better AF (central points at f5.6 and faster but the centre plus helpers is still good at f8), the advantage of FF and is not much outresolved by the 90D because of the absence of the AA-filter. The 90D scores for liveview because it is nearly as good as a mirrorless as the M6 II. I've decided to take the 5DSR rather than the 90D on our next birding holiday because of the FF, and I find that the 100-400mm II on the 5DSR takes the 1.4xTC very well when required, with still good AF.

I'm get the 600iii in the next month....may have to see what 5DSRs are going for used.....could be a beastly combo.

 

[jeffa4444]

The one real advantage of the Canon 5DS (or 5DSr) especially when shooting at ISO 100 as I do in the studio using strobes is the ability to hard crop if you want to and still retain sharp & well defined photos, this goes well beyond what I can achieve with a 5D MKIV or the 6D MKII. Canon sensor tech must have moved on since 2015 when this camera was announced so in theory a 45MP sensor should be better in low-light, colour rendition and noise to the point that the 5MP difference is negated in the EOS-R5.

Aside from birders / wildlife photographers, for what I shoot and for how I display my images 45MP to 60MP is plenty of resolution and if Canon are shifting the game to mirrorless then its a camera I have to consider going forwards to replace my hard-worked 5DS.

 

[AlanF]

I'm get the 600iii in the next month....may have to see what 5DSRs are going for used.....could be a beastly combo.

They are going for about £1000 new from very reliable grey market sellers now.

 

[scyrene]

I am satisfied with my 5DsR for birding but I realize that you have your reasons.Still, I think of it as a downgrade. Of course it is strictly my personal opinion and YMMV.

EDIT: I see you have an EOS 50D. Maybe that could be upgraded to 90D but I understand that maybe this will not get you much so it is much better to have it than get peanuts for it.

I doubt my 50D is worth anything at all. The 5Ds has sat unused for a couple of years, so I won't miss it, plus it's in good condition. Increasing pixel density and frame rate is not a downgrade to me! In good light I don't expect much of a penalty on IQ going back to crop Obviously if money were no object I'd look at getting something better, but I don't take so many photographs nowadays and can't justify the price of a 5D4, R, R5 etc.

 

[Sporgon]

I'm still hoping to trade mine in for (or at least towards) a 90D!

And when you do you'll be able to experience a warm glow of satisfaction in knowing that you've made the recipient of your 5Ds so happy

 

[scyrene]

And when you do you'll be able to experience a warm glow of satisfaction in knowing that you've made the recipient of your 5Ds so happy

I hope so! I'm sure it'll do much better in the hands of someone else

 

[Sporgon]

I hope so! I'm sure it'll do much better in the hands of someone else

I know what you mean about processing the large files. Even on my recent iMac I have to be careful not to clog it up. Sometimes I'll process a raw file from my original 5D and it's so quick ! Also unless you're looking at heavy cropping 50mp really is about large output size. If I reduce the 5Ds output to the same as my M5 I've got to really stick my nose against an A3 Super sized print to see the difference. All low ISO of course.

What I've realised now though is that so much of modern amateur photography is gazing at the detail of an image at 100%, and to this end the more mp the better.

 

[scyrene]

I know what you mean about processing the large files. Even on my recent iMac I have to be careful not to clog it up. Sometimes I'll process a raw file from my original 5D and it's so quick ! Also unless you're looking at heavy cropping 50mp really is about large output size. If I reduce the 5Ds output to the same as my M5 I've got to really stick my nose against an A3 Super sized print to see the difference. All low ISO of course.

What I've realised now though is that so much of modern amateur photography is gazing at the detail of an image at 100%, and to this end the more mp the better.

Yeah, absolutely. The main problem was I got a laptop with a 128GB hard drive which has been a bottleneck - a full day shooting on the 5Ds could easily exceed my free disk space by two or three times, which slows down transfers and sorting through them. In the end, most of the time, the 5D3 is adequate. I don't even need a new camera, just fancy a change.

 

[Act444]

Having gone the same way (2nd 5DsR) I can assure you that a second one will cure your 5Ds camera loneliness

By the way both my 5DsR cameras were bought brand new grey import. I didn't regret it. But that's me of course. YMMV.

EDIT: You are correct about buffer depth. I use the latest type Compact Flash (Sandisk Extreme Pro 150MB/sec write) and silent 3fps shooting to mitigate this issue as much as possible.

With the 5DSR, I typically set the camera to write to CF for speed, then after the shoot, copy all images over to SD for easy import. Works well for me.

 

[tron]

With the 5DSR, I typically set the camera to write to CF for speed, then after the shoot, copy all images over to SD for easy import. Works well for me.

This is what I also do with the slight addition that I try to review them in order to delete the obvious failures and then copy them to the SD card.

 

[Hector1970]

I may have a bad version but my 5DSR has never been my favourite camera. My experience is the image quality of the 5DIV is better. Out of the camera images are softer. Over the years people have suggested ways of improving the images by the way it’s processed. I didn’t really get all this. I want to just judge on a screen straight out of the camera. Mine in particular works very poorly with a Canon 100-400 II.
I can understand birders desiring the 50MP flies but generally for the variety of things I do it’s overkill and not a huge advantage. You’d want to be cropping big time or printing huge. The 5DSR itself is very poor handling the files especially in Raw. The buffer files fast as is very slow to clear. (This is an exaggeration as it’s in a few seconds but at times that is an enormously frustrating few seconds).
Irs not all bad. In studio it performs very well. Landscape on a tripod at ISO 100 it’s great.
Given a choice I’d choose a 5DIV in a heartbeat . A much more useful camera overall.

 

[tron]

I may have a bad version but my 5DSR has never been my favourite camera. My experience is the image quality of the 5DIV is better. Out of the camera images are softer. Over the years people have suggested ways of improving the images by the way it’s processed. I didn’t really get all this. I want to just judge on a screen straight out of the camera. Mine in particular works very poorly with a Canon 100-400 II.
I can understand birders desiring the 50MP flies but generally for the variety of things I do it’s overkill and not a huge advantage. You’d want to be cropping big time or printing huge. The 5DSR itself is very poor handling the files especially in Raw. The buffer files fast as is very slow to clear. (This is an exaggeration as it’s in a few seconds but at times that is an enormously frustrating few seconds).
Irs not all bad. In studio it performs very well. Landscape on a tripod at ISO 100 it’s great.
Given a choice I’d choose a 5DIV in a heartbeat . A much more useful camera overall.

5DIV is a very nice camera especially if you like low light shooting. But 5DsR is very good as a birding camera if you do not want to use a 1DxII or 1DxIII with a 2XIII teleconverter between the camera and the lens. The 5DsR with 100-400 is a very versatile combination not only for birds but for landscapes and close ups as well. So If you are on an excursion and want to travel light this is the solution.

 

[Frodo]

Lots of discussion about file sizes. The 5DsR mRaw files are fundamentally different to the full Raw files, not just in resolution. Similar to the files used in the first colour TVs. They have nowhere near the malleability of the full Raws and quickly go green in shadows. Unusable in my view.
I automatically convert my 5DsR Raws into DNG when importing into Lightroom. Testing shows no real loss in quality, but a substantial decrease in file size.
In terms of IQ, the 5DsR is noticeably better than the EosR, certainly in terms of resolution. The R gains only slightly in terms of dynamic range.

In spite of the better IQ and OVF, I find my R has relegated my 5DsR to the drawer. It has become a niche camera for when I need 50 MP. Ironically, it has become my backup camera for events, in spite of having two card slots.

Nevertheless, I will keep it for the foreseeable future.

 

[AaronT]

I love my 5DsR, this photo is taken with a 100-400L MKI with a 1.4TC, 560mm equivalent. Even heavily cropped the image quality is excellent. BTW, F9.5, 1/500/ ISO 320, shot RAW, converted with Capture One

 

[tron]

Aaron you made me almost regret selling my 5DsR (but fortunately I have another one with even less than 100 clicks).
I have enjoyed using it and I intend continuing to. I just have to persuade myself giving another try at 1.4XIII. I have mixed results with it. I rarely had a success with 7DII+400DOII+1.4XIII lately (but even the very few very sharp I had must mean that the problem lied with 7DII's focusing and not with the IQ of the 1.4X. Interesting thing I had more than decent success rate with the very combination back in Oct 2016, March 2017, April and May 2017 in various excursions. A few years ago (2015) I had tried it with the following combination 5D3 + 100-400 II + 1.4XIII and it was successful.

So I will try it again with my second 5DsR and 100-400II sometime.

Frodo it depends on what you want to shoot. For birding I find 5DsR excellent. At the same time it can be combined with 100-400 for both birding (although with limited magnification), some landscaping and certainly close-up photography. For just landscapes the 30Mpixels of EOS R are enough (at least for me). And they are aided by the improved DR. I have never tried the mRAW settings. In fact I remembered them by reading your post!

 

[dtaylor]

I may have a bad version but my 5DSR has never been my favourite camera. My experience is the image quality of the 5DIV is better. Out of the camera images are softer. Over the years people have suggested ways of improving the images by the way it’s processed. I didn’t really get all this. I want to just judge on a screen straight out of the camera. Mine in particular works very poorly with a Canon 100-400 II.

Something is wrong with your camera. My first thought would be general AF misalignment on the camera body assuming you have the same experience on all lenses. And you're obviously not encountering this with the 5D IV which tends to rule out lens issues.

IQ with my 5Ds and 100-400II is exceptional before any processing. I've been very, very happy with the combo in all shooting conditions.

 

[rwatson767]

I jumped on the 5Ds at the first time it was available. Never looked backed. I can make a very acceptable 8X10 from less than 5% of the RAW file. I have always used it in RAW. I print 90% of my mages and rarely dump one for any reason. Folks ask me every week how do I get the detailed images. I tell them it is all in the the 50MP. I also use all L lenses.

 

[Act444]

I may have a bad version but my 5DSR has never been my favourite camera. My experience is the image quality of the 5DIV is better. Out of the camera images are softer. Over the years people have suggested ways of improving the images by the way it’s processed. I didn’t really get all this. I want to just judge on a screen straight out of the camera. Mine in particular works very poorly with a Canon 100-400 II.
I can understand birders desiring the 50MP flies but generally for the variety of things I do it’s overkill and not a huge advantage. You’d want to be cropping big time or printing huge. The 5DSR itself is very poor handling the files especially in Raw. The buffer files fast as is very slow to clear. (This is an exaggeration as it’s in a few seconds but at times that is an enormously frustrating few seconds).
Irs not all bad. In studio it performs very well. Landscape on a tripod at ISO 100 it’s great.
Given a choice I’d choose a 5DIV in a heartbeat . A much more useful camera overall.

My 5DSR has required adjustment with most of the lenses I've used with it. It is my experience that 50MP is very unforgiving of even the SLIGHTEST MFA misalignment. But my goodness - once I've finally gotten focus to be dead on - nothing else can top it at this point. The 5D4 files are mushy by comparison and its colors are meh. As long as you are at low ISO the 5DSR DEFINITELY puts out the higher quality files, no doubt in my mind.

That being said, I agree with your last sentence. The 5D4 is the better all-rounder. 30MP is plenty for me in all but the most demanding of situations. Also far superior in low-light (the real Achilles heel of the 5DS cameras).