Way Too Soon: A Canon EOS R5 Mark III Wishlist

[Nemorino]

set your lens to 'full time manual'

not every lens supports this e.g. 100L macro

 

[Mikehit]

I don't know about anybody else, but I would like to have the option to set one of the back buttons to manual focus momentarily. I do wildlife photography and sometimes the autofocus likes to lock on a nearby branch, leaf, or whatever, but not the critter I want to capture. Time is of the essences when shooting wildlife. Using the switch on the lens, movement of the camera lens costs valuable time. With the recent update to the R5mkII, it has only made focusing worse. A quick access to manual focus would help me make an adjustment to the focus needed to get the sharp picture.

As has been pointed out not all lenses allow FTM. You can assign the AF-On button to 'AF-off'. Or you can try programming 'registerAF function' button.

 

[David the street guy]

I use Prograde cards (and a Prograde reader), they are nearly as fast with a 3400 MB/s read speed.

I know about Prograde cards, but the link you offered is for the United States, and I won't buy from Amazon, having experienced being sent fake Prograde cards twice (and 1 used and broken reader).

That said, the writing speed of the Prograde is 850 MB/s, while the Lexar is 3300 MB/s, a huge difference.

There must be something I don't understand about those cards! Why is the Lexar so difficult to find on the market?

 

[neuroanatomist]

I know about Prograde cards, but the link you offered is for the United States, and I won't buy from Amazon, having experienced being sent fake Prograde cards twice (and 1 used and broken reader).

The link that I provided was to B&H Photo, not Amazon. The former is a reputable camera dealer who will ship you the bona fide item you order, the latter is a convenient clearing house for counterfeit goods that facilitates the process by commingling their stock such that 'sold by and ships from Amazon' is meaningless, despite their claims that they are ending the practice (and those claims seem to perpetually be 'we're stopping soon).

That said, the writing speed of the Prograde is 850 MB/s, while the Lexar is 3300 MB/s, a huge difference.

There is a difference between max write speed and sustained write speed. The Lexar is 3300 MB/s max write, 3000 MB/s sustained write. You're correct that is faster than the Prograde card, which for the 1 TB version I linked is 3000 MB/s max write and 1500 MB/s sustained write (the smaller cards are slower, my 256 GB card is the 850 MB/s sustained write).

What is your application that you need the highest possible sustained write speed? Canon cameras that use CFe are on the 2.0 standard, compatible with CFe 4.0 cards but unable to write at those speeds. Certainly the higher read speeds make transfers to a computer faster (using an appropriate card reader). I'm puzzled why you need the 3000 MB/s write speed. My understanding is that 8k/60p RAW video needs about 700 MB/s sustained write speed, and that's faster than anything needed for writing still images to a card.

 

[dolina]

Do you think this update will introduce a global shutter or/and computational imaging

 

[1ll]

Change the battery for LP-E19. If Canon doesn't wish to change the body, make it available in a battery grip. Increase the buffer size by adding larger RAM. Allow a dual function, half-press AF-On back button. Add additional physical, articulating positions to the LCD display mount. Better low light performance.

 

[1ll]

Link spot metering and partial metering to the af point.

 

[Blorp]

Change the shutterspeed limit directly without diving into menus.

 

[Rceres]

It’s always a bit surprising to me how much criticism the Canon EOS R5 Mark II receives. These cameras are remarkable feats of engineering, and every design is a compromise. There’s only so much capability you can fit into an R5-sized body before something has to give. As a general-purpose, “one camera does everything well” tool, the R5 II is outstanding. Having recently upgraded from the Canon EOS 5D (purchased when it first came out), I’ve been very pleased with mine.

That said, I’m not the target customer for an R5 III.

If Canon follows the same path as before, the R5 III will likely be a Pareto refinement, slightly better in every spec, but fundamentally the same kind of camera. And for many users, that’s exactly right. But for some of us, the R5 II is already overbuilt in areas we don’t need (30 fps, advanced video), while still not fully optimized for what we care about most.

Personally, I’d trade some of that versatility for a more specialized tool.

The camera I would buy tomorrow (and which Canon might be able to introduce soon) would look similar to the R5, but with a different set of priorities. In particular:

• a meaningful jump in resolution (80+ MP)
• a higher-end EVF closer to the Canon EOS R1

To make that work within a similar form factor, I would happily trade:

• reduced burst rate (10–12 fps is more than enough)
• most or all video features

In other words, a stills-first camera designed for maximum detail, tonality, and rendering. Something aimed at landscape, fine art, studio, real estate, and large-format print work. Photography where ultimate image quality matters more than speed or hybrid capability.

Canon currently has speed-first bodies (R1/R3) and highly capable generalists (R5 II), but no dedicated image-quality-first camera. This would fill that gap.

Call it an R5S, an R4, or something else entirely. I suspect there’s a meaningful audience for a body that prioritizes image quality over versatility.

The R5 II is an outstanding generalist, and I’m sure the R5 III will be even better. I just think there’s room alongside it for a true image quality specialist.