I had the chance to shoot for a half day with the 5DS, recently. Since this was a pre-production model, be careful about making any sweeping judgments. I'm guessing that things might change in the final model that we all get.
The form factor feels like a 7DMII to me, which makes sense giving that they use the same BG-E11 battery grip. All the controls feel usable—nothing struck me as in a strange place or non-intuitive. Good solid stuff, and once you're used to the Canon way you'll adapt to this in just a few minutes.
As Canon creates so many branches in the product tree, it reminds me of what GM did with the Pontiac, Olds, Buick, Chevy, Saturn, etc. It's a little hard to find what separates them since they share so many characteristics. Some models share the same great focus. Others have integrated *** and some don't. If you want comments on all of the finer points, it'll be best to build a spreadsheet with all of the specs. So all I'm going to do here is tell you, in big strokes, how I think about this new model.
First, the extreme resolution will be nice, at times, but I haven't been yearning for a 50 MP camera. It will only be useful to me in landscape and macro work. There are no other amazing leaps to me other than the sensor density.
Second, the trade off is in the max frame rate of 5 fps. I just finished two days of shooting wildlife at 14 fps (RAW) with the 1DX, and 5 fps would not have cut it. (Don't worry about the slower transfer speeds when downloading from the card. It's not material in the scheme of things, though you'll definitely want to use at least USB 3.0. for your card reader.)
Now to some other points.
I like:
[list type=decimal]
[*]Processor speed.
[*]Focus matrix. Still amassing stuff.
[*]CF + SD. SD is so much more ubiquitous. E.g., built into Apple's MBPro line.
[*]How I can use so many other pieces of my EOS setup. I shudder (shutter?) to think of how much I've spent on accessories, and I like how Canon salvages our investments.
[/list]
I don't mind:
Here's what would make this their new flagship, which it is not, and feel like a steal at $5,500 (vs. the current $3,900):
Yes, I did order one months ago and I'll keep it when it comes, but I am not as unabashedly excited about this model like I was the 1DsMkII or the 1DX or the 7DMkII. Each of those was revolutionary to me. This feels evolutionary. Its gaps also mean that I'll not be selling my 1D-X like I originally thought.
I've attached two pictures, here, to illustrate the camera's capabilities. The second is merely a crop of the first. Other than that crop, there was no editing done. This was shot at -1/3 EV, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM at 200mm at f/2.8 and 1/160 sec at ISO 800. I was sitting in a car, and this was handheld (not even resting on the windowsill). IS was set on Mode 1. Natural light. Circular polarizer affixed to lens. The original file size was 8,688 x 5,792 pixels (50.3 MP).
I'll like the camera and I'll be glad I bought it, but it's not the flagship replacement I have been waiting for.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pzrz6dp45b6seoz/whole.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s137aad0fp23uzu/whole.part.jpg?dl=0
The form factor feels like a 7DMII to me, which makes sense giving that they use the same BG-E11 battery grip. All the controls feel usable—nothing struck me as in a strange place or non-intuitive. Good solid stuff, and once you're used to the Canon way you'll adapt to this in just a few minutes.
As Canon creates so many branches in the product tree, it reminds me of what GM did with the Pontiac, Olds, Buick, Chevy, Saturn, etc. It's a little hard to find what separates them since they share so many characteristics. Some models share the same great focus. Others have integrated *** and some don't. If you want comments on all of the finer points, it'll be best to build a spreadsheet with all of the specs. So all I'm going to do here is tell you, in big strokes, how I think about this new model.
First, the extreme resolution will be nice, at times, but I haven't been yearning for a 50 MP camera. It will only be useful to me in landscape and macro work. There are no other amazing leaps to me other than the sensor density.
Second, the trade off is in the max frame rate of 5 fps. I just finished two days of shooting wildlife at 14 fps (RAW) with the 1DX, and 5 fps would not have cut it. (Don't worry about the slower transfer speeds when downloading from the card. It's not material in the scheme of things, though you'll definitely want to use at least USB 3.0. for your card reader.)
That resolution (the big pro) and that frame rate (the big con) are how I think you should frame your decision (sorry about that pun).
Now to some other points.
I like:
[list type=decimal]
[*]Processor speed.
[*]Focus matrix. Still amassing stuff.
[*]CF + SD. SD is so much more ubiquitous. E.g., built into Apple's MBPro line.
[*]How I can use so many other pieces of my EOS setup. I shudder (shutter?) to think of how much I've spent on accessories, and I like how Canon salvages our investments.
[/list]
I don't mind:
- That it's not a ground-breaking video platform. I'm beginning to care less about having amassing still camera with amazing video camera. When you think about the capabilities and price of other SLRs in the Canon line, it takes the pressure off that.
- That there's no built-in flash. I can't remember using a built-in flash on my other Canon SLRs.
Here's what would make this their new flagship, which it is not, and feel like a steal at $5,500 (vs. the current $3,900):
- 12+ fps RAW.
- Better light sensitivity at the high end. I'm almost embarrassed that we're topping out at 6,400 (12,800, expanded).
- Wifi.
- ***.
- 4K video (mixed emotions on this one).
- ISO to 51,200.
Yes, I did order one months ago and I'll keep it when it comes, but I am not as unabashedly excited about this model like I was the 1DsMkII or the 1DX or the 7DMkII. Each of those was revolutionary to me. This feels evolutionary. Its gaps also mean that I'll not be selling my 1D-X like I originally thought.
I've attached two pictures, here, to illustrate the camera's capabilities. The second is merely a crop of the first. Other than that crop, there was no editing done. This was shot at -1/3 EV, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM at 200mm at f/2.8 and 1/160 sec at ISO 800. I was sitting in a car, and this was handheld (not even resting on the windowsill). IS was set on Mode 1. Natural light. Circular polarizer affixed to lens. The original file size was 8,688 x 5,792 pixels (50.3 MP).
I'll like the camera and I'll be glad I bought it, but it's not the flagship replacement I have been waiting for.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pzrz6dp45b6seoz/whole.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s137aad0fp23uzu/whole.part.jpg?dl=0
