Dear Canon... R5 and R6 Firmware Upgrade and Feature Requests

[FrenchFry]

Greetings CanonRumors members and Canon enthusiasts,

After the exciting announcement of the R5 and R6 last week, we learned a lot about the new features that will be available in these cameras. Canon has indicated that they are listening to user feedback, and will hopefully be making firmware improvements to these bodies based on customer experiences once we start receiving the cameras. These improvements are likely to include both new functionality and refinements to existing features.

Do you have a firmware upgrade and/or new feature request for Canon? If so, please add it as a reply below (one idea per reply). If the feature that you are hoping for is already listed, please use the like () feature, so we don't wind up with a ton of duplicates, but Canon can also see how popular that idea is.

With any luck, Canon will see the consolidated feedback from this thread and hopefully incorporate it in future firmware releases. Let's make it easy for Canon to incorporate your great ideas!

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

The firmware updates are already decided based on feedback from the employees and pro's that tried the cameras over the past few months. It takes 6 months to develop and test firmware upgrades, so rather than delay the introduction further, they plan to add features or fix minor things later. When its extremely urgent, they can do it in two months for a single feature.

Canon does not read this forum to get ideas for firmware from those who have not even used the cameras. A few Canon employees may be reading the forum, but not from Japan. Japan is reluctant to incorporate suggestions from the US users, it takes a lot to get them to listen.

 

[FrenchFry]

Canon was proud to announce in the product videos released so far that they are actively listening to user feedback. There are already reports that Canon may be working to address the public's request for more video options, such as IPB and Canon Log 3 (it is also possible that they were already working on these items before they got so much attention). Canon may never read this forum, but I suspect that with a product as hyped up as this, Canon employees are actively monitoring what people think, so it could be useful to keep the information organized. I am not under any illusions that firmware upgrades will happen very quickly, but there is no harm in gathering ideas that could potentially improve these products over time, since many people will keep these bodies for years.

I agree that feedback from people who have used the camera is most helpful when referring to existing functionality, and I would hope that no one is going to make a criticism here about an existing feature not being good enough if they have not tried it themselves. That's not the point of this thread. However, for features that are missing entirely, there is no need to wait until the camera is in your hands to know that you would like to see it in a future update. I'll provide some example ideas below. I'm not claiming credit for these ideas, just consolidating some of the many requests that I have seen.

 

[FrenchFry]

Product: R5 and R6
Request: Pixel shift functionality for ultra high MP stills images

 

[FrenchFry]

Product: R5 and R6
Request: Higher (or unlimited) flash synch speeds

 

[FrenchFry]

Product: R5 and R6
Request: Landscape Panoramic mode that stitches images in-camera

 

[FrenchFry]

Product: R5 and R6
Request: AF point linked spot metering mode

 

[FrenchFry]

Product: R5 and R6
Request: Pre-shot buffer, like Olympus Pro Capture

 

[FrenchFry]

Product: R5 and R6
Request: Software ND Filter

 

[FrenchFry]

Product: R5 and R6
Request: Astrophotography features, like star tracking/autofocus

 

[FrenchFry]

Product: R5 and R6
Request: Focus bracketing request: first initial position in the middle of bracketed shots instead of starting the bracket at the focused position and increasing focus distance only.

 

[pmjm]

Product: R5
Request: 4K video oversampled at 6K. Might require a crop, but could generate less heat than the 8K oversampling and allow for longer record times.

 

[koenkooi]

Product: R5
Request: 4K video oversampled at 6K. Might require a crop, but could generate less heat than the 8K oversampling and allow for longer record times.

AIUI there's already a crop mode that oversamples it at 5.1k. Do you want a specific 6k mode or do you want a slider that goes from 1x to 2x crop with a lot of values in between?

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Canon was proud to announce in the product videos released so far that they are actively listening to user feedback. There are already reports that Canon may be working to address the public's request for more video options, such as IPB and Canon Log 3 (it is also possible that they were already working on these items before they got so much attention). Canon may never read this forum, but I suspect that with a product as hyped up as this, Canon employees are actively monitoring what people think, so it could be useful to keep the information organized. I am not under any illusions that firmware upgrades will happen very quickly, but there is no harm in gathering ideas that could potentially improve these products over time, since many people will keep these bodies for years.

I agree that feedback from people who have used the camera is most helpful when referring to existing functionality, and I would hope that no one is going to make a criticism here about an existing feature not being good enough if they have not tried it themselves. That's not the point of this thread. However, for features that are missing entirely, there is no need to wait until the camera is in your hands to know that you would like to see it in a future update. I'll provide some example ideas below. I'm not claiming credit for these ideas, just consolidating some of the many requests that I have seen.

Canon does have a web site where they listen to requests, providing they explain why its needed as opposed to what is provided. They seldom add now features, but if a feature was already planned and had to be turned off pending a fix, they do follow up.

Why would a person want focus bracketing to start in the center of a object? Then, where would it go? What software could process it? Some sort of rational reasoning would help a person understand why it should be different than the standard of working from near to far. By going from near to far, you assure that the closest part of the object can be in focus and not nearer than the lens will focus. There is a good reason for things like that.

 

[usern4cr]

Product R5 and R6:

Request: Aperture bracketing (relative to current aperture chosen):

Menu choices:
Aperture bracket: on/off
#stops per step: 1:9
#steps wider: 0:9
#steps narrower: 0:9

Use example:
(current aperture is f4)
#stops per step is 1, #steps wider is 1, #steps narrower is 2
Exposures taken at f2.8, f4, f5.6, f8

Use example:
(lens aperture is f1.4 to f22)
(current aperture is f4)
#stops per step is 4, #steps wider is 1(or more), #steps narrower is 2(or more)
Exposures taken at f1.4(limited to widest), f4, f16, f22(limited to narrowest)

 

[koenkooi]

Canon does have a web site where they listen to requests, providing they explain why its needed as opposed to what is provided. They seldom add now features, but if a feature was already planned and had to be turned off pending a fix, they do follow up.

Why would a person want focus bracketing to start in the center of a object? Then, where would it go? What software could process it? Some sort of rational reasoning would help a person understand why it should be different than the standard of working from near to far. By going from near to far, you assure that the closest part of the object can be in focus and not nearer than the lens will focus. There is a good reason for things like that.

But you do agree that setting the near and far distance yourself and have the camera work out the needed number of steps is a worthwhile option, right?

 

[pmjm]

AIUI there's already a crop mode that oversamples it at 5.1k. Do you want a specific 6k mode or do you want a slider that goes from 1x to 2x crop with a lot of values in between?

It's the R6 that oversamples at 5.1K. The R5 only does it at 8K (well, 7.7 but approximately the same) and generates nearly as much heat as shooting natively in 8K. I figured a 6K oversample with a crop would be a good compromise between heat generation and the higher quality 4K achieved from oversampling.

Edit: My mistake! Just found a mention of the 5.1K crop spec today and had never seen it before. That should suffice!

 

[usern4cr]

Canon does have a web site where they listen to requests, providing they explain why its needed as opposed to what is provided. They seldom add now features, but if a feature was already planned and had to be turned off pending a fix, they do follow up.

Why would a person want focus bracketing to start in the center of a object? Then, where would it go? What software could process it? Some sort of rational reasoning would help a person understand why it should be different than the standard of working from near to far. By going from near to far, you assure that the closest part of the object can be in focus and not nearer than the lens will focus. There is a good reason for things like that.

If there was yet another focus bracketing option added where you could focus on the far distance of a bracket and press a button and then focus on the near distance of a bracket and press the shutter button, then the camera could work out the rest to get the perfect bracket between them. I would welcome that mode as an addition, too.

 

[BeenThere]

Product: R5 and R6
Request: Higher (or unlimited) flash synch speeds

You can’t beat physics with firmware.

 

[FrenchFry]

Product: R5 and R6
Request: Ability to make 1-point AF and Spot AF focus points smaller.