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

SteveC

R5
CR Pro
Sep 3, 2019
2,678
2,592
You *CAN* do 3(or more or less) - shot exposure bracketing with the R5 with a single press. I have it set up as my main way to shoot. Use the M-fn button and select the 2nd from left choice (for single shot/multi shot/timer delay choices). Choose the multi shot H+ setting (best). Now, with the exposure already set up to do 3(for example) different exposures, just press and *HOLD* the exposure button long enough for the 3 shots to finish (it won't do more than that even though you continue holding the button). DONE! Ta-Da! Note: if you don't hold it long enough to finish the 3 shots then you will have the bad behavior in your next shots that you already mentioned. That's why I use the multi shot H+ setting as it finishes the 3 shots the quickest!

But that's just it. To *properly* use exposure bracketing, you must NOT be in single shot mode. Yet you can do that. Either: Single shot mode should take three shots when you're doing exposure bracketing, and so should the other modes, OR, you shouldn't be able to do exposure bracketing in single shot mode.
 
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usern4cr

R5
CR Pro
Sep 2, 2018
1,376
2,308
Kentucky, USA
But that's just it. To *properly* use exposure bracketing, you must NOT be in single shot mode. Yet you can do that. Either: Single shot mode should take three shots when you're doing exposure bracketing, and so should the other modes, OR, you shouldn't be able to do exposure bracketing in single shot mode.
Of course, you are completely right. To ordinary photographers using this camera, we would immediately tell the designers to do it your way (that's my preference too). But we mere users just have to use what they give us, and comment about making it better, and see if the make improvements or not. After all, a quick firmware update can fix that issue, as well as loads of other issues - IF they just looked at what we say, see the benefit in it, and make the firmware changes! Hellllloooo, Canon - can you hear this ?????
 
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SteveC

R5
CR Pro
Sep 3, 2019
2,678
2,592
Hellllloooo, Canon - can you hear this ?????

Of course they can't. I can only hope someone that knows where to send such to where someone who can make a decision will actually see it, does so. Because most of the suggestions on this thread are good ones (the others, I don't understand so they may be good too for all I know).
 
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Which reminds me how irritated I was by the way exposure bracketing works in single shot mode. You have to actually press the shutter three times, and if you lose count somehow, or forget you're in that mode, you're never going to figure out why the camera is misbehaving and underexposing then overexposing. Exposure bracketing and white balance bracketing should cause a burst of the proper length even in single shot mode, since you obviously want three or five (or however many) shots. I imagine this is true for focus bracketing too.
As an alternative to burst mode, if you set the timer (a little annoying sometimes), then the camera will take the bracket series. You can ensure your composition is correct and perhaps hand-hold better. When I do landscapes or nightscapes, I can just click and forget and no matter how long the exposures / number of shots, it will just doing the series...
 
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FrenchFry

Wildlife enthusiast!
Jun 14, 2020
484
603
Of course they can't. I can only hope someone that knows where to send such to where someone who can make a decision will actually see it, does so. Because most of the suggestions on this thread are good ones (the others, I don't understand so they may be good too for all I know).
Hi,

My plan is to consolidate the list, ordered by the ones with the most likes/feedback to least, and make it available here. Then we can all post to the proper Canon feedback channels for our regions (if desired).

I also suspect that Canon has people reading threads such as these as well. The more participation we get, the greater the likelihood that they are receptive to the feedback.

The R5 is an awesome camera. It would be great if Canon made it even better by incorporating the ideas from this community of users and others who have valuable insight.

Thanks for your participation!
 
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I sent two sets to Canon Support yesterday :):


Heat Management

  1. Allow me to turn off the EVF and main screen through an assignable button or menu item. I know you have power off, but 1 minute while I am walking seems unnecessary
  2. Allow me to choose the FPS numerically. I think this is simpler than offering single, low, H, H+, so I can chose how fast
  3. Allow me to choose whether I prioritise speed of clearing the buffer ie I/O speed or improved thermal management by slowing down the I/O speed. If I just do a burst of say 20 pictures, I won’t necessarily do another, and I may be happy to wait for them to write a little slower if it allows me to slow down heat build up.
  4. Allow me to disable at the PHY layer either the CFE or the UHS II card without ejecting. I accept that I may need to remount, or wait for a few seconds for it to be mounted
  5. When I get an overheat, identify the source (which would help me maybe adjust my shooting style) – such information may also help you – unless you already are aware.
  6. Provide a warning when I am getting closer to overheat (I can define the time). Again it allows me to adjust what I am doing, rather than finding out that I have hit the warning.




Non Heat Related

  1. Provide an option to adjust the screen sensitivity when doing touch / drag focus. The R5 seems more sensitive than the M6 II or the R. I will do some further comparisons
  2. Can you please allow me to save settings to storage card. I appreciate that this has previously only been possible on the 1x series (of which I have had 5 bodies), but surely given the price of the R5 this is a small ask.
  3. Allow me to assign a short name to a C1-C3 setting in the Menus, so I know which is which. Selection is still C1-C3
  4. Allow me to combine >1 function to a button. So I might assign changing to Servo AF, Face Tracking, Animal – all in 1 – where I don’t need the full functionality of C1-C3, but I just need to change say 3 or 4 settings at once.
  5. Same as 4, allow me to do it in the Menus, so I can have a “Batch Function” Menu where I can tag several options together
  6. Allow me to disable Menus I don’t use.
  7. Allow me to assign any function to any button. Believe the rate button is still restricted for instance.
  8. Provide an external app (Windows, Mac, Smartphone) which Controls the My Menu. I appreciate the ability to do it on the camera, but it is a little more cumbersome / onerous once you want to move settings between a Menu
  9. Allow me to Label Each of the My Menu. Combined with the Disable function, I could just have maybe 4 screens (sure I can access the others with a quick toggle to enable them, but in normal mode, I don’t need them).
 
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Hi,

My plan is to consolidate the list, ordered by the ones with the most likes/feedback to least, and make it available here. Then we can all post to the proper Canon feedback channels for our regions (if desired).

I also suspect that Canon has people reading threads such as these as well. The more participation we get, the greater the likelihood that they are receptive to the feedback.

The R5 is an awesome camera. It would be great if Canon made it even better by incorporating the ideas from this community of users and others who have valuable insight.

Thanks for your participation!
What would also be interesting is whether people would be prepared to pay for some of the features. Just like you had to send back to get C-Log added, would users be prepared to pay for certain features rather than expect it to be free cause they just paid X,000 bucks for the camera?
 
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cornieleous

5D4 + R5
Jul 13, 2020
208
737
Product: R5 and R6
Request: total blackout of both EVF and screen for timelapse shooters and night shooters. The camera doesn't always need one or the other brightly glowing and wasting power for long exposures or during interval shots. Big oversight. Also, the red light should be included- option to shut it OFF in blackout mode. A timelapse shooter knows they are shooting., and bright lights are not friendly at night.

Note: I am not sure Canon reads these forums, this is not their website. I emailed my requests directly.
 
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cornieleous

5D4 + R5
Jul 13, 2020
208
737
Product: R5 and R6
Request: Landscape Panoramic mode that stitches images in-camera
This will never look good with this kind of camera that uses large optics without a use of a pano rail to put your glass at its nodal point. The lack of rotating about the nodal point of large lenses and parallax cause poor stitches due to bad distortions. This is why professionals creating panos use such rails. A cell phone with its tiny lens does not have this issue because the nodal point is so close to the same point for all applications.
 
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cornieleous

5D4 + R5
Jul 13, 2020
208
737
Product: R5 and R6
Request: Astrophotography features, like star tracking/autofocus
Start tracking requires motion control, unless you suggest some kind of alignment and stack/crop, which software can do much better and would only be marginally useful for deep field anyway, when you could use a real tracker and take minutes long exposures. Not to knock your idea, but it seems best to suggest features that are realistic and possible in the camera by first understanding how things work, or else Canon is likely to ignore- or explain more specifically exactly what you mean.

Autofocus on stars is already possible and amazing with this camera. Never seen anything like it- even dim starts you can just point and focus, right in the EVF.
 
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cornieleous

5D4 + R5
Jul 13, 2020
208
737
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.

That is exactly what the Canon rep told me today. They were happy to take my request for EVF and screen full OFF modes for interval or long exposure, but they said Japan makes the final determination and alluded gently to the fact it could take quite a bit of voice to get heard.
 
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FrenchFry

Wildlife enthusiast!
Jun 14, 2020
484
603
Start tracking requires motion control, unless you suggest some kind of alignment and stack/crop, which software can do much better and would only be marginally useful for deep field anyway, when you could use a real tracker and take minutes long exposures. Not to knock your idea, but it seems best to suggest features that are realistic and possible in the camera by first understanding how things work, or else Canon is likely to ignore- or explain more specifically exactly what you mean.

Autofocus on stars is already possible and amazing with this camera. Never seen anything like it- even dim starts you can just point and focus, right in the EVF.
Thanks for your participation. This was an idea that was proposed by another forum member, and posted here for completeness.
 
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vjlex

EOS R5
Oct 15, 2011
514
430
Osaka, Japan
That is exactly what the Canon rep told me today. They were happy to take my request for EVF and screen full OFF modes for interval or long exposure, but they said Japan makes the final determination and alluded gently to the fact it could take quite a bit of voice to get heard.
I wondered about that, but it's still disappointing to hear. I've lived in Japan for quite a while now. I find companies here to be highly risk adverse, intransigent, and only superficially customer-oriented. I thought with the US being one of their largest camera markets that Canon USA would somehow have a bit more say.
 
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usern4cr

R5
CR Pro
Sep 2, 2018
1,376
2,308
Kentucky, USA
That is exactly what the Canon rep told me today. They were happy to take my request for EVF and screen full OFF modes for interval or long exposure, but they said Japan makes the final determination and alluded gently to the fact it could take quite a bit of voice to get heard.
Thanks for the feedback. I spend a lot of time thinking of ways that could make using my camera better, and trying to email or post them to the manufacturers in hopes that someone will take them seriously. Based on what many people, including yourself, have said I can now see that it is a complete waste of time. I'm not going to bother any more trying to make their system better.

The only thing left is for me to enjoy what they currently offer, and share with others the joy of taking wonderful pictures with mostly wonderful cameras, and strive to get better by listening to thoughtful feedback from fellow photographers. Too bad the manufacturers, Canon included, don't feel the same.:confused:
 
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Product: R5 and R6
Request: DSLR-like display behaviour: normally, display and EVF are off until the eye sensor triggers the EVF on. If the eye sensor is not triggered, the display only comes on for requested image review or automatic review if enabled or for menu operation. "live view" shooting on the display can be activated with a configurable button.

Advantages:
- extremely low power consumption
- reduced dazzling of the user during low light shooting
- no distraction of customers and event guests in low light settings (even the lowest brightness setting of the display can be annoying if all you have are a few candles for light)

Of course you can force the R5 to "EVF only", but then you have to use the EVF for menus and cannot use the touch interface. Annoying. Also the EVF then stays on unnecessarily with no eye in front of it.
 
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usern4cr

R5
CR Pro
Sep 2, 2018
1,376
2,308
Kentucky, USA
That is already possible. I, for example, have configured the "Set" button to "Display Off".
Thanks for your feedback on how to shut off the back display with a single button press.
I wasn't aware of that and I've assigned it to the AF-ON button, since in the advanced manual it states that the AF-ON button has the same functionality as half-pressing the exposure button anyway. So for me (who doesn't do back button focusing) the AF-ON button has no needed use and is free for re-use.

For those who want dimmer displays for night shooting, you can have a custom my-menu screen and add to it:
* Screen brightness
* Viewfinder brightness
That way you can quickly change both of their brightnesses to the minimum visible values for night use, which ought to help. And you can still use the "display off" re-assigned button to turn the "dimmest visible back screen" to completely off.
 
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