how about battery life? I mean say for sports event shooting did you need to change battery? that's where a lot of ppl caresI've had a couple hours to test the R5, and Wahhhhhhh overheating, it is garbage and I'm so mad that Canon personally cheated me! I was going to shoot cat videos and weddings in 8K for 6 hours every day but this thing is stupid and an obvious failure. It should only cost 50 dollars. Canon is doomed and crippled us again. I just threw it off my balcony. Just kidding .
The real scoop: So far it is great and I am not encountering anything but being mostly impressed. Adjusting to the form factor of a smaller body and the new controls, etc. but so far so good. Some notes from my first play time:
This is going to make shooting very pleasant and more convenient, and be a robust stills camera in all light and weather, and competent video camera for light and mid duty jobs in moderate to good light. The build feels very solid and elegant and the body is clearly well thought out for the most part. The only thing I have found that is a real negative, is the grip is more squared and smaller than most FF DSLRs and is not nearly as comfortable, and the controls feel a bit close together which is an advantage for reaching some and disadvantage for others.
Ergonomics:
- The thing is silent in electronics shutter and pretty darn quiet mechanical.
- Not a fan of the smaller size and less rounded grip compared to a DSLR. Space and comfort are slightly reduced and controls are not as perfectly placed. It isn't awful, but is the thing I like least so far. I will be buying an L bracket to hopefully make it larger and better balanced. Canon and industry should calm down with the one camera for all purposes and leave pro gear pro- and large for comfort. Also would be easier to pack in features and cool probably.
- The screen is very high quality and great touch response. Articulation feels solid, like it will not be fragile unless you really screw up and ram it into something. Visually, it is on par with a good phone screen, just smaller.
- I still love an optical viewfinder and how much more natural that feels, but there are many advantages to EVF and with this one, it is not awful to look through. You can shoot, operate the menus, and review all in the viewfinder. I particularly like how much larger images look reviewing in the viewfinder.
- Screen and VF brightness lowered from default by one tick look best to me indoors and should save power unless I need the brightness.
- The timeout on the screen and VF can be lowered, but not as far as I think it should be. I want max power savings. The 5D4 had a 2 second timeout on review of images and I think this screen and VF should have that low of an option too. The lowest is 15 seconds currently. You can turn off either VF or screen in menus but would prefer short auto off time options .
- The menu system and display options on screen and in viewfinder will suit anyone, they have done a really great job offering many options for info display and control setup. So many ways to customize to a simple workflow for most tasks. Still miss quick control custom layouts though.
- Batteries fully interchangeable with previous ones, even off brand.
- The magnesium alloy seems different composition, maybe to enhance thermal conductivity closer to copper since the body is the heat sink surface? I can feel the body take heat form my hands very slightly, and that should help dissipate heat from inside. After a long session of constantly playing with everything the body felt barely warm at 78-80 degrees ambient.
- There is a very subtle quiet clunk if you move the un-powered body in a direction with hard enough motion (takes a good shake). This is the IBIS mechanism, which when un-powered, allows the sensor to float on the IBIS suspension. I don't think this rattles at all as some have said. It feels solid still and to me the sound is no bother. When powered, does not happen.
- All buttons seem well placed. The dials are decently placed but a bit close on the top for my large hands. The joystick is up too high but not awfully so. Not nearly so cramped as many mirrorless bricks, but I still wish this smaller-is-better mentality, when we are talking about pro equipment, would stop. Portable stuff should be a niche market. By comparison, the 5D4 feels luxuriant and more natural in the hand. Large lenses also look dumb on a mirrorless but whatever.
- I love the top screen, which I think is e-ink like any kindle and displays the mode even when off .
- You can operate the mode dial like the old one without looking down. Better, you can remove modes you will not use from that rotation order. It could be just a few modes if you want, like Av, M, B, C1, or any other list you desire.
- Everything feels intuitive for the most part. Video configuration and shooting is just easy, and you get good info as you select options about shooting times, etc. Stills basic settings are accessible in several screens and via the dials of course. Getting to deep settings is never more than a couple buttons or touches and much can be customized. Very easy to use overall for any shooter, particularly Canon shooters, and hoping I will get as comfortable with it, or more, as the 5D4 over time.
Performance so far:
Conclusion so far? Going well, no major regrets. To me, the camera is as advertised as I never latch onto a feature with unrealistic expectation. Field testing on some tough shoots soon should tell me if I love it, but I already like it. Curious to see how others are getting along with their R5/6 if you were able to get one.
- The focus system is amazing. So fast compared to 5D4 even in low light. So many options for different scenarios. Tracking on objects works well but I have not tried face or animal modes yet, but I can tell there is a lot of ability here. Machine learning and later firmware may make this even better still. It is already class leading and 100% coverage focus points is great. Video focus seems reliable, effortless and easy. For stills, I cannot figure out how to get the focus point to move when I move the joystick without first pressing the focus spot button. Time to read the manual.
- I got something near but slightly below the 20FPS with an old 24-105 EF mk1 and off brand battery in a quick unscientific burst test of about 50 images. In electronic shutter only, this thing flies. It did take a while to write the buffer out to my midgrade SD card but I had plenty more buffer to go if I had wanted it.
- IBIS is great. I handheld a 1/6 second on my old 3 stop 24-105 and it was almost as sharp as a 1/100 so I am getting at least 4-5 stops on an old EF lens and could never have hand held that before.
- Image quality looks like a good step up form the 5D4 in clarity, noise, high ISO, and color (slightly). I have only done some quick tests so this is just first impressions. Some reviewers are saying the Canon sensor stills quality is out there with the best of them now, and while the base DR is not the absolute top of the pack, it is not far behind, very good and improved. At high ISO, DR is equal or better than most competitors as it has been since the 5D4 came out with Canon sensors.
- High ISO is looking more usable than the 5D4. Will need to take more subjects to get a better feel. An astrophotography landscape trip ought to put it through the ringer, hopefully I will do that soon.
- Tried some 4K30 and 4K60 low bitrate (haven't bought cards to try higher res or bit rates yet). To me it looks really good compared against my Sony NXCAM HXR-NX80 4K. Of course uncropped full frame, I can get much wider, still clear and sharp with great Canon color, and a way better stabilizer. Haven't done a pixel peeping 4K comparison, but the 5D4 held its own against most 4K options and this should be even better. Won't even get into the nonsense about HQ modes and limits, I did not buy this as a dedicated video camera and don't even have the memory cards for those modes yet. I will still retain dedicated video tools because I don't have this belief any hybrid can do it all yet, and probably not for years to come.
- Shot for only a few minutes of video at a time so far so no comment on heat issues but I doubt for my normal uses I will encounter them. If I need long form video for interviews or documentary (which I only very rarely do) I have a dedicated pro Sony NXCAM camcorder for 1080P (still very appropriate for most jobs) and 4K, and off camera sound capture. That is the most realistic kind of camera for event and documentary work in my opinion. If I was doing full frame video production I would look at the newest Sony, or more likely the SH1, or if I could afford it, a used or new Cinema camera. Hybrids may never do it all just based on engineering trades and physics, despite what all the entitled people think and poor marketing suggestions.
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