Why I’m Buying The R5C Instead Of The C50 (Or R6 Mark III)

I don't think Canon has made any claims about this being a BSI sensor...? It seems to be a resolution-bumped version of the R6 II's 24mp FSI sensor.

From B&H (Canon is notorious for screwing up or omitting things on their own web sites)

The claimed 15-16 stops of DR ..... It's also a completely new sensor.

7K Full-Frame CMOS Sensor

The C50 is equipped with a 7K back-illuminated full-frame CMOS sensor that creates images with low noise for improved performance in a wide variety of lighting environments. This maximizes the camera's full 15+ stop dynamic range in full-frame sensor mode. Using 7K resolution provides greater flexibility in post, such as oversampled 4K60 footage.
 
Upvote 0
From B&H (Canon is notorious for screwing up or omitting things on their own web sites)

The claimed 15-16 stops of DR ..... It's also a completely new sensor.

Not sure I quite buy that. Canon's C400 spec page highlights the BSI sensor, while the C50 page does the usual Canon FSI sensor thing of not saying what the sensor tech is. I've also read all the Japanese promo & spec pages and BSI is not mentioned anywhere. Maybe a teardown will show it one way or another but with Canon not trumpeting BSI, the most likely thing is FSI.

As for the claimed 15-16 stops of DR, I'll wait to see a CineD review to see how that turns out. All manufacturers make unrealistic claims about DR.
 
Upvote 0
Not sure I quite buy that. Canon's C400 spec page highlights the BSI sensor, while the C50 page does the usual Canon FSI sensor thing of not saying what the sensor tech is. I've also read all the Japanese promo & spec pages and BSI is not mentioned anywhere. Maybe a teardown will show it one way or another but with Canon not trumpeting BSI, the most likely thing is FSI.

As for the claimed 15-16 stops of DR, I'll wait to see a CineD review to see how that turns out. All manufacturers make unrealistic claims about DR.

You may be right. Newshooter says it isn't, others say it is. This is how Canon confuses people sometimes. I've reached out to someone that would know. I have also contacted B&H directly.

Yes, claimed DR is rarely the case in the real world. However, I can't think of the last camera with Log-2 that wasn't DGO or BSI.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
Love this article. This type of content has me visiting the site more frequently. I'm in the same boat as you, Youtube discussions over camera releases or comparisons have become useless. Fro and PetaPixel are about all I watch now that feel remotely useful/informative. Rest of the videos are just content machines/advertisements.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
Why not wait until hands on the R6iii before giving a critique.

Zack will be reviewing both the C50 and R63. They ship at the same time, so it should be a good comparison. There is no planned "Wow I changed mind!" article, and that will hold true, unless it's legitimate. The R5C is going to be heavily discounted in a couple of weeks in the US refurb sales.

The lack of active cooling in the R63 is an issue from some prospective buyers from what I have read.
 
Upvote 0
"The R5C has an identical button layout to the R5 and R6. And on jobs where I’m using multiple cameras at once, I’ve always struggled remapping my muscle memory from camera to camera. This is a quirk that I never see YouTubers discuss.
See full article...
Of course, they never discuss it. Fits in the picture I have of YouTubers: talk about gear, complain and whine, but never actually use it! That's why they don't know about it.
 
Upvote 0
Why I’m Buying The R5C Instead Of The C50 (Or R6 Mark III)

See full article...

I wonder if Canon will ever do an R5C II based on the R5 II. The fast stacked sensor and strong DR performance in the more familiar body shape, with active cooling, would be of interest to quite a few people.

I also wonder what Nikon will do with the 45mp stacked sensor in the Z8/Z9. Can't help but think they will make an 8k cine body with that sensor. They have the potential to be quite disruptive to the industry if they listen to Red and play their cards right.
 
Upvote 0
I wonder if Canon will ever do an R5C II based on the R5 II. The fast stacked sensor and strong DR performance in the more familiar body shape, with active cooling, would be of interest to quite a few people.

I also wonder what Nikon will do with the 45mp stacked sensor in the Z8/Z9. Can't help but think they will make an 8k cine body with that sensor. They have the potential to be quite disruptive to the industry if they listen to Red and play their cards right.

I don't think so. The R52 has a fan. The C80 sells really well and the C50 will too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
Why stop at 7K for the C50 instead of 8K? Is the industry really shifting towards online content that much?
16:9 @ 8k requires just shy of 40mp on a 3:2 sensor. That would be a very small pixel size for an FSI sensor, perhaps too small to be a good idea. (The more pixels, the smaller the pixels. The smaller the pixels the more of the pixel that gets blocked by the electronics that sit in front of the photodiode on an FSI sensor.) To address this Canon would have had to go with an all-new BSI sensor, and for whatever reason they don't seem to want to put BSI sensors into the R6 segment.

An R6 III with a fast 8k-capable 40mp BSI sensor would be something similar to the Panasonic S1R II, but at a lower price point. That would be very, very close to what the R5 II offers. Not exactly the same - no stacked sensor - but close enough that Canon would probably not be comfortable with it.
 
Upvote 0
"Canons just work. You can pick it up and shoot with it out of the box."

That's it, that's why I came to Canon when I went digital and still am overall happy with gear from this brand. It simply works, that's for me more important than having a king of lab based reviews in my hand, but with quirky ergonomics.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
We all have different needs, R5C is a great cam but I personally see very little reason to lean towards it at this particular point in time.

R6 mk3 has IBIS, Clog2, open gate etc. It doesn't have a fan I'll give you that, but tests have shown it won't overheat in the most common 30p modes. If you shoot long form 60p content then maybe there is an argument there.

The cine OS in R5C/C50 is definitely nice, especially for shutter angle as you mention but R6 mk3 has custom modes so just set your high frame rate and shutter speed combos in there or use the new S&F function that conforms to slomo directly (much better imo).

I wouldn't underestimate open gate either, if you have never shot it you don't realise what you're missing. Being able to reframe for social in 2025 is a must and personally I love having the full sensor capture for framing and pulling still grabs.

Clog2 is also a much better log profile than Clog3, less contrasty, more filmic and outputs better DR.

Finally low light will be better on the newer lower MP R6mk3 sensor.
 
Upvote 0