Canon R5 First Impressions

This is a BEAST of a camera. Does it overheat? I would imagine, but it didn’t for me in my testing. Is it amazing? Yep.

Okay, I know before I get accused of being a Canon shill, initially I was hesitant with this camera. Honestly, I am hesitant with any new camera because it is new and because I’d like to think that I approach life with a level of healthy skepticism thanks to my degree in biology.

I digress. My main worry with this camera was the overheating. It seemed rampant with claims that if you looked at it in anything other than an arctic snow storm that it would burst into flames. So naturally when I got to test it out for a week I was a little nervous. But I made a promise to myself to shoot it like I normally would. To not baby it. And that’s what I did.

Here’s the bad. The battery life drains noticeably quicker than a 5d Mark IV & an EOS R. I would imagine this is a combination of the IBIS and the video capabilities. Granted I didn’t shoot 8k all day long but I did do a fair bit of 4k60. 8k files are huge but that should be expected. CFexpress is expensive.

The Good. The AF is incredible. The files look beautiful. Like absolutely gorgeous. 8k may be the buzz feature but 4k120 I think was the surprise that I fell in love with. IBIS is good. AND it has the C3 custom setting when pressing video in photo mode that isn’t in the R6.

If you are a hybrid shooter shooting short B roll clips and can afford the price tag, this is probably already in your bag. Take into account the RF lenses that have both technical prowess mixed with character and you have an ecosystem that is superb.

Would I switch from Sony? Tough call and is going to come down to preference. Especially since the release of the Sony A1.

Below are some images that I have created with this camera.

The Canon R6 Is ALMOST Perfect - Canon R6 First Impressions

SO CLOSE. That’s how I feel about this camera.

When the R5 & R6 were first rumored to be announced everyone was excited over the crazy specs of the R5. While those were jaw dropping specs at the time the camera that I felt would be most attainable for the majority of shooters would be the R6. I turned out to be right when they announced pricing. I was super excited about this camera, hoping that Canon wouldn’t cripple it in some way as we have become accustomed to.

However they did. They removed functionality to maintain a custom setting when pressing the video record button in photo mode that was already present in the EOS R. And then they decided to put that feature back in to the Canon R5 to add insult to injury.

Now I realize that for many of you, this doesn’t mean sh*t. Many of you don’t shoot photo & video at the same time. OR. Many of you have dedicated cameras for those purposes.

If that is the case then the short of it is.

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Just get this camera. It is that good. AF is incredible. High ISO is great. IBIS, well it has it. Dual Slots are there.

VIDEOGRAPHERS: It is a GOOD camera. Are there better options in this price range for strictly video? Yeah. I would consider the BMPCC 6k. But if you want to retain some photo capability to use at distinct times then this is a good option. Can’t write video to both cards. Camera may lock up (I have received reports this may depend on memory cards.)

In any case here are the images that i have shot with this camera.