Perhaps I am the primary person interested in the R5 II. I do have it pre-ordered and am waiting to hear more about its abilities. I have thus far run the gamut of being very excited to going back and using my R5 and being completely satisfied and wondering if I shoudl skip a generation.

So, I decided to take a minute to look back at the list I created here where I talk about my issues with the R5 Mk 1.

A quick summation:
Cons:

  • Battery and FPS.

The issue I had appears to no longer be present with the Mk II. At least the owners manual for the R5 II does not come with the same caution regarding as battery charge drops, the FPS will decrease. Rather, the FPS is more consistent throughout the battery charge (with the new batteries).



  • Bit depth and FPS.

Again solved with the R5 II. The issue here was the faster FPS modes dropped bits on the R5: "H" mode and slower is 14 bits, but "H+" dropped to 13 bits and electronic shutter dropped to 12 bits. With the R5 II, Bryan (in his review) clearly states that it is 14 bits in these different modes.



  • File size.

Is what it is. This is likely the same. I should probably switch to cRAW. While the computer I built in 2021 can handle it, I am noticing that my libraries are getting larger ever since moving to the R5.



  • AF.

I noted this was not a true con as the R5 is very good, but an area where I could see improvement. That holds true. In fact, this is a key factor I want to hear about in order to keep my preorder. The R5 AF was great, but not infallible. The R5 II does not have Quadpixel AF or even the rotated rows of DPAF like the R1. So, is it better? Does AF work better with vertical lines? Does it stay on osprey's better as they dive? Does it stick to small birds better as they flit around? They did add the "Digic Accelerator" chip that seems to be focused on aiding AF while the other processor handles other duties. So, there is reason to hope in addition to simple evolution.



  • People/mammal eye-AF.

This seems to be a focused area of improvement for the R5 II. They even included the ability to program in peoples faces so the camera would preferentially pick their face. I expect this to be improved.


So, that is my list of cons. It seems like they were mostly to completely addressed.

In terms of reasons to keep my preorder:
  1. If the AF has improved
  2. The 0.5 second pre-capture mode will open up opportunities. That was desired.
  3. Eye Control AF might be in this list. I haven't used it, but I can see that being very useful



Some lesser but still attractive features:

  1. 30 fps. I will not want this often. I usually shoot with 8 fps, even for wildlife. I occasionally go to 12 fps, and even less often use 20 fps. But still, I can see using 30 fps with pre-capture to try to get birds taking off/landing.
  2. Faster readout speed = less rolling shutter. Not a huge issue, but sure, that is a good thing.
  3. More options for electronic shutter mode. Not a huge deal as I shoot electronic first curtain, but I do like that.
  4. I do like the Stills to video switch. I do not like having to go into a menu to switch to video...in fact, I just use the button that defaults to a single mode/limited control.
  5. The R5 II is a tick lighter.
  6. I wonder if the R5 II will be the last R5 with a shutter.


I am hearing about a con to the R5 II. We'll see how it plays out, but some are saying the battery life is a bit worse and that the R5 II is a power hog. We'll see. The CIPA ratings are slightly better with the R5 II, so we'll see if that holds true. But it would be a concern.

Anyone else considering upgrading?