R5? R6? Anyone?

[Jonathan Huyer]

This is a great photo-only review of the R6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6E6aGswzcE
Of note, BIFs work great, especially with a f/4 or better lens.
The biggest new finding is that the frame rate is reduced to 9 fps when the battery charge drops below 60%, and 7 fps at some point below that. This reduction happens with the R5 as well. For someone like me who is a big blaster, this is a bit of a deal breaker. I love my fast frame rates and I will lean hard on the shutter button to get as many shots as possible when there's action. I suppose a battery grip would help lengthen the time you can get the peak 12 fps. But now that I've had the taste of 16 fps from my 1DX3, even 12 fps is a bit pedestrian (spoiled, I am).

[Karsaa]

Jonathan, you need to get this hooked on your tripod and then connect it to r5/6 with the dummy battery and inverter https://www.astroshop.eu/battery-pac...-159wh/p,59629

[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

Hi everyone, I’ve never been this excited about a new camera since the introduction of the original 1D X. The R5 might reignite my interest in photography lol ��. I’m curious on the AF tracking performance of EF lenses with the R5. I’m still using the original 500 f/4 IS.

[Jonathan Huyer]

Jonathan, you need to get this hooked on your tripod and then connect it to r5/6 with the dummy battery and inverter https://www.astroshop.eu/battery-pac...-159wh/p,59629

Sweet! That's the next best thing to a portable generator

[Kayaker72]

This is a great photo-only review of the R6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6E6aGswzcE
Of note, BIFs work great, especially with a f/4 or better lens.
The biggest new finding is that the frame rate is reduced to 9 fps when the battery charge drops below 60%, and 7 fps at some point below that. This reduction happens with the R5 as well. For someone like me who is a big blaster, this is a bit of a deal breaker. I love my fast frame rates and I will lean hard on the shutter button to get as many shots as possible when there's action. I suppose a battery grip would help lengthen the time you can get the peak 12 fps. But now that I've had the taste of 16 fps from my 1DX3, even 12 fps is a bit pedestrian (spoiled, I am).

Hmmm...from the manual:

coupled with:

I am not sure why "smooth" is giving more shots than "Power saving"....but if FPS drops below 60%, you are 150-200 shots in if using one battery and then you go from 12 to 9.2 fps. I get for some, that is likely a problem. For me, I am wondering about when you drop to 7 fps, because that is what I have now, and I'd like more from my next camera. But, certainly, you can see the issue for photographers that need the high fps. It is no 16 fps.

[Jonathan Huyer]

I am not sure why "smooth" is giving more shots than "Power saving"....but if FPS drops below 60%, you are 150-200 shots in if using one battery and then you go from 12 to 9.2 fps. I get for some, that is likely a problem. For me, I am wondering about when you drop to 7 fps, because that is what I have now, and I'd like more from my next camera. But, certainly, you can see the issue for photographers that need the high fps. It is no 16 fps.

Okay that's very interesting stuff! I'm thinking that the battery life info must be a typo --- the columns are probably reversed. Frame rate will slow down in my 1DX3 for all the factors listed above, with the big exception of battery level. And I do love my fast frame rate. There have been so many occasions where I've fired a burst with wildlife, and 1 shot in a sequence will be a great trophy while the immediately adjacent ones are merely okay. Things happen quickly and it's really nice having something that can keep up. Ditto with BIFs, because with wing movement there are good poses and there are great poses.

[Kayaker72]

And Bryan's reviews are up: R5 and R6.

Per usual, where other reviewers tend to skew towards what is wrong, my impression of Bryan's reviews provide an overall experience of what you should expect. And, these reviews indicate these are two very nice, feature laden cameras. Just stopping to look at the whole picture, compared to their predecessors (6D II, 5DIV, and/or EOS R), these are improvements in pretty much every way:

• It looks like we have a solid 1/3 to 1/2 stop improvement in sensor performance (I was not expecting this)
• The R5 seems to have incorporated dual base ISO (not expecting this)
• There seems to be an improvement in sharpness beyond megapixel count. The new AA filters seem to really be nice in this regard. I was not expecting this, but perhaps I should have been as each generation seems a bit better.
• Faster AF using conventional methods
• New eye (people and animal) AF that people seem nuts about (it is cool on my M6 II, which is people only)
• The fps does slow with battery life, but even when slowed it is 40-100% faster than its predecessors and only slower than the 1D line
• Buffer. These cameras have killer buffers. Even at 20 fps, you have 5+ seconds of continuous shooting and more like 20 seconds with mechanical shutters. No, this is not 1Dx III territory, but so much better than my 2 second limit now.
• CRAW, for those like me that do not like the idea of massive files, seems to provide a very nice alternative to uncompressed RAW. Looks like CRAW is 40-46% of the RAW file size
• Video specs are what they are, but I shoot video for family events in 1080 30fps to 60 fps, so none of the over heating issues effect how I use video
• Battery, I do not like the CIPA rated numbers, but reading Bryan's review is consistent with my M6II use. You typically get double or more of the rated values. Bryan even cited his own use with over 2,000 images taken of birds one morning and over 5,000 taken of high FPS testing and both had battery life remaining. On my Yellowstone trip I just got back from, I charged my M6 II battery once, took over 1,000 shots. If anything, I have developed an issue with the 5DIV battery as it drains while not in use.
• EVFs seem better than expected, especially on the R5. Higher refresh rate and pixel count seem to provide a nice experience. Perhaps a bit of an issue with blackout during high fps, but I have not decided if this is a true issue or a nit pick.
• IBIS is cool and all, but I have very much become a believer over the years in faster shutter speeds for crisper images. And I have yet to see anyone do the test I would want which is hand-held 2 sec exposure IBIS+lens compared to tripod. Granted, I tend to like smoothed out water of 30+ second exposures, so IBIS is a "nice" feature to me. I get it for others.

Put all that together and, wow, these are two very nice upgrades. I am happy to have these two cameras as future options.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I do not need to upgrade at this moment. I am back from my trip. I can think of about 4 moments where having higher FPS or buffer would have been helpful. It isn't like I didn't get shots I am very happy with. Per usual, better decision making on my behalf was a much bigger issue than my gear. However, Jonathan's point is well taken, sometimes the difference between a good and great image is a split second and higher buffer and more fps really help there. If I can more often put myself in those situations, I see the justification for higher fps/buffer. I am also good with the IQ out of my 5DIV for landscapes. In fact, I am a bit curious how the numerical quantified IQ improvements will really translate. But, honestly, after all of this, if I was coming in cold and did not already have gear, I would probably be getting one of these cameras.

[Joel Eade]

AF tracking works well with EF lenses and an adapter:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okeedXcuCjI

[Jonathan Huyer]

Brant - excellent summary. You're right in every respect. If/when I get the R5 I will probably opt for the battery grip, as much for the vertical shooting convenience as for the extra power. It should pretty much eliminate the frame rate reduction due to battery drainage in most daily use.

Having options like the R5 and the 1DX3 is like being able to choose between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. You can't really be critical of either. For me I'm going to stick with the 1DX3 at least until a R5 Mark II comes out (in four years' time, I would guess). I think we're going to see even bigger things to come in terms of frame rate and hopefully the same AF-ON trackpad that is on the 1DX3.

[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

AF tracking works well with EF lenses and an adapter:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okeedXcuCjI

Joel, thanks for the video. I’m extremely happy and relief to know that EF lenses work just as well on the R5/R6.