R5? R6? Anyone?

[Joel Eade]

At current prices and for my goal of having a light, hand holdable, high res rig for BIF I think I would prefer the R5 + 100-500mm + 1.4 TC as opposed to the 1DXIII

I could also see using my EF lenses with an adapter on the R5 for more static shots

I would keep my 1DX which is still a very good camera for low light.

Also would keep my 5D MKIV

My 5DS-R I would consider selling to partially offset the cost of the R5 rig

Now I only need a $7K winning lottery ticket

[Jonathan Huyer]

At current prices and for my goal of having a light, hand holdable, high res rig for BIF I think I would prefer the R5 + 100-500mm + 1.4 TC as opposed to the 1DXIII

I could also see using my EF lenses with an adapter on the R5 for more static shots

I would keep my 1DX which is still a very good camera for low light.

Also would keep my 5D MKIV

My 5DS-R I would consider selling to partially offset the cost of the R5 rig

Now I only need a $7K winning lottery ticket

Probably a good strategy overall (especially the part about the winning lottery ticket!). The new 100-500 with 1.4 TC will have a wide-open aperture of f/10 at full zoom, so you're definitely going to need a lot of light to get BIFs at 1/2000 sec without hitting crazy high ISO. So that's the only downside I can see. Time will tell how good the R5 is for noise, but at 45 MP it is inherently limited by the laws of physics so it's going to be noisier than the 1DX no matter what. The only question is how much noisier. Then again, it should be better than the 5DS-R, so given that you have good experience with that already, you probably already have a really good sense of how the R5 will perform.

I think the only thing missing on the R5 which I would have liked to see is the same AF-ON button with trackpad controller, that is on the 1DX III. I find that such a fantastic feature, and it is soooo much better to use than the joystick controller for moving the focus point around. I love how you can swing the point around while pressing the button (I'm a back-button focuser). If the R5 had that I would almost be tempted to get it for my second body. I'm guessing that you should be able to move the focus point by dragging your thumb over the LCD screen (like you can with the Canon R), but that isn't anywhere near as nice as the AF-ON trackpad. A lot of the time you can use auto focus point selection, so moving the point around manually is unnecessary. But when you're shooting bears and other large wildlife, you typically want to go with a single point and then put that point right on the eyeball. So being able to move it around quickly is a real bonus.

[Joel Eade]

I would agree that noise may well be an issue for the R5 and f/10 is not optimum for sure but I may not use the 1.4 TC for flight images very often.

I'm hoping the sensor will have similar or better performance than the Nikon D850 (also 45 mp)

I have a couple of friends who have used that body with great success for flight photography.

The RAW images from the Nikon D850 are pretty good up to iso 3200 and any noise in those files cleans up readily especially with Topaz DeNoise AI.

Also curious to see how a 600mm f/4 with an adapter will fair with the AF tracking .... would not expect it to be as good as an RF lens of course.

I like the joystick and using it has become second nature to me so not too worried about that feature.

I have used back button focus a lot but have not been convinced to stay with it all the time....the more traditional AF on button next to the joystick won't bug me (I think) since I have never used a camera with the trackpad.

[Dave Throgmartin]

I'm going to stay with what I have.

Dave

[Minerve101]

I would need to be more proficient at shooting fast action and video to notice the advantages of the R5 or R6 over my current 5DIV. Undoubtedly Jonathan, Joel and Brant (and others on the forum) could make good use of the new features.

[Kayaker72]

I came across where B&H compared the R5 to an number of different camera bodies and here where a number of Canon Explorers of Light, who have used the R5/R6, answer questions about them.

This is starting to answer my next main question, I am seeing a number of people commenting on how good the AF is. Speed/accuracy. Rick Sammon saying the R6 is going to be his "go to" wildlife camera...

No doubt Canon is behind the marketing getting advanced cameras to youtubers and EOLs, etc. But, I am seeing pretty consistent reports.

I should really get off the internet and go take pictures......

[Joel Eade]

I came across where B&H compared the R5 to an number of different camera bodies and here where a number of Canon Explorers of Light, who have used the R5/R6, answer questions about them.

Interesting .... would have liked to see the Sony a9II and Nikon D850 comparison (especially AF tracking)

Also would love to see AF tracking capability with EF adapted lenses.

[Tounis]

I should really get off the internet and go take pictures......

This sentence pretty much sums up what I think about these new cameras. When I first saw rumors about the R5 and R6, I thought the R6 could be a worthy replacement for the 6D I bought in 2012 (to be fair, I think the EOS R already is at the price you can get one now). It looks like it should have a better sensor while the improvements in AF would be night and day.

But lately I thought about what kind of pictures I'm taking, how many of them benefit from a Full Frame camera, how much I like my M50 since I've bought it and in the end, I decided not to buy either the EOS R nor the R6.

During the last two years, I bought a few lenses for the M system and I now have a pretty nice collection. The M50 and all of these lenses (6 in total) cost me less than my 6D and 24-105 L kit in 2012. Even if Canon completely stops the development of the M line, I have more than enough gear to take great pictures and have fun doing it for a few decades, so I'm not worried about that. The EF-M 32mm and sigma 56 finished to convince me. I'll probably add another M camera in the future, either the rumored high end model or, if it never comes out, the M6 mark II, because the compact size of these cameras makes it easy to take two of them with you when hiking. I'd like to do this as I always found that changing lenses when hiking was uncomfortable, but didn't want to carry two heavy Full Frame cameras for hours.

To sum up, the only times I feel the need for an R or an R6 is when I read forums on the internet. When I'm actually taking pictures, my M50 is a joy to use and has far more features than I'll ever need.

[Joel Eade]

This sentence pretty much sums up what I think about these new cameras.

I agree....to some extent.

If my 5DMKIV or 5DS-r could be updated to match the AF tracking of these new R cameras then I would not even consider them!!!

[Tounis]

I agree....to some extent.

If my 5DMKIV or 5DS-r could be updated to match the AF tracking of these new R cameras then I would not even consider them!!!

Oh and if I were into bird photography I would completely agree with you ! I just feel I don't need such an impressive AF. But that's just me.