Introduction
The Canon EOS R5 is an excellent professional camera for almost any type of photography like portraits, action, sports, animal, landscape, or product photography. The Canon EOS R-series continues to provide great ergonomics which can be seen in the Canon EOSR5 as well. The 45MP camera produces terrific high-quality images and sharp 8K video.
Key Specifications
- Full-frame 45MP DPAF CMOS sensor
- Electronic shutter mode – 20fps
- Mechanical shutter mode – 12fps
- 5.76M DOT OLED color EVF
- 2.1M DOT fully articulating touchscreen
- Dual card slots – 1 CFX slot and 1 UHS-II SD Slot
- Improved and durable weather-sealing
- Excellent human and animal detection
- 8K, 4k/120P video
- Approx. 738g including battery, CFexpress card
- Approx. 650g Canon R5 body only
Body, Handling, and Performance
The handling of the Canon R5 is almost like that of the Canon EOS R6. It has a deep and nice grip.
The built quality is exceptional which can be compared to the usual standards of the Canon 5D series.
The camera now has more rugged weather sealing than the Canon EOS R6 Mark II and weighs only 738g with a battery and CFX card.
Inside the Canon EOSR5, you have the latest DIGIC-X processor which is great and lightning-fast in responding to any command you give.
The camera has an autofocus joystick which is also something that most users prefer on Canon R series cameras.
On the camera’s rear side, you will find the traditional thumb wheel, which is a very fast way to control your settings.
The EOS R5 accepts both UHS-II SD cards and CF express cards, which will come in handy, especially when shooting high-resolution videos like the 8K or 4k/120P.
IBIS, which is available on both EOS R6 and EOS R5 is one of the camera’s biggest features. It goes up to 8 stops and does an incredible job, better than the other top brands like Nikon, Sony, or Panasonic.
The camera has 2.1M DOT full articulating touch LCD. which is brilliant. Compared to the 3.68M DOT EVF on the EOS R6, the Canon EOSR5 now has a substantial upgrade of 5.76M DOT EVF which is very much comparable to a lot of high-end full-frame cameras out there.
The autofocusing is excellent and does a great job picking up and tracking the face and eye of the subject. Animal eye detection works very well with high accuracy. This is also one of the features wildlife photographers will love, as animal eye detection works with almost any animal. The autofocus is overall fast, effective, and easy to set up.
When it comes to Canon’s sensor, there have been discussions about the sensor mostly not having a great dynamic range, the ISO performance, and usually being behind its competitors. However, Canon is doing a great job recently, especially on the EOS R6 and EOS R5 by providing modern and fast sensors that can easily be compared to Canon’s competitors.
At higher ISOs, you usually come across issues with noise and loss of details. But with the Canon R5, you get brilliant images and great performance even on higher ISO ranges. This allows the camera to perform well in low-light conditions.
The Canon colors are always fantastic, and the sensor on the Canon EOSR5 produces kind of warm and pleasing colors. The image quality is amazing not only in light conditions but also in low light. The ISO performance at high ranges is great and produces less noisy images.
With the electronic shutter mode, you get 20fps, which is impressive for a camera with 45MP. While working with the electronic shutter mode using a fast CFX pass card you will approximately get 50 shots in RAW + JPEG, up to 80 shots in RAW, and up to 150 shots in JPEG before the buffer runs out and shooting reduces.
On the other side, with the mechanical shutter mode, you get 12fps, which is highly impressive and a lot to shoot high-speed action. The 45MP sensor overall produces excellent quality images packed with details.
Video
The EOS R5 has a wonderful DPAF II autofocusing system and is very consistent. The IBIS helps produce very smooth hand-held recordings.
The Canon EOS R5 is capable of recording 8K videos which are immensely sharp. The 4K/120P produces excellent quality videos, something that you will appreciate. It also has the 4K HQ mode where it uses all information and packs it into a nice detailed 4K video, which is great.
The camera also provides the feature of slowing down the focus-racking speed, which means that the focus shift from one subject to the other can be slowed down which makes the video look very professional.
However, you will come across overheating issues, especially on higher resolutions. The camera will record up to 20 minutes before the overheating kicks in and takes time to cool down. Due to this cooling time, the camera will not allow you to take longer videos, as after 20 minutes the camera lets you only record 5 minutes of video.
The alternative to resolve heating issues is by switching to lower recording resolutions, such as 4K/24P, but then you will have to compromise on the video quality. Another option is using an external recorder such as the Atomos Ninja 5. This will not only solve the heating issue but also record videos for up to 1 hour.
If you are a video creator and looking to record long videos like an interview or a wedding, the overheating issues might give you a hard time. However, if you just like to record short videos, the camera will do a phenomenal job, even at higher resolutions.
Battery
It is nice to see the Canon EOSR5 having a Canon LPE6NH battery, which is long-lasting. The battery can be charged right in the camera using a USB. Compared to the Canon LPE6N, the LPE6NH provides almost 15% more life and performance.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent camera for stills
- Impressive autofocus, face, and eye tracking
- Very fast burst shots for a 45MP camera
- 8K video
- IBIS system
- Good battery performance
- 5.76M DOT OLED color EVF
- Fast DIGIC-X processor
Cons
- Recording limits for shooting video
Conclusion
The Canon EOS R5 has excellent ergonomics and improved rugged weather sealing. The latest DIGIC X processor is lightning-fast. The IBIS system is impressive and very effective in providing smooth hand-held stills and video. The autofocusing system, and the face and eye tracking do an amazing job while maintaining high accuracy, and not drifting away from the subject. The EOS R5 is capable of maintaining quality at high ISO levels allowing the camera to perform well in low-light conditions.
The camera has fast bursts of 20fps and 12fps in electronic and mechanical shutter modes respectively, which is impressive for a 45MP camera. The DPAF II and IBIS help produce an excellent quality video, especially the 8K, 4K/120P, or HQ video.
Overall, the Canon R5 is a stellar camera for still photography and can be labeled as “One of Canon’s best-ever stills cameras”. It does well in almost every type of photography like sports, action, portraits, wildlife, landscape, or just walking out and capturing stills or video. The heating issue on higher video resolutions does limit the video performance while shooting long videos. However, if you are someone who likes recording short videos of 5 or 10 minutes, the camera will do a stunning job.
You also get great Canon R5 Black Friday deals. The Canon R5 Black Friday deals are usually live in November every year.
