Canon’s most powerful camera yet puts Sony on notice

Transfer over Sony, Canon is attempting to take the lead in bleeding-edge tech for mirrorless cameras. The corporate’s new $4,300, 45-megapixel EOS R5 II gives superior options like eye-tracking autofocus (AF) that may’t be discovered on any latest Sony mannequin. The brand new digital camera can also be pushing Sony’s A1 and different fashions in the important thing areas of velocity, video and autofocus. And it’s arguably extra fascinating than Canon’s personal upcoming flagship R1 because it has almost double the decision.

I’ve had the R5 II for just a few weeks, evaluating not solely its practicality and velocity for each professionals and critical amateurs, but in addition the way it stacks up towards Sony’s A1, the gold normal for high-resolution mirrorless cameras. And albeit, I am impressed.

Canon

The EOS R5 II is Canon’s greatest digital camera in years because of enhancements in key areas like autofocus and video.

Professionals

• Quick capturing speeds
• Canon’s greatest autofocus but
• Highly effective video capabilities
• Good picture stabilization

Cons

• Nonetheless overheats for high-res video

$4,299 at Adorama

Design and dealing with

I like the dealing with of Canon’s mirrorless cameras and the EOS R5 II could also be its sweetest design but.

The physique and controls are similar to the R5, aside from a few adjustments. Canon moved the facility swap to the highest proper the place it’s simpler to entry, and added a devoted picture/video swap on the left. The corporate gave picture and video modes their very own settings, making it a lot simpler to leap from one to the opposite. Canon additionally made a uncommon change to its menu system, including a brand new olive inexperienced tab for management customization. This new tab additionally accommodates the settings for eye management AF monitoring.

In any other case, the R5 II’s structure is just like its predecessor. That’s a superb factor, because the management placement is probably the most pure of any digital camera I’ve used, from the comfy grip that gives a safe place to carry, to the properly tactile controls that fall completely at hand.

Transferring to the shows, the R5’s 2.1-million-dot totally articulating rear contact display was already sharp and straightforward to make use of, so Canon didn’t mess with that. The R5 II has the identical sharp 5.76-million dot OLED digital viewfinder as earlier than, however the firm boosted the brightness and redesigned the optics to accommodate the brand new eye management autofocus.

The R5 II helps CFexpress Kind B playing cards for capturing 8K RAW video, together with SD UHS II for those who’re okay with cheaper and slower media. Different key options embody headphone and microphone ports, a full-sized HDMI enter and a USB-C port for charging and transfers. Canon additionally launched three new battery grips, together with one with a cooling fan that extends video capturing occasions, as I’ll talk about quickly.

I’m an enormous fan of the R5 II’s design, and my professional photographer pal agreed, saying that like most Canon merchandise, the R5 II’s ergonomics are so good the system is comfy to carry for lengthy durations of time. He additionally stated he barely most popular the R5 II’s dealing with to his Sony A9 III and A1 cameras, because of how simple it’s to make use of with one hand.

Efficiency

The EOS R5 II gives a mix of velocity and determination that rivals and typically even surpasses the Nikon Z8 and Sony A1. That is principally because of the new stacked 45-megapixel sensor and up to date Digic X processor to crunch all these pixels.

The R5 II can shoot bursts at as much as 30 fps in digital shutter mode with a blackout-free view. That’s slower than the R1, however I’ll commerce a small hit in efficiency in alternate for the additional decision. I used to be in a position to seize about 100 RAW frames earlier than the buffer stuffed. Speeds drop to 12 fps with the mechanical shutter, however there’s hardly ever any want to make use of it as a result of there’s no situation with rolling shutter distortion – because of the stacked sensor. The R5 II’s new pre-capture mode can file as much as 15 images while you half-press the shutter. That’s nice for photojournalists or wildlife photographers who might in any other case miss a shot by a fraction of a second.

Canon’s “Twin Pixel” autofocus has all the time been good, however on the R5 II it’s the very best I’ve ever seen. When capturing bursts with a topic biking towards the digital camera, 80 p.c of my photographs had been in focus. And the EOS R5 II now tracks animals, birds and autos, on high of faces, eyes and our bodies of individuals.

The digital camera additionally has a few new autofocus tips, together with one referred to as motion precedence. That retains the AF centered across the ball in three particular sports activities: volleyball, basketball and soccer. I didn’t discover any specific AF enchancment, as my hit charge appeared to be about the identical with out it, however devoted sports activities photographers would possibly see the distinction.

One other new operate retains the monitoring level in your topic even when somebody crosses in entrance of them. That did appear to work effectively more often than not, however it could sometimes wander away and lock onto another person.

When Canon launched the R5 II and R1 in July, it launched pre-registered individual precedence AF that lets your digital camera memorize as much as ten particular folks, like star athletes as an illustration. This characteristic functioned as marketed, switching AF to a registered individual and monitoring them as an alternative of different folks within the scene.

Lastly, I examined Canon’s well-known eye management AF that detects the place the photographer is wanting and strikes the topic monitoring level there. That is an undeniably cool characteristic and has improved in comparison with the primary implementation on the EOS R3, however remains to be too unreliable for skilled use.

Actually, the professional photographer pal I discussed identified that although eye management feels futuristic, it’s nonetheless a bit too flakey for paid gigs the place focus reliability is paramount.

On the R5 II, in-body stabilization is the very best I’ve seen on any Canon digital camera, holding the sensor rock-steady for handheld capturing, with as much as 8.5 stops of shake discount. It was so dependable that I by no means felt the necessity to carry a tripod when utilizing gradual shutter speeds.

I’ve all the time discovered Sony cameras to be barely superior to Canon on the subject of autofocus and velocity. I can not say that, because the EOS R5 II could be very even with Sony’s newest fashions. My Sony-using photographer pal agreed, saying he couldn’t see any actual distinction between the R5 II his A1 or A9 III.

Picture high quality

Picture high quality on the R5 II is basically the identical because the R5, and that’s a superb factor. The 45-megapixel sensor produces images nearly as good as or higher than the Sony A1 at a less expensive value, and compares favorably to Nikon’s equally priced Z8.

When capturing in RAW mode at decrease ISOs, the R5 II gives good dynamic vary in excessive distinction vibrant and darkish scenes. Like different stacked sensor cameras, although, there’s a bit extra noise than with common CMOS sensors. High quality additionally drops barely in digital shutter mode, so it’s higher to make use of the mechanical shutter in tough lighting circumstances.

Excessive ISO efficiency isn’t too unhealthy for such a high-resolution digital camera both, with noise staying beneath management as much as ISO 12,800. After that, the R5 II doesn’t fairly measure as much as fashions just like the Nikon Z7 II or Sony A7R V, as each of these supply cleaner pictures with much less grain.

In the event you don’t need the effort of processing RAW, JPEG rendering is superb straight out of the digital camera, with effectively balanced sharpening and noise discount. For low-light capturing, pores and skin tones are flattering in any respect ISO settings, and the very best amongst all cameras on this value vary.

One new notable characteristic on the R5 II is the AI-powered upscaling utilized after the picture is taken. The end result isn’t fairly nearly as good as a devoted app like Topaz, however it’s not unhealthy contemplating it’s in-camera processing.

Video

The unique EOS R5 would have been a darn close to excellent video digital camera if not for its pesky overheating points. Canon has improved this to a level with a brand new passive cooling design and $400 fan grip. With these updates, warmth is barely actually a problem on the highest resolutions (8K 60p and 4K 120p). Nevertheless, these limitations are much less extreme on the rival Nikon Z8.

Apart from the heating situation, the EOS R5 II has spectacular specs. It could shoot as much as 8K 60p and 4K 120p video, however does so with far much less rolling shutter than the R5, once more because of the brand new stacked sensor. The digital camera now has Canon Log 2 (CLog 2) functionality that enables for larger dynamic vary seize than the R5.

Video autofocus is excellent in any respect resolutions, with speedy acquisition of the topic and dependable monitoring. Face- and eye-detection work very effectively, and I solely sometimes observed AF lag with fast-moving topics.

As for stabilization, I might shoot clean footage whereas handheld in optical mode with no crop, supplied I didn’t transfer the digital camera an excessive amount of. Digital stabilization allowed for extra motion whereas solely cropping in a contact, and the improved setting let me shoot easily whereas strolling with a 1.5x crop. Panasonic’s S5 II remains to be the very best on this regard, however the R5 II is shut behind.

As for high quality, video on the EOS R5 II is extraordinarily sharp, significantly with supersampled 4K HQ. Different 4K modes are subsampled, however almost as sharp. Rolling shutter is effectively managed, so that you gained’t actually discover it except you do whip pans or jostle the digital camera whereas capturing.

Canon’s glorious shade science delivers heat pores and skin tones and correct colours. RAW video permits a number of room for changes in publish, whereas the CLog 2 brings dynamic vary as much as 14 stops to allow capturing in contrasty circumstances. With all this, the Canon R5 II is now my go-to digital camera for capturing video — even over Sony and Panasonic fashions.

Wrap-up

The $4,300 EOS R5 II is Canon’s greatest digital camera in years, because of enhancements in key areas like autofocus, video, capturing speeds and general really feel. Newly launched tech like eye management AF is much less helpful, however it’s nonetheless good to see Canon attempt to innovate, and the characteristic ought to enhance in subsequent fashions.

The R5 II is up towards some nice competitors on this value vary, particularly the $4,000 Nikon Z8 that holds its personal towards this digital camera in most conditions. Nevertheless, Canon’s autofocus is barely sooner and extra dependable, and I enormously desire the R5 II’s dealing with. The one different full-frame choice with a stacked sensor and related decision is the Sony A1, which prices $2,200 extra.

The primary points with the R5 II are overheating, the wonkiness of motion precedence and unreliable eye management autofocus. Nevertheless, it now stacks up extraordinarily effectively towards Sony’s A1 by way of velocity and autofocus, whereas providing superior stabilization and dealing with. Which one you select might merely come all the way down to model choice or present lens assortment.