Well, I've finally done it, and ordered a new Canon R5.
Some of you may have seen my comments about looking into new cameras and gear in another post, A couple of days by the River Deben in Suffolk, and my apologies to Dave for the unintended hijack so I've set up a new thread to keep folks updated.
To continue from my comments, as many of you will be aware, I've been grounded by my falling apart body, but i've nothing but praise for the nurses, consultants, doctors and anyone else involved it working hard to resolve the situation.
We've all heard the old saying, the devil makes work for idle hands, well, include computer and mouse into that, and I've been researching into mirrorless cameras, which is the future, whether we like it or not.
Me, I'm intrigued and like the concept, but not the costs.....
Why the Canon R5?
Well, first and foremost, my son said go for it!
Some of you may be aware his partner walked out on him eighteen months ago, which almost rendered him homeless. While we would happily have taken him back, after a chat with my wife, his mother, I gave him a large chunk of my savings and agreed to be guarantor for his mortgage. I never gave any repayment terms, but he did ask how much, and has transferred some of the money back to me, enough to cover the R5.
I've been using Canon cameras for many decades, and I feel they are on a par with Nikon and the other big brand names, the only problem is, if you change to another brand, then you need to change all your lenses and other associated kit as well.
My research started with the cost of upgrading and also, many camera manufacturers also offer conversion kits, or adapters, so you can use your existing lenses on the new breed of cameras.
Also, my research shown that could I use my existing lenses, the cable and wireless remotes would work, so will the Speedlite flashgun. The only extra items required are the lens mount adaptor, and the memory cards, which are still the existing SD Card, or, the faster and more capable CF Express card, whereas the 5D4 will use a Compact Flash card.
Also, the battery pack for the R5 is the same is the 5D4, which I understand is the same as the 5D3.
This appealed.
However, the cost was still going to be steep.
My local postie, who we had for 20+ years, a very friendly chap, I never realised he did wedding photography, and offered to show me his cameras, which are Nikon, and how he managed to make the change to mirrorless.
We both agreed, Nikon, Canon or any of the other big names, you can't really go wrong.
After a very interesting three hours and numerous cuppas, and some time handling his cameras in the garden, and to play safe, I sat down to use them rather than stand and risk falling or dropping them, I was nicely impressed with what I saw.
There are some trade offs and caveats with electronic view vs live view, but I'm not one to be negative. Obstacles are there to be beaten, not beat you.
The one big downside, if it is a downside, is video. The final quality is good, however, when panning a moving subject, there is a noticeable lag. But then I don't do much video, and to be honest, my current 5D4 has some lag, because that in video mode uses the large TTF screen and not the optical viewer, which is live view.
I said obstacles are to be beaten, not beat you.
The video quality is superb, and a bigger plus, the electronic viewfinder shows the same as the large TTF screen, but the big bonus with the EVF, is you block out all the viewing intrusions that using a TTF screen came impose.
There will be more to this no doubt, as I start a new journey mirrorless, and I will be happy to share.
However, it is costly, and to make things more costly than desired, my nearest emporium haven't stock of the R5, so I've had to order from elsewhere, and not being able to go far, that means no trade in of my 5D4, which if I'm honest, I am reluctant to part with.
The new camera is on order, and should be with me in the next couple of days, all I need is for my leg to sort itself out.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
This is the first flash photo using the new R5 and my existing Canon Speedlite 430 flashgun.
Also, on a very recent visit to Charlecote park, just as I was about to pack the camera and lenses away, something caught my eye as it flew in to the trees sheltering the fallow bucks.
Uncropped at 400mm zoom,
A greater spotted woodpecker, possibly female, I couldn't see any signs of red on the head in the next cropped photo
The full set of photos can be seen in "An escape to Charlecote Park Sat 20th Aug"
PimperneBloke said:The sensor is literally just "there" once you remove a lens. Potential of dust etc entering whilst changing a lens if you're not careful.
You have to remember to switch off before changing lenses so that the sensor is not exposed to the elements - at least that is the case with the Canon..
When I used the Canon 1DX, my favourite wildlife lens wa the 300 f2.8, usually with the 1.4 converter, so effectively a 420 f4. I still used that combination with the R3 and of course I cab use the crop factor option. There are occasions when I want a bit of extra reach so I can use my 2x converter and get 600mm - results are better when frame filling but can be a bit soft when solely trying to get the extra reach. I could opt for the RF 100-500 but would have to trade in the 300 f2.8 and I'm not sure I want to give up on that light gathering capacity just yet.
So I went the other way and bought a RF 800mm f12. It has its little foibles but it also has its plus points. It's never going to have the quality of the L long lenses and it will be limited in poor light, though modern cameras are much better at handling higher ISOs but I must admit I am impressed with what I have got from it so far, that I really wouldn't have got with my current set up. It's lightness means I can carry it with me as a spare most of the time if I think I might be somewhere where the extra reach might come in useful but its quite interesting to have an 800nn lens that you can hand hold and use for video footage too.
PimperneBloke said:So, moving away from the Canon fraternity, about a year ago I decided I should upgrade from my crop sensor Nikon (D5600 ... I would highly recommend it as a first step into the land of the dslr.. replaced my Lumix FZ150 bridge camera) and I was adamant I would go for a D850. A couple of weeks ago, with some financial jiggery pokery, I was in a position to invest in a new camera... and after months of "I'm getting a D850" I got a z7ii!!, again from Nikon. My thought process of going Nikon in the first place was simple, my sister shoots Nikon, so I could borrow her lenses, and the thought process behind the z7ii was the ability to use the lenses I already had on the new mirrorless body, with the use of the adapter.
That's some pretty impressive spec on the Nikon PB, and welcome to Mirrorless, and nice to have someone to share their experiences of an equally good and rivaling brand, Nikon.
The leap to mirrorless was probably a better move than you might have first thought, because manufacturers are slowing their existing lens production in favour of mirrorless, and that is most certainly the case with Canon.
Did you check to see if Nikon actually make an adaptor to allow the use of existing lenses to the new mirrorless format?
PimperneBloke said:Saturday I finally got a "proper" trip out with it, with the big lens, so I'll post the images separately again, but I'll summarise here. Part of the negatives will be due to my big lens being a bit slow on AF, most of the negatives will be due to a combination of my ineptitude, and my inexperience, firstly with a full frame camera and secondly with mirrorless.
I'll chip in with the first and foremost advice, which I know Bob has already commented on.
Check the instructions, but you should find some advice on how to change lenses while reducing the risk of dust on the sensors.
For Canon mirrorless, it is a case of: POWER OFF BEFORE REMOVING ANY LENSES.
That should bring down/up, a screen to cover the sensor and reduce the risk of dust getting to the sensors. That is the case with Canon.
Its easy enough to see, with the lens removed and power on, then switch the power off. If a screen slides into place, then you have the answer, power off before changing lenses.
For me when I first moved to full frame from cropped sensor, that alone was a big change, which prompted me to retain my 5D4 until I settled to the new regime. I've since found out I didn't need to do that, the carry over from FF to FF was straightforward and the adaptation to mirrorless was even more straightforward.