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
Ed D said:Hi Mike, Have you tried the focus stacking option on the R5 for close subjects yet? If my R7 ever gets here (still on pre-order) I am hoping to try that option out at some stage. How are you finding the R5 now you have been using it? Kind Regards Ed
I have tried it on the R3 but not for close up objects as it wasn't a serious try. I have just had several attempts using it to put a whole room in focus and it worked well, but will try it at some point on smaller / across objects. The main reason I tried it was that the last firmware update to the R3 included a feature whereby the camera will composite all the focus stacked images that you create and produce a jpeg that you can use instantly. Prior to that I assume that you had to process and composite the images yourself via either Canon DPP software or Photoshop (or similar). I'm] not sure if that facility was exported to R5 in its last firmware update or whether it will be available on the R7.
I've done bits of focus stacking. The R5 will shift focus for you automatically, but I also have a Helicon tube which will do the same thing for any DSLR. You can even use manual focus and simply rock the camera back and forwards to get a sequence of shots at different focal planes. Ultimately you end up with a bunch of pictures you can blend in software. I don't think the R5 has gained the ability to merge in-camera (yet) but it would be of limited use anyway I would imagine. If you're using it to get shots of (eg) insects, you'll probably need to choose which images you use carefully as a waving antenna can mess up your final image (you can end up with an insect that appears to have half a dozen antenna!). That fine-tuning really needs time, a PC and a big screen to get it right. I use Helicon Focus software which is fast and powerful (but you'll need a PC with some horsepower) and it's pretty straightforward. You don't always need huge numbers of images either - this is only 4
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Find me on Flickr / All about your camera - The Getting off Auto Index
Unknown said:
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(End of Quote) manual edited due to poor software
I agree that the in camera compositing would probably be of limited use, especially for macro type shots but I suppose it does give professional users an image that they can forward quickly in the event that they need one- say the scene of an incident or some such where the whole scene in focus might help.
Mike,
Thank you for the reply. I really do hope that you will be able to get out soon and really put that lovely R5 to good use. :-) I truly hope you feel better soon.
Bob, Joe,
Thank you both for the replies. The reason I asked about focus stacking was in relation to a YouTube video I saw on focus stacking using the R7 on close up wildlife. I must admit I was impressed with the results shown. I was hoping to get much better results using this method than I do using my EOS 7D mk1 or EOS 70D.
Joe,Stunning pic of a Moth (i think). Very sharp and so much detail. :-) I hope I can get such results one day. :-)
Kind RegardsEd
Ed, you're very welcome, and I will be out and about, I don't do cooped up, locked in or imprisoned very well.
Joe, interesting stuff about the R5 focus stacking. I've only had the camera almost a month now, and while I've attempted to push its boundaries far and wide, they would certainly be the limits for the 5D4, it so far has not ceased to amaze me. I'm still very much in awe, and can't wait to get to a reserve and push the limits as far as I can.
If there are any updates outstanding for the R5, which is registered on the Canon website I would have had an email inviting me to carry out the update.
That reminds me, I need to remove the 5D4 and 750D from there.
PimperneBloke said: Findings to follow ;o)
I couldn't tell the difference between the cropped images and DX shot images with the limited testing I did. Shooting in DX format was helpful to me, as I've changed from a crop sensor, so felt more at home with the viewfinder image appearing closer. I was impressed with the camera, as the light was "challenging", and a lot of the birds were disguised as sand and mud coloured blobs, until they moved! I'm looking forward to bright day back at the Fleet for more comparison shots :o)
Beachwalker - My favourite occupation as I love exploring my home county and photographing its beauty.
PimperneBloke said:
I think you will find, as I have, you can push the old boundaries a further, not just light levels, but also distance.
Beachwalker 66 said:Congratulations on the move and many happy years of photoing Mike, I made the switch to mirrorless a couple of years ago (Sony a7riii) and love it to bits. The quality can be staggering as can the cost of lenses, Anyhoo looking forward to seeing your results and reading your experiences, You have been having a rough time of it to be sure but your photos are always pure magic, best regards Beachwalker
Thank you, I really am enjoying the new camera, and make no mistake, I loved the 5D4, but this has opened up new horizons in a very big way.
I jokingly said to the nurse the other day, I have a hacksaw with a brand new, unused blade, her face was a picture of horror. I actually felt a little guilty, because she has been, still is, doing a difficult job extremely well, and done her research.
I am in Cornwall soon, for a two week holiday, though I'm not sure how far I'll be venturing, but around and about where my wife and i are staying, weather permitting, there will be plenty of photo opportunities
Michael B said:PimperneBloke said:
Essentially there should be no difference in picture quality as you are using just a smaller part of the sensor to gather the cropped image so you end uo with a relatively smaller image file. So yes shooting wildlife I would assume that you would normally shoot in crop mode and only moving to full frame when the subject gets too close. A bit of best of both worlds really.