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
Unknown said:
Two questions about the R7, if I may.
1) The on/off/video switch. Compared to the D series, the switch appears much smaller.
Do users have any problems using the smaller switch?
Do users find themselves accidentally pushing it so far that it engages video?
2) Tracking. Canon make a big song and dance about the AI capability of its tracking software. I've also reading it had machine learning capabilities.
Any R7 users actually use this technology? Does it work?
If you are looking at the R7 or Canon mirrorless specifically, then R7 users should be able to answer your question more accurately.
With the R5, which I have, the smaller power switch isn't an issue, though it did initially feel strange compared to the 5D4 and 750D cameras. But in all honesty, I soon forgot about the difference, even while still using the 5D4 alongside for comparison.
As for slipping over to video, that was never an issue on the 750D, and the 5D4 to select video that was via the switch to select EVF or LCD screen, and again, neer an issue.
I hope that helps you a little at least.
Mike, Ed, thank you very much for swift replies.
I really like the chunky on/off switch on my Canons. I also have an old compact bridge camera. It has an on/off switch similar to the R7. I sometimes have problems with it.
I'm particularly pleased that the on/off switch is back on the right hand side of the R7. This means I can swing my camera up, adjust focus ring with left hand, whilst flicking on/off switch with right thumb to get that BIF photo.
My Canon 80D, however, has its on/off switch on the left hand side of the camera. I waste a couple of precious seconds having to use my left thumb to turn camera on, before swinging it up.
The AI tracking really intrigues me. It's almost de-skilling of photography. Part of the skill of BIF is tracking the bird. However, saying that, with autofocus and auto-shooting modes, a lot of skill has been taken out of photography, which I am more than happy to exploit (and do, every time I pick up a camera) as I'm such a lazy photographer.
The R7 + EF-RF lens adapter is, I believe, the camera for me. I shall have to save up my pennies, and wait for the price of the R7 to either come down or have a really nice offer slapped on it or hit the secondhand market. The R7 is, allegedly, targeted at sports/wildlife photographers.
My 80D is supposed to have face tracking. I had an ultra brief try, but couldn't notice it working. I shall have another attempt.
90% luck, 5% field craft, 5% camera skills.
Whilst waiting for the rest of family to get their lazy backsides out of bed, I decided to watch a bit of a video by Mr Paton.
First aspect that surprised me was that I, like Duade, use my left eye to focus with view finder. I never realised this, until Duade pointed out that one niggle of his was the control stick thingy was on the right side of camera, and he kept hitting his nose when using. However, not a problem for me. I am not a pro photographer like him, resetting the camera as I focus. I'm probably like the rest of us mere mortals: set the focus and values first, then shoot.
Second, he was saying he found the photos acceptable but made the point that the weather was overcast. Seriously! I would give my right arm to get the quality of shots he was getting on an overcast day. I reckon he had a much better lens than I have. Plus the camera itself is possibly a step change above Canon 80D in terms of image quality.
I was fascinated to see the tracking moving around and focusing on a bird's eye.
Angus, you're welcome.
I know what you mean about the nice chunky feel to the power switches, plus you get used to the switch being in one place each time you pick the camera up, so you just operate it blind effectively. I think you will quickly overcome that and very likely, the sudden size reduction, especially as on the R5, there is no clutter around the power switch.
If this is of any help, with it being winter, like everyone else, I use gloves, and the small power switch on my R5 is easy to operate with gloves on. I don't need to use fingerless gloves, which after a while, those little digits get frozen and you then need to warm them up before the next shooting batch....
Before I go any further, I think it wise to state what gloves I use, which are RAB Powerstretch Grip Gloves.
In a former life, I used to do a lot of mountaineering, walking and camping all year round, and these were gloves I used a lot back then (and I did have thicker winter gloves for proepr snow and ice activities using ice axes and crampons, but operating a camera with those would be nigh on impossible), often operating small GPS devices, more fiddly than today's modern cameras, and still use today. The price I think is reasonable, and being a grip glove used by outdoor types, "and after all, we are outdoor folk", they're not too thick while not losing the thermal qualities.
I believe the newer variants are now e-tip enabled, making them usable on touchscreens.
I'm still learning all the new features and tech on my R5, and it is, nicely and excitingly, mind blowing.
However, there is no law that states you must fully use all these features, you can retain pretty much as much self control as you desire, and if it works, then why not. I still do and I still like the challenge.
So you can, as with many current DSLR's as well, let the camera do all the work, or you can do the parts you want to.
Ed D said:Angus,
Likewise myself, I'm using the EF/RF adaptor, due to the added expense of fully converting to RF lenses was way out of my budget.
I will add, the salesman did try his best to reduce the overall cost, but just as his manager was only prepared to go so far, my pockets were nowhere near deep enough.