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
I'm guessing I'll have to upload it somewhere else due to the 5mb limit here? I do have a second even older SLR that I could check the lenses on. In theory? It's an EOS 20D! The screen on the back is about 1" square
Maybe not. I have camera and battery but the charger I have found isn't the right one. I'm now racking my brains wondering what this charger is for? I must have another camera somewhere that I've both misplaced and forgotten I ever owned!
ETA I found what the charger was for. Wonder if it still works?
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Find me on Flickr / All about your camera - The Getting off Auto Index
Gents, and ladies
This is an interesting thread, and full of information.
Forgive me if I overlook any already supplied answers to questions I may have, there is a lot of useful information and I respect those who have supplied it.
Whistling Joe, I like your Getting off Auto tread, there’s lots of good info, help and examples.
I rarely use auto, depending on what I’m shooting, I tend to use semi auto, that is shutter priority for wildlife and moving objects and aperture priority for landscapes, while the camera selects the other values, particularly ISO, though I will from time to time, using the manual settings, override those.
By the way, I found this thread whilst doing a websearch, and I had to sign up to the forum to obtain more info, if you don’t mind.
There’s also some good contributors regarding wildlife sightings and advice.
Following the thread through, there’s quite a lot of useful user info, a lot of things not easily found from the big boys, plus, it’s what everyday photographers experience and not the press.
Like I think the thread originator, I too have a Canon 5D, mk4. My kit currently consists of
However, getting new lenses for it is becoming extremely difficult, which is pointing me towards mirrorless, with intrepidation, but excitement. I moved from film to digital and soon settled, so ?I see no reasons why the move to mirrorless is going to be any problem, except the outlay.
Having recently retired, and a reborn keen, very, very amateur photographer, I’ve got the old 5D out and very much enjoying playing with it again.
I’ve noted that Canon seem to supply a usb-c to usb-c cable and not a standard usb to usb-c.
I’m curious as to why?
I wonder if Nikon do a similar thing, and can anyone confirm or deny that?
I've also noted the warning about power off before changing lenses, and the reason why makes a lot of good sense.
I’ve not yet decided whether to exchange all my old kit for new, or keep the lenses and use the RF/EF mount, a more pocket friendly option. After hearing and reading many adverse comments, it is reassuring to know they are just adverse comments and far from the truth.
If, and only if, I do part exchange the whole lot, as someone has suggested in this thread to another poster, then I’m not tied to any particular make, hence my earlier question about Nikon data lead for downloading.
I don’t see any issues making the move, other than getting used to a new format, probably the wrong words, and the biggest hurdle, convincing my long suffering wife that I am making a good purchase, even if just to get out from under her feet….
Think I’ll need lots of good luck in that dept.
I think for now, I’ve said enough, I will be reading through this thread again, because I know I will have missed some valuable info, and thank you in advance for letting me, a total stranger, butt in.
regards
John
Hi John, and welcome. I shoot Nikon, and personally I don't use any usb cables for transferring data, I have a card reader that I plug my SD or CF Express card into, and then plug that in to the PC I think some folk on here are reticent about removing the memory cards so often, but I've had no issues (touch wood)
Also, the biggest change for me wasn't dslr to mirrorless, but from crop sensor to full frame. Everything appearing so much further away was disorienting at first.
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Hi and welcome.
Re your point on lenses - now is actually a very good time to come across good quality used Canon EF lenses as more and more people are moving to mirrorless . Many those that changed to the first batch of mirrorless cameras but retained their EF lenses have now saved up enough to change to RF lenses, so more used EF lenses are becoming available.
Since I bought my R3 I have only bought one RF lens (the 800mm f11) and still use my older EF lenses. For certain they are all heavier than RF lenses but having said that they also seem much more robust.
As for the cable I guess that's because more and more computers and laptops are coming fitted with only USB C ports only.
I think I've narrowed down my search to the Sony A7 IV, as I don't feel the requirement for the extra resolution of the A7R III and the Sony 200-600mm lens. This still comes in cheaper than a Canon R6 mk1 and 100-500mm lens by about a grand or so. The Sony in LCE also has some bonus stuff like a backpack, extra battery and charger thrown in as freebies... One other consideration that sways this decision is that I don't have a very powerful PC right now so that £1000 would go some way towards editing gear. I currently have a fanless micro PC and it's already warm just from watching a few vids on youtube and typing this reply!
My PC with my mouse sat on top:
tuwit said:I'm left wonderin' how insuarnce investigators could (or would) appreciate that,
For an expensive lens insurance claim I suspect the company would want to see a receipt, not just some exif data that could have come from a borrowed lens (or be someone else's image entirely!)
Re USB - I agree with Bob, it's just the moving on of technology. Bigger files means USB3 is essential and the USB-C plug is standard for any new stuff. You don't have to use the one supplied with the camera, getting one to fit your requirements is pretty straightforward
You'll definitely need a more powerful PC for image manipulation (and storage). That becomes even more vital if you're going to start doing videos as well - they're resource heavy on the IT side :-)
Cheshire Lad said:However, getting new lenses for it is becoming extremely difficult, which is pointing me towards mirrorless,
Canon have withdrawn from new supply many of the EF lenses, but as Bob mentions, there are loads around still with many good second hand options. What lens are you actually after? If you're not actually looking for anything specific, it doesn't matter if Canon have stopped making some :-)
EF certainly works fine on the R bodies - I use a 600/4 and the Mk2 100-400 regularly on my R5, along with a Laowa macro probe lens, a Sigma macro & other bits & pieces. All are fine and there's no loss of quality as there's no glass in the EF/RF adapter, it's simply moving the lens away from the sensor to replicate the space the mirror box takes up in a DSLR. With your setup, I'd say the shortest route to an update would be to swap the Mk1 for a Mk2 100-400 (the Mk2 is a much better lens), but as a general rule, working out what your current setup is not doing for you is the main question to answer. Although I admit, I'm as susceptible to the allure of something new & shiny as the next person!
Glad the GoA threads have been useful to you :-)