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
For any Canon R7 users that didn't know, The Firmware Version is now 1.3.1. I only found out the other day, but it was issued in early June. Behind the times as usual ...
90% luck, 5% field craft, 5% camera skills.
Too far for me as well.
How to aim a Canon R7 with Sigma 150-600mm lens at 600mm.
I've struggled with aiming my R7 and Sigma lens combo, particularly with the lens extended to its maximum - pretty much default for wildlife photographers. I usually end up pointing the camera a few degrees below the subject
To put this into context. If the subject is 10' (3m) away, then the camera ends up pointing some 1' (30cm) below the subject. If, say, a BIF is 100 yds away (pretty much default) then the camera is pointing some 10'-15' (3m-5m) below it.
I've sort of bumbled along, putting up with this, as I grappled with the eccentricities of the R7. Yesterday, I put a bit of effort into finding a more repeatable means of aiming the camera/lens combo, rather than my somewhat random, hit-or-miss technique I'd been using up until then.
The solution, as with all these things, was sublimely simple.
1. Put aiming eye as close as possible to the top of the hot shoe.
2. Sight along top of shoe and align with slots in Sigma lens hood.
3. When subject appears in lens hood slot, drop eye to view finder, and it should be there or pretty close.
This technique isn't 100% perfect, but we're talking being inches or a couple of feet off target over ranges of 100m, rather than my previous many metres. I've tried it with BIF and stationary targets.
Caveats:
a. The lens hood that came with my Sigma lens has slots in it. Others third party hoods or different Sigma models may not.
b. This technique works well with the lens at 600mm. A little fettling is required at other zooms.
c. This technique may not work for you.
Here is my well used, abused and battered Sigma 150-600mm lens, with my R7 heading towards being well used, abused and battered.
Unknown said:
There are other options.
1: zoom out. so that you have a wider field of view and then zoom in. to your subject
2: much more effective method is to keep the left eye open as it covers a much greater area and you can see the subject with the naked eye. Then learn how to guide the lens onto the subject, I find its a much more effective method especially as the subject probably isn't yet in focus through the lens.
Has it been a steep learning curve for those of you that's gone mirrorless ? I've dipped in n out of this thread because I was thinking of getting an R7 but there seems to be a big range of canon now and it sounds like some have had trouble adjusting to the move.
Unknown said:Has it been a steep learning curve for those of you that's gone mirrorless ? I've dipped in n out of this thread because I was thinking of getting an R7 but there seems to be a big range of canon now and it sounds like some have had trouble adjusting to the move.
Not at all really, you just have to make use of the manual a bit or talk to other people a bit to help you get the most out of them but no more than we had to with the 7D , the 5dmkiv the 1DX etc. They just get more and more advanced and do more and more things above and beyond simply taking a picture.
Its more a question of have there been issues - its seems that people have reported pulsing issues with the R7 and Sigma 100-600 lenses but that may have been resolved - I don't know how big an issue it was as it didn't affect me so I don't know if it was every camera and lens or just some. However I have never heard of an issue with R7 and a Canon lens either EF or RF. The AF assists are great but not perfect and there are times when it pays to switch them off or make sure you are using the right mode. Being able to see everything in your viewfinder is a great bonus - settings, magnified image of subject, reviewing images etc.
I can't see you having any trouble with the move - probably more trouble deciding which camera to buy
For me, the steepest learning curve was moving from a cropped sensor Canon 1200D to the 5D MkIV. The light aspects changed considerably, but I did adjust quickly and comfortably.
I never really used the 5D to its full potential, whereas I am with the R5, so in a way, yes, a learning curve but thats due to my exploring more, something I should have done with the 5D. Oh the benefits of retirement LOL, and more play time......
I have had the benefit of bumping into someone also new to the R5, and resolved a lot of niggles, if that is the right word.
The move from DSLR to Mirrorless has been a small culture change, and probably the biggest change has been the fact a DSLR can be used as a scope without powering up.
As for getting the subject into view, as Bob says, zoom out is an option and while we do push our cameras to the edge and beyond of their focal abilities, with the high resolutions available today compared to my old 1200D, they will perform, and in my inexperienced opinion, better.
Image stabilisation on Mirrorless is a big leap on DSLR's today.
That's my perspective, we're all different, so I accept some will find it harder while others will take to Mirrorless like a duck to water.
regards
John