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
Thanks everyone for your input and suggestions.
Ed. I agree with you that the R7 sensor isn't the best, and struggles to focus in low contrast situations. The reason I use exposure compensation is because I have the EF adapter with the control ring set to exposure compensation. It is a quick way to brighten or darken an image.
Mike. Interesting what you say about older cameras having that oil paint look about them, I just compared it to my previous camera the 90D, which was not as good as the R7 in most cases, but I don't recall it having this effect. As I said I take a RAW and a large jpg for every shot, but mostly use the jpg as I find editting RAW an arduous task. I just have the RAW there in case the jpg isn't editable enough or a shot is particularly good that I try to improve on it by editing the RAW file. Mostly I delete them when I decide I don't need them.
Bob. I see what you mean about the grass stem and what appears to be a wire in picture 2 confusing the focus. I thought that the smallest spot focus was supposed to avoid that situation. Mind you the smallest focus choice in the focus selection area does look considerably larger than my previous 90d, which was like a dot. I was using my 100mm L macro lens, which is also good for portraits, but as you say could have been part of the problem in photo 2. The picture style on my camera is set to Auto, I could probably alter that.
Joe. You could be right about switching the animal detect off for insects and butterflies. I do use single spot, but usually have the animal detect on as well. On image one I just took the one shot as I see loads of Sparrows. It was only when I got home that I realised that it had a Damselfly in it's beak! The flatness does improve a little using auto contrast - I use Photoshop myself, but the settings are very similar. It is not just as detailed as I would expect. Both of these were taken with my Canon EF100mmL macro lens, which should have made a better job of the butterfly I would have thought. I agree that focusing on small objects with a long lens is not easy, the longest I have is the Canon EF 70-300L, which is ok if I can't get close enough to use the macro, but I don't expect ultra fine detail.
Again, thanks everyone for you opinions and suggestions
Bobs_Retired said:A few thoughts from me, for what they are worth.
Your thoughts and tips Bob are an invaluable contribution, likewise Whistling Joe's as well..
Billysdad said:Mike. Interesting what you say about older cameras having that oil paint look about them, I just compared it to my previous camera the 90D, which was not as good as the R7 in most cases, but I don't recall it having this effect. As I said I take a RAW and a large jpg for every shot, but mostly use the jpg as I find editting RAW an arduous task. I just have the RAW there in case the jpg isn't editable enough or a shot is particularly good that I try to improve on it by editing the RAW file. Mostly I delete them when I decide I don't need them.
Quote: "I take a RAW and a large jpg for every shot" I wonder if the camera processing two images simultaneously is a contributory issue.
Have a look on my Flickr page at this photo of a swallow & sand martin on a sunny day, it is one of a few from that day I have as desktop backgrounds and screensaver, that shows the oil paint look, or, glazed.
Incidentally, the lens was the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary.
It may also be the card needs to handle a higher speed to handle the storage and processing.
I did try that once with the 5D4 out of curiosity and noticed some degradation. It may have been coincidence, I don't know, but if did fill the card up fast, so I set it back to RAW only, and live with the arduous slower editing times while waiting for the RAW to be converted to jpg.
To help reduce the arduous editing time, I often will download the RAW photos via the Canon Connect app (NOTE: Nikon and other cameras have similar smartphone apps, so check the Apple App Store or Android/Google Google Play), to preview the images on a larger screen than the one of the camera, note the file ref and delete as appropriate.
One thing I do is, protect all photos on the camera/card before doing any reviewing to delete, then using the Select option, unlock the photo to delete before downloading.
Messy? Perhaps.
After a bit of a wait, a new toy has arrived this morning, the RF 200-800mm USM lens.
I'll be having a play in the garden later with it.
Looking forward to seeing your pictures Mike. That lens should pair well with the R5. Any thoughts on the R5 Mk2?
Enjoy the new lens Mike, sounds fantastic so get cracking LOL
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Regards, Hazel
I dragged a 500mm f/4 L out of its box today. And coupled it up with a 1.4 converter. On a tripod with a suitable mount.
"Any thoughts on the R5 Mk2?"
"HOW MUCH?" could be a thought.
Enjoy the new lens Mike. Will look forward to seeing some pics ...
tuwit said:"HOW MUCH?" could be a thought.
£4,499
I am waiting for the R7ii, which is at the moment just a rumour. I like cropped bodies for the reach. I feel the R7, (which I have), is a great camera, but could stand improvement in some areas which have been discussed on here. If the Mkii addresses those areas, I would buy one.