Canon Announces EOS R5 and R6 Mirror-less IL Cameras (For Real This Time!)

[VidThreeNorth]

Canon and Nikon have been making long pre-announcement announcements in the last few years which is a practice I understand and dislike. They are not the only companies that have done this, but I would be happier if they stopped doing this. In this case we have the "real announcements" and the two new Canon bodies "R5" and "R6" are substantial advances and put Canon squarely "in the mix" with the top full frame MILC's in the business.

Both cameras feature IBIS, Dual-Pixel focusing and dual card slots (the R5 has an SD card and a CF Express card).

The R5 with its 45 MP sensor supports 8K video (a CF Express card is required to use this record mode), and is, oddly, the more complete video supporting entrant, though with a 30 min. record limit (less for some formats).

The Canon EOS R5 will be available at the end of July for about $3899 US for body-only and $4999 including an RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM lens.

"Canon R5 Review",
posted "July 9, 2020" by William Brawley for "Imaging-Resource.com"
"Canon R5 Review"

The R6 has a 20 MP sensor and records 4K with a slight crop (no 8K). The R6 is the low-light/dynamic range standard bearer of the two and it will be interesting to see its performance. In this case the two supported cards are SD. The R6 has a wide array of recording formats and does not appear to have a video record limit.

The Canon EOS R6 will be available by the end of August at a suggested retail price of $2,499 USD for the body only, or $2,899 USD with an RF 24-105mm STM lens, or $3,599 USD with a 24-105mm L lens.

"Canon R6 Review",
posted July 9, 2020 by Jeremy Gray for "Imaging-Resource.com"
"Canon R6 Review"

 

[Space Face]

Interesting. I'm a Canon user and these may be out of my range at the moment but I'll be having a right good look.

 

[Mike Drone]

Those look like they will be awesome cameras. =]

 

[Space Face]

Just looked at the Pre-Order price in the UK from one of the main retailers. OUCH - £4,199.00

 

[photoflyer]

The R6 intrigues me. I'm set for glass and I'm not sure I really need a new body. Still, IBIS and the focusing system on their mirrorless bodies is tempting... I'm wondering if next in the works will be a true mirrorless replacement for the 7D Mark II.

 

[dxqcanada]

I find the new RF 800mm and 600mm collapsible lens more intriguing than the cameras ... hmm.

 

[Space Face]

Hmmmmmmmmm, it'd be interesting to see how such slow (f/11) lenses perform. Either good light or high ISO would be needed in a lot of circumstances I suspect.

 

[photoflyer]

I find the new RF 800mm and 600mm collapsible lens more intriguing than the cameras ... hmm.

I will say that as I read about those it did motivate me to get out and experiment with my equivalent.

I have the 100-400 L 4.5-5.6 Mark II and the 300 f 4 L. I also have the 1.4x and 2x TC.

So that becomes 800mm F 11 and 600 F 8 using the 2x TC on the full frame.

I normally do not use the 2x TC preferring to use the 1.4 TC and then the crop sensor for the extra reach with a bit more speed.

The auto focus works at F 11 so long as I use Live View. Cumbersome.

I think what makes the new lenses possible is what the mirrorless cameras bring to the table:

- better low light performance
- excellent auto focus even in low light (my cameras can autofocus at F11 in live view)
- IBIS

My setup is bigger, heavier and has the limitations I described earlier but water sealed and excellent optical quality.

If you get one, let us know what you think.

 

[dxqcanada]

I will not be getting into the Canon R's ... these lenses caught my eye as they remind me of long focal length manual focus lenses made that were not of telephoto design. Its the collapsing part that interested me.

 

[Derrel]

Hmmmmmmmmm, it'd be interesting to see how such slow (f/11) lenses perform. Either good light or high ISO would be needed in a lot of circumstances I suspect.

Where I live we have about 5 months of good bright light in a year, and now we have pretty good high ISO performance. Over the past 10 years we have seen slowish zoom lenses and slowish prime lenses become more and more usable mostly due to improvements in high ISO output.

 

[photoflyer]

Where I live we have about 5 months of good bright light in a year, and now we have pretty good high ISO performance.

I think Canon has nailed it. My guess is camera shops tell them that there are a lot of parents of kids that play outdoor sports that come in looking for a camera and advice. They have no idea if F 11 is good or bad. They just know that they want a camera (lens) that can isolate their kid from 75 yards away. Today, with high ISO performance and IBIS that works with the lens' IS they can get those soccer, baseball, lacrosse...name a daytime outdoor sport...action shot.

I will say that Canon IBIS needs to migrate to lower priced bodies for this demographic, but it will.

A 90D or T8i and one of these lenses will work.

I'd have enjoyed sitting in on those focus groups.

 

[dxqcanada]

Back in the day we had many long focal length lenses that where f8+ ... economic lenses for wildlife ... and we shot manual focusing with 400ISO film.
Kinda like ... we were your age we used to walk uphill to school, through a blizzard, both ways !!
Like Derrel says, the current technology makes this type of lens practical.

 

[Derrel]

When I was a college-age photographer shooting for the university's daily paper, we shot Tri-X 400 and we used to have to push process to 1600...these days we can get the same, or better quality at ISO 25,600...THAT HAS MADE slow maximum aperture lenses like f/8 and even f/11 usable in many situations.USABLE ISO HAS GONE From 200 to 12,000 to 25,000 in about 15 years or so.

 

[VidThreeNorth]

Lens Rentals has published a tear-down of an R5:

"Lensrentals tears down the Canon EOS R5 and finds interesting sealing and thermal flow",
by Jeremy Gray, Published Sep 8, 2020 by "DPReview.com"
"Lensrentals tears down the Canon EOS R5 and finds interesting sealing and thermal flow"

There has been a lot of speculation about cooling the camera during some video operations. The tear down shows a very packed body, but according to the commentary, it appears that effort was made to provide heat dissipation. There is still a lot we do not know. . . .

 

[photoflyer]

Tri-X 400 and we used to have to push process to 1600.

Did the grain matter if it was to be published in the paper which has a graininess anyway...or did it compound the problem?