Canon’s strongest digicam but places Sony on discover

Transfer over Sony, Canon is attempting to take the lead in bleeding-edge tech for mirrorless cameras. The corporate’s new $4,300, 45-megapixel EOS R5 II provides superior options like eye-tracking autofocus (AF) that may’t be discovered on any latest Sony mannequin. The brand new digicam can also be pushing Sony’s A1 and different fashions in the important thing areas of velocity, video and autofocus. And it’s arguably extra fascinating than Canon’s personal upcoming flagship R1 because it has practically double the decision.

I’ve had the R5 II for just a few weeks, evaluating not solely its practicality and velocity for each professionals and critical amateurs, but in addition the way it stacks up in opposition to Sony’s A1, the gold normal for high-resolution mirrorless cameras. And admittedly, I am impressed.

Design and dealing with

I really like the dealing with of Canon’s mirrorless cameras and the EOS R5 II could also be its sweetest design but.

The physique and controls are similar to the R5, other than a few adjustments. Canon moved the ability swap to the highest proper the place it’s simpler to entry, and added a devoted photograph/video swap on the left. The corporate gave photograph and video modes their very own settings, making it a lot simpler to leap from one to the opposite. Canon additionally made a uncommon change to its menu system, including a brand new olive inexperienced tab for management customization. This new tab additionally incorporates the settings for eye management AF monitoring.

In any other case, the R5 II’s structure is much like its predecessor. That’s a great factor, because the management placement is probably the most pure of any digicam I’ve used, from the snug grip that gives a safe place to carry, to the properly tactile controls that fall completely at hand.

Shifting to the shows, the R5’s 2.1-million-dot absolutely articulating rear contact display was already sharp and straightforward to make use of, so Canon didn’t mess with that. The R5 II has the identical sharp 5.76-million dot OLED digital viewfinder as earlier than, however the firm boosted the brightness and redesigned the optics to accommodate the brand new eye management autofocus.

The R5 II helps CFexpress Kind B playing cards for capturing 8K RAW video, together with SD UHS II when you’re okay with cheaper and slower media. Different key options embody headphone and microphone ports, a full-sized HDMI enter and a USB-C port for charging and transfers. Canon additionally launched three new battery grips, together with one with a cooling fan that extends video taking pictures occasions, as I’ll talk about quickly.

I’m a giant fan of the R5 II’s design, and my professional photographer buddy agreed, saying that like most Canon merchandise, the R5 II’s ergonomics are so good the machine is snug to carry for lengthy durations of time. He additionally mentioned he barely most well-liked the R5 II’s dealing with to his Sony A9 III and A1 cameras, due to how straightforward it’s to make use of with one hand.

Efficiency

The EOS R5 II provides a mix of velocity and backbone that rivals and generally even surpasses the Nikon Z8 and Sony A1. That is largely as a result of new stacked 45-megapixel sensor and up to date Digic X processor to crunch all these pixels.

The R5 II can shoot bursts at as much as 30 fps in digital shutter mode with a blackout-free view. That’s slower than the R1, however I’ll commerce a small hit in efficiency in trade for the additional decision. I used to be capable of seize about 100 RAW frames earlier than the buffer crammed. Speeds drop to 12 fps with the mechanical shutter, however there’s not often any want to make use of it as a result of there’s no challenge with rolling shutter distortion – due to the stacked sensor. The R5 II’s new pre-capture mode can document as much as 15 pictures while you half-press the shutter. That’s nice for photojournalists or wildlife photographers who could in any other case miss a shot by a fraction of a second.

Canon’s “Dual Pixel” autofocus has all the time been good, however on the R5 II it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen. When taking pictures bursts with a topic biking towards the digicam, 80 % of my pictures had been in focus. And the EOS R5 II now tracks animals, birds and automobiles, on high of faces, eyes and our bodies of individuals.

The digicam additionally has a few new autofocus tips, together with one referred to as motion precedence. That retains the AF targeted across the ball in three particular sports activities: volleyball, basketball and soccer. I didn’t discover any specific AF enchancment, as my hit charge gave the impression to be about the identical with out it, however devoted sports activities photographers would possibly see the distinction.

One other new perform retains the monitoring level in your topic even when somebody crosses in entrance of them. That did appear to work nicely more often than not, however it could often wander away and lock onto another person.

When Canon launched the R5 II and R1 in July, it launched pre-registered individual precedence AF that lets your digicam memorize as much as ten particular folks, like star athletes for example. This characteristic functioned as marketed, switching AF to a registered individual and monitoring them as an alternative of different folks within the scene.

Lastly, I examined Canon’s well-known eye management AF that detects the place the photographer is trying and strikes the topic monitoring level there. That is an undeniably cool characteristic and has improved in comparison with the primary implementation on the EOS R3, however remains to be too unreliable for skilled use.

In actual fact, the professional photographer buddy I discussed identified that although eye management feels futuristic, it’s nonetheless a bit too flakey for paid gigs the place focus reliability is paramount.

On the R5 II, in-body stabilization is one of the best I’ve seen on any Canon digicam, holding the sensor rock-steady for handheld taking pictures, with as much as 8.5 stops of shake discount. It was so dependable that I by no means felt the necessity to carry a tripod when utilizing sluggish shutter speeds.

I’ve all the time discovered Sony cameras to be barely superior to Canon in terms of autofocus and velocity. I can not say that, because the EOS R5 II could be very even with Sony’s newest fashions. My Sony-using photographer buddy agreed, saying he couldn’t see any actual distinction between the R5 II his A1 or A9 III.

Picture high quality

Picture high quality on the R5 II is basically the identical because the R5, and that’s a great factor. The 45-megapixel sensor produces pictures nearly as good as or higher than the Sony A1 at a less expensive value, and compares favorably to Nikon’s equally priced Z8.

When taking pictures in RAW mode at decrease ISOs, the R5 II provides good dynamic vary in excessive distinction vibrant and darkish scenes. Like different stacked sensor cameras, although, there’s a bit extra noise than with common CMOS sensors. High quality additionally drops barely in digital shutter mode, so it’s higher to make use of the mechanical shutter in difficult lighting situations.

Excessive ISO efficiency isn’t too unhealthy for such a high-resolution digicam both, with noise staying below management as much as ISO 12,800. After that, the R5 II doesn’t fairly measure as much as fashions just like the Nikon Z7 II or Sony A7R V, as each of these supply cleaner photographs with much less grain.

When you don’t need the effort of processing RAW, JPEG rendering is superb straight out of the digicam, with nicely balanced sharpening and noise discount. For low-light taking pictures, pores and skin tones are flattering in any respect ISO settings, and one of the best amongst all cameras on this value vary.

One new notable characteristic on the R5 II is the AI-powered upscaling utilized after the photograph is taken. The consequence isn’t fairly nearly as good as a devoted app like Topaz, however it’s not unhealthy contemplating it’s in-camera processing.

Video

The unique EOS R5 would have been a darn close to good video digicam if not for its pesky overheating points. Canon has improved this to a level with a brand new passive cooling design and $400 fan grip. With these updates, warmth is simply actually a problem on the highest resolutions (8K 60p and 4K 120p). Nonetheless, these limitations are much less extreme on the rival Nikon Z8.

Other than the heating challenge, the EOS R5 II has spectacular specs. It could shoot as much as 8K 60p and 4K 120p video, however does so with far much less rolling shutter than the R5, once more due to the brand new stacked sensor. The digicam now has Canon Log 2 (CLog 2) functionality that permits for larger dynamic vary seize than the R5.

Video autofocus is excellent in any respect resolutions, with fast acquisition of the topic and dependable monitoring. Face- and eye-detection work very nicely, and I solely often seen AF lag with fast-moving topics.

As for stabilization, I might shoot easy footage whereas handheld in optical mode with no crop, supplied I didn’t transfer the digicam an excessive amount of. Digital stabilization allowed for extra motion whereas solely cropping in a contact, and the improved setting let me shoot easily whereas strolling with a 1.5x crop. Panasonic’s S5 II remains to be one of the best on this regard, however the R5 II is shut behind.

As for high quality, video on the EOS R5 II is extraordinarily sharp, significantly with supersampled 4K HQ. Different 4K modes are subsampled, however practically as sharp. Rolling shutter is nicely managed, so that you gained’t actually discover it except you do whip pans or jostle the digicam whereas taking pictures.

Canon’s glorious colour science delivers heat pores and skin tones and correct colours. RAW video permits plenty of room for changes in publish, whereas the CLog 2 brings dynamic vary as much as 14 stops to allow taking pictures in contrasty situations. With all this, the Canon R5 II is now my go-to digicam for taking pictures video — even over Sony and Panasonic fashions.

Wrap-up

The $4,300 EOS R5 II is Canon’s greatest digicam in years, due to enhancements in key areas like autofocus, video, taking pictures speeds and total really feel. Newly launched tech like eye management AF is much less helpful, however it’s nonetheless good to see Canon attempt to innovate, and the characteristic ought to enhance in subsequent fashions.

The R5 II is up in opposition to some nice competitors on this value vary, particularly the $4,000 Nikon Z8 that holds its personal in opposition to this digicam in most conditions. Nonetheless, Canon’s autofocus is barely sooner and extra dependable, and I tremendously favor the R5 II’s dealing with. The one different full-frame choice with a stacked sensor and related decision is the Sony A1, which prices $2,200 extra.

The principle points with the R5 II are overheating, the wonkiness of motion precedence and unreliable eye management autofocus. Nonetheless, it now stacks up extraordinarily nicely in opposition to Sony’s A1 by way of velocity and autofocus, whereas providing superior stabilization and dealing with. Which one you select could merely come right down to model choice or present lens assortment.