The deed is done.
Yesterday afternoon I finally got off the pot and purchased a Canon R5, the mirrorless camera I’ve been thinking about buying for a year and a half.
With all the accessory gear I needed/wanted – including battery pack, adapter, card reader, spare batteries and new memory cards – the grand total amounted to a king’s ransom, which is one of the reasons I’ve hesitated for as long as I have.
The camera is small enough to look a little silly on the end of my bazooka lens but I doubt the birds will care about that. When I have the battery pack attached it will be bulked up considerably and feel more substantial in my hands.
At this point I’m thinking that the battery pack will be necessary because of the additional battery drain of the electronic viewfinder.
Another thing I’ll have to get used to is the adapter – without it my EF lens won’t work with an RF camera. I’m usually shooting with my teleconverter attached so in this photo I’ve marked the tc with a red check and the adapter with a white check.
Since the R5 is mirrorless it doesn’t have a mirror box in front of the camera so the purpose of the adapter is to make up that distance and place the EF lens at the required distance from the RF camera sensor. The adapter isn’t optical, it has no glass. It’s mostly just a spacer with a whole lotta electrical contacts.
At this point I have no idea how long it’ll be before I begin posting photos taken with the R5 to my blog. My learning curve is huge, I have a long list of camera settings I need to figure out and I’m having software problems, most likely related to my clunky old computer. A new computer may be on my near horizon too but I’ve known that for some time now.
Then there’s the matter of retraining my muscle memory so I’m quick on the buttons and dials of a new camera in the field. Birds aren’t likely to slow down just because I have a new camera.
This old dog needs to learn some new tricks.
Ron
PS – Thanks to all of my readers who provided feedback and tips about the R5 on yesterday’s post. That feedback helped to give me the confidence I needed to pull the trigger on the new camera.
How did I miss this epic news? Congrats! I’ve had mine for about a year now along with the RF 100-500. I imagine by now you’ve got it somewhat sorted out. The Canon ecosystem is very consistent which made the transition much easier.
Congratulations on the new camera! I look forward to delighting in your pictures. 😀
Holy cow! You are quick on the draw when you set your mind to it! Wasn’t it just yesterday you were still dilly-dallying? This was *not* what I expected to find in my inbox this morning! 😉 Congratulations and may the exhilaration of owning new gear and shooting great photos far outweigh the frustration of any learning curve issues.
Chris, even I was surprised by how quick on the draw I was. Sometimes you just gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
Ron,
Welcome to the world of mirrorless technology. I have had my Nikon mirrorless for a couple of years and love it. You will get used to it. I will admit that the TC with the adapter just seem ridiculous. But … A new 500 mm lens to match the mount is probably twice what you spent for the camera if Nikon follows Canon. (I know as a Nikon user I might be considered the red-headed stepchild in this discussion, but it is what it is.)
Can’t wait to see pictures (and hear about the learning curve!).
Best,
Stephen
Stephen, I think it’s more like three times what I paid for the camera. Not gonna happen anytime soon, probably never.
There’s plenty of Nikon users hanging around Feathered Photography. Red-headed stepchildren are always welcome.
Thanks!
3 times is about right for Nikon as well, I just didn’t know the Canon prices.
Congrats. Like you, I vacillated for a while, before taking the plunge. The best feature that I have found so far is the ability to set up two focus modes that can be accessed at the same time. Customize the AF button on the back to one of them, like eye tracking in servo mode, and set another like the * button to spot / point AF. Set the shutter release to metering and shutter.
Now depending on the situation you can choose from the two by literally choosing which button to use.
Also, there is a touch and drag function on the rear screen. So you can move the af point with your thumb while.looking through the viewfinder without having to select the af button and then use the “joystick.”
Charles, this morning I’ve been trying to customize my AF options similar to the way you describe but I’m not there yet.
I hope I get used to that touch screen but I’m not there yet either.
I have to tell you I didn’t like the camera for the first month I had it. Coming from the 5D, I didn’t like how some manual/ analog functions like changing the mode or now electronic. Using the electronic viewfinder in the dark seemed really weird, but there are different settings for saving power.
I took pictures of my daughter’s friends quinceanera, and they were great, but my wildlife pictures were a little soft and the camera didn’t find distance objects well.
Once I started playing with the modes and dragging on the screen, the results were fantastic.
I can’t wait to see the images that you post once you find your “sea legs.”
Congratulations for diving into a new pool! Am very excited to see your pics with the new rig and hearing a play-by-play on your learning journey. Am not a photographer and find yesterday and today’s post so interesting!! Maybe I’ll take the plunge one day and venture beyond my iPhone 13 LOL!
Am in the mountains this week and have been entertained with all the raptors! Makes my heart sing to see them soaring above me.
“Congratulations for diving into a new pool”
Kathleen, so far I feel a little like I’m drowning.
Enjoy! I am a bit jealous too. I hope you post your settings, findings and learning curve issues as you go so I will be well educated by the time I have my own. 🙂
April, as you can imagine, at this point my settings are far from set in stone.
Yay! Ron, may you have many hour of enjoyment learning and using your new addition to the family.
Brett, I hope the “using” is more fun than the “learning” has been so far…
Congratulations, Ron! Use it in good health! Looking forward to seeing what it can do for you.
Thanks, Marty.
Congratulations. At the start of the pandemic I lost my business, but because I could move most of it online I saved a lot of rent money and when you wrote you were interested in the R5 it set me on a course of buying one. I’ve had it for about 7 months now and am mostly enthralled, although there are those occasional freezes that make me wonder. It’s so much better for my arthritic hands than the behemoth I was carrying around before. I look forward to your thoughts and especially your images as you get used to this “computer with a lens”.
Ann, right now some of my “thoughts” are mostly related to my frustrations. Hopefully that will improve.
Well, good luck to an old dog with a tricky new companion. Note: I did not use the T word.
I’m gonna need it, Sallie,
Looking forward to riding along with you while you navigate that learning curve and post the results.
Of course I got a chuckle out of the fact that the first posted photo after your state-of-the-art purchase was taken with your cell phone(?)🙂
Lyle, Irony has its place!
Good for you! I look forward to “seeing” your new adventures.
Take Care,
Kaye
Thanks, Kaye.
Looks like a lens dragging a camera long for the ride…… 😉 It would never have occurred to me that the distance between the lens and sensor would be an issues – always something to learn! I’m sure figuring it out will be a challenge and muscle memory IS had to undo/retrain. Good Luck! 🙂
“Looks like a lens dragging a camera long for the ride”
It kinda does, doesn’t it Judy. That’ll change with the battery pack attached.
Hi Ron , I just read an old post of yours about Sandhill Cranes laying down but have no way to comment, is there an email I can send you a picture? I currently have 2 cranes in my yard in Florida, they come to my yard often, they were walking around, drinking from my pond, and now the female has been laying down in the shade for about 15 minutes.
I don’t know much about Sandhills but I love to watch them, I thought that was odd so I googled “do they lay down” and that is how I found you. If you would like the picture I took just email me.
“two cranes in my yard”
Now that sounds delicious, Kimberly. Needless to say, I’m jealous but I hear it isn’t unusual in Florida.
Congratulations on your new “baby” ! You’ll both be off and toddling
very soon– all the best !
Thank you, Kris.
I’ve enjoyed your blog for a while now. Thank you for the daily postings.
You’re also moving to Full-frame from APS-C, right? I’d be interested to hear your experience making that adjustment too.
I shoot Sony APS-C mirrorless, but with most of the technical advancement happening in the full-frame world a year or two before APS-C, the temptation to move is very real.
Good luck with your new gear. A good way to stay young.
Cedy, the R5 is full frame but it also gives me the option to shoot cropped frame.
Ron, Using crop mode doesn’t really make sense in most cases. It doesn’t give you “more reach” as many people may think. You capture the exact same image in both cases. Crop mode simply cuts off a huge perimeter of your available frame and you can never get those pixels back. When you’re shooting RAW files it would take your 45 mp file and reduce it down to about 17 mp.
If you take an exposure in full mode and then take the same shot in crop mode, load them both into your editing software and zoom to 100%, both images will look exactly the same size. Shooting crop mode would drastically limit your cropping options in post process, so it rarely makes sense to use the crop mode for most people. (think of every image you’ve clipped a wing over the years)
If you were shooting in jpg mode and planning to use the files with zero post process, it may be beneficial in some specific circumstances, but otherwise you’re drastically limiting what you can do in post, for no good reason. When I’m giving classes, I often tell people that electronics allow the manufacturers to give us a daunting array of options, but that doesn’t mean we have any need to use most of them. No matter how many dials, buttons and menu items they give us, good photography still boils down to your understanding and use of the exposure triangle. Thinking of it in those terms may (or may not) reduce some of the stress of facing all the new “gadgets” on a new camera.
Wow Ron – quite a major change for you. How many years were you with your present camera. I admire you for having the courage to move out of your comfort zone, it is something at my age and lack of tech ability, that I would never do. You go guy !!!!!
Everett, I’ve been using the 7DII for 7 years. Before that the 7D, which was very similar. So the R5 is a huge change for me.
Hi, Ron ,
Based upon my experience with the R5 and birding photography, I think you’re going to be very pleased.
I recommend you look over YouTuber Jan Wegener’s postings for good information on the Canon R5 and the lenses he has tested.
Although there are many suggested settings that are worthwhile, if I had to pick my most liked settings, they would be using the AF back button focus to put the camera in single focus point shooting mode and the star button for auto animal eye focus shooting mode.
As to performance, I think you’ll enjoy 20 frames per second silent shooting and the ability to choose significantly higher iso values.
I can’t wait to see what you create!
Thanks for the advice, Den. I’ve already watched Jan’s videos several times. A few others too.
At this point I’m not sure how often I’ll be using the electronic shutter at 20 frames/sec, I like hearing the shutter sound (reduced in the R5) and much of the time 12 frames/sec should be fast enough. Usually, but we’ll see.
Congratulations! You won’t look back. My EV lenses work extremely well with this camera and I expect that yours will as well. One big advantage of mirrorless is that you’ll see how much exposure comp. you’ll need when you look through the EVF. You might consider configuring one of the rings so that you can adjust your exposure comp without taking your eye off the viewfinder.
Steven, I’m thinking I’ll no longer need to take test shots to check my exposure.
I tried the R5 as a loaner from Canon last summer. Although I wasn’t sold on owning the R5 for my use, I was completely sold on the eye focus and ordered an R3 last September. I just received my R3 on 2/25/22.
I’ve been shooting with the 1DX MIII and it definitely takes considerable time to get all your buttons and settings configured for your own personal shooting style. I’ve been out with the R3 a few times and still feel awkward, clumsy and slow trying to accomplish what was intuitive and instantaneous with my 1DX. There is a definite learning curve, but it will pay off in the long run.
My interest in adding a mirrorless body was the eye focus and even with my fumbling, it’s clear that you will get more “keepers” and better composed shots, due to that one amazing piece of technology. I’m not sure I’ll be giving up my 1DX MIII, but the R3 was a worthy addition. I expect I will be adding the R1, once it’s out and hope to replace my current Canon 600mm, with the new 600mm that’s half the weight. Like they say, you can’t take your money with you when you go!
You will definitely go through batteries quickly with the R5, so be prepared for that. Learning something new can be frustrating and intimidating, but I believe in the long run, you will come to appreciate the advantages. Good luck!
Thanks for relating your experience so far, Everet. I’ll be keeping at least one of my 7DII’s and maybe both of them.
Well, your post yesterday pushed me over the edge and I ordered an R5 yesterday too…should arrive sometime tomorrow. Thanks Ron!
Geez Rick, between the two of us we’re going to keep the world’s economy going all by ourselves.
Good luck to us both!
You should get royalties for advertising! Looks amazing!
I wish!