I have had the R5 for a month now and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. I had read most of the professional reviews and although I don’t take their words as Gospel, I was sufficiently encouraged to dip my tow into the mirrorless market.
My intention was to buy the R6 and my research indicated this was marginally the better option for wildlife and birds in flight photography. I came out from the dealer with the R5, for the following reasons:
R5 (R6)
45mp sensor (20mp)
Screen Res 2,100,000 (1,620,000)
Top Screen (None)
CFexpress card + SD (SD x 2)
Truth be told, never mind all the logical reasons above …………. I just wanted the R5!
It took me most of a day to research and set up my R5 for the photography I intended. I watched lots of Youtube and discounted most of the contributor’s advice, primarily because it was a long way out from what I was already using with my 1Dx MKIII. I eventually zeroed in on the settings suggested by “Whistling Wings Photography” and I used about 95% of his settings, the other 5% were just personal preferences. Since using the R5 in anger, I have only altered two settings and out of the thousands of options available, I think that is pretty good going.
I am not going into a full review, as there are plenty available, but here are a few stand out features:
First is the eye focus tracking. It is just amazing and locks on a great distance away, much further than I thought it would. How did I ever manage without it? It’s brilliant, but not infallible. There are certain instances where it will not instantly lock on, but I have a quick workaround. You can re-configure most of the controls and buttons to do what you want them to. As I use Back Button Focus, I have configured the AF-on button for eye focus tracking and the * button next to it for normal focusing. So, if the eye focus doesn’t instantly lock on, a quick press of the * button will lock onto the bird as a whole, then back to the AF-on button for eye tracking. All in a second or two.
The second is the viewfinder. On a DSLR, you see what the lens sees and if you use any exposure compensation, it doesn’t affect what you see through the viewfinder, it will only affect the sensor. Consequently you apply exposure compensation through experience, or checking your histogram. On the D5, what I see through the viewfinder is what I get. There is a “normal” intensity of light through the viewfinder, but if I apply + compensation, the viewfinder correspondingly lightens by the amount I have applied. Similarly if I apply –compensation, it darkens by a similar amount. Also, if I pick my camera up later and the screen is a little dark, or a little light, I know that exposure compensation is applied and I can return it to normal before I shoot. It’s not a major selling point, but to me it’s very helpful.
Battery life seems better than expected. I obviously took note of detractors who criticized battery life and I did add the battery grip to my purchase. It’s not as good as the brick used in a 1 series, so I will probably get another couple of batteries just in case, but a days shooting out of two small batteries seems pretty good to me.
I wanted the 45MP and this is amazing if I need to crop an image. I can do a 50% crop and still get R6/1Dx quality. There are two downsides to this though. Because of the high pixel count and density of pixels, you can get pixel creep between adjacent pixels during fast action. This can cause a slight softening of the image and the remedy is to use a stop higher shutter speed than you would normally. I haven’t experienced this and I have been using higher shutter speeds ……… just in case! Also associated with the high pixel count, the R6 with its larger pixels will shoot -1EV better than the R5. This means it will shoot in lower light, but also generate less noise at higher ISO’s.
Just a few thoughts of mine and I would be most interested in the experiences of other R5 and R6 users. I am very pleased I took the plunge and I am in my very, very happy place, doing a happy, happy dance.
My intention was to buy the R6 and my research indicated this was marginally the better option for wildlife and birds in flight photography. I came out from the dealer with the R5, for the following reasons:
R5 (R6)
45mp sensor (20mp)
Screen Res 2,100,000 (1,620,000)
Top Screen (None)
CFexpress card + SD (SD x 2)
Truth be told, never mind all the logical reasons above …………. I just wanted the R5!
It took me most of a day to research and set up my R5 for the photography I intended. I watched lots of Youtube and discounted most of the contributor’s advice, primarily because it was a long way out from what I was already using with my 1Dx MKIII. I eventually zeroed in on the settings suggested by “Whistling Wings Photography” and I used about 95% of his settings, the other 5% were just personal preferences. Since using the R5 in anger, I have only altered two settings and out of the thousands of options available, I think that is pretty good going.
I am not going into a full review, as there are plenty available, but here are a few stand out features:
First is the eye focus tracking. It is just amazing and locks on a great distance away, much further than I thought it would. How did I ever manage without it? It’s brilliant, but not infallible. There are certain instances where it will not instantly lock on, but I have a quick workaround. You can re-configure most of the controls and buttons to do what you want them to. As I use Back Button Focus, I have configured the AF-on button for eye focus tracking and the * button next to it for normal focusing. So, if the eye focus doesn’t instantly lock on, a quick press of the * button will lock onto the bird as a whole, then back to the AF-on button for eye tracking. All in a second or two.
The second is the viewfinder. On a DSLR, you see what the lens sees and if you use any exposure compensation, it doesn’t affect what you see through the viewfinder, it will only affect the sensor. Consequently you apply exposure compensation through experience, or checking your histogram. On the D5, what I see through the viewfinder is what I get. There is a “normal” intensity of light through the viewfinder, but if I apply + compensation, the viewfinder correspondingly lightens by the amount I have applied. Similarly if I apply –compensation, it darkens by a similar amount. Also, if I pick my camera up later and the screen is a little dark, or a little light, I know that exposure compensation is applied and I can return it to normal before I shoot. It’s not a major selling point, but to me it’s very helpful.
Battery life seems better than expected. I obviously took note of detractors who criticized battery life and I did add the battery grip to my purchase. It’s not as good as the brick used in a 1 series, so I will probably get another couple of batteries just in case, but a days shooting out of two small batteries seems pretty good to me.
I wanted the 45MP and this is amazing if I need to crop an image. I can do a 50% crop and still get R6/1Dx quality. There are two downsides to this though. Because of the high pixel count and density of pixels, you can get pixel creep between adjacent pixels during fast action. This can cause a slight softening of the image and the remedy is to use a stop higher shutter speed than you would normally. I haven’t experienced this and I have been using higher shutter speeds ……… just in case! Also associated with the high pixel count, the R6 with its larger pixels will shoot -1EV better than the R5. This means it will shoot in lower light, but also generate less noise at higher ISO’s.
Just a few thoughts of mine and I would be most interested in the experiences of other R5 and R6 users. I am very pleased I took the plunge and I am in my very, very happy place, doing a happy, happy dance.
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