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Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS sample gallery

27 Apr

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The ‘Defocus Smoothing’ or DS variant of Canon’s RF 85mm F1.2L uses a special coating to two of the lens’ 13 elements to give out-of-focus highlights a smoother appearance. And like its non-DS counterpart, it’s an outstanding portrait lens. We took advantage of a little time outdoors and some springtime scenery to put together a collection of preliminary samples – take a look.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Canon EOS R5: The long game ends with a big leap

23 Apr

The fruit of Canon’s R&D emerges from the shadows

Canon has been the best selling camera brand for most of the digital era. Different people might ascribe this dominance to different areas of strength, be that lens design, ergonomics, color response or simply very successful marketing that’s resulted in a history of cameras that people want at a price they’re willing to pay. For the past few years though, its once proud reputation for innovation hasn’t seemed so evident.

Canon’s US press releases still proudly boast about how many patents the company has been granted, but its electronics development prowess hasn’t shone especially brightly in recent models. The EOS R5’s disclosed specs reveal a camera capable of generating and processing immense amounts of data. This suggests a leap forward in Canon’s semiconductor design and one that might shed some light on why some of their most recent cameras have seemed somewhat lackluster.

Blimey!

It’s difficult to over-stress how much of a technical challenge it is to capture and record 8K footage. Just four years ago virtually every camera maker we interviewed said that 4K was really difficult because of the heat generated in the process and there are many models that stop recording or become very hot if they shoot for extended periods. Canon is promising a camera that can capture four times as much data, from the full width of its sensor while still being able to run its dual pixel AF system in parallel.

The EOS R5’s disclosed specs suggests a leap forward in Canon’s semiconductor design

If that doesn’t strike you as ground-breaking, consider that the EOS R5 can shoot 4K at up to 120 fps. Then look around the current batch of large sensor cameras and count how many can achieve 4K/60. It’s a short list, and one that gets even shorter if you mark off the ones that can only do so using a cropped region of their sensor. The EOS R5 almost certainly sub-samples to achieve this, but that’s still a lot of data.

We don’t know the camera’s full specs, yet, but this all points to a radical improvement in sensor and processing technologies.

A history of innovation

Canon was the first camera maker to fully embrace CMOS technology for its DSLRs, which gave it industry-leading performance for many years (it was another seven years until we saw a camera with a CMOS chip from Sony Semiconductor). It was also the first company to produce a large sensor camera that could capture Full HD video. Technologies such Dual Pixel AF show that the company has continued to work away at pushing its cameras forwards.

And yet, the last few generations of Canon stills cameras haven’t always sparkled, particularly in terms of video: notably the most processor-intensive feature. The EOS 5D Mark IV had to crop its sensor to deliver 4K and still showed a fair amount of rolling shutter when it did, suggesting there was a major bottleneck either in terms of sensor readout rate or the ability to process this data fast enough.

It’s also interesting to note that Canon cameras tend to achieve much lower shot-count ratings per Watt Hour of battery capacity than other companies manage, which is likely to be indicative of lower processor efficiency.

The EOS R, as the first RF mount camera, had plenty of innovations in it, but its cropped 4K video suggests a similar lack of processing power to that of the EOS 5D VI, which wasn’t especially cutting edge two years earlier. The EOS R5 is a vast leap forward from this.

And this has seen Canon’s specs begin to fall behind. This need to crop to produce 4K video was off the pace in when the 5D IV was launched in 2016 (Sony’s a7R II offered full-width 4K capture a year earlier), so to see that same limitation in 2018’s EOS R looked a little embarrassing compared to the oversampled 4K footage offered by Leica, Nikon, Panasonic, Sigma and Sony in their contemporaneous full frame models. It’s a similar story with the EOS 6D II and EOS RP and, despite the appearance of a novel 32MP sensor in the EOS M6 Mark II, the need to sub-sample the chip to generate its video also hints at a processing bottleneck.

So why had this company with a history of innovation dropped so far behind its rivals?

What’s been going on, then?

While it sources 1-inch and smaller sensors from other companies, Canon makes its own APS-C and full-frame sensors and generally hasn’t made them available to rival camera companies. This means that Canon has to recoup its R&D costs entirely from its own models, whereas most other camera makers buy all of their sensors in from a supplier that can spread out those costs amongst its many customers. That obviously creates an incentive for Canon to keep using the same chips for as long as it can.

The differing challenges of building cinema and consumer cameras make it impossible to say whether know-how has been reserved for the Cinema EOS line or has trickled down from it.

Another possibility is that Canon has been keeping this know-how for its more profitable pro video users, holding the main EOS line back to avoid cannibalizing its Cinema EOS sales. But this isn’t necessarily true: the Cinema EOS cameras work in an environment where large batteries and built-in fans are the norm, meaning there isn’t the same pressure on them to be as super-efficient as the mainline EOS cameras need to be. So I’m not sure that’s what we’ve seen: if anything it’s just as likely that the EOS R5 is benefitting from lessons Canon learned through the process of developing the Cinema EOS line.

Playing the long game

Instead, I wonder whether Canon made the decision to step back from the constant two-year development cycle for sensors and processors that other camera makers build their model ranges around, and instead decided to conduct a longer-term project to reclaim the technological lead it’d previously enjoyed.

There are, perhaps, parallels with the way Canon approached its switch to autofocus, back in the 1980s: seemingly content to let Minolta and Nikon own the AF market, only to leap ahead with its EOS system.

Taking a longer-term approach would explain both why the company had dropped so far behind and how it can now not just to catch up but jump ahead

We may never know for sure, but I can’t think of a time when Canon has so clearly fallen behind what the rest of its rivals are offering. That’s why it looks to me like the apparent lull in Canon’s innovation might have been because it wasn’t content to just keep up with its rivals but instead was willing to cede a little ground in the short term, so that it could take a significant lead in the long run. That would explain both why the company had seemingly dropped so far behind and how it’s now looks able not just to catch up, but to jump ahead.

Of course this is likely to be little comfort for customers who bought Canon cameras from the end of the previous cycle, built on technology that was significantly outdated in comparison to their rivals.

So while the rest of the market has been constantly tussling over small gains, seemingly leaving Canon in the dust, the industry’s biggest player appears to have been patiently working to leapfrog them all, taking a bigger lead than we’ve become used to seeing in the industry.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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8K and then some: what the Canon EOS R5’s video specs mean

23 Apr

Introduction

Canon kickstarted the success of the stills/video hybrid ILC with the introduction of the EOS 5D Mark II in 2008. Since then it appears to have focused most of its video efforts on its Cinema EOS line of professional video cameras.

However, as part of its drip-feed of EOS R5 specs, Canon has spelled out a lot more about its video capabilities. And, from what’s been said, it looks like the biggest leap forward in video for Canon’s main EOS line since that launch 12 years ago.

We already knew that the EOS R5 was going to be able to shoot at 12 fps with its mechanical shutter and 20 in e-shutter mode and that it was going to shoot 8K, but the more detailed video specs are worth digesting…

8K video capture

The most eye-catching spec is one that Canon’s previously announced. The EOS R5 will become the first consumer ILC to offer 8K video capture. That’s a huge deal, in part because of what it tells us about the camera’s processing power.

8K is usually taken to mean a resolution of 7680 x 4320 pixels, which is exactly four times the size of UHD 4K (also meaning it’s the theoretical perfect capture resolution if you wish to correctly represent all the spatial frequencies that can be conveyed in a 4K image).

However, Canon has previously tended to prefer the wider 1.90:1 DCI format to the 16:9 of UHD for its high end cameras. Canon also says that it’s both the 8K and DCI 4K modes that use the full width of the sensor, which could imply the use of a 8192 x 4230 region. This would require a 44.7MP sensor, rather than the ~40MP chip needed for 16:9 8K.

Even though 8K displays aren’t exactly widespread, yet, there are plenty of reasons it can still be useful. Whether it’s to provide greater compositional flexibility in the edit, to provide better quality 4K footage, or to future-proof your next project, 8K capability will have its uses.

8K Raw

And, as if 8K video weren’t impressive enough (and just a reminder, that’s at least four times the data demand that causes some cameras to struggle), Canon says the EOS R5 will capture Raw video data.

Internal Raw video capture is scarce enough in the 4K realm, being almost the sole preserve of the EOS-1D X Mark III, with just a handful of cameras having to hand-off much of the heavy lifting to Atomos’ external recorders. But Canon says the EOS R5 will handle 8K 30p in Raw: that’s like shooting thirty 32MP images per second.

Given the 1D X III shoots 5.5K Raw in 12-bit, we’d assume a similar setup here. Canon hasn’t specified the data rates yet. The R5’s 8K is a little more than twice the number of pixels as the 1D X III’s video, so we’d expect its 8K/30p to be anywhere from a bit above the 2600 Mbps that the 1D X III uses to store 5.5K/60p to somewhere in the high 3000 Mbps range, if the compression ratio is closer to that of the 1D X III’s 5.5K/30p data rate.

Unlike the 1D X III, it’ll be able to output its maximum rate while maintaining Dual Pixel AF.

10-bit C-Log

For those of us without cooled server farms and infinite storage, the EOS R5 will be able to shoot C-Log footage. Like the 1D X Mark III, this is output as 10-bit 4:2:2 H.265 footage.

This is likely to be the Canon Log response that incorporates around 12 stops of dynamic range, giving a good degree of flexibility in when post-processing. LUTs for the Canon Log response are already widely available, for both SDR and HDR output, making it easy to incorporate the R5 into an existing workflow.

10-bit HDR PQ

As an alternative option, the camera will output footage encoded using the PQ (perceptual quantizer) curve used in several of the most sophisticated HDR TV standards.

This provides a means of shooting footage directly for use on HDR displays. It’s interesting to see Canon plump for the PQ response, rather than the simpler and SDR-compatible HLG system adopted by Panasonic, Fujifilm and Sony.

4K/120

As if the promise of 8K video weren’t impressive enough, Canon says the EOS R5 will be able to shoot 4K footage from the full width of its sensor at up to 120p. While maintaining full Dual Pixel AF.

In an era when most of the handful of cameras that can shoot 4K/60 have to crop or sub-sample their sensors to do so, the idea of shooting 120p (119.94) is a big step forward.

It’s likely that both this and the 60p footage will be sub-sampled in some manner (if it could read and process that entire sensor region 120 times a second, it could presumably offer 8K/120, too!).

But played back as 24p, it can be used as 1/5th speed slow-mo, or 1/4th speed for 30p playback, which is a useful creative option in 4K workflows.

IBIS

Like the Nikon Z7, the EOS R5 will have in-body image stabilization.

Another key capability is the inclusion of in-body image stabilization. Canon has pretty well-established digital stabilization in many of its cameras but the EOS R5 will be the first instance of a Canon ILC with a moving sensor providing stabilization, too.

No details were given about whether the in-body system shares the stabilization duties when an IS lens is mounted (passing off pitch and yaw correction to the lens), or whether they both work together, simultaneously.

This feature, combined with dual pixel AF and internal capture of even the highest-quality footage make the EOS R5 an effectively self-contained video package, able to turn its hand to a wide range of shooting styles and situations, including run-and-gun operation.

Potential limitations

There are a couple of details that are still unknown. Many current cameras’ maximum recording times are limited by the heat build-up, especially at their highest resolution modes. The EOS R5 promises to juggle tremendous amounts of data, which is likely to generate a lot of heat, so it’s not clear how long it will be able to run continuously, in its more technically impressive modes.

Also, although it’s a two-slot camera, Canon has opted for one of these to be UHS-II. At present, the fastest SD card standards only guarantee 90 MB/s write speeds (no matter what the peak speeds quoted on the card say). At ‘only’ 720 Mbps, it’s unlikely most of the R5’s highest video rates can be dependably written to the SD card slot, potentially making it a single card slot camera from a high-end video perspective.

Unless data can be channelled to an external SSD across USB-C, the capacity of your CFexpress card might another bottleneck that limits the camera’s shooting duration.

Battery life is the other potential limitation for a camera doing so much hard work. The mockups and computer renderings Canon has shown so far suggest there won’t be room for a battery much bigger than in existing models, so that’s another potential limit (though again, one that clever use of the USB socket might alleviate.

Summary

Canon has let its main EOS line fall significantly behind its rivals (the EOS 5D IV’s cropped video was off the pace when it was launched, so looked even more tired by the time it appeared in the EOS R, two years later), whereas the EOS R5 is not so much a case of catching up as establishing a significant lead.

Canon’s latest spec disclosure was solely focused on video but we’d expect it to be as much a camera for stills shooters as it is a video tool. When more details become available, we look forward to learning what all this processing power will mean for AF and stills shooting, too.

We’ve looked into the implication of the R5’s video specs a bit more detail, in this article, but even if you’re not interested in video, this is a camera worth watching.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Venus Optics releases Canon RF, Nikon Z mount version of its Laowa 100mm F2.8 2X APO Macro lens

22 Apr

Venus Optics has announced its Laowa 100mm F2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO Lens is now available for Canon RF and Nikon Z camera systems, joining versions for Canon EF, Nikon F and Sony FE mounts.

It’s been exactly two years since the lens was originally announced and in that time the Laowa 100mm F2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO has earned numerous accolades and positive reviews for being an impressive-yet-affordable macro lens that punches well above its price point.

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Aside from the additional mount options, the new models remain unchanged from their previously-announced counterparts. They’re constructed of twelve elements in ten groups, feature an F2.8 through F22 aperture range, offer 2x magnification and have 13-blade aperture diaphragms (same as the Sony FE version).

A size comparison from Venus Optics showing the Laowa 100mm F2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO lens (far-right) compared to similar macro lenses from Nikon, Canon and Sony.

The new models come in at the same size as the Sony FE model, weighing 650g (23oz) and measuring in at 72mm (2.8in) in diameter and 155mm (6.1in) long. Below is a gallery of sample images we captured with the original Canon EF version of the Laowa 100mm F2.8 2X APO Macro lens adapted to an EOS R:

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The Canon RF and Nikon Z mount models are also priced the same, retailing for $ 449 on Laowa’s website and authorized retailers. An optional tripod collar is available as an accessory for $ 30.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Canon EOS R: much improved for people and portraits

21 Apr

We’ve re-tested the Canon EOS R, using firmware v1.6 and updated the review. We’ve given particular focus to the Eye AF feature and have investigated both its performance and operation, which boost the camera’s score and makes it much easier to shoot portraits.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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8K and then some: what the Canon EOS R5’s video specs mean

21 Apr

Introduction

Canon kickstarted the idea of the stills/video hybrid ILC with the introduction of the EOS 5D Mark II in 2008. Since then it appears to have focused most of its video efforts on its Cinema EOS line of professional video cameras.

8K video capture

However, Canon has previous tended to prefer the wider 1.90:1 DCI format to the 16:9 of UHD for its high end cameras. Canon also says that it’s both the 8K and DCI 4K modes that use the full width of the sensor, which could imply the use of a 8192 x 4230 region. This would require a 44.7MP sensor, rather than the ~40MP chip needed for 16:9 8K.

8K Raw

And, as if 8K video weren’t impressive enough (as we say, it’s at least four times the data demand that still causes many cameras to get hot under the collar dealing with), Canon says the EOS R5 will capture Raw video data.

Given the 1D X III shoots 5.5K Raw in 12-bit, we’d assume a similar setup here. Canon hasn’t specified the data rates yet. The R5’s 8K is a bit more than twice the number of pixels as the 1D X III’s video, so we’d expect its 8K/30p to be anywhere from a bit above the 2600 Mbps that the 1D X III uses to store 5.5K/60p to somewhere in the high 3000 Mbps range, if the compression ratio is closer to that of the 1D X III’s 5.5K/30p data rate.

Unlike the 1D X III, it’ll be able to output its maximum rate while maintaining Dual Pixel AF.

10-bit C-Log

For those of us without cooled server farms and infinite storage, the EOS R5 will be able to shoot C-Log footage. Like the 1D X Mark III, this is output as 10-bit 4:2:2 H.265 footage.

10-bit HDR PQ

Alternatively, the camera will output footage encoded using the PQ (perceptual quantizer) curve used in several of the most sophisticated HDR TV standards.

4K/120

In an era when most of the handful of cameras that can shoot 4K/60 have to crop or sub-sample their sensors to do so, the idea of shooting 120p (119.94) is a big step forward.

But played back as 24p, it can be used as 1/5th speed slow-mo, or 1/4th speed for 30p playback, which is a useful creative option in 4K workflows.

IBIS

Like the Nikon Z7, the EOS R5 will have in-body image stabilization.

Potential limitations

There are a couple of details that are unknown, though. Many current cameras’ maximum recording times are limited by the heat build-up, especially when shot at their highest resolution modes. The EOS R5 promises to juggle tremendous amounts of data, which is likely to generate a lot of heat, so it’s not clear how long it will be able to run for, in its more technically impressive modes.

Unless data can be channelled to an external SSD across USB-C, the capacity of your CFexpress card might another bottleneck that limits the camera’s shooting duration.

Summary

Canon’s latest spec disclosure was solely focused on video but we’d expect it to be as much a camera for stills shooters as it is a video tool. We look forward to seeing what all this processing power will mean for AF and stills shooting, too.

Dale Baskin has looked into the implication of these video specs a bit more detail, but even if you’re not interested in video, the EOS R5 is a camera worth watching.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Canon EOS R5 video specs include 8K/30, 4K/120 with Raw, 10-bit H.265 and full AF

21 Apr

Canon has revealed the video specs of its forthcoming EOS R5 full-frame image stabilized mirrorless camera. They include including internal Raw capture of its 8K/30p footage and full-width 4K at up to 120p with 10-bit 4:2:2 recording and full AF in all modes.

The 8K is the most striking detail. This will be offers in a choice of internal Raw capture or 10-bit 4:2:2 H.265 modes. These gamma-encoded modes will have the option of Canon Log or HDR PQ output, depending on whether you plan to color grade or want to shoot directly for HDR display. Full Dual Pixel AF will be available, Canon says.

The 8K footage comes from the whole width of the sensor, as does its DCI 4K output, which could imply the use of the wider-screen 8192 x 4320 pixel version of 8K (a 1.90:1 ratio ration than 16:9).

4K specs extend up to internal 120p capture, with use of the full width for the DCI 4096 x 2160 shooting. Again there’s the option of 10-bit 4:2:2 H.265 capture in either C-Log or HDR PQ. 4K/60p footage can be recorded internally or output over HDMI.

The camera will have dual card slots: one for CFexpress cards and one UHS-II SD slot. We’d expect the camera’s highest quality modes to only work with the faster CFexpress slot.

Canon has not specified data rates or recording times for any of these modes. These, along with battery life, are likely to play a big role in dictating how flexible the camera is. Most current stills/video cameras struggle to deliver their highest resolutions and frame rates for extended periods due to heat build-up, so there may be limits to how long the R5 can maintain its impressive capabilities.

Press Release:

THE EXCITEMENT BUILDS: CANON ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL IN-DEMAND SPECIFICATIONS OF THE EOS R5 FULL-FRAME MIRRORLESS CAMERA

MELVILLE, N.Y., April 20, 2020 – Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today is sharing additional specifications of the highly anticipated Canon EOS R5 full-frame mirrorless camera currently in development. The newly released information divulges further details on the 8K video recording capability, IBIS and more.

Newly Announced Details of The Canon EOS R5 Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera include:

8K RAW internal video recording up to 29.97 fps
8K internal video recording up to 29.97 fps in 4:2:2 10-bit Canon Log (H.265)/4:2:2 10-bit HDR PQ (H.265).
4K internal video recording up to 119.88 fps in 4:2:2 10-bit Canon Log (H.265)/4:2:2 10-bit HDR PQ (H.265). 4K external recording is also available up to 59.94 fps.
No crop 8K and 4K video capture using the full-width of the sensor.*
Dual Pixel CMOS AF available in all 8K and 4K recording modes.
Canon Log available in 8K and 4K internal recording modes.
A Canon first, the EOS R5 will feature 5-axis In-Body Image Stabilization, which works in conjunction with Optical IS equipped with many of the RF and EF lenses.
Dual-card slots: 1x CFexpress and 1x SD UHS-II.

To learn more about the Canon EOS R5 Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera and the additional information announced, please visit, usa.canon.com/EOSR5

*When in 8K RAW, 8K/4K DCI modes.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview TV: Canon EOS R5 video specs first impressions

21 Apr

In this video we share our first impressions of the Canon EOS R5’s impressive video specifications, as well as some other features that might get lost in the headlines.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

Introduction
8K Raw video
Recording media
4K recording
Dual pixel autofocus
In-body image stabilization (IBIS)
What we don't know
Stay tuned!

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Canon announces the EOS C300 Mark III with 4K/120p dual gain output sensor, modular design

21 Apr

As part of today’s ‘Imaging Unleashed’ virtual press conference, Canon has announced the Canon C300 Mark III, its latest Super 35mm cinema camera with a new Dual Gain Output (DGO) sensor and a modular design based on the same frame as Canon’s C500 Mark II.

If the outside of the Canon C300 Mark III looks both different and familiar, there’s a reason why: it uses the exact same body as Canon’s C500 Mark II camera. This design not only allows for more modularity within the C300 line but also means all accessories designed for the C500 Mark II will also work with the new C300 Mark III. Canon has also added anamorphic desqueeze support for 2x and 1.3x lenses, as well as a user-swappable lens mount accessory that makes it easy to swap out lens mounts without the need to take it to a service center (it comes with an EF mount, but can also use EF cinema lock and PL mount lenses with the optional kits).

An illustration from Canon’s virtual press conference that shows how each pixel on the sensor is split into two different diodes.

At the heart of the C300 Mark III is a new 4K Super 35mm DGO sensor powered by Canon’s new DIGIC DV7 video imaging processor. The new DGO system allows the sensor to capture up to 16 stops of dynamic range by splitting each pixel into two diodes that simultaneously capture two images at different gain levels. Helpfully, this is a completely different ‘dual gain’ concept to the one used by most other camera makers, in which all the sensor’s pixels use one of two gain modes.

These two diodes within each pixel are also used to power the phase-detection of Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF, which will now work at up to 120 frames per second (fps) with the new C300 Mark III.

Also new is support for Canon’s Cinema RAW Light format, which Canon first announced alongside the EOS C200. The Cinema RAW Light format is a more lightweight version of its Cinema RAW format that captures Raw video data in files as little as 1/5th the size of a standard Cinema RAW file. Canon Europe has a great breakdown of its Cinema RAW Light capture format.

The sensor is capable of recording 4K DCI/UHD video at up to 120fps, as well as 2K at up to 180fps with 4:2:2 10-bit XF-AVC recording. Canon has also included Canon Log 2 and Log 3 support, 12G-SDI output over a single BNC cable, timecode I/O, genlock input BNCs as well as User LUT support for applying custom LUTS in-camera and two CFexpress card slots.

Without the included grip, the modular frame measures in at 183mm (7.2”) for both width and height and 149mm (5.9”) deep with a weight of roughly 1750g (3.9lbs).

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Canon says the camera will be ‘available later in 2020’ with an estimated retail price of $ 10.999. The camera will come with 13 accessories, including a 4.3” LCD monitor, the GR-V1 grip, a BP-A60 battery, a battery charger and more. It is currently available to pre-order on Adorama and B&H.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Canon EOS R5: Go big, or go home

20 Apr

The Canon EOS R5 is making waves thanks to its impressive video specifications. Not since the days of the 5D Mark II has there been this much enthusiasm from videographers around a Canon DSLR or mirrorless camera.

Canon practically launched the DSLR video revolution. It owned the marketshare and, more importantly, the mindshare, of DSLR video enthusiasts, yet lost that momentum over the next few years. It often seemed as though video simply wasn’t a priority, or that Canon’s innovation had slowed and it was content to rest on its laurels.

However, there’s a bit more to the story and it may help explain why we didn’t see much progress from Canon for a few years: and why it may finally be back and ready to go big.

Cinema EOS

It turns out Canon was almost as surprised at the 5D II’s success as a video tool as everyone else, something confirmed to me by Canon’s Senior Technical Advisor for Film and TV Production, Tim Smith, and that success helped solidify Canon’s decision to enter the cinema market.

It turns out Canon was almost as surprised at the 5D II’s success as a video tool as everyone else.

Over the next few years Canon took a side trip and developed an entire line of motion picture products, called Cinema EOS, which undoubtedly entailed a lot of risk, investment and innovation.

It even built a technical center in Burbank, CA, in the heart of the Hollywood film industry. As Smith explained to me, that move wasn’t just so that Canon could support its Hollywood customers, but so that it could learn from its customers in Hollywood.

Canon built a facility in Burbank, California, in order to forge relationships within the industry.

Canon cinema products are well regarded and have been used for numerous feature films and TV shows. Strategically, Canon took a long-game approach by targeting up-and-coming filmmakers to build future market share. That strategy seems to have paid off, as evidenced by the cameras used to produce films appearing in prominent festivals like Sundance. It’s an impressive performance considering Canon wasn’t even in the business ten years ago.

During these years, Canon’s seemingly forgotten, and sometimes maligned, DSLRs saw relatively few significant video improvements. Canon was still innovating; it was just innovating elsewhere. Unfortunately, it wasn’t sharing that technology and know-how with DSLR users, deciding they didn’t need it, didn’t want it, or that it might cannibalize Cinema EOS.

Canon’s first full-frame mirrorless camera, the EOS R, had lackluster video specs compared to many competitors.

Meanwhile, competitors jumped in. Panasonic, Sony, Nikon, and even Fujifilm – a company whose video once produced moiré so colorful it inspired technicolor fever dreams – all earned significant street cred with videographers.

Headline features

Which brings us back to the EOS R5. With the R5, Canon appears to have pulled out all the stops for video. On paper at least, it sets new class leading standards, something we haven’t said about a Canon’s main EOS line in quite some time. It’s difficult to believe that the R5 wasn’t heavily influenced by Canon’s experience developing cinema products.

It’s worth emphasizing the ‘on paper’ part; we all know that spec sheets don’t tell the whole story and we haven’t tested the camera. We’ll do that, I promise, but assuming there aren’t any serious gotchas, let’s look at how the R5 potentially raises the bar for cameras in its class.

On paper at least, it sets new class leading standards – something we haven’t said about a Canon DSLR or mirrorless camera in quite some time.

The R5’s headline feature is 8K video. You may or may not need 8K video, but let’s acknowledge Canon for the technical achievement. After all, if it was easy other manufacturers would have done it already. From a marketing perspective, just having ‘8K’ on the box goes a long way.

However, it looks like Canon is trying to do more than check a box on a marketing punch-list. The camera uses the full width of its sensor to record up to 8K/30p in 4:2:2 10-bit color using the H.265 codec. It will include Canon’s C-Log gamma and, for HDR capture, HDR PQ. Like the recent EOS 1D X III, it will also record Raw video internally.

What’s more, Canon says that dual pixel autofocus works in all 8K modes, unlike some other models that don’t support this feature in the best video settings.

The R5’s headline feature is 8K video, with dual pixel autofocus available in all 8K modes.

We would be pleased to see these specs on a camera that shoots 4K, but Canon has done it with four times as many pixels. What’s possibly more impressive than resolution is what Canon must have done under the hood to pull it off. This level of video processing requires serious bandwidth and computing power.

There are still big unknowns. One would expect a camera with these specs to generate a lot of heat and the R5 doesn’t appear to have a fan, something that’s common on high end video cameras. Heat, battery or card capacity will put a limit on it, and potentially not a very high one.

4K video is standard at this point, but 4K/120p is notable. It’s the first time we’ve seen it on a mirrorless camera, and even the list of models supporting 4K/60p is relatively short. 4K/120p translates into 5x slow motion on a 24p timeline without dropping down to HD resolution and will be useful to a lot of people. It also raises expectations for other cameras.

Notable callouts

Not everything on the R5 is cutting edge. One notable area where it plays catch up with competitors is 5-axis in-body image stabilization (IBIS).

Canon historically relied on lens-based IS, which isn’t surprising considering the EF lens system was originally designed for film cameras. In contrast, the RF-mount is an all-digital system with no film legacy. Even so, IBIS feels like it’s overdue. It’s hard to give Canon extra credit for adding it, but we warmly welcome it to the IBIS club.

I’m pleased to see that R5 has dual card slots. It’s a pro-level camera and legitimately deserves two card slots. However, by making one of those a UHS-II SD card slot, Canon has essentially made the R5 a single card video camera, an odd choice for a camera with so much emphasis on video.

Finally, let’s not forget that the R5 is also a stills camera, and one that should be competitive in resolution against the Nikon Z7 or Sony a7R III. Given the improvements we’ve seen in Canon’s sensors of late, we expect it will deliver great image quality, particularly when paired with the impressive RF lenses Canon has been turning out.

The wrap

In recent years, Canon has often been criticized for lack of innovation or for holding back video features to protect its Cinema EOS line. There’s some truth to that, and users have rightly challenged Canon to do better. It appears that with the R5 Canon is trying to do just that.

This is the company that owned much of the early mindshare among DSLR video shooters. If Canon’s goal is to recapture the magic of the 5D Mark II in the mirrorless camera world, the R5 makes a pretty strong statement.

If Canon’s goal is to recapture the magic of the 5D Mark II in the mirrorless camera world, the R5 makes a pretty strong statement.

However, the landscape has changed since 2008. This is a crowded space with solid competition and it may be hard to convince some to return. Additionally, as impressive as 8K is, it’s simply not a priority for many. However, Canon has a habit of playing the long game, as evidenced by its Cinema EOS strategy, and it will be interesting to see how it plays this one.

What may be most exciting is that Canon seems to have gotten its mojo back and is beginning to mix things up a bit. Even if you’re not a Canon user that should be good news: healthy competition results in better products for all of us.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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