The EOS R5 is Canon’s flagship mirrorless camera, and there’s a lot to like. We put it to the test for both stills and video and also address the overheating issues you may have heard about.
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Intro
Handling
Image stabilization
Displays
Autofocus
Badlands sample photos
Image quality
Video capabilities
Who's it for?
Sample gallery from this episode
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Over the past few days, there have been numerous reports Canon is delaying shipments of its EOS R5 camera and that retailers weren’t receiving shipments as expected. While Canon Japan did mention there could be delays due to demand earlier this month, these reports suggested several retailers in the UK and throughout Europe weren’t receiving as many cameras as they had expected.
Until today, only Canon Australia had issued a statement on the matter to Newsshooter, saying the ‘speculations are untrue.’ Now, Canon U.S.A. has issued its first statement on the matter, confirming EOS R5 units were shipped from its warehouses this week and on the way to photographers.
In the statement, shared with DPReview through a Canon spokesperson, Canon U.S.A. writes:
‘Orders of the EOS R5 are scheduled to be delivered as initially stated at launch. The first set of cameras shipped from our warehouses this week. We eagerly await the content that will be produced by talented creatives using this camera to be shared with the world.’
Canon U.S.A. specifically mentions the ‘first set of cameras,’ but doesn’t specify the status of the second installment in its statement(according to a few of the rumors, it’s the second installment that could be delayed).
We have contacted Canon U.S.A. in hopes of receiving further confirmation of future shipments and potential delays involved with its EOS R5 and EOS R6 camera systems. We will update the article accordingly if we receive a response.
In regards to future shipments, a Canon U.S.A. spokesperson has told DPReview ‘shipping is as scheduled right now, with no delays.’
Update (July 31, 2020): We updated the article with a statement from a Canon U.S.A. spokesperson regarding future shipments.
Canon has published its second-quarter (Q2) financial results, which covers from the beginning April 2020 through the end of June 2020, and, as you would expect in these difficult times, the camera division isn’t looking all that great.
Canon made it clear in its first quarter (Q1) results that things would get worse before they got better; and Q2 numbers are the first concrete evidence of just how much the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt the camera division in an already-declining market.
Across all of its divisions, Canon reported a loss of ¥8.8 billion ($ 83.3M), marking the first time in its 82 year history the company has been in the red on a quarterly basis. Canon says in its investor presentation that the ‘impact of global economic stagnation [due to the COVID-19 pandemic] was inevitable as we faced rapid drops in actual demand in various businesses and were confronted with limited business activity.’
As for the imaging division, Canon reported net sales of ¥141.7B ($ 1.35B) and an operating profit of just ¥800M ($ 7.65M). While seeing any operating profit is good news in this environment, the numbers are still a stark contrast to Q2 2019. Net sales were down 30.8% and operating profit was down 93.9% year-over-year (YoY).
In the Imaging System breakdown, Canon attributes the decline in net sales to there being ‘fewer image capturing opportunities, such as travel and other events.’ due to COVID-19. Canon says it ‘will take time for sales to recover as cameras are considered a luxury item,’ but it’s projecting the entire market to be down 40% to just 5.4M units and its own unit sales down by the same proportion, to 2.5M.
In addition to Canon elaborating on its cameras being used as webcams for video conferencing and communication, Canon also says it plans to ‘enhance’ its concept camera initiative, with new models expected to be out before the end of the year.
Despite the big fall in Q2, Canon is expecting operating profit to only fall 66% for the full year, and sales by value only 20%. This suggests it expects models such as the R5 and R6 to make up for some of the poor Q2 performance. The company says these models and the RF lenses will ‘solidify our position in the full-frame camera market.’
Compared to Canon’s end-of-2019 projections, which anticipated total sales of ¥787B and an operating profit of ¥53.7 for the 2020 fiscal year, its new Q2 2020 projection for total sales of ¥643.9B and operating profit of ¥16.1B is a drop of 19% and 70%, respectively.
As for how it intends to handle the direction of its camera division post-COVID-19, Canon says it will ‘accelerate measures to streamline operations’ and ‘expand business areas that utilize optical technology.’ Specifically, Canon says it will ‘work to facilitate our aim of switching business domains, leveraging the optical technology we have cultivated so far, and reallocating resources to new fields such as automobiles and industrial-use sensors.’
Although acknowledging that the camera market has declined faster than anticipated (pre-COVID-19), Canon emphasizes that its position – that ‘sooner or later the market will settle down and consist solely of users that are particular about imaging’– has not changed.
Summed up, the numbers are down across the board, but they aren’t all that surprising considering the current state of the camera (and global) market. Canon expects to further expand the use of its sensor and optics technology to industrial and automotive use, but still plans to streamline its operations to make the most of its ILC and compact camera products.
You can read all of the financial results by visiting Canon’s investor relations webpage.
We got our hands on a beta build of the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw with support for Canon EOS R6 Raw files and we’ve added a selection of of Raw conversions to our previously-published sample images. Take a look and get a sense of what this new full-framer is capable of in terms of Raw image quality.
See our updated Canon EOS R6 sample gallery with Raw conversions
The Canon EOS R5 comes with a newly designed 45MP sensor that we were excited to get in front of our studio test. Here, we’ve put it up against some other high-megapixel heavyweights, but feel free to select the comparison camera of your choice and explore.
The R6 need not necessarily be overshadowed by the R5
I’ve been guilty of it myself: describing the EOS R6 and R5 as the mirrorless successors to the 5D and 6D lines of DSLRs. Guilty because, while it might be literally true, it risks obscuring a subtle re-positioning of the two cameras. Personally, I think the R6 is a much more interesting camera than the 6D series DSLRs were and, consequently, more interesting than the R5.
Just in case it needs to be said: we’ve not fully tested the R6 yet and I’m not suggesting you should go out and buy one. But here’s why I think it’s the more interesting one, for more people.
It’s a higher-end camera
Yes, the price is higher than for the 6D series. Canon has always felt confident in pricing its cameras a little above its rivals, but the R6 goes beyond this. Obviously it was always going to look particularly expensive next to the relatively elderly Nikon Z6 and Sony a7 III which, as they approach what’s likely to be the end of their product life, are being sold for considerably less than their original prices, but the R6’s launch price is significantly above even that.
In the US, at least, the R6’s launch price is 25% higher than those of its closest peers (though only 8% up on the somewhat disappointing EOS R). But, then again, its specs are higher, too. It shoots faster, comes closest to offering full-frame 60p video capture and promises a greater degree of image stabilization than anything else can. It’s hard to find an obvious weak-point on the spec sheet: even in areas such as battery life and viewfinder resolution, where it is out-gunned, it’s still competitive with the majority of its rivals.
Differentiating without diminishing
It’s no R5, of course. Market segmentation and product differentiation are a fact of life. No one is going to give you all their best features in anything less than their range-topping model, not if they want to sell any of their flagship product. And not if they want to stay in business.
Placing them side-by-side showed how distinct the 5D and 6D series are: for example the 5D IV (right) has a more substantial rear dial and a joystick, while the 6D II (left) has an articulating touchscreen.
If you get segmentation right, it means enthusiasts don’t have to pay professional prices to get a camera that suits their needs. Get it wrong and it can start to look… well, petty. But, ultimately, the question is not necessarily ‘how many features can we squeeze out of this hardware?’ but a balance between ‘which features would these users appreciate?’ and ‘which features can we include without undermining the R5?’
From any reasonable perspective, the R6 gives you an awful lot of R5’s performance. Its IBIS system is supposedly a match for the more expensive model, including that headline-grabbing claim of up to 8 stops of correction. That in itself is a stand-out feature. Similarly, the R6 will shoot at the same rates as the R5, and will do so using the same AF system. This means non-pro photographers (and, no doubt, some pros) get most of the core capabilities of the much more expensive camera.
The R6/R5 differences are far fewer (the R6 is on the left). The R6’s construction isn’t quite as solid-feeling, it lacks a top LCD or the ability to add audio notes to images, but the handing is otherwise all-but-identical.
Most significantly, you get the same multi-dial-and-joystick user interface and shooting experience in the R6 as you do in the R5. It would have been easy to omit the joystick from the R6 (they use different exterior panel moldings), but instead you get a camera that’s every bit as usable.
This is a world away from the 6D series, which lacked the 5D’s joystick, 4K shooting and a host of other core features.
What’s missing
What you don’t get is resolution. Depending on what your current camera is, 20MP may well feel like a step backwards. 20MP is more than enough resolution for a lot of applications (including those at which the Canon EOS-1D X and Nikon Dx cameras are targeted). But you’re unlikely to be getting the most out of those exotic new RF lenses and, much as you might like to kid yourself, you’re unlikely to see any significant low-light benefit. Realistically though, it’s only a 10% reduction in linear resolution, compared to its 24MP peers so probably not worth losing sleep over.
It doesn’t shoot 8K and doesn’t have an All-I capture option but the in-body IS and more-than-competent video spec make the EOS R6 a reasonable option both for video and stills shooters.
The R6’s lower pixel count also highlights that the camera lacks the current feature du jour: a high-res pixel shift mode. The inclusion of stabilization means it should be possible, depending on how many patents surround the technology (most brands’ implementations are subtly different, which could suggest there’s IP being skirted around). But personally I’ve not found it very useful for much of my photography, since it is most effective for static or close-to-static subjects.
More than a mirrorless 6D?
I’m not a full-frame shooter, myself, but I have a lot of friends who take their hobby seriously enough that they’ve owned 5Ds over the years. Looking at the R6, I can imagine an awful lot of these 5D owners being happy with the R6, for considerably less money than they paid for their DSLRs. So although you could see the R6 as an overpriced 6D replacement, I think that, at least for some users, it might be a credible, more affordable substitute for a 5D.
The post Canon: Has The Sleeping Giant Awoken? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.
The Canon camera and lens lineup is now looking formidable.
The recent Canon launch saw the release of two new cameras, the Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6. We all already knew the specs, and they are huge.
The R5 has all the headlines, 8K internal recording, and 4K 120p. But the R6 shares so much of its DNA, such as 8-stop in-body image stabilization and a blazing autofocus system.
Canon is back. The sleeping giant has awoken.
Canon has always been a name synonymous with photography. Ask a non-photographer to name a camera brand, and they will probably say Canon. Even if they don’t, they will possibly refer to photographers at sporting events with the big, white lenses.
Canon changed the game with the 5D Mark II. But since then, releases have been less groundbreaking and have offered more incremental upgrades. Canon felt like a giant who was happy plodding along because nobody was really challenging it.
Even now, Canon still has a monopoly on camera sales. However, in 2019, Canon’s sale value fell by 11%, whereas Sony saw a 14.5% increase in sale value in the same period. Sony’s sales success came in the form of their high-end mirrorless cameras.
Along came mirrorless
Canon (like Nikon) seemed to almost bury their head in the sand as mirrorless cameras came to overtake the DSLR.
Canon’s release of the EOS R and RP seemed to be a reactive move. A way to get something out so they had a mirrorless camera, rather than a way to remind the industry who’s the boss. This complacency allowed Sony to not only gain a foothold but, in the eyes of many, to become the dominant player.
It was Sony who released the new, exciting products. Sony’s sensors were the cream of the crop. Meanwhile, Canon felt like the old-school company that was sure mirrorless was just a fad. When reality (and the figures) hit them, they were ill-equipped to react. The EOS R felt like a product that was thrown together, rather than a genuine contender to Sony’s mirrorless crown.
It’s not that Canon EOS R is a terrible camera; it isn’t. But the lack of a second card slot (yes, we can argue about the importance of this in the comments), combined with an autofocus system that was nowhere near as competent as Sony’s, meant that many people started to be lured away. Sony pushed the boundaries of technology and became the company the others all had to chase. And it wasn’t just Canon; Nikon’s trajectory felt incredibly similar.
With the research and development of a new camera taking years, Canon’s only plausible response was to begin to put out lenses, which is exactly what they did. This glass was amazing. Canon now had some of the best glass out there for mirrorless, but they simply didn’t have a body that many pros could see themselves using, or one that was as good as what the competition was offering. People began to move away to other systems.
But then the rumblings started.
The R6 does not feature the top-line specs of its bigger brother. But, to quote Han Solo, “She’s got it where it counts, kid.”
They’re coming
Rumors started about Canon working on a new mirrorless. A true 5D replacement.
Then spec leaks began, and it seemed there would be a lot more than simply dual card slots.
8K? No way!
4K 120? Not going to happen (or at least not to a usable standard).
IBIS? 45 Megapixels? There had to be a catch.
It felt like the photo community had become used to Canon doing something to ruin things (Motion JPEG codec, anyone?). These comments showed how far Canon’s reputation had dropped.
Even so, people were excited. Many were hopeful. Could it be happening? Would Canon realize the errors of its recent past and actually release a groundbreaking camera?
As it turns out: Yes, they did. But why release one amazing new camera when you can release two?
8K, yeah, right! Oh, wait, the rumors were true.
The champ is here
When the R5 and R6 were announced, we saw Canon launch themselves back toward being king of the industry. The spec rumors were all true, and despite a launch that felt cringe-worthy at times (it can’t just be me), Canon was taking mirrorless seriously.
This launch felt, to many, like the 5D Mark II did all those years ago.
Now, this praise is based on reading pre-production reviews, and obviously those who were given these models to test are not going to bite the hand that feeds them.
But the R5 and R6 look good. Actually, scratch that; they look amazing.
Amazing IBIS stabilization, those Canon colors, and amazingly fast autofocus that includes impressive face and eye detection.
8K video. (Okay, for most there is absolutely no need for 8K, but like in the megapixel wars, video resolution looks to be going towards the bigger is better mantra). Not only 8K, but internal 8K.
This is before you get to the R6. A camera that appears to share a sensor with the flagship 1DX Mark III and shares IBIS and AF systems with its more expensive bigger brother. 20MP may not wow in the megapixel race, but the potential for low light performance is huge. You only need to look at the revised DxO scores for the 20MP 1DX Mark III for proof of this.
If you were to ask for the perfect camera in 2020, at least some of the specs are featured on this one. For many (me included), it felt like an exciting camera, a game-changing camera, and one that will surely bring anyone who was thinking of switching brands back to the Canon fold.
The professional glass has been here a while. Now the cameras match up to it.
What took you so long?
It didn’t take long for the negativity to start, though.
Canon EOS R5 overheating issues, based on leaked documents and pre-production models, are popping up everywhere. When Peter McKinnon spoke about overheating in his YouTube video, it saw social media explode. The R5 instantly became unusable for video professionals, another example of Canon getting it wrong, etc. That’s before I even mention the 20MP sensor on the R6.
You can understand some of these concerns, but they are not new and really should not be unexpected. 8K means putting a huge amount of information through a tiny camera (with no fans) constantly. To record 53 minutes of 8K raw footage, you will go through one terabyte of storage. That being possible on a camera the size of the R5 is mind-blowing. Yet some people seem to be complaining that you can’t do unlimited recording on it. The fact you can do it at all is a feat of amazing technical expertise.
Canon hate is now strong in some parts. Canon now must appeal to those who moved away to (mainly) Sony. Switching to a different camera system is something that people really don’t do lightly. Those who moved to Sony from Canon are now facing the reality that Canon just gave them what they wanted, but it is too little too late.
It goes deeper than that, though. Those who moved away from Canon, the team they once loved, will always tend to be harsher critics. Not simply because of their newfound loyalty, but also the fact that they had their hearts broken.
That is not in any way to say Sony hasn’t released some amazing cameras. They have, but people will always struggle to cheer for a brand they just left. There are also a lot of big YouTube influencers on Sony’s payroll, which will definitely result in a certain narrative from a portion of the photo community.
Let’s look at the R5 specs
If you were looking for a high-end camera and it did the following, what more would you want?
45 Megapixels
8K RAW
4K/120 fps
Autofocus in all video modes
Beautiful high-resolution viewfinder
Animal, eye, and face detection autofocus that is as good as, if not better than, any current camera
Up to 8 stops of image stabilization
12 fps shooting with the mechanical shutter (20 fps with the electronic shutter)
5 GHz WiFi
Gigabit Ethernet (via the optional grip)
New sensor with the ability to resolve greater detail than the previous 50-megapixel camera
These are the specs of a camera that is looking to take down all competition in 2020.
You may feel the price tag seems high, but this is a flagship mirrorless camera that has everything most professionals will want in a camera for the next five-plus years.
When fitted with the optional grip, the R5 gets Gigabit Ethernet.
The bigger picture
With this release, Canon now has a formidable line-up of cameras (not to mention lenses) at the top of their range.
Canon 1D X Mark III
An amazing DSLR for sports and news professionals. Yes, it’s 20 megapixels, but for many professionals, that is a perfect number. A true professional workhorse.
Canon EOS R5
An amazing mirrorless option for portrait and wedding photographers. Add in the crazy video specs and you will have the ultimate hybrid camera which will find its way into huge numbers of camera bags.
Canon EOS R6
A low-light powerhouse and another amazing all-rounder. For those who aren’t consistently printing at huge sizes, the lower megapixel count will free up hard drive space and allow older computers to hang on for longer. You also get 4K video that is perfect for the majority of people, so there really is a lot to love here.
Canon’s current lineup easily rivals Sony’s offerings, and really has put Canon back in the position of pushing camera technology to the limit.
But there’s still a lingering question.
Although the megapixel count is lower than some, do not underestimate the R6.
Is there an Achilles’ heel?
Will these cameras live up to the hype?
We will only know for sure when production models make their way into the hands of reviewers and the public. On paper, the cameras look outstanding, but only time will tell. I personally can’t see Canon dropping the ball here.
The more obvious issue so far is also one of the most important: battery life. The giant may be back, but it seems to have spent a lot of energy getting here. The R5 is limited to only 320 shots, much fewer than the 530 shots that the Sony A7R IV can manage.
You can lower the screen refresh rates and get up to 490 shots per charge, but Canon has gone for backward compatibility with the 5D Mark IV and EOS R over pure battery power.
The ability to use older batteries (with fewer shots per charge) will ease the transition of those using the 5D Mark IV, which is a huge target for Canon with this camera. However, battery life is essential for many, and not matching Sony’s battery capabilities is a small misstep.
So is Canon back on top?
The question is:
Are these new cameras enough to win people back to Canon?
And honestly, I don’t think they are. The new cameras are amazing, and don’t doubt that Canon, the sleeping giant of the last few years, has awoken. It seems hungry to flex its muscle and eager to destroy those young upstarts that have been stealing its thunder.
However, time has passed, people have moved on, and while this is an amazing pair of releases that will keep Canon shooters happy, many have already left.
Tired of waiting for the Canon launch that would finally bring them hope, people left for different shores.
And as wonderful as these releases are, I can’t see many turning around and sailing back.
The post Canon: Has The Sleeping Giant Awoken? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Carl Spring.
As soon as we got our hands on a production Canon EOS R5, we set off to visit some of our favorite photo spots around Washington State to see what it can do. We put its all-new 45MP sensor to work photographing mountain towns, sunset over Puget Sound and a comet making its appearance in the night sky. Our testing has just begun, but for now take a look at some of our first sample images.
As we charge ahead with our full review of the Canon EOS R6, we’ve had a chance to see how it performs in front of our studio test scene. See for yourself how its 20MP sensor stacks up, and let us know what you think in the comments.
Our test scene is designed to simulate a variety of textures, colors and detail types you’ll encounter in the real world. It also has two illumination modes to see the effect of different lighting conditions.
The Nikon Z5 is the second camera to be launched explicitly as an entry-level step into the world of full-frame mirrorless. Its launch price isn’t quite as low as that of the Canon EOS RP, but it’s clearly got a similar audience in its sights.
And, because Sony seems determined to leave all its previous models on the market, it’s also likely to sell at a price that’s roughly comparable with the a7 II. The Sony was originally aimed at a higher price point (and audience) but is available at entry-level prices now that nearly six years have elapsed.
Resolution/Sensor tech
The Nikon Z5 uses an 24MP FSI CMOS sensor: very possibly the one used in the Sony a7 Mark II
The Nikon Z5 is based around a 24MP full-frame sensor. Nikon is clear that this isn’t the same chip used in the more expensive Z6 and is based on the older front-side illumination technology rather than the BSI tech that helps boost the Z6’s image quality.
Noticeably, this is the same distinction between the a7 II and the newer Mark III model, which is likely to give a reasonable guide to how much difference in quality we can expect to see. The Canon also uses conventional construction but utilizing an innovative dual pixel structure that underpins its autofocus system. The 26MP chip in the Canon isn’t a great performer in terms of dynamic range, so you’ll quickly encounter noise if you try to expand beyond what’s in the JPEGs.
Autofocus
We haven’t yet had a chance to test whether the Z5’s autofocus is an exact match for the Z6, but it possesses all the improvements Nikon has added to its Z cameras since their launch. That means eye detection AF and the easier-to-initiate subject tracking that came to the Z6 and 7 in mid-life firmware updates.
In previous testing we’ve found the Canon tracking and eye detection to be a little more precise than the Nikon (getting the focus exactly on the eye more often), but there’s not a lot in it. The Sony, although good when it was launched, looks much less impressive now: subject tracking tries to identify the subject as a whole, rather than letting you specify a part that you want to focus on, and eye detection requires that you hold down a custom button (the results are the most dependable of the three cameras, though).
Burst Speed
The Sony a7 II is the fastest shooting of the three cameras
None of these cameras are exactly speed demons. They all use older (slower readout) sensors and the RAM required to act as buffer is an obvious thing to skimp on, if you don’t want the entry-level model to completely cannibalize sales of the mid-range models.
As you might expect, then, the erstwhile mid-level Sony a7 II posts the highest figures, with 5.0 frames per second. This is going to be sufficient for a lot of day-to-day shooting but sports and wildlife enthusiasts will have to dig a little deeper to buy the next model up.
The Nikon isn’t far behind, with the promise of up to 4.5 fps bursts and the Canon claims four shots per second. It’s unlikely that difference is going to be meaningful for most photography.
Video
The EOS R has an AF system and articulating rear screen, which should be a bonus for video. Unfortunately, like the Nikon, it has a significant crop in 4K mode.
None of the cameras in this price is especially strong on the video front. The Nikon and Canon can only read out a small region of their sensors fast enough to capture high-res video. So, while the Nikon does enough to say 4K on the box, it has the same 1.7x crop that we criticized on the Canon.
This is still more than the Sony manages: it tops out at 1080/60p: a spec the Nikon will happily match. Likewise the Nikon matches the Sony in offering both mic and headphone sockets. We’ve not had a chance the Nikon’s autofocus yet, but we’d expect the Z5 to do a reasonable job in this regard.
Viewfinder/screen
The Z5 has a larger and higher resolution viewfinder than the EOS R (shown here) or the a7 II.
Despite being Nikon’s entry-level full-framer, it uses the same viewfinder panel as the company’s range-topping Z7. The 3.69M-dot OLED viewfinder is a distinct improvement over the 2.36M dot panels used in both the EOS RP and the Sony a7 II. Given how much of the Z5’s handling comes straight from Nikon’s DSLRs, the EVF is likely to be the primary way of interacting with the camera, so it’s nice to see Nikon resist the temptation to cut corners.
In terms of rear LCDs, the Z5 has a tilting 1.04M-dot touchscreen, which isn’t quite as flexible as the EOS RP’s fully articulating arrangement of a similar screen. However, there are plenty of photographers that prefer a screen that tilts on the optical axis, rather than flipping outward as the Canon’s does. The only objective disadvantage is that the Nikon’s screen can’t be turned in towards the camera for protection.
The Sony uses an older panel with a white dot at each location, so is fractionally lower in resolution (640 x 480 pixels, rather than 720 x 480) than the other two cameras. The more significant difference is that the Sony’s screen isn’t touch-sensitive, which has
Battery life
The Z5 uses a new EN-EL15c battery that’s back-compatible with the EN-EL15b used in the Z6 and Z7 (pictured)
The Nikon comes out on top when it comes to battery life. It uses a new, higher capacity version of the EN-EL15 used in the mid-range Z6 and is able to squeeze a creditable 470 shots per charge out of it. The Canon uses a smaller battery and its endurance suffers accordingly: it’s probably our biggest gripe about the camera, as it quickly impacts on your shooting.
The Sony falls between the two: it uses the company’s older, smaller NP-FW50 battery to achieve a respectable 350 shot-per-charge rating using the LCD. All three cameras can be charged over USB but the Canon demands you use a high-current USB-C charger.
Kit lens
The 24-105mm F4 L IS is a lovely option for the Canon EOS RP, but it’s big and adds significantly to the cost. The Nikon has the smallest kit zoom of the three.
Another potential advantage for the Z5 is the availability of a kit zoom designed specifically for an entry-level audience. We’ve not had a chance to put it through its paces yet but a very compact, retractable, 24-50mm F4.0-6.3 zoom is a really handy companion to this camera. It’s unstabilized but the body has 5-axis stabilization to make up for it. There’s also a rather less-compact 24-200mm F4.0-6.3 zoom if you’re after a do-everything lens.
The Canon also offers a do-everything zoom in the shape of the RF 24-240mm F4.0-6.3, but there aren’t any small ‘kit’ zooms to pair with the RP’s smaller body: the RF 24-105 F4.0-7.1 is more versatile than the Nikon zoom but its size, while not unreasonable, it not nearly so slight. The Sony, belying its more enthusiast roots, makes fewer concessions to portability and is often kitted with the 28-70mm F3.5-5.6. It has a slightly brighter aperture range than the others but it bigger and doesn’t go as wide. It’s not exactly blessed with the best build quality.
Price
The Sony a7 II was once a $ 1700 camera, but it lacks a lot of the refinements made in the six years since its launch.
New cameras always look expensive, especially if they’re squaring up against competition that’s been on the market for a while. Both the Canon EOS RP and the Sony a7 II are now selling for around $ 1000, body only, it’s worth remembering that they were launched for a lot more than that, if you’re trying assess the Z5’s launch price.
Given it’s being launched at a price $ 100 higher than the EOS RP (the lowest launch price of any full-frame digital camera) and $ 300 lower than the a7 II, it looks likely to be competitive once it’s been on the shelves for a while. The Sony, now entering its dotage, is regularly sold for $ 1000 or less, but being the least expensive doesn’t necessarily make it the best value.
Summary
What should be clear is that you now have a choice of very capable full-frame cameras for under $ 1500. The Nikon will look more expensive at first but its MSRP suggests it’ll settle to a price around that of the EOS RP if you can be a little patient.
Our initial impression is that the Nikon looks like the strongest choice: unlike the Sony it benefits from all of Nikon’s latest UI and performance improvements, but its specs haven’t been quite as aggressively pared-back as those of the Canon.
That said, this is a decision that should hinge on lens systems rather than individual bodies. So it’s worth looking both at the lenses bundled with the cameras and the options available if you look beyond that before you make pick a team. Sony has the most extensive selection of lenses but what matters most is whether the lenses you want are available. Things will look even more competitive once Nikon introduces its promised ‘S-Line 24-105mm’ zoom, as these lenses can make excellent additions to entry and mid-level bodies.
There’s enough that’s familiar in the Nikon that we’re not expecting any nasty surprises, but we’ll look at this comparison again once we’ve had a chance to fully review the Z5.
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