Review of Canon R5 mirrorless camera by Glenn Bartley

Review of Canon R5 mirrorless camera by Glenn Bartley



I’ve been loving shooting with the new Canon R5.

The speed, autofocus and high ISO capabilities are all incredible.

Scroll down for more of my thoughts and my video review.

I’ve been shooting for a few weeks now with the R5.

All I can say is…What a fantastic camera!

Below you will find a summary of some of the amazing features and also a few things I have found to be problematic.

If you have the time you might enjoy the video as well.

The autofocus is so good on this camera that I was able to use my 2x teleconverter in crop mode at an incredible 1920mm with fantastic results!!
The autofocus is so good on this camera that I was able to use my 2x teleconverter in crop mode at an incredible 1920mm with fantastic results!
Usable results at ISO 12,800. Yup!
Usable results at ISO 12,800. Yup!
One surprise to me was how poorly Adobe handles the colours from the Canon R5 RAW files. Check out my setup guide to see how I have overcome this problem.
One surprise to me was how poorly Adobe handles the colours from the Canon R5 RAW files. Check out my setup guide to see how I have overcome this problem.

Top new features for bid photographers

  • New 45 Megapixel sensor with some very impressive dynamic range and noise performance. Perhaps 3 stops better than my Canon 7D II (see sample files in my review).
  • Can shoot in 1.0 or 1.6 crop mode and see that view directly in the viewfinder. Can switch back and forth easily.
  • First Canon mirrorless camera with a truly great EVF. Mirrorless is here!!
  • 5940 user selectable AF point positions. COMPLETE coverage of sensor / viewfinder. Compared to the old 50-60 pts.
  • 12 frames per second using mechanical shutter and an incredible 20 frames per second in electronic shutter. Wow!
  • Professional video features including amazing 4k and 8k resolution.
  • Truly game changing AF performance with the new animal eye detect AF. Once you try this feature you simply cant go back.
  • Improved IS – Now incorporating in body IS (IBIS) of up to 8 stops!

A few things that are not so great

  • Digital darkroom challenges – I can’t tell you why. But for some reason Adobe and Canon dont seem to be friends anymore. For at least that last year (since the 1DX Mark III) Adobe is not providing good color profiles for the new Canon cameras. Unfortunately, this means that while you can certainly open a RAW file in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom the colors look prettty bad. Adobe is also doing a very poor job of dealing with noise from images shot at higher ISOs. Just open a RAW file in Adobe and also in Canon DPP and you will see what I mean. Especially if the image was taken at ISO 3200 or above! In my settings guide linked above I have tried to present a solution for this problem.
  • AF jumping to back and not re-hunting. Seems to be a feature of mirrorless cameras in general. In the video below I discuss this and suggest some field strategies.
  • Flash and the EVF. This might take some getting used to!


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Glenn Bartley

Glenn Bartley

Glenn Bartley is a professional nature photographer who specializes in photographing birds in their natural habitat. He currently resides in Victoria, British Columbia on Canada’s West Coast. Glen runs instructional photo workshops throughout the year to exciting destinations around the world. Upcoming trips include Vancouver Island, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Churchill Manitoba and Peru. He focuses on birds because there are so many species, they can be found almost anywhere, they are challenging to photograph and beautiful to watch.

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Glenn Bartley

Glenn Bartley

Glenn Bartley is a professional nature photographer who specializes in photographing birds in their natural habitat. He currently resides in Victoria, British Columbia on Canada’s West Coast. Glen runs instructional photo workshops throughout the year to exciting destinations around the world. Upcoming trips include Vancouver Island, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Churchill Manitoba and Peru. He focuses on birds because there are so many species, they can be found almost anywhere, they are challenging to photograph and beautiful to watch.

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