A multimedia journalist took Canon EOS R5 Mark II for a spin, here’s what he thinks about the smart camera

Is this the archetypal astute camera? Can this beryllium a game-changer for professionals? I took the camera for a rotation to find retired however utile the features are retired of paper. I utilized the R5II with 24-70mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8, and 70-200mm f2.8 successful the streets of Delhi and changeable immoderate interviews with R5 C arsenic the superior and R5II arsenic the secondary camera. Aimed astatine professionals who request speed, accuracy, and the highest prime imaging and videos, the R5II takes respective features of the erstwhile Canon’s top-end mirrorless R3.

The Canon EOS R5 Mark II is simply a powerhouse of innovation and precision, bringing boundless originative possibilities. (Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express)

I got utilized to a sizable upgrade successful the camera bodies erstwhile I archetypal upgraded my DSLR to another, but with mirrorless cameras determination are nary large changes. Not that I miss the other value oregon a bigger body; it’s the newness associated with the value and consciousness of an upgrade that is gone. Emotions aside, the ergonomics of the R5II are good sorted. Every fastener is wrong the scope of a azygous hand, and anyone with a familiarity of the Canon idiosyncratic interface tin prime the camera, acceptable it up, and commencement shooting.

Straight retired of the box, the R5II has 2 insignificant changes from the predecessor R5: a tally lamp (which was disposable successful R5 C) and nary disposable viewfinder sensor. The Mark II fuels features from the erstwhile apical of the camera range—R3. Made with a airy magnesium alloy, the R5II is simply a unsmooth and pugnacious weather-sealed camera. Having utilized the R5C, I person nary complaints astir the upwind sealing, arsenic it has stood good nether respective conditions, from Delhi’s scorching vigor to rains and debased temperatures successful the mountains.

A person look astatine the Canon EOS R5 Mark II’s backmost interface showcasing its intuitive controls and afloat articulating screen. (Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express)

Weighing astir 750 g (without a lens), it has a 3.2-inch flip touchscreen LCD display, an illuminated apical display, and is equipped with 3 dials and 1 joystick. It has a dual-card slot for CFexpress and SD cards. R5II has a artillery upgrade to LP-E6P from R5’s LP-E6NH, which has worked good for a full-day photo-heavy use.

The video is wherever things get complex. This camera shoots 8K astatine 60 fps, 4K astatine 120 fps, and tin spell to 240 fps astatine 2K and Full HD resolutions. While the erstwhile exemplary had log 1 and log 3, the R5II tin sprout Canon Log 2 and Log 3, which tin sphere details and springiness a amended colour scope to enactment on. With tally lamp, waveform, zebra display, mendacious colour, and absorption guide, the camera gets an upgrade from the erstwhile model. These features were kept for the video-heavy R5C, but with the R5II, Canon has gone retired to marque this a powerhouse for some video and photograph users. I changeable the Republic Day parade rehearsal successful the superior successful dilatory motion, and I was beyond impressed by the results.

The R5II cannot sprout videos beyond 4K erstwhile an older mentation of the artillery is used. With the artillery of the R5, it tin lone sprout FHD, 2K, and 4K successful 25 fps. The R5C of the cinema line, a parallel predecessor of the R5II, works adjacent connected my DSLR, the 6D Mark II’s LP-E6N battery. Though I person insignificant complaints successful respect to battery, a small much would beryllium excessively overmuch to inquire for.

Screengrab of a video changeable with Canon EOS R5 Mark II. (Image: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express)

For me, the cinema bid astir decidedly has the precocious manus erstwhile it comes to disposable representation prime for video. But for professionals looking for photo-heavy work, and with capable budget, determination is thing to spell incorrect with Canon’s R5II.

Accelerated processor

One of the archetypal things I noticed aft shooting with the R5II was the speed, beryllium it the shooting speed, the focusing speed, oregon the readout. The R5II is packed with a back-illuminated 45-megapixel stacked CMOS sensor equipped with the Digic X processor with a caller summation of Digic Accelerator. The Digic Accelerator helps with faster autofocus and faster readout speed. But this besides makes the camera vigor up.

(Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express) (Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express) (Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express)

While shooting this interrogation successful 2K, the camera went up to 4 bars of heating awesome display, but the assemblage itself was not arsenic hot. My R5C has a cooling instrumentality built wrong the camera, but for the R5II, Canon suggests utilizing their caller artillery grip CF-R20EP, wherever CF stands for cooling fan.

The camera besides allows dual shooting; that is, you tin sprout pictures portion signaling videos. The drawback present is that you are constricted to shooting videos successful FHD solution astatine 25 frames per second.

(Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express)

The camera’s physics shutter shoots 30 frames successful high-speed continuous mode, with a 0.5-second pre-continuous shooting astatine half-pressed shutter, which tin spell up to 15 frames. That’s 15 photographs earlier the shutter is pressed. Making it cleanable for photojournalists, sports and wildlife photographers, and anyone shooting unpredictable action. You tin besides pre-record video up to 5 seconds. The camera offers a high-precision, blackout-free physics viewfinder (EVF) that works good portion shooting pictures successful immoderate burst mode seamlessly. But I did announcement lag successful the EVF portion shooting videos.

(Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express)

Noise performance

Digic X has been Canon’s modular processor for the nonrecreational enactment since the 1D X Mark III. With the Digic Accelerator, the R5II is built with neural web sound reduction, which is said to person improved the low-light show with cleaner images. This lone works connected RAW pictures and does a just job. But it would beryllium amended if the aforesaid were allowed for JPEG images. With the ISO scope of 100-51200 (extendable up to 50-102400), you tin spot the representation beneath for an ISO examination of JPEG images. Photographs much than ISO 10,000 get grainy, and aft ISO 25,600, commencement losing colours.

(Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express) (Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express)

Deep learning technology

Claimed arsenic Canon’s ‘proprietary’ heavy learning representation processing technology, which uses analyzable neural networks and investigation algorithms, the R5II has an algorithm-based auto-focus strategy and taxable tracking padded with an obstacle avoidance algorithm. This is besides speculated to assistance execute close vulnerability and achromatic balance. As analyzable arsenic it sounds, Canon has worked connected making this a astute camera that volition acceptable the requirements of circumstantial photographers.

The autofocus is wherever the R5II has won the crippled for me. This is wherever determination is simply a large upgrade successful a existent sense.

Facial recognition-powered focusing 

If you are retired shooting sports, regular news, governmental events, oregon a manner show, determination volition beryllium immoderate personalities oregon celebrities who volition beryllium of the utmost importance. With this camera, you tin registry faces from pictures successful the card, and it volition prevention a record for the same. Now the registered faces are prioritised portion focusing. The camera volition drawback onto these faces with a yellowish box, and you tin power to antithetic faces portion shooting. R5II tin registry 10 faces astatine once.

Action Priority AF 

An upgrade to the autofocus strategy connected the R5, R5II is packed with an Action Priority AF, disposable successful the R3. This mode is developed to way actions successful 3 fast-performance sports: football, basketball, and volleyball. The heavy learning present helps way the shot and seizure enactment by recognising joints of the athletes successful definite positions truthful that you ne'er miss the highest moment. This mode tin beryllium utilized on with People Priority AF but supersedes the aforesaid if enactment is recognised elsewhere.

Focus wherever you look with Eye-Control AF

This auto-focussing method, launched with the R3, is the 1 that caught my oculus (quite literally). Friends I spoke to astir this diagnostic confused it with eye-track focus. The Eye-Control AF does not absorption connected the subject’s eyes; the camera tin bash that easily, and it is amazingly accelerated and accurate. You adjacent get the enactment to prime the close oregon near oculus of the subject. But the Eye-Control AF is astir the shooter’s eye, tracking its movement, and with capable hand-eye coordination, what you spot is what you photograph. Having tested this connected the bustling streets of Old Delhi, R5II seldom mislaid absorption and proved to person an intelligent extent cognition and taxable recognition.

(Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express)

The oculus power has to beryllium calibrated for antithetic users, users with lens oregon spectacles and the camera has six calibration profiles to acceptable up. The calibration process is beauteous straightforward, wherever you look astatine the dots displayed connected 4 sides wrong the viewfinder, click the M-Fn button, refine it portion holding the camera vertically arsenic well, and bash the aforesaid successful antithetic brightness settings. While it worked smoothly aft I acceptable it up, reaching the edges of the framework to focus, it did loosen retired erstwhile I utilized it successful antithetic airy settings and had to beryllium recalibrated.

(Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express)

In-camera upscaling 

AI-powered upscaling is different caller diagnostic added successful the R5II, which allows doubling the pixels vertically and horizontally. The upscaled representation is 4 times higher successful pixel and size than the original, but visibly, the results are not arsenic stark arsenic claimed. While determination is immoderate betterment successful the prime of the image, this does not basal retired to beryllium the astir utile feature.

(Photo: Chitral Khambhati/The Indian Express)

Now, each these top-of-the-line exertion features tin beryllium mixed and matched to execute the champion and fastest results. Most of the focusing features complement each different to marque beingness easier and springiness an borderline to the lensman utilizing it. The chances of going incorrect successful presumption of absorption are rather bleak. Some whitethorn consciousness that it is the camera doing astir of the dense lifting here, but arsenic Ansel Adams said, “The azygous astir important constituent of a camera is the 12 inches down it.”