Canon R5II Disappointment, I Did Not Expect This!

[@Loboboracho]

I "upgraded" to the R5II from the R6II about three weeks ago and I really wish I had taken this video more to heart when viewing it before my purchase. After these past three weeks, I now share the same disappointment as you do, but for me, this is a deal breaker. Even lower ISOs seem to have too much noise. It really makes me appreciate my R6II even more. Hopefully, I'll be able to sell my R5II soon and not lose too much money in the process. Update: Just sold mine and didn't lose any money in the process, due to high demand...phew!

[@billmartin1663]

Excellent review, as always. I have been shooting the R5ii for two months. For that time, my main subjects have been Concourse d'Elegance (auto shows), fine art, and portraits. And for those genres, as late as 9:00 a.m. on clear days -- with light the R5 can handle without pause -- noise has been a real problem. My first morning out at a car show with the R5ii was shocking. I wondered if the camera was broken! I am weary of having to run every single image through Denoise. So . . . today, I ordered a new (original) R5 and I'm listing my R5ii for sale. One of the greatest strengths of the R5 is a weakness for the mk.ii.

[@timthorington4498]

No need to apologize. As a wildlife photographer who is presently using the R5 I need to hear an honest review/opinion on the R5 version 2 b4 I decide whether or not I should upgrade. You've given me a lot of info both positive and negative and that's what I need to hear to help me make the upgrade decision. Many thanks. Keep up the great videos...

[@Duade]

Thanks for the feedback, my goal is to be as honest as I can sharing my real world experience, Cheers, Duade

[@airpilikia]

What was your decision?

[@iabdulhaseeb]

I'm confused basically I have plan of getting R6 mark 2 just 4 months used with RF 24-105 4L and RF 100 2.8 + 256 GB card 300MB/s In 3465 USD. On the other hand R5mark2 is 4265 USD. I also don't have any lens. There are 2 options first is buy the 2 lens with R62 or 2nd option is R52 with Rf50 1.8... later on I'll upgrade my lens 24-105.. is it worth to sacrifice more money. I want 4,5 years future safe. If you're in my place what you'll do?? Is it good offer or suggest me any other option!! I don't have any gear now .. I used to have 5dmark3 in 2016... But I changed my field as currently working in the restaurant business industry. I want to target small restaurants and small businesses for social media and products photography, as I have planned to give free 30 sec, 1 min reels for Snapchat, tiktok and Instagram. Just to build my portfolio on Instagram and other platforms. Plus I'll do street photography as I'm living an expat in Saudi Arabia. I belong to Pakistan..

[@grom5756]

@@iabdulhaseeb Sounds like you want the better body and you will regret it, if you don't buy it. You said that you want to be future proofed, but all the companies will get something out that you will want as well, that's their way. Consider the file sizes, also because you are going to make videos, consider if your PC/laptop is fast enough, consider disk space/size and just think about it for a week or two, don't let the hype get the best out of you, let it sink and then decide.

[@NU7L]

Nice analysis. I went from a 5DIV and R7 to the R5M2 and here is what I found after 8k photos. The R5M2 does have some tracking issues with smaller birds but it's very hit or miss. Sometimes it tracks them fine other times not. Large birds no problem. If I use the Canon RF 100-500 with the 1.4x TC on the R5M2 it tracks small birds worse than the R7. If I use the Canon RF 200-800mm it's quite a bit better. Compared to the R7 it seems the tracking issue on the R5M2 is that the animal eye detection algorithm isn't quite as good. This can likely be fixed in firmware. I agree with the sensor noise. It's worse than I expected but I have gotten some shots as high as ISO 8000 that are actually very good. It's quite a bit better than the R7 at the higher ISOs. 12800 is not as usable as I had hoped but I can make it work in a pinch as long as I don't crop too heavily. The other issue I found is that the highlight tone priority is not as good on the R5M2 as on the R7. Blown highlights are routine on the R5M2 and it's very easy to overexpose highlights even with the HTP turned on, so I have to be really careful about exposure settings compared to the R7. There is basically no noticeable rolling shutter on the R5M2; it's terrible on the R7. As for overall picture quality, I've gotten shots with the R5M2 that I could never have gotten with the R7 or 5DIV. So for me it's a good upgrade. I don't do video much as all so probably will never have it overheat. I spent almost 2 hours one day in 95F heat taking shots and the camera worked fine no issues.

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing your real world experience and great to get the comparisons. I agree it is a wonderful camera, just wish the noise was the same as the R5. Cheers, Duade

[@Martinskitchen-pj9yd]

I will wait for the R7 MK2.

[@Methodical2]

@@Martinskitchen-pj9yd Happy waiting.

[@SamW604]

I appreciate your candor when reviewing cameras. So many You Tubers skip over a camera's weaknesses or excuse them. They sound like fan boys rather than objective reviewers. When considering investing hard earned money, it's much better to watch your videos because of your candid, truthful approach to reviews. Thank you.

[@Duade]

Thanks Sam, I appreciate the feedback, Cheers, Duade

[@MattH039]

My favorite things about wildlife photography are the experiences you come away with and the stories behind the shots. I really like that you added the bit about your trip to the wetlands. It drove home the fact that despite the disappointments with the new camera, it is still capable of giving you an amazing and wonderful time capturing moments while enjoying nature!

[@Duade]

Very true mate and that is the most important thing for sure, I have taken some wonderful photos with the camera and I am sure I will take many more going forward. Cheers, Duade

[@JohnSwen-p6b]

Same here. While I enjoy the photography. The moments and memories of taking the photo are more enjoyable.

[@wanderland_xyz]

Fine video and great shots, Duade. I've definitely noticed the additional noise on my R5II compared to my old R5. Haven't pushed it too much yet, but I'm happy to say so far the Enhance denoise in Lightroom cleans it up pretty nicely. What I'm eagerly awaiting, though, is an update adding the R5II to DxO Pure RAW 4--that's been my go-to NR software and I'm hoping it will remove any hesitancy to shoot at 12800 or even 25600 when needed.

[@Duade]

Thanks, great points and yes with NR software it is less of a problem for sure. Cheers, Duade

[@TheChadWork2001]

Cockatoo quote, “Hey Charlie, you think he knows his Dynamic Range is lower with that camera?”

[@Duade]

Lol nice work, Cheers, Duade

[@ArleneBaverstock]

Duade you help make our decisions a lot easier when we have too choose witch camera gear to purchase. I’ve been wanting a 30 megapixel or better full frame camera from Canon for awhile now. Been waiting to see if Canon has got off their ass in producing one. The R6iii & R7ii or hints of a R9 are probably years away for this senior. But after watching this great video of how you delved into the pluses and minuses of what’s on the market now, I probably will go with the R6ii, and some good RF lenses. Your a big inspiration to all photographers trying their best to getting the perfect shot we all hope to get. All the best mate, wishing good health and peaceful adventures. Brian

[@fepatton]

Just thinking the same thing - the R6ii seems like a great balance of price and performance.

[@bbasiaga]

@@fepatton used prices on R3 are coming way down right now. Something to consider. Of course the market may be quite different down by you.

[@Kellysher]

Wonder how a used R5 would stack up against the R6ii? Personally I’m looking to see if an R7ii comes out in 2025.

[@noelchignell1048]

I have the R6ii and it's a brilliant camera for birds/action and pairs very well with the RF 200-800

[@ArleneBaverstock]

@@noelchignell1048 Hi Noel, currently I’m using the 90D with the Sigma 150-600 C lens and I find 32 megapixels on the camera is the sweet spot and allows for cropping very good. My concern with 24 megapixels is you can’t get close to wildlife and you always need to do some cropping. I do like everything else about the R6ii maybe this Christmas when Black Friday arrives sales for this camera will be better too purchase. Brian

[@SteveComstockPhotography]

I have acquired two R5 MK IIs, and I’m just starting to use them in my wildlife and sports photography. I am encouraged to hear that I am not the only one experiencing the lock-up problem. I’ve had that occur on both cameras and had to do battery removal reboots. Hoping, as you do, that a firmware update will fix this issue. Thanks for your lengthy and informative report.

[@Duade]

Thanks Steve, seems to be a universal problem that should never have made it to the production version IMO, fingers crossed for a quick firmware upgrade. Cheers, Duade

[@mareklesniak8768]

Similar thing still happening on R6 Mark II with the latest firmware... if Canon couldn't fix the issue with older models, I would not assume they can fix it with this one. I guess we just have to accept Canon does not make quality products anymore, as used to in the past (my 5D III and IV had zero issues for example).

[@frostybe3r]

Guess you like wasting money 🤣

[@trevorkim]

it happened during initial r5 firmwares as well back when it was launched but been fixed for a while. it froze up once with my r5m2 but I guess they‘ll fix it too

[@edwardcrawford4180]

Thanks Duade for the honest and informative video. Over the past year, I have rented Fujifilm and OM 1 Systems cameras with telephoto lenses to test them as possible replacements for the "getting heavier by the day" Canon equipment, R5 and RF 600mm f4. Nope, compared to the R5, their low light performance was seriously lacking. So, now I am testing my new R5 Mark II and, so far, its low light performance has been sub par compared to the R5. In response, I have set max auto ISO to 3200 and, based on preliminary results, have been forced to try out settings that bring the ISO down to 1600 or lower, which is going to involve slower speeds (more blur) and lots of photos (too many). On the positive side, I think a lot of these issues will be improved with firmware updates and Adobe getting its Lightroom and Photoshop software updated. AND, we will all learn to maximize the Canon R5 Mark II potential. Today, I am going to process some Mark II photos on Canon DPP 4 to see how that compares to Adobe, and also will be taking a lot of jpgs to see what that brings. Lastly, I will keep my R5 and continue using it in low light situations. Cheers, glad to see you are recovering. Wildlife photography is great!!!!!

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing your experience Edward, sound like a very similar experience. Have fun with your cameras, Cheers, Duade

[@cathco9]

Great review, Duade. I shoot manual with Auto ISO. The first thing I noticed with the R5 II was that the camera was choosing a much higher ISO than my R5, which I no longer own. The R5 II was regularly choosing ISO 4000 or higher. My R5 never did this. To make matters worse, my Topaz Denoise is not compatible with the R5 II. I would have to purchase Topaz Photo AI if I want to continue to use Denoise. I'm using the manual Denoise in LrC now. Overall, though, I'm really happy I chose the R5 II. The AF when shooting birds in leafy trees is so much better than the R5. I love the adjustable fps in ES. I don't want 1,000s of photos after a day out. Plus, a digital shutter sound. Buying the R5 II was the right choice for me.

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing your experience, that is interesting re the higher ISO, the camera must be wanting to make your images brighter. With Topaz are you able to export the file as a .tif and then use topaz with that? Admittedly the denoise AI in lightroom is now very good also, Cheers, Duade

[@cathco9]

I have the stand alone Topaz Denoise. I've used it with my R5 photos with no issues. Guess what? Incompatible with photos from the R5II. I've reached out to Topaz. If I want to use Denoise, I'm going to have to purchase Topaz Photo AI. Ugh! I did ask Topaz for a discount and they did offer me 20% off. My stand alone Sharpen AI is no longer any good either. I've tried to use Enhance in LrC and that's a no go because it will take 25 minutes to process. Most likely because my computer is 5 years old. So, for now, I'm using the manual Denoise Luminance slider in LrC. I'm just going to have to make sure that I'm in good lighting. I've passed on using my 200-800 mm in low light, opting to use my 100-500 mm. There's definitely a learning curve going from the R5 to the R5 II.

[@peterrichards2896]

Once again Duade your comments are so valid and no beating about the bush that there are things that are disappointing about the new camera, I fully expect that like the original R5 the firmware updates will sort out a few of the problems but I do agree that Canon should do more testing before releasing the camera especially with the camera locking up, that really should not be happening. Myself like others took advantage of the price drop of the original R5 and been blown away how good this camera is, will probably look at the Mk II in a couple years time but lets not forget that the original R5 when it was released had a lot of problems and is now a completely different camera after firmware updates and I expect the same will happen with the MK II over time ~ Thanks again Duade for these honest KZbin videos that you put so much effort into ~ keep up the great work

[@cristirenault]

He is simply wrong in some areas. Take with a bit of salt his opinion.

[@Duade]

Thanks for the comment, the video represents my real world experience, apologies if you think I got some of the specs wrong, always happy to hear others opinions. Cheers, Duade

[@Duade]

Thanks for the feedback Peter, totally agree re the locking up, they should have learnt from the R5, but it appears they have not. Hopefully a firmware upgrade will fix the lock ups. Have fun with the R5, a really good value camera. Cheers, Duade

[@Bassbarbie]

Such a useful video for me, thank you. I was almost being tempted back, but I think you have saved me some money. I have the R5 and was also running an Olympus system. I ended up selling my long lenses for the Canon and getting the big white OM lens and OM1body. The OM system lets you choose on their pre-capture system whether you want it to continue to focus on your subject or not. I never use the scenario where it stays on the original focus. There are a couple of things I miss about the R5 - the double back button focusing and the ability to crop. I discovered you have to be much more skilled in framing the subject if you can't crop... still working on that ha ha! Beautiful photos. It brought back happy memories of time spent in Australia - loved the birds... sadly in film days when all I had was a little Olympus XA2 with me 😊

[@pillarpaul]

You perfectly expressed my same disappointments, Duade. In fact, I had thought of contacting the retailer I bought the camera from to return it as a sample defect. Now I know it's not just me or my particular camera, especially that pre-capture lack of autofocus. And, like you, I'm disappointed as well in the lack of high dynamic range. I had the original R6 and thought this would be a VERY good upgrade but it's just barely in reality, especially in light of the cost of the camera and I wonder if I might have been better off just upgrading to the R6ii.

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, always good to hear from other owners of the camera. I am still happy with the camera and it has a number of improvements but just a little disappointing in those areas. Cheers, Duade

[@dangoertz8030]

Great review. I purchased my R5 a few weeks back when prices started to drop in anticpation of the Mark II. I'm not a wildlife photographer, I shoot more product and lifestyle photos. I've been very happy with my R5 so far for my work and good to hear I didn't wait to purchase the Mark II. Dinamic range is so important for the photography I do.

[@ValerieMisaPhotography]

I've also experienced the same issue with the AF on my R52 not tracking the subject closely in pre-capture. It often seems to be stuck on the perch or focused on random parts of the background. I thought it was just me, so am glad that you've raised this issue Duade. Hopefully this can be fixed with firmware updates? But I do think the pre-capture feature is a game changer, and also really like the eye control AF, which I've found to work quite well for me (which I use as part of my triple BBF setup). Thanks for another fantastic, really informative and helpful video! 🙏👍

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing your experience Valerie, the more people who raise issues the quicker they will be sorted out hopefully, have fun with the camera, Cheers, Duade

[@evertdoorn3620]

Good to hear an honest opinion. I do wonder how compared results would look in DPP. Adobe LR is well know for the fact that it needs updates in order to get camera rendering and profiles right. I'm sure there's a difference between the camera's (one reason I'm holding out to see what the R1 brings to the table), but software might make it look a bit worse than it actually is

[@fotowissen]

Tx fot the video! Is the AF "following" a bird proble, resolved?

[@martinpettinger]

Hi Duade... a great a very fair review.... but nothing here to convince me to part with my R3.... The R3 is not a good wildlife camera .... its a great wildlife camera and a true joy to use and produces quality images throughout its DR. ... and its does not over heat ! :-)))

[@Makta972]

The output is superb on the R3

[@Duade]

Thanks Martin, yes, my question that is hard to answer is why is the R3 so good in terms of dynamic range and speed etc yet the R5II has taken a big hit, Canon have shown they can do both with that camera. Have fun with it, Cheers, Duade

[@michaelpoole8410]

Hi Duade. Your settings for birds worked a treat for floodlit rugby last night. Three buttons really helped and the spot and track is great. I'm resigned to a bit of de-noising and even at ISO 10,000 Lightroom gave me some good results. Many thanks for the tips.

[@rongrahambecker3944]

Duade, congratulations on some excellent photos! And thanks for pointing out your frustrations with Dynamic Range / High ISO problems. I, too, upgraded from R5 (which I passed on to my wife) and for all the reasons you mentioned. I am having very similar issues, as well. It's frustrating. The AF jumps around once I lock on to a subject and I get exasperated when it starts jumping. I start thinking that I must have made an incorrect setting, and so I redo everything over and over again. In my well-invested position, Canon's reputation is slowly going downhill. I hope they can develop some helpful firmware updates to address these issues. It makes me wonder if marketing is more important to them than true quality control. In my opinion, the battery issue that you spoke of is a major embarrassment for them. All these great features on their newest camera but not enough batteries to go around. Oh, well! At the cost of $80USD per unit, one would think this battery would have been in large supply long before the release of the R5Mk2. And now it's being back-ordered? Come on Canon, get a clue. You have a lot of loyal users. I used to be one of those loyal users, but now....? Regardless, I still love what I'm doing with my photography. I just don't particularly like being an uncompensated BETA tester for a muliti-billion dollar company. Keep the faith, sir!

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing your experience, it is always great to hear from actual users of the camera and your expereince mirrors mine. I agree the battery situation is very frustrating, I asked Canon for an eta and they are unable to tell me when the batteries will be available. Trying to shoot with one battery is getting very old. Cheers, Duade

[@Methodical2]

If you are in the US the batteries are available at BC Camera, B&H and Adorama. Fortunately, I did not have any problems finding batteries here in the US. When there are shortages, I search out the smaller companies with luck.

[@lisabowker1]

@@Methodical2in Australia we are still waiting on batteries. So bad. Poor effort from Canon

[@geoffn8963]

One correction: The R5II is not saving 0.5s except at 30FPS. It is always saving 15 shots regardless of FPS. It is only saving 0.5s when at 30FPS. At 20FPS it is going back 0.75s, at 15FPS it goes back 1s, 10FPS back 1.5s etc. Of course will do less if you don't hold precapture down long enough to get those full 15 shots at your given FPS. Therefore shooting at 15FPS is going to end up with a lot of garbage pre-capture shots. I find 0.3s-0.5s ideal for bird takeoffs and other bird pre-capture photography (experience with the A9III where you can at least adjust these things)....therefore at 30FPS, the pre-capture behaviour on the R5II is good enough. But at 15FPS you are going back 1s and that is just going to be a lot of shots before anything happens and 50% less chance to get those awesome frames during a bird takeoff or some other unexpected action.

[@michaels3003]

This is an EXCELLENT explanation (this comment should be pinned). Thank you.

[@jonathan_0]

and the great thing is, there's no way for you to easily find this out, because the camera doesn't mark the first shot after the precapture like sony cameras do

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing that, I was not aware of this and very important to know. Cheers, Duade

[@tonyb9882]

This disagrees with all of the reviews I have seen to date, which all say it is 0.5s, and so the number of shots does vary with the FPS selected. I do not have access to verify it, but it has been well reported.

[@geoffn8963]

@@tonyb9882 Well I've tested it myself and it is very easy to verify by just shooting your phone's stopwatch. Really easy to see if you go to a slow FPS like 5FPS and you will see 3s worth of time in the 15 pre captured shots and you don't overshoot by more than one shot so can get accurate data. There is also a multi-page thread over at FM forums where we have all verified the same. All the reviews seem to have just tested it at 30FPS and there you get 0.5s. They all just assumed the rest. Maybe when you get the camera in hand you can see for yourself!!

[@lanceknight7939]

Duade, I didn't find your comments to be negative, but rather honest, and I appreciate that. Photography gear has always been compromised in one area or another. It is hard to find gear that dose all things well. I have the R6II and was pleased to see how high it scored on the high dynamic range chart. I do wish the sensor was bigger than 24 megapixels (compromise), but it is the most well rounded camera I have ever owned, and was putting high hopes on one day owning an R5 ii. It is through really honest reporting like yours that help shape those decisions. Just last week I upgraded the firmware of my OM system Om-1, and it would blow the focus system of the R5 ii out of the water based on what I was seeing on that video you showed, but I couldn't help wonder if the lens wasn't keeping up with focus rather than the camera itself (again compromise).

[@Duade]

Thanks for the feedback Lance, I apprecaite it, Cheers, Duade

[@MacawAviculture]

I used a Canon 1 Dx Mark II for all photos/videos of my Macaw family since 2016. After watching various bird photographers here on YT using the Canon R3, I decided to rent one for a week. The eye tracking autofocus is truly beyond words so I decided to buy the R3. Uses the same batteries as the 1 Dx and the body size is perfect. Great video, thanks for sharing.

[@GoldLithium]

22:25 "Don't look now but there's a weirdo with his big white rod checking you out."

[@Duade]

Lol, great caption, made me laugh, Cheers, Duade

[@onnonugteren2935]

Great news for me having an R5. 🙂 Greetings from the Netherlands. 🙂 And keep making these great KZbins, you are improving a lot these years for sure. 🙂

[@Myu007]

Well, that was my first complaint to Canon sales rep when I went out first day to shoot. The noise recovery was shockingly bad, coming from 5D4, I was expecting more than this. I was pretty much laughed at by few people, saying user error. I will test it tomorrow with 4000 ISO and see if that might perform better.

[@marksuchomelsr6698]

Hi Duade, the issues you are experiencing are the main reason that I never buy the first production run of any electronic device, especially cameras. Sorry it has to be you, but I'm glad someone is putting these new cameras through there paces to find these issues for the rest of us. You always do a great job in your reviews, very professional and fair. I'm not sure if you had this experience with your R5, but on occasion I have forgotten to turn off the camera when changing lenses, and then the camera would lock up. I also had this happen with my R3. Other then then that I have had no issues. Right now I'm fine with my R5. I may revisit the R5ii in about a year as an addition, not a replacement for my current R5. Keep up the great work!

[@Duade]

Thanks Mark, I am happy to be the guinea pig and you are dead right. Getting the R5 now for half what I paid for it makes it a great value camera at present. Cheers, Duade

[@jcmssm]

Thanks Duade. I haven't gotten the r5ii yet, but I will. I really like the pre-capture feature on my OM1m2, and I'm looking forward to using that on the R5m2. And, compared to 4/3 sensor OM1m2, the R5m2 has great dynamic range. And compared to the to the R5, it looks like that the focus acquisition is a fair bit better. Based on this video, however, I'm going to keep my R5, at least for a while, after getting the R5m2 to see if I really 'need' the increased dynamic range in some situations. I'll keep the OM1m2 too because it and the 300F4 is such a light hiking/biking kit. As to the pre-capture maintaining focus as bird comes toward the camera, I've got that problem with the OM1 as well. Hopefully Canon can address the issue in a firmware update, but even if they don't, pre-capture is still awesome in capturing the initial act of leaving a perch. And, if the bird remains in the focal plane, you get additional keepers. Fortunately, the 45mp sensor on the R5m2 allows you to pull back a bit so you can keep the bird in frame and then crop later if you need to.

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and all very good points, I do like the camera and I am sure it will improve with firmware upgrades. Have fun when it arrives, Cheers, Duade

[@noelchignell1048]

Hi mate, I have the R6ii and I've had a couple of opportunities to play with the R5ii and I found the improvements quite modest considering the much higher price so I'm hoping that Canon will be releasing an R6 mark iii soon with a stacked sensor which will be more affordable. It'll be interesting to see how the R1 compares in terms of dynamic range: I've tried out a pre-production R1 at a launch event and I was deeply impressed by it's low light performance. In regards to battery supply Canon has had to send the new batteries out by sea freight as the airlines only allow 1 battery with each camera and no separate battery shipments. Canon NZ told be the extra batteries will reach NZ and presumably Australia very soon. Cheers Noel

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing Noel, that makes sense, hopefully we don't have to wait too long. I look forward to trying the R1 at some stage and yes, an R6III with the R3 sensor will be a very nice camera. Cheers, Duade

[@lisabowker1]

Still waiting on the r5 ii batteries. Canon fell down on this one.

[@Beaver-be8vk]

I’m so glad i bought the R6 m2 because low light was my biggest concern with my full frame setup. I started looking at reviews of newer sensor cameras and even the R5 and quickly realized what I wanted was already out there a heavily discounted in the R6 m2. I have a R7 for wildlife so other features didn’t matter that much to me.

[@stephaniebarbarisi9367]

We have r7 an r6 mII and for sure r7 is nice for wildlife but in low light he is very very bad. We were thinking about buying a r5 mII but for big cats low light is important... so still wondering maybe taking a r5 only...

[@Duade]

Glad to hear you are enjoying the camera, Cheers, Duade

[@suatsekil]

for low light higher resolution is better, r5 m2 İS better than R6 M2

[@stephaniebarbarisi9367]

​@suatsekil really ? Did you compare both? On all reviews I saw r6mii is the best just after r3 on low light

[@jensenberlin]

Thank you Duade for this analysis. It's a great Cam. But: In one week of intense shooting I had that freezing (crashing) at least five times a day. And I'm not able to calibrate the eye detection at all. It doesn't work. I started with the setup file of Jan. He uses RAW video, these files confused me. What is really great: You can register a focus point an call it back with a button you like it to do so. This was limited to the super lenses before.

[@SVS949]

Thank you very much for all those disadvantages in the camera that you found. I also shoot wildlife - but I only make portraits in flight of fast-flying ones: swallows, swifts. I was alerted by the fact that when taking off from a rock, the swallow 's wing shape changed , and this is a rolling shuttle . I suffer a lot with this on the electronic shutter on my FZ 1000 ll, there is no such thing on the mechanics. But it's not all about mechanics, it ends and then you change it, and we have a problem with that... I hope that Canon will watch your reviews and fix the flaws in the firmware....Good luck and Good Health to you.

[@ianwaldren116]

Thanks for your honest analysis Duade. Disappointing conduct by Canon again re: releasing products with problems they were aware of or should have been aware of, shades of the R7 release. I suspect it may be a strategy of exploiting brand loyalty and using customers to identify problems, much cheaper. Now gives me concerns over the rumoured R7 2 with a stacked sensor. If that too has reduced dynamic range and greater noise I doubt it will be worth an "upgrade"! and the OM system may be a better option for me.

[@HeadlessChickenTO]

Hey Jerry, the guy with the camera is back. Act natural, man. Precapture is a very useful feature. I started using it on my R7, which I totally forgot was there until it was brought up in an R5ii discussion. Yes, I do find sometimes the AF has trouble maintaining lock on very fast moving subject. I got terns doing breakfast dives, and I managed maybe 70% hits with RAW Burst mode. But having to select which shots I want from some proprietary file off the camera is a pain. So I'm jealous of R5ii users with the new iteration of this feature.

[@Duade]

Great caption, yes the implementation on the R5II is an improvement which is great, I would still like the option to choose the length of precapture though. Cheers, Duade

[@julioamaral4391]

Thanks, Duade, I learn a lot from you. Congrats on the quality of your channel! Still happy with my R5. Sometimes I find it loosing the bird, or somewhat a little late during the flight, as if it were running after the bird... If you have any video approaching this, would you please let me know? Best from Brazil.

[@graemefryer6227]

Hey Duade. Great video as always. I've also picked up the r5 m2 and tested alot. I think what Canon probably are doing is relying on folks having noise cancelling software to do the heavy lifting for them in this case. I have shot high iso shots through the software and frankly can't tell difference from older r5 once this is done. I guess this was compromise for the stacked sensor etc.

[@olesheim]

Thank you for sharing the good and bad! You had a very interesting discovery at 11:11 where AF would not track fast enough. How does this compare to other cameras with precapture, like Nikon Z6iii/Z8 or OM System OM-1/2?

[@ThroughJoesLens]

I have the R5M2 and no crashes so far. I haven’t had a chance to really push it much though. I’m also disappointed in the lower dynamic range but the new speed and features are amazingly good and, overall, I really enjoy using it.

[@wolfgangjaekel9952]

As always. a very honest and competent review. I really appreciate it - thank very much you, Duade. My R5 II arrived a few days ago and I had no time yet to test it extensively. I've been struggling for a long time to upgrade from my trusty R5 that never had let me down on all my trips to Africa or to the High Arctic etc.. Preburst options and the reported even snappier and stickier AF made me bite the bullet and sell my R5 to go for the successor. I had also watched Ian's overall pretty enthusiastic review of the R5 II though he mentioned a bit loss of shadow detail compared to the R5, too. That said, the equivalent value of the R5 on the used market becomes more and more absurd and out of proportion if you need to sell the camera to reduce the price for the upgrade. There's kind of a bargain hunt mentality rather than the willingness to pay a fair price for a camera that had been regarded a high end product a couple of weeks ago. That's why I decided to sell the R5 before its value will drop even further and order the R5II instead. Now, in perspective of the concrete DR issue that I've seen at Bill Claff's sensor analysis and a few other reports - shortly after the sale of my R5,- I somehow regret not having sticked with my R5. I'm shooting wildlife, birds but also landscapes. The R5 II is optimized for video and speed, - more targeted to sports and at some point maybe to wedding shooters (the action programs and registration of people are pretty worthless for nature photogs, IMO). My feeling and disappointment are exactly the same as yours. Though I rarely need ISO 12800 and normally don't shoot in the Rainforest, you don't want a step back in IQ for a € 5000 cam - even if it's not huge. I didn't know either that the pre-burst functionality obviously doesn't include the servo tracking mode. That's an additional disappontment. I don't think that this can be changed with a firmware upgrade. Anyway, I don't want to talk the R5 II down before I have tested it personally and still hope that some of the new features and updates wil offer a benefit in the field. But from today's standpoint so far, I probably would stick with my R5 instead. Wolfgang

[@Duade]

Thanks for the feedback Wolfgang, I apprecaiet it. The R5II is better in pretty much every way, I was just a little disappointed with the extra noise but it is not a dealbreaker. I will continue to use the camera and take more photos before my final review, Cheers ,Duade

[@ChrisGradyPhoto]

Hi Duade, Thanks very much for the video. In the R5 MkII manual under Pre-continuous shooting in the 'caution' drop down, one note says "Subjects may be out of focus if there are sudden changes in the distance between subjects and the camera while you are pressing the shutter button halfway.". So not a fault, it's the way it works, I'm afraid. I just got my MkII yesterday and out today for the first time and got some great shots with it. Managed to get two spare batteries as well. But haven't used any extreme ISO settings yet. My heart sank when you said about the high iso issues as it's the one thing I loved about my R5's. Oh, dear!

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing, congrats on the extra batteries, mine are still on backorder. That is interesting what the manual says there. Have fun with the camera. Cheers, Duade

[@mobelue]

Your KZbin video is spot on. Your critiques are a spot on, positive and negative. You stated well the positives. The negatives were patently obvious to me when I began shooting the mark two versus the original. I shoot raw auto, with the 100-500, 1.4 extension. I shoot manual with auto iso. I post process in Canon DPP4. Then I’ll use other programs if needed. The photos and general are noisier than theoriginal R5. The bokeh is noisier. I shoot electronic shutter, but I cap iso at 3200. I did the same with the original. I tried capping it at 6400, hoping for a better image quality performance, but I soon realize that I had to move back to 3200. You take more shots and better shots with the pre-capture and the auto focus, but the shots you take sometimes are noisier. Again, your video and title are spot on. Keep up the good work. One other thing. In the original, I set the camera default auto focus to spot focus, the little square with the dot in it. I liked having access to the old DSLR spot focus with precision, like in the original. If you do that in the Mark two, Then the subject detection will gray out and default to no subject detection at all. It took me a few times in the menu to figure this out. So I set the camera default auto focus to the little box and I program one of the back buttons in the button programming function to the little box with the dot in it. This way I can choose animal Subject detection. The camera is more complicated, so the menu is more complicated and it takes some getting used to. I just returned from a trip to the Carolina coast shooting a lot of birds and I am processing them now. The auto focus is great, but there are a few shots that I’ve noticed that are noisier. Overall, the camera performed very well, but like you stated, there are limitations with this camera. Generally noisier bokeh than the original. Good luck on the batteries.

[@cristirenault]

He is wrong in some areas. Try to understand things better before any conclusion. Duade is a very nice guy, but sometimes even him can be wrong.

[@Duade]

Thanks for sharing your experience, good to hear from actual owners of the camera. I agree that the overall improvments like precapture are fantastic but the extra noise is a bummer. Cheers, Duade

[@mobelue]

Generally, I would consistently achieve “creamy” bokeh with mki, and “sand-papery” bokeh (about 320 grit) with the mkii. In fairness, did employ standard noise reduction in camera with mki. Tried same setting in mkii to no avail. Going through about 20k images took down at coast. Most good but rarely creamy bokeh.

[@martingibbons8021]

Hi Duade can’t afford the R5 ll but what’s your advice 1DX or R7 for Dark Forest shooting my local patch I know you have a lot of experience of both cameras from the great videos

[@garethgorman960]

Thank you Duade for all your highly informative videos. I picked up my R5II the day of release to replace my 5D MkIII. I have the same high ISO problem with noise as you have experienced and now I've viewed this video I'm pleased it wasn't just me but I'm annoyed that this wasn't addressed before release. Sure, denoise software can eliminate much of it but it's one more chore in post. Coincidentally, I was thinking about the battery shortage this morning and was pleased to find that, when I saw the video this afternoon, we had the same view. Canon shouldn't have released the camera without adequate stocks of batteries, knowing that the R5II chews up power with all its extra features.

[@Duade]

Thanks Gareth, totally agree and thanks for sharing your real world experience, the battery situation is very poor from Canon, don't release a camera that needs a new battery then tell us there are none available. Cheers, Duade

[@tonyla22]

Díky za upřímná a pravdivá slova v recenzi , klady i zápory R5M2.Přji vám dobré světlo...👍

[@floppytwist]

I didn't expect you using the whole area autofocus for slow subjects. Instead, expand af area is quite nice because it allows to narrow down the focus area and yet some automatic detection going on (e.g. detected faces will override the area to expand). That mode is also what Canon recommended at Photopia. With center focus and "set to eye tracking" bound to buttons on my thumb, I never feel the necessity of using the whole area autofocus that goes full auto.

[@wilbignal]

Very astute observation and quite right...in the AF tracking demonstration birds were very far away, often turning their backs to the camera, so it probably should be testing other possible subjects for faces and eyes. These things are somewhat obvious. Our need for the instant gratification and very little thought is what is weakening our experience and love for the photographic experience.

[@kevincassar8022]

"Don't do anything silly.....he's got pre-capture!"

[@Duade]

Lol, wonderful, Cheers, Duade

[@MVBirdphotos]

Another interesting and thoughtful video, thanks, Duade. I answered some questions I've had about the performance of the new R5ii. After shooting with the R7 / RF 100-500 for a year, I purchased a used R5 just after R5ii was released - $2,300 with less that 300 shutter activations! Talk about a value proposition! I can be quite content with the fantastic results that camera and lens combo is giving me for some time to come, no pre-capture notwithstanding.

[@Duade]

Congrats on the camera, the sensor is fantastic and you should see a big improvement over the R7 in low light. Have fun, Cheers, Duade

[@trentsizemorephoto]

The manual does mention in the precapture section: “Subjects may be out of focus if there are sudden changes in the distance between subjects and the camera while you are pressing the shutter button halfway.”

[@epsonc882009]

ya, cover their ass lol

[@Duade]

Thanks for that, I had not seen that, Cheers, DUade

[@andrewkeir2282]

​@Duade You mean you hadn't read the complete manual Duade... 😂😅 Remind me, how many pages in the manual.. 😮 Great that it has been acknowledged by Canon , well pointed out.

[@MarkusGebhard]

So does that mean continuous autofocus doesn't work with pre capture?

[@Duade]

It does work, it just seems to struggle a bit with fast transitions like the swallow. Cheers, Duade

[@RiverMountainPhoto]

I'm really happy to hear you report this (well I am and I'm not!) I only just made the transition from a 5D MKlll to this camera and really didn't know what to expect. At first I was disappointed that I would have to go back to using LR in order to view my images as nothing else seems to read the RAW files and then I saw the noise and thought, am I doing something wrong!? I really hope they fix it because it really is quite bad. Otherwise it's an incredible camera and I love shooting with it.... just the dynamic range and the noise!!!

[@RKusz]

it's simply best to use a mechanical shutter at high iso, and then just wait until PureRAW 4 releases an update to R5 Mark II. Canon mentioned in the update that the quality of photos at high ISO may improve, they announced many updates, so we have to wait patiently and see

[@missellycanada]

Thank you for the video. I have had this camera now for 2 weeks. Somewhat discouraged at times. I was using an R6Mii which was wonderful so I expected this to outperform the R6. I don't have all the knowledge that you have but in my simple bird photography world, I feel I have more tweaking of settings to do. I find the focus does not stick to the bird and goes off on its own. I will keep trying, as for the price I want to be in love.

[@Duade]

Thanks for the feedback and sorry to hear about your experience, it does seem that the AF is a little overactive, I will continue trying things to see if anything helps. Cheers, Duade

[@carlbaer304]

Absolutely have the same experience with out of depth of field focusing with pre-capture. That being said the R5 had the same problem if you were fast enough to get subject. My conclusion is that, although the AF is much faster than R5, it is still not fast enough to follow a bird that leaves a perch quickly. I also wish pre-capture time was slightly longer. Typical reaction time is around 0.2 seconds, so you really capture starting 0.2 seconds after the bird has flown.

[@davepastern]

Hey Duade, interesting about the R5II DR issues that you are experiencing. Other channels (Whistling wing photography, Wild Alaska etc) aren't mentioning this. Also, the AF stickiness. Only Jan has mentioned this alongside yourself. Everyone else is singing the praises of the R5II's AF performance on "auto" mode. From what I have seen, the R3 is the current king of high ISO performance, and is typically the 2nd best for DR (behind the A1). In theory, DR should be a function of pixel size and the electron well depth of the sensor design and a BSI stacked sensor shouldn't necessarily have a hindered DR. As I have said several times, I honestly believe that Canon is behind Sony in sensor development tech. Canon hasn't even managed to match the near 4 year old A1 (which has 5 more mp!) with the R5II. Canon has no shame - they should have made absolutely sure that basic things like batteries were well and truly stocked to the hilt upon camera release. This is very bad on Canon's part. I mentioned the buffer to Jan on his video a month ago and he felt it wasn't an issue. At 20fps (matching the original R5), the buffer is slightly better, but only slightly. if shooting at 30fps on the R5II, then it matches the R5 at 20fps. Not exactly a big improvement imho and a disappointment. There's no real sane reason why Canon couldn't have improved the buffer significantly other than an artificial cripplehammer to not pull sales from the R1. The same with the R1 having cross type AF (a combination of Canon not being able to produce a 45mp stacked sensor with cross type AF tech and cripplehammer imho). I know I'm sounding like a whinging prick, but if I'm giving Canon my hard earned cash, I expect them to perform. I am a consumer and have every right to demand specs or performance. Yes, Sony isn't perfect - they have held back firmware upgrades for the A1, to the detriment of consumers. The precapture looks like a really good tool, although having to hold down the shutter button to activate this feature is a crappy design imho. It should just give you that 0.5 second upon firing the shutter button. I'm not in the market for the R1 or R5II (don't have the money) and my R3 does it for me, other than being only 24mp, which does hurt me with birding photography. I got a new lifer on Monday - White winged Fairywren! Stoked. Have been to this location 4 times now and had no luck up until Monday. I also got my best image (still not great) of a red rumped parrot, and a zebra finch. Spotted wedgie, pair of BSKs hunting, nankeen kestrel hunting, pair of nankeen kestrels in a different location (with possible nest and as soon as I spotted the nest I backed away quick smart) and spotted a brown goshawk from a distance (and heard its call). So, a pretty nice day overall. No killer images, but it's just nice being out in nature and seeing the birds.

[@Duade]

Thanks mate, great comment and I appreciate the feedback, congrats on the White-winged Fairy a wonderful bird that I still need much better photos of. Cheers, Duade

[@davepastern]

@@Duade I do think the R5II is a better camera, but I also think it could have been EVEN better. Spotted a white bellied sea eagle yesterday, but was too late in doing so and didn't get any good shots.

[@ThorneWildlifeArtPhotography]

Thanks for the validation!!! I got my 1st R5 Mii as a preorder and the noise was ridiculous, so thought it might be a fluke. Sent it back and got a 2nd one and it appeared to be somewhat better but towards the end of a 2.5 hour shoot, it lost the ability to focus. Was using it with my RF 100-500 and it went from the AF working great, to not being able to get it to focus on anything!!! Had back buttons set up. Not sure how or why it went from working perfectly to not at all but it was enough to get me to send it back too. But now I'm seriously bummed because I REALLY was looking forward to that faster AF. :'(

[@dzuppi]

I will never understand why the reduced serial speed and the audio feedback were never added to the R5. As a software developer, I'm convinced that it would be a very small thing to add. The lack of improvements by FW by Canon is the reason that I recommend Nikon rather than Canon to people who start with photography. Unfortunately I'm locked in due to the expensive lenses I own. PS: If the pre-capture is unable to track the subject, then it is pretty useless.

[@Duade]

Thanks, yes that was annoying, the precapture AF is something I need to test a lot more and may have been that specific scenario. Cheers, Duade

[@EarNoodles]

It would certainly be more useful if it could track better when a subject is coming towards you, but even in this example he got a couple nice shots that he wouldn't have been able to get otherwise. I've used the feature on the R7 and it's a must-have feature for my next camera not exactly "useless" to me. I agree with the lack of firmware updates for sure. They could easily fix the R7's firmware so that pre-capture would output individual RAW files instead of one big file that is cumbersome to extract images from. Even so it's so hard to give up your lenses and make the switch once you have invested enough in their lenses.

[@JulianCox-x1k]

Hi Duade, love your videos. You make everything clear and I respect your honesty. I very rarely if ever shoot above ISO 6400 so super high ISO performance doesn't impact on my photography. The point about the focus not being able to keep up in pre capture when birds take off does though. I need to test this. Hopefully if true it is something Canon will address in a future firmware update. Until then I'll adapt my focus choice accordingly in these situations.

[@falxonPSN]

One point of interest about those dynamic range numbers is that Canon bakes noise reduction into its RAW files whereas some other brands do not. I'm wondering if the R5 II having a lower number is because they have stopped baking as much mandatory noise reduction into their raw files. So while that would lead to a lower quality looking image it might mean that you have more processing headroom. But of course I don't have the camera in my hands so I'll defer to what you're seeing!

[@Hrant11]

Not always and not in the R5

[@skyscraperfan]

For people like me who shoot non-moving subjects, image quality really is the ONLY thing I want to see improved in every new camera. It bothers me a lot if dynamic range is sacrificed for a faster readout speed. The problem with mirrorless cameras in general is that the sensor is read out constantly even during composition. That inevitably warms up the sensor an introduces more noise the longer you use the camera in a shooting. I wish Canon had still kept a line of high end DSLRs in its portfolio. For my area of photography mirrorless cameras have a lot more downsides than advantages. Didn't camera manufacturers tell us all the time that stacked sensors would reduce noise, as they shorten the circuitry? It seems the fast frame rates have eaten up that advantage, because they limit the processing time for each pixel. I would be happy to buy a camera that can only to five frames per second or even less, but in exchange has very little noise. The goal is to shoot at low light handheld and still get minimal noise that can easily be removed. Many places around the world to not allow tripods without a special permission. So low light performance is essential. Is the market for a high end camera for still subjects really too small for Canon?

[@Kliffot]

The Fuji GFX100S is what you're looking for. You can even put EF lens on it without any vignette.

[@skyscraperfan]

@@Kliffot How does that work if the sensor is larger than full frame? Do you need a kind of "speed booster" adapter?

[@Kliffot]

@@skyscraperfan No speedbooster, the longer flange of EF lens ( 44mm vs 26mm GFX) allows bigger image projection. Also the electronic adapter like the Fringer EF-GFX Pro has all the lens correction profile included. Now some EF lens works better than other of course. What's great is that the lens become wider and faster, for example the Canon 85mm f/1.2 becomes a 67mm f/0.9, a true MF 645 look ! :)

[@normangrafaviationphotogra4548]

Does the Canon R1 (or R3) not fill your need for a high dynamic range, low noise camera?

[@skyscraperfan]

@@normangrafaviationphotogra4548 They may have a great dynamic range, but they could have even more dynamic range, if dynamic range was prioritized. You "need" as much as you get, because at low light you could always use more dynamic range.

[@kenanderson1124]

Great info as always. I decided to invest in a different brand for wildlife. That said, looking at the test results on full frame cameras I would be inclined to look at the R6II from a features versus cost ratio.

[@mmarsbarr]

Such a great detailed review, thanks for putting in the time. With auto focus, on the R5/R3 there is a sub-menu within each autofocus case that is something along the lines of 'subject switching', this should prevent the AF box switching to a different subject.

[@mmarsbarr]

Also i'm listening to your comment about the AF not staying locked on to a subject moving front/back. I have the R5 and R3 and I have found this was one of the biggest differences between these two cameras. When shooting F1 and a car is going at top speed entering the frame and going away from me, the R3 is noticeably far superior with quickly catching the car and staying locked on, whereas the R5 doesn't catch onto the car until a good 20 or so meters ahead of where the R3 would catch it. This was the first time I really understood the differences in AF performance between these two cameras, because like you said, when the subject moves horizontally there is virtually no difference.

[@NomadOutdoorAdventures]

That’s one of the most annoying thing is if your camera freezes up and you have to take the battery out I remember when I first got an android phone back 10+ years ago. It was the same issue and that deterred me from ever buying another android phone again. Just using that as an example that it really sucks and it puts a bad taste in your mouth when you have that happening and I totally agree. They should’ve had that sorted out same thing with the batteries. It is very disappointing that it has lower dynamic range. I was really considering buying this camera maybe next year but I think I’m gonna hold off and wait till the next version. My canon 5D mark four is still working really well.

[@tdunster2011]

When photographing birds taking off on my OM-1 I use the loosest C-AF mode (+2) for precapture rather than the tightest (-2). I also use a shutter speed of 1/4000 and a five-point cross for a target. It works great. Maybe the same sort of thing will work with the R5 II

[@Dartheomus]

Great video. I have an R5, but man precapture sure would be nice to have. Giving up the dynamic range would be tough though. This makes me think I'll stick with my R5 for now.

[@kstotlani]

Hello. Thank you for your video. I just got my mk ii and has a few questions. You mentioned that you got 136 shots in burst mode. Are these CRAW or RAW or RAW+JPG or any other combination. Here is what I am getting with ISO 12800 1. RAW - 82 2. RAW + JPG - 79 3. CRAW - 120 4. JPG - 134 What other parameters influence the burst speed. I have the Angelbird 1TB pro se card which seems like a good card. Edit - shooting with electronic shutter

[@jefferyrobbins3468]

Very informative, and thanks for an honest, independent review -- both the pros and cons... It shows that the buyer doesn't know exactly what they are getting until people start doing these independent reviews, so that an informed choice can be made. Is it possible to assign a button for the pre-capture, to activate it quickly when desired? I didn't see a way. Did I miss something? Kind regards

[@Duade]

G'day Jeffery, you can assign precapture to my menu and change it there. Or you can setup C1 with precapture and C2 without and then assign the C funtion to the the mfn button which allows you to cycle through custom modes. You do have to turn off the other modes though like M, FV etc so you only have Custom modes to cycle through. Cheers, Duade

[@wubbsy]

For the buffer test: Are the files really the same size? Since I thought the R5II shoots at 14bit while the R5 only at 12bit.

[@JeremyNeipp]

Thanks for sharing the full picture! Always value that much more than just the highlights

[@WernerBirdNature]

G'day mate, your honesty is once again strongly appreciated !! I'm confident the stickiness of the AF can be addressed in a firmware update. Regarding high ISO, I'm assuming your examples were comparing without DxO Deepprime, because they're still analyzing how to correct for this new sensor. Still, I'm a bit puzzled by the result your showed from PhotonsToPhotos. I recall reading about another metric (also P2P) from some weeks ago, where the conclusion was the R5ii lost some DR in the lowest ISO settings, while the difference for higher ISO were hardly noticeable. Additionally they mentioned the DR of the R5ii was less good in MS/EFCS, but in ES the R5ii has the advantage of having 14-bit Raw while the R5 could only get 12-bit Raw. As such, the diff for the 6.5 EV metric between MS/EFCS versus ES on the R5 makes sense, but I would have expected the R5ii to have about the same result for MS/EFCS and ES and that it would lie in between both values for the R5. I tried searching the R5ii manual online, but didn't find the 12 or 14-bit details. Could it be the R5ii gives 14-bit only in some lower fps, but not at the highest fps ??

[@Duade]

G'day, very good question and this is also what confused me a little, why is the R5II worse at 14bit then the R5 at 12bit, clearly the faster sensor has had quite the impact. It is not terrible by any means but the difference is notable. Hopefully someone smarter than me can figure this out. Cheers, Duade

[@WernerBirdNature]

@@Duade Hi Duade, I found your source was actually lower on the same page where I looked at the curves. Because above 1600 ISO, the curves for all sensors decline slowly, interpolating the point where you'd keep 6.5 stops DR is a exaggerating the differences and it doesn't match settings you can use. When you'd look at the actually measured values at ISO 6400, you may get a more realistic comparison: R5 has between 6.19 & 6.27 stops of DR, the R5ii has between 5.99 & 6.14 while Z8 has 5.9 and R3 shines with 6.56 but the R7 only reaches 5.09. The gaps to the R7 & R3 are obvious, but the 3 45mp bodies seem pretty closely matched to me .. I haven't been able to trace more info whether the R5ii keeps 14bit in all ES fps modes, but I did encounter a remark everything else equal the E-shutter gives slightly more noise than MS/EFCS

[@WernerBirdNature]

@@Duade Hi again Duade, just after my prev comment, I noticed DxO PhotoLab 7.9 just came out supporting the R5ii, so I'd assume also DxO PureRAW 4.x will now support it !

[@jubipics5130]

Hi there, thanks for all your vids first, love your photos and the beautyful birds you have down under! To the problem with the jumping focus: Is it possible that that is due to the new "users-eye-folllowing" in the m II? That is the focus sets where you are looking at. You didn't mention this function at all, btw. Might be , I think. Did you try to shut that down? Greets Jubi

[@nickfreeman8027]

Are you finding you're getting more sharper images with this camera paired with the RF200-800mm? I'm currently using the R5 Mk1 with the 200-800, interested to know if you're getting better results. Thanks

[@nigelblake1558]

Use the eye control in conjunction with the eye tracking AF then the camera will continue to track eyes that are close to where you are looking in the viewfinder!

[@jonzmoviebar7580]

Having bought the R5 not long ago because I was tired of waiting of the R5 mkII (and it was cheap price too) , hearing that it is under performing under poor lights makes me numb knowing I may have avoided disapointment. I find myself using my R5 quite a lot under poor lighting and hearing that makes me not regretting to have skipped the R5II . Thanks for your sharing.

[@anadelman]

You mentioned (and showed) the wren losing focus in the pre-capture mode. I noticed that you were shooting at 700mm, so I’m assuming that you were using a 100-500mm with a 1.4X extender? If so, that might have something to do with it. I was shooting Barred Owls yesterday with my 100-500mm and didn’t lose focus on any of my shots as it lifted off and flew towards me. In addition, when the owl flew behind a bushy tree, as it came out the other side, the camera remained locked on as if the tree hadn’t even been there. I was truly impressed.

[@noelchignell1048]

Duade was probably using the RF 200-800

[@Duade]

G'day, I was using the 200-800 for the wren and the 500 f4 with 1.4 for the swallow. Cheers, Duade

[@EricRoseBahamas]

Fair and balanced review. Waving from The Bahamas 🇧🇸

[@ww3688]

Duade, thanks for your down to earth and honest assessment of the R5ii. Canon should be calling to sign you up and pay you as their product field tester. Sorry to hear about the R5ii's poorer dynamic range IQ results... 2 steps forward... 1 step back. Glad to hear that the R5 is still holding on its own - a true generational camera.

[@Duade]

Thanks mate, yes, that would be great, I was probably a little critical in this video and it is a wonderful camera, I was just a little annoyed at the time. I agree the R5 might be Canons greatest ever camera for its time. Cheers, Duade

[@georgequittner4570]

Thank you for your review that addresses what works and what doesn’t. Your comments and perspective are appreciated. Plus I loved your photos. Good shooting to you! If you were fishing I would say “tight lines”.

[@remember627]

Hey Duade, nice video and review. One note, and I may be wrong, I had heard that the R52 files are not playing nice yet with Adobe and DXO. I believe the same thing happened when the R5 was released. I’m guessing that it will improve once the codecs are shared. Look forward to hearing if that’s true or not.

[@remember627]

Continuing, it was aggravating me so much that the files didn’t look right that I almost sent the R5-2 back. After a few thousand shots I found that the noise and colors looked much better if I used Camera Standard instead of Adobe Standard in Lightroom. With the R5-1 I usually just leave it in Adobe Standard and work from there.

[@i.k.7689]

To some of the points/questions: Electronic shutter tends to lower the bitrate (14/12) at readout, which in turn affects the dynamic range. I would be interested in seeing what your ISO tests produce when using the mechanical shutter. As for the pre-capture AF, I am wondering whether there is a difference in whether you use back-focus or the shutter button. Pre-capture has been around with Olympus for a decade (I am making the number of years up, but it has been there for a while), and I have not experienced any AF issues with the Olympus flavor of pre-capture. Will try with the R6ii. I was surprised you had no sharpness issues with the 200-800. It works extremely well with my R6 mark 2, but I do see washed pixels on my R7. Pixel density on the R7 is at 80MP in full-frame, and the lens may not resolve enough to "feed" each pixel. Maybe at 50MP that's not an issue just yet. Finally, for the bird whisper (with an accent): "You having cock a too?"

[@SheldonBilsker]

Thank you for this review. I was going to upgrade from my R5 but since I shoot in low light often the added noise is a dealbreaker.

[@CCW513]

Thanks for the great content Duade...would dynamic range be able to get fixed with an update, or because of the sensor, it can't be? Thanks!

[@77dris]

This makes me even more happy with my R6 II a couple years ago.

[@clazarescu]

ISO quality variation is simple between R5 and R5II. Stacked sensor have this "issue". Quality at high ISO it deteriorates quickly especially on high mpx camera. If you will compare R5II with R3, R3 will be cleaner with almost 2 stops for example. Same situation in the case of Nikon Z9 vs Nikon Z6 III...

[@NancyElwood]

Did you try Camera matching profiles in Adobe, instead of the Adobe profiles. We found with the Z9 and Z8, that made a huge difference. We found that Adobe now reads the metadata of the even the RAW files, and the Adobe profiles really mess that data up.

[@Duade]

Thanks Nancy, will give that a try, Cheers, Duade

[@axelfiraxa]

I switched to DxO because i got fed up with Lightroom's handling of the camera profile

[@billmartin1663]

According to Canon, the only solution to R5ii noise is to run the images through the Canon app. This adds a step, extra time, and it converts your files into ENORMOUS .dng files.

[@armandot9137]

Thank you for the great practical review. I have noticed exactly the same problem with the AF, I shoot sports. I am glad you pointed this out because all reviews say the AF is just stellar and I was not sure if it was me. In regard of noise, the R5II noise is a lot better than the R5 in shutter. So effectively for sport photographers the noise performance and DR in practical terms better in the R5II. I did keep an eye on photon to photos before receive the camera and the ISO performance is more or less what I expected to be. All in all I wish it was closer to the A1 since the R5ii is a much newer product, and the R3 is so good. But it is good enough for me, especially thanks to the new noise AI processing.

[@martincutter3429]

Could the focus issues you have experienced during precapture, be attributed to the 200-800 lens? It is, after all, a non L lens, so may not be quick enough. Are you able to try this scenario with an RF600 F4 or even the RF100-500 and see if it can be repeated.

[@geoffn8963]

In the swallow example the camera is reporting 700mm at f/5.6 so he was using the EF500II and 1.4TCIII. Still that could be part of the problem. He mentions Jan had the issue also and Jan is usually using the RF600 or 100-500.

[@martincutter3429]

@r2hildur The motors driving the lens also come into play. That's why the 1 series cameras had quicker focusing due to the larger battery being able to drive the lens motors quicker. In an L series lens this can be observed. Be an interesting test if Duade can get an R1, when available, and try the 2to8 on that.

[@ammadoux]

thanks Duade for the lovely shots in this video. Did you make the firmware update on your OM1, if so can you tell us what you think. i have noticed that if the bird is on perch and one is using CAF and bird detect, it better to put the AF sensitivity on -1 to prevent losing the focus in some shots. BIF is definitely much much better at CAf and GH2, did not use the CAF with tracking.

[@VinceNysse]

Great Video as always. I don't think the crashing thing will ever be resolved as I have the same issue with my original canon R5, albeit when used with the battery grip. I have to remove batteries, re-insert and all is good. Very frustrating.

[@blisteringbooks2428]

Thank you, on a pension I shouldn't even be considering an upgrade. Still the precapture is tempting, there is no way you can get small bird that uses rocket assisted take off. Only if the focus is iffy I may be able to resist spending money. I use the 200-800, only in the UK the light is usually rubbish, the AF is seriously lacking in flat lighting. Love the cockatoos at sunrise.

[@chiliverde66]

Yesterday I was photographing a roller derby tournament and by the end of the day I had just under 4,000 photos. I had the ‘’brick’ happen to me 4 times throughout the day to where I had to remove the battery for a few seconds and put it back in to continue photographing. I didn’t have any heat warnings and at various amounts of battery charge. I also have the battery pack and 2 of the Canon batteries. Hopefully that issue gets resolved soon.

[@Duade]

Sorry to hear that, it appears to be a serious issue impacting a lot of people. Cheers, Duade

[@sdhweb]

So glad I went with R5 when I recently upgraded. For half the price of a Mark II as well 😊

[@Ultrarmx]

I’m staying with my current R5. If anything I’ll pick up R6II for backup

[@Uninfluenceable]

@@Ultrarmx R6II is a wonderful upgrade to the OG R6, in regards to autofocus, but the new R5II absolutely blows even that out of the water. The DR hit is negligible compared to the massive AF and user comfort upgrades of the R5II

[@Duade]

Thanks, I think its great we have both options tbh, both cameras are very good and we are free to chose which one bests suits our needs and budget. Cheers, Duade

[@sdhweb]

@@Duade Absolutely. I am not professional so R5 makes more sense to me. If I was pro, R5 Mk II would probably be better.

[@christoskelaiditis653]

Thank you Mr Paton. Do you see Cannon fixing the noise issue on R5mkii, or would it have to be a later model?

[@tirthankarchakraborty2276]

Thanks for the impartial review. Though we are embracing new technology and I am sure future will be for electronic shutter only but looking at the dynamic range in the most cameras with electronic shutter, I felt really bad. Technology progression shouldn't come with a reduced picture quality. I am a Nikon user and mostly use d850 and z8. The only advantage of z8 is the better autofocus and higher shutter speed. The d850 picture quality is better on any day. Not considering the video features. Z8 is a leap ahead there. This leads to another question, most of the mirrorless cameras are much costlier than best dslrs and I think it is mostly contributed by making them all rounders in both picture and video shooting.

[@ScottBasu]

Hi Duade, and everyone else that has their R5 mk2, can you try testing the dynamic range at slower shutter frame rates? I would wonder if reading out the sensor more slowly might yield less noise. And, also, how about the high ISO noise reduction?.. which setting are you using (if any) when you look at dynamic range? I know that Jan advocates not using in-camera noise reduction, but I wonder if maybe the R5 mk2 needs it.

[@timdeen2911]

I am not a Canon shooter but the video was still useful to me. I use Sony and am eagerly awaiting the A7V. I made an important mental note that it is not a given that the ISO peformance will be better when an upgrade happens. Something to keep an eye on. It does hepl that Sony cameras tend to have good ISO peformance based on the charts you showed. Cheers.

[@Infernosaint]

I wonder why there is an even bigger difference between EFCS and ES on the R5II, when it does full 14 bit, and the R5 does not, but still has less difference between shutter modes. Especially since many of the features of the R5II would lead you to never leave ES

[@Duade]

Very interesting point indeed, I have no idea why this is the case. Cheers, Duade

[@haydennettleton3272]

Nice review Duade. Unfortunately it seems there is some sort of limitation with Stacked Sensors when it comes to DR and high ISO Noise. Its not just a Canon issue. Nikon Z8,Z9 and the partly stacked Z6iii all have More noise and less DR than their Non stacked predecessors.

[@brianmckeever5280]

As for the whispering birds: "How about we go somewhere a human isn't stalking us?" Terrific images sir!

[@Duade]

Lol made me laugh, that is exactly whay they were saying. Cheers, Duade

[@rdallen9211]

Thanks for the in-depth information. Absolutely love your insight. With regard to camera crashing, knock on wood, it only happened the one time. I'll be sure to let you know if it happens again. One question (curious), how are you processing your raw images without updates from DXO and/or ADOBE? Would love to see how you, and others are "coping". Caption for the Cockatoos = "Did you hear the news?"