Canon unveils EOS R5 & R6 in camera double play

Canon has unveiled two new feature-packed mirrorless cameras.

Canon EOS R5.

CANON has unveiled not one but two feature-packed mirrorless cameras at the launch of its long-awaited EOS R5. The launch was blindsided with the announcement of an EOS R6 and new RF lenses including two value-packed monsters which may turn the super-telephoto world upside down.

After lengthy speculation about what the new R5 would offer, Canon released its specs (in case you‘re one of the many who’ve been wondering about resolution it’s 45 megapixels) as well as those for its 20.1 megapixel R6 sibling. They are two mirrorless full-frame heavy-hitters which offer a serious feature set.

Both offer stunning lowlight performance. The R6 will focus at minus 6.5 ev and the R5 at minus 6. That’s focus-in-the-dark territory.

Canon EOS R5 1 top

The R5’s ISO range is 100 to 51,200 and the R6 offers up to 102,400 ISO. In another surprise, Canon has revealed the cameras can even focus using lenses with maximum apertures of f11 or narrower. That’s well beyond the current f8 limit of many cameras.

It will even allow AF on those lenses when adding new 1.4x and 2x teleconverters. Canon says the cameras boast the world’s fastest AF focusing speed of 0.05 seconds.

The AF system can keep pace with high shutter speeds: 12 frames per second is possible using the mechanical shutter while retaining AF and auto exposure, and users can reach 20 frames per second using the electronic shutter again, with full AF and AE. There‘s also face detect and eye detect, for humans, cats, dogs and birds!

There‘s 5-axis in-body stabilisation which works in tandem with certain lenses to deliver up to a crazy eight stops of vibration reduction. Amazingly, one second hand-held exposures are said to be possible.

Canon EOS R6

Video features of the R5 include the ability to harvest 35 megapixel still images, no-crop 8k and 4K with dual-pixel AF, 8K oversampling for 4K video, and even 4k 120p for quarter speed slow motion. The 8k video offers four times the resolution of 4k. The R6 offers non-cropped 4K video up to 60p and full HD at up to 120p.

There‘s also Canon’s image compression system called HEIF which brings out more shadow detail and controlled highlights than jpg files of a similar size, and the ability to automatically upload and store 4k video or images in the cloud for up to 30 days at no charge: a handy feature for travellers.

The R5 has built-in 5Ghz Wi-Fi and the R6 built-in 2.4Ghz, with both cameras able to automatically upload to the cloud from known Wi-Fi networks.

The quirky touch bar on the EOS R has been replaced with a more conventional joystick system familiar to Canon 5D users.

800mm f11 lens with hood

The new cameras were unveiled with some surprising new lenses – 600mm and 800mm f11 primes which are said to be lightweight and compatible with Canon‘s new teleconverters. They are likely to shake up the super-tele market if, as expected, they’re available for photographers shopping on a $2,000 budget, rather than $20,000.

Both lenses are fixed aperture – maximum and minimum is f11, with minimum focusing distance on the 600mm 4.5m and 6m on the 800mm.

The 600mm and 800mm lenses (and converters) are likely to be popular with birders and, price-wise, will appeal to keen photographers heading off on safari (when that‘s eventually possible) or whale watching expeditions. For those who just want to photograph the moon – add the 2x converter to the 800mm and you’ll have 1600mm of focal length.

Both super-teles will also be of interest to many photographers who currently trawl through e-Bay looking for used long lenses because new ones are too expensive. And these will have the benefit of Canon Australia’s 5 year warranty.

The BG-R10 battery grip suits both models

Also unveiled was a new RF 85mm f2 lens and an L Series professional 100-500mm lens which adds useful reach to Canon‘s popular 100-400mm. Our favourite recent Canon lens is the RF 70-200 f2.8, something we’d love to see on the R5, but the addition of the new super-teles was a left-field surprise.

Canon also unveiled a battery grip for both models (the BG-R10) as well as a high-speed wireless transmitter, the WFT-R10, and a new battery with 30pc longer life, the LP-E6NH.

The R5 will be in stores later this month and the R6 about a month after that with pre-orders now available. Pricing has yet to be revealed but as a guide the R5 will sit between the 5D Mark IV and the 1DX Mark III.