The Canon R5 & R6 tempt us to go mirrorless, but is it time?
Canon‘s launch last week of the new R5 and R6 cameras and some surprising new lenses is a shot across the bows of its competitors – and an unashamed grab for a much larger share of the mirrorless market.
The major DSLR manufacturers, Canon and Nikon, have seen a drift to rivals like Sony in the mirrorless space. Some of that has been about versatility and video offering, some has been about portability. Mirrorless cameras are smaller than their DSLR counterparts and significantly lighter.
We tested the EOS R for a recent review in The Australian and, with a two-lens travel kit added in, it weighed a kilo less than my current full frame DSLR body.
For DSLR users, the shift to mirrorless involves some complex decision making. DSLRs do some things really well, like AF tracking for sport or fast-moving wildlife, and replacing those capabilities with mirrorless alternatives involves compromise.
A scan of on-line reviews of mirrorless bodies suggests they‘re great for video, great for static images, less great for moving objects.
I‘ve spent some time recently considering the pros and cons of a high-end mirrorless rival camera from one of Canon’s rivals and I haven’t made the leap because it involves compromises that I’m not prepared to accept when replacing my DSLR.
The technology is improving though, and one day, hopefully soon, I’ll go mirrorless and keep my existing lens system. Replacing seven lenses is prohibitively expensive.
What Canon has done with their R5 and R6 announcement is to unveil products which, based on their specs, appear to be game changers: super fast AF, super fast drive systems, 8K video (on the R5), great ISO performance, extraordinary stabilisation, and some new lenses that hold the promise of excellent reach at an excellent price, and which will autofocus at f11 (and still deliver AF with teleconverters attached).
I’m not in a position to comment on the quality or otherwise of the new bodies and glass until I’ve trialled them, except to say that I’d be very surprised if they disappointed. I liked Canon’s EOS R and the R5 and R6 offer advances on that.
As Canon Australia‘s senior product manager Brendan Maher ran through his briefing on the new R5, R6 and lenses, the specs list filled in some missing features in what I’d been looking for in a mirrorless body. I expect it will do the same for not only non-Canon photographers, but for Canon DSLR users who’ve been watching from the sidelines as the brand’s mirrorless offerings continue to evolve.
The lens offerings will also be popular: the new 100-500mm L series provides added reach for users of Canon‘s 100-400, and the 600mm and 800mm f11 fixed aperture lenses – with 1.4x and 2x extenders – are likely to have users of Nikon’s similarly-priced 200-500 looking in with interest.
Canon released their new offerings under the slogan ‘Game on’ – and the unique product range they’ve launched suggests they’re playing to win.
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