Canon EOS R Series Cameras

(y) red menu 7 on the R5.

I had to check, as for a horrible minute I thought I was mixing up the Olympus and Canon options :ROFLMAO: It's one of those things you set up when you get the camera and then forget about.

Thanks. I'm not sure what I was seeing yesterday. I put the 24-105L on which gave me max speed and it was fine. Then returned to the adapted 70-300mm and it still worked. One setting that did appear to improve things a bit more was "Display Performance -> Smooth".
 
Thanks. I'm not sure what I was seeing yesterday. I put the 24-105L on which gave me max speed and it was fine. Then returned to the adapted 70-300mm and it still worked. One setting that did appear to improve things a bit more was "Display Performance -> Smooth".
Is that the original version of the Canon 70-300mm IS? I had two copies of that lens and they were both very slow to focus. They have the older Ultra Sonic Motor.
I now have the Tamron 70-300 VC and find it's faster to focus and better image quality and works very well adapted on my RP.
I have turned off image review to improve the burst rate and you don't need to 'chimp' as much when your screen and view finder are giving you an accurate representation of your exposure.

Regarding your earlier comment about low light performance vs the 40D. That sensor is very old tech and was never great over iso 1600. Just moving to full frame gives huge advantages in light gathering capabilities and having a newer sensor also means less noise at high iso.

I did the Canon Test Drive last summer and that lead me to buy an RP a month ago.
I am having difficulty tracking down a 24-105L for a decent price, stock availability problems it seems.
 
Is that the original version of the Canon 70-300mm IS? I had two copies of that lens and they were both very slow to focus. They have the older Ultra Sonic Motor.
I now have the Tamron 70-300 VC and find it's faster to focus and better image quality and works very well adapted on my RP.
I have turned off image review to improve the burst rate and you don't need to 'chimp' as much when your screen and view finder are giving you an accurate representation of your exposure.

Regarding your earlier comment about low light performance vs the 40D. That sensor is very old tech and was never great over iso 1600. Just moving to full frame gives huge advantages in light gathering capabilities and having a newer sensor also means less noise at high iso.

I did the Canon Test Drive last summer and that lead me to buy an RP a month ago.
I am having difficulty tracking down a 24-105L for a decent price, stock availability problems it seems.

It is definitely much slower than the native L glass and the IS in the lens is incredibly noisy as well. Ultimately I bought it off a colleague for not very much and is probably the lens I will use least. Rumour is there's an RF 100-400 non-L coming so even if I choose not to adapt my 70-300mm when I most likely take the plunge on the R6 I will probably wait for that to come out.

Yeah I knew it wouldn't be a contest between the two on the low light front, but I still keep smiling when I pull in a photo and bump up the shadows to find so much detail in there!

Have you considered going grey? HDEW and Panamoz appear to have it in stock. It is definitely a very impressive piece of engineering. What do you currently use on your RP?
 
The 600mm RF arrived yesterday - only a few quick pictures taken during a brief walk around the block but.. WOW. How the hell is this F11.. to say I’m impressed is an understanding, best bang for buck ever. Pictures to follow..
 
Question for anyone who uses the eye AF on R6 / R5 for posed portraits etc. (As I’m an eye AF newbie :) )

A friend of mine has kindly allowed me to take a few photos of them out on their farmland at some point.
Something that will also help me get used to the layout of the 5 a bit better (seems as I’m not using it as frequently as I’d like at the moment!)

The majority of portraits I would take are usually candid / spur of the moment street shots (Which I’d obviously be using servo)

But my question is. Do you all frequently use servo with eye AF, even when shooting posed? Or would you use one shot in this situation?

As previously mentioned. It’s only a quick shoot with them to help me out and getting used to the new camera layout as such.
But I’d also like to get some ‘usuable’ shots as well :D

Thanks in advance for any insight.
 
But my question is. Do you all frequently use servo with eye AF, even when shooting posed? Or would you use one shot in this situation?
- Although my shots are mainly of wildlife, I remain permanently in Servo for all my static and moving shots. I see no reason to use One Shot at all, because even a posed person/ animal can move slightly.

Russ
 
- Although my shots are mainly of wildlife, I remain permanently in Servo for all my static and moving shots. I see no reason to use One Shot at all, because even a posed person/ animal can move slightly.

Russ

Thanks very much for the reply.

I’ll stick with the servo mode then, and see how I get on from there.

Looks like I may have a few habits to get out of from when I used my 5DIV for portraits last :)
 
It is definitely much slower than the native L glass and the IS in the lens is incredibly noisy as well. Ultimately I bought it off a colleague for not very much and is probably the lens I will use least. Rumour is there's an RF 100-400 non-L coming so even if I choose not to adapt my 70-300mm when I most likely take the plunge on the R6 I will probably wait for that to come out.

Yeah I knew it wouldn't be a contest between the two on the low light front, but I still keep smiling when I pull in a photo and bump up the shadows to find so much detail in there!

Have you considered going grey? HDEW and Panamoz appear to have it in stock. It is definitely a very impressive piece of engineering. What do you currently use on your RP?
I found a huge jump in low light performance when I moved from my 60D to 6D, but that was one of the reasons I made the move.
I currently use my EF 24-105 f4 L on an Viltrox adapter (again low stock of the Canon adapter) and it performs fine but I'd like to move to the native version so that I can eliminate the adapter (which affects size, weight and weather sealing).
I have looked at HDEW (I've bought from them before) and Panamoz, but I don't really have the spare money at the moment for a £900 lens.
I did already sell my EF 50mm f1.4 to buy the RF 50mm f1.8, which was definitely worthwhile doing.


Question for anyone who uses the eye AF on R6 / R5 for posed portraits etc. (As I’m an eye AF newbie :) )

The majority of portraits I would take are usually candid / spur of the moment street shots (Which I’d obviously be using servo)

But my question is. Do you all frequently use servo with eye AF, even when shooting posed? Or would you use one shot in this situation?

As previously mentioned. It’s only a quick shoot with them to help me out and getting used to the new camera layout as such.
But I’d also like to get some ‘usuable’ shots as well :D

I'm on an RP and I always have it on Servo AF (with back button focus), then just turn on eye-AF when needed.
I switched to the back button focus/servo combo a few years ago with my DSLR because it just makes more sense when you are switching between shooting scenarios.
Shooting landscapes and long exposures, you setup your shot, press focus, take the shot. You don't need to half-press to focus then switch off AF before pressing the shutter and then switch back after.
Then you can just pickup the camera and point it at a family member for a candid portrait and no need to change focus mode.
(Admittedly you can have that set up in a couple of custom modes if you wanted).
 
Question for anyone who uses the eye AF on R6 / R5 for posed portraits etc. (As I’m an eye AF newbie :) )

A friend of mine has kindly allowed me to take a few photos of them out on their farmland at some point.
Something that will also help me get used to the layout of the 5 a bit better (seems as I’m not using it as frequently as I’d like at the moment!)

The majority of portraits I would take are usually candid / spur of the moment street shots (Which I’d obviously be using servo)

But my question is. Do you all frequently use servo with eye AF, even when shooting posed? Or would you use one shot in this situation?

As previously mentioned. It’s only a quick shoot with them to help me out and getting used to the new camera layout as such.
But I’d also like to get some ‘usuable’ shots as well :D

Thanks in advance for any insight.
I also remain in servo but I don't usually do portraits. I would have thought that the eye AF would work very well in this scenario. I have had to get used to it after using a 5Div before.

If you set up the double back button focusing (where one button does the usual AF and the other does eye AF), with a quick movement of your thumb you can swap from one to the other without having to change any settings.

I have just changed my back 3 buttons again yesterday - trying a new experiment! One selects the AF spot/shape, one is servo AF and the other is eye AF. This is what they were before, but I have changed which does which - could test my muscle memory for a while :)
 
I also remain in servo but I don't usually do portraits. I would have thought that the eye AF would work very well in this scenario. I have had to get used to it after using a 5Div before.

If you set up the double back button focusing (where one button does the usual AF and the other does eye AF), with a quick movement of your thumb you can swap from one to the other without having to change any settings.

I have just changed my back 3 buttons again yesterday - trying a new experiment! One selects the AF spot/shape, one is servo AF and the other is eye AF. This is what they were before, but I have changed which does which - could test my muscle memory for a while :)

Yeah me too, I came from a 5D IV to the R cameras.

As I said previously, I don’t (unfortunately) very often get to do portraits either.
So I haven’t really changed the majority of the rear buttons from their default settings (which I’m used to using)

I did try the back button focusing (and shutter button for metering only) for a short while when I had my 5D.
But changed it back again, due to not shooting (at the time) much in the way of anything moving.

I may give it another go though, seems as the majority of you think servo suits most scenarios with these R bodies.

Edit:

Also forgot to add. Until I got this R5, I had an 80D alongside my 5D. Which was what I used for 90% of the time for nature / zoo visits and motorsport stuff.

With this now being the only body I have, I’ll clearly need to change a few button to suit...
 
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Yeah me too, I came from a 5D IV to the R cameras.

As I said previously, I don’t (unfortunately) very often get to do portraits either.
So I haven’t really changed the majority of the rear buttons from their default settings (which I’m used to using)

I did try the back button focusing (and shutter button for metering only) for a short while when I had my 5D.
But changed it back again, due to not shooting (at the time) much in the way of anything moving.

I may give it another go though, seems as the majority of you think servo suits most scenarios with these R bodies.

Edit:

Also forgot to add. Until I got this R5, I had an 80D alongside my 5D. Which was what I used for 90% of the time for nature / zoo visits and motorsport stuff.

With this now being the only body I have, I’ll clearly need to change a few button to suit...

The first time I tried back button focusing I didn’t really get on with it. A year or two later I tried it again and have stuck with it ever since. It works well for situations where you might want to focus and then recompose too, not just moving things. (You just leave it on servo).

You can’t focus and recompose with servo if you use front button focusing.

The eye AF will probably work well on the farm (might need to switch between animal and people). If you need to switch off eye AF, then I think it’s fairly easy with the MFn button, just not as immediate as moving your thumb across.

Edit: setting up some of the options in your favourites menu might save you digging into menus on the day. I’ve got the customise buttons and dials in my favourites menu.
 
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The first time I tried back button focusing I didn’t really get on with it. A year or two later I tried it again and have stuck with it ever since. It works well for situations where you might want to focus and then recompose too, not just moving things. (You just leave it on servo).

You can’t focus and recompose with servo if you use front button focusing.

The eye AF will probably work well on the farm (might need to switch between animal and people). If you need to switch off eye AF, then I think it’s fairly easy with the MFn button, just not as immediate as moving your thumb across.

Edit: setting up some of the options in your favourites menu might save you digging into menus on the day. I’ve got the customise buttons and dials in my favourites menu.

Thanks very much.

I’ll have a play around with the custom settings of the buttons and dials again. Just to see how your setups mentioned previous post fare.

Doubt I’ll need anything other than the people setting though. When I say “farm” - we’re only using it for the sake of a quiet, open and fresh air location to stay (relatively) distant from each other.

It has only dawned on me that I did have 2 previous cameras set up differently before this one (one of the problems of not currently getting out and using it enough! :D )

So I’m obviously gonna need to rethink the layout to what will suit me best overall.

It’s surprising (even as customisable as they are) how much you miss the multi function of each button like the 5 series has when it comes to situations like this... :)
 
I went for a walk into Liverpool last night, the River of Light Trail starts on Tuesday and some of the lights / artwork is there now so thought I'd go down and take a look.

Rainbow Bridge
30.5-metre-long, 9-metre-high rainbow made up of more than 25,000 programmable LEDs which will show changing visuals and messages. Presented in partnership with National Museums Liverpool, it will be located in Canning Dock Quayside.

View: https://flic.kr/p/2kN25Qa


This was really hard to photograph, because I wanted to expose correctly for the Rainbow Bridge, which was extremely bright, but also not reduce the background to just shadows. I could have done better I think but overall I'm happy(ish) with the end result.

Absorbed by Light
You'll find three installations as part of Absorbed by Light sitting on benches on Liverpool's Waterfront. The artwork focuses on how our phones and computer screens, literally and figuratively, light up our lives and are irresistible.

View: https://flic.kr/p/2kN25Bp


The rest of the album is on flickr
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmUYzX1a
 
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Contacted by the Liverpool Echo (local paper) again today. I wonder if they watch the Flickr accounts of photographers they've previously printed an image from.

Within half an hour of being posted they were back in touch.

This image will be printed on 9th April
5W9A9523-HDR.jpg

and this one will be printed on 15th April
2021-03-14 10.52.14.jpg

So April won't be a bad month, photographs printed on 1st, 2nd, 9th and 15th.
 
So off the back of my trial this weekend I've just gone and ordered myself the R6 with the 24-105 F4L, 50mm F1.8 and a spare battery from Panamoz. Any recommendations for SD cards? I am thinking of going for a v60 rather than the very fastest as it doesn't look like I would lose out on any functionality but be able to have 2, larger cards for the same price.
 
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So off the back of my trial this weekend I've just gone and ordered myself the R6 with the 24-105 F4L, 50mm F1.8 and a spare battery from Panamoz. Any recommendations for SD cards? I am thinking of going for a v60 rather than the very fastest as it doesn't look like I would lose out on any functionality but be able to have 2, larger cards for the same price.
I hope you didn't order the RF 50 f1.8 from Panamoz, they have it for £350 for some reason but the UK price from Wex is £219. If you want to save a little more, HDEW have it for £199.
 
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I hope you didn't order the RF 50 f1.8 from Panamoz, they have it for £350 for some reason but the UK price from Wex is £219. If you want to save a little more, HDEW have it for £199.
Ah yes indeed. I have no idea where they got that price from. They only just put it on their website last week. However I was in touch with them before it went live and they offered it to me at £190, they just gave me a discount code to make up the difference (having initially said they would apply a refund which I wasn't too sure about). I also got the multi buy discount on top so ultimately the 50mm cost me £155 so a bit of a steal!

Ultimately too early to say yet but their customer service does appear to be living up to its reputation.
 
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The new Sony lenses, including a 50mm f2.8 for £629 make the Canon 50 look a bargain even at WEX's full price.
 
The new Sony lenses, including a 50mm f2.8 for £629 make the Canon 50 look a bargain even at WEX's full price.

It is a macro lens with half the focusing distance of the 50mm F1.8 though and they do have a E Mount 50mm Lens that is about £150...
 
It is a macro lens with half the focusing distance of the 50mm F1.8 though and they do have a E Mount 50mm Lens that is about £150...
Ah yes the plastic-fantastic Sony 50/1.8 - double the size of the Canon and half the AF speed. It's one reason I gave up on Sony and came back to Canon ;)
 
Ah yes the plastic-fantastic Sony 50/1.8 - double the size of the Canon and half the AF speed. It's one reason I gave up on Sony and came back to Canon ;)
At least you've reassured me of my reasons for wanting to stick with Canon. There may not be that many of them yet but there doesn't really appear to be a bad RF lens (although I've only used one and I'm sure someone somewhere disagrees).
 
Having just ordered an R5 I am wondering what CF Express cards the R5 users are using here, mainly for nature photography with a bit of occasional video thrown in? They certainly don’t seem to come cheap so any advice would be appreciated, cheers.
 
Having just ordered an R5 I am wondering what CF Express cards the R5 users are using here, mainly for nature photography with a bit of occasional video thrown in? They certainly don’t seem to come cheap so any advice would be appreciated, cheers.
I've only just bought a 128GB Lexar one from Wex because it had a free reader with it, and I think it was discounted too. It took me months to work up to buying one :ROFLMAO:

I had trouble with a Lexar SD card. I contacted Lexar and their customer service was exceptionally good, so it has given me confidence in buying their products once more. They give a lifetime warranty on them I think. It was also cheaper than the Sandisk ones.

Edit: I should add that I don't do a lot of videoing though I have done a little recently.
 
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I've only just bought a 128GB Lexar one from Wex because it had a free reader with it, and I think it was discounted too. It took me months to work up to buying one :ROFLMAO:

I had trouble with a Lexar SD card. I contacted Lexar and their customer service was exceptionally good, so it has given me confidence in buying their products once more. They give a lifetime warranty on them I think. It was also cheaper than the Sandisk ones.

Edit: I should add that I don't do a lot of videoing though I have done a little recently.

Thanks for your reply Bebop, I think I will get the 128GB too, the price jumps up considerably for a 300+ Cheers.
 
Digging around some older pics earlier as there's pretty much bog all I can do around here that's fresh and I haven't done to death over the last 12 months. Reminded that the 'basic' R is a really nice camera from which you can pull out some very tight crops (as long as you're not needing top of the line tracking AF!)


Mystery.jpg
 
For those of you who have the R5 how have you find Lightroom in terms of performance?

I've noticed a real slowdown, despite using 2 decent specced machines:

2017 5K Retina 27 inch iMac - quad core i7 with 40GB RAM
2019 16 inch MacBook Pro - quad core I9 with 64GB RAM

I've been doing some tests and have found that uninstalling all of the Creative Cloud Apps (just leaving the actual apps installed, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and Premiere Pro), that performance has picked up considerably.

I also did some export tests using CRAW and RAW files. I found CRAW consistently exports at 33% quicker, despite me not being able to see any difference in image quality or dynamic range, now I'm sure there will be but I can't see it with my eyes.
 
For those of you who have the R5 how have you find Lightroom in terms of performance?

I also did some export tests using CRAW and RAW files. I found CRAW consistently exports at 33% quicker, despite me not being able to see any difference in image quality or dynamic range, now I'm sure there will be but I can't see it with my eyes.
So far I have only used CRAW. Am I missing something? I really ought to try out RAW I suppose. It is something I meant to look into. Do you usually use RAW?

I have moved away from Lightroom and now use DxO Photolab as my main editor. That is quite slow, but I use Photo Mechanic to quickly rate and cull my images and then to browse prior to editing.
 
So far I have only used CRAW. Am I missing something? I really ought to try out RAW I suppose. It is something I meant to look into. Do you usually use RAW?

I have moved away from Lightroom and now use DxO Photolab as my main editor. That is quite slow, but I use Photo Mechanic to quickly rate and cull my images and then to browse prior to editing.
According to Canon, CRAW (or compressed RAW) uses a lossy-compression algorithm so some data is binned off to reduce file size, however I've been unable to find any noticeable difference at the moment.

RAW - my files sizes generally tend to be up to 60MB
Screenshot 2021-03-25 at 17.17.07.png

and when I switch to CRAW the files sizes are considerably smaller.
Screenshot 2021-03-25 at 17.19.21.png

So I know something has to be compromised but I can't see any difference.
 
For those of you who have the R5 how have you find Lightroom in terms of performance?
Paul, I use Lightroom CC on a new Windows desktop PC. I moved from a 10 year old PC earlier this year and find that LR now really flies. My new PC spec is nothing special (Intel i5 6-core 106000; 32GB DDR4; 4TB hard disc and 2x SSDs).
I put the LR application itself onto the fast SSD (Samsung Evo Plus M.2), and the photos themselves go onto the HDD. From what I understand of LR, its the use of an SSD for the application that makes LR fly.
As with you, I use CRAW and I've not noticed any benefit in going to full RAW, only advantages; smaller file sizes; larger buffer capability etc.

Russ
 
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Still experimenting with the R5 + adapted Canon 400mm DO F4 ii lens for moon shots. This single frame taken on 24/03/21 with Canon x1.4 TC iii attached, and tripod mounted. Processed through Lightroom CC and Topaz DeNoise AI:

R5; 560mm; ISO 1250; F/5.6; 1/800s
1Z0A6612-Edit-Edit.jpg

Russ
 
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