Photograph NOT taken with a Canon R6.I watched with great interest as Canon rolled out their first two "real" "authentic" "desirable" mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras this week. And I have to say, right off the bat, that I am very impressed. Canon basically followed the time tested Apple strategy of letting all the other players in the market experiment and roll out iterations of haphazardly engineered cameras to see what kinds of tech resonated with customers and what stuff was irrelevant. Now they are marching into the market fully equipped to lay waste to Nikon and to scare the crap out of the Sony camera division.
Yesterday Canon announced the details of two new mirrorless cameras; the R6 and the R5. These are the new face of Canon's mirror-free offerings for advanced amateurs and professionals, and the list of features, and the plethora of technical advances, will make these two cameras lightning rods for people who are looking to upgrade from Canon (and Nikon, etc.) DSLRs and into the mirrorless space.
I'll be the first to admit that I didn't see this level of product introduction coming. But I am impressed. Were I to come to the camera market bereft of inventory but amply funded I think I'd be pre-ordering every RF lens (the good ones) in sight as well as pre-ordering one of each camera body.
Lots of people seem interested in the R5 which is the more advanced and exotically featured of the two cameras. It boasts a newly designed and Canon produced 45 megapixel sensor, an amazing laundry list of industry leading video capabilities (including 8K raw video), has best in class in body image stabilization and focuses with the intensity of an alien tractor beam from a Star Trek episode. Get this:
Animal eye focus that can focus on a bird's eye......while in flight. The R5 is the camera that might appeal most to video production companies that want the highest level of video capability they can get their hands on without cresting the $5,000 price barrier. And it will be the Canon camera of choice for studio photographers and landscape enthusiasts but I conjecture that it's the R6 that will lead the way for Canon and become as popular as the Canon 5Dx series was for Canon in the traditional DSLR segment. And here's why:
It's got nearly everything 95% of photographers want and need and it's nearly half the price of its catalog mate.
So, let's concentrate on the R6 for a bit as that's the camera I'd be in the market for if I was looking to upgrade or change systems in the next few months.
The R6 uses the same 20 megapixel, full frame sensor as their super/flagship/Sports/heavyweight 1DXmk3 camera. It's a well regarded sensor that's got great high ISO performance, fast readout and good dynamic range. The camera is one of three full frame cameras right now that can provide 60p full frame 4K video, and can do so at 10 bits. Canon has also stepped up and offered the HEIF format as an option in addition to Jpeg. The HEIF files can be compressed to be smaller than 8 bit Jpegs but are capable of 10 bit color capture. This should deliver much richer and more refined color capability for former Jpeg shooters and is on track to be the new non-RAW file standard going forward.
One of the things that will get a lot of press in the next few months as film makers and photographers work with the R6 will be the in body image stabilization provided by the new Canon cameras. When coupled with certain Canon lenses that are also stabilized the system is supposed to provide up to 8.5 stops of stabilization. If it works as intended then, to my mind, Canon will have rendered most of the market for gimbals and stabilizers redundant and obsolete. Why spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for heavy add-on gadgets if the camera and lens already in your bag can offer identical or better performance?
8.5 stops of stabilization will be game changing for film makers. For photographers it's probably the difference between having to carry a tripod around for certain kinds of shots and just leaving the three legged anchors at home.
While they took their sweet time getting to this point Canon seems to have stacked the deck just right. They have color reproduction that most people find pleasing and which Canon fans find irreplaceable.
They have effectively gone toe-to-toe with Panasonic for video supremacy (Sorry Sony, great specs but crappy actual files) while trumping the D-F-D AF with dual pixel AF that locks in like velcro. They've just replaced the older EOS lens mount with a much bigger and more all embracing lens mount and have effectively built the camera everyone's been waiting for --- even down to the swiveling rear screen for the legion of V-loggers who've been howling for that feature with each new camera introduction.
I've looked over the camera specs and read many of the better "hands on, first impression reviews" (Gordon at Cameralabs seems to do the best job on this release) and the only glitch I can find, the only thing I'd change, is the HDMI connector. It's a micro-HDMI. Should be at least a mini. But since the camera writes really great 4K video files to internal SD cards (yes, there are two UHS-2 slots) perhaps the rationalization was that few people would need to splash out for external digital recorders so why bother?
The logical entry into this system is not the R5 but is the R6. I'd bundle the camera body with the higher quality RF 24-105mm f4.0 lens and in one stroke have both a highly functional photography machine and very capable 4K video camera. All for an outlay of around $3500. Spend another couple hundred $$$ on a stash of new Canon batteries and you'd be ready to handle so many different kinds of work. There's an allure here that's going to be especially powerful to people who are currently using Canon's older APS-C and traditional DSLR users.
Canon has pulled out a big spotlight to show the path forward for both Nikon and Sony. Nikon needs to get their dual card slot stuff in gear, jazz up their AF, size their bodies correctly and ramp up their video offerings by installing faster processing. Sony....well....they've got a lot of work ahead of them just in haptics and handling. Then they can work on getting 10 bit 4:2:2, 4K video files in their cameras. Even if they could just offer it in one.... And then work on the weather sealing. Oh, and the ruggedness and reliability of their offerings. And while we're at it maybe they could field just one camera that doesn't overheat when used in 4K in Texas between April and October.
So, in an honest appraisal, if I compare Canon and Panasonic's S1 series side by side would I still opt for the Panasonics? While the S1s might be more rugged, and their expensive lenses a bit better, if I were standing in front of the counter at the camera store having just lost all of my gear in a tragic, flaming meteor strike, I'd probably come down on the side of the Canons. With their overwhelming market share of serious cameras I would know that they'll more quickly roll out more lenses that cover more needs more often. I'd know that the cameras and accessories would be more widely available. There would be no difference in overall cost of ownership. And, who doesn't want 8.5 stops of image stabilization? Handheld camera for short movies, here we come.
Am I rushing to pre-order? Not this year. I've at least got the S1s figured out for the time being. All the lenses I have for the system are great. The results are fantastic. But I have to admit, Canon just impressed the hell out of me for the first time in a while. I'm paying attention and I'm betting photographers AND film makers all over the world are watching closely.
The one thing I remember from owning a Canon 5Dmk2, a 7D and a couple of different 1D variants is just how perfect they felt in my hands. That's the part that some of their competitors miss. And it's almost as important as the imaging capabilities.
But in a year with NO business spending money on a gigantic system overhaul makes about as much sense as lighting $100 bills on fire to get your BBQ charcoal lit. As to the R5? I'll start to think about that around the first time a client even mentions 8K video..... And I think that will be a while...
Just thought we'd talk new cameras this morning. Now I'm out making sure all the trees get deep watered today; we're supposed to have a week long heat wave. Water+Trees = Good.
My final advice: Keep your eyes on the R6. Read the reviews. When that big multi-media assignment hits your calendar pounce like a house cat on a dropped piece of tuna. And get to work.
Added after consultation with a video savant: Seems there are a number of reports already of the R5 overheating while filming in 4K and beyond. Seems that Panasonic still holds the pole position for video without overheating. Too bad. I had high hopes for the Canons... KT
