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My new (used) R5 - first impressions

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Basil Fawlty
Basil Fawlty Regular Member • Posts: 237
My new (used) R5 - first impressions
1

My R5 with RF 24-105L lens arrived today and, while I haven't had much time to play with it, I'd like to share my initial impressions. A lot of my observations are comparing to my 5D Mark IV.

First, I was struck by how much lighter the R5 is and how much smaller it feels in my hand. I have average-sized hands and the R5 doesn't feel as natural in my hand. When I have my three fingers completely on the grip, my forefinger and thumb don't feel like they fall as naturally on the shutter and back buttons as they do when I'm holding my 5D4. While I appreciate the reduced weight, the grip doesn't "feel" right to me. I feel like I have to adjust my lower three fingers a little up off the grip to get my forefinger and thumb to sit where they need to be. I'll probably get used to it eventually, but it was a noticeable difference.

Second, I know it's just a matter of time before I get used to the button layout, but one thing I really like about my 5D4 are those three "dual purpose" buttons just forward of the LCD screen that let you quickly change WB/metering - DRIVE/AF Exp - Comp/ ISO.  Just so convenient.  I'm sure I'll get the hang of the adjustments for all these functions on the R5, but those 3 dual-purpose buttons are just so intuitive and it's easy to adjust all those settings.

Third, I appreciate that the menu system on the R5 is very similar to the 5D4 with many adjustments a features in pretty much the same place. This will make the learning curve much shorter I'm sure.

Forth, I took a series of sample shots with my EF 135 and changed the Aperture from 2.0, 2.8, 4.0, 5.6 and finally 8.0. The images were just of a model plane in so-so indoor lighting. I took the exact same series, from the same location, with the 5D4 and the same lens.  Because of the poor lighting I set the ISO to 3200.  Obviously the R5 images were slightly larger in Lightroom due to more resolution, but, as expected, the R5 noise was just ever so slightly worse than my 5D4.  Not bad, but definitely look like more noise in the R5 images.

Fifth, I was impressed with the quality of the EVF.  I was a little concerned about that given that I'm used to the OVF on the 5D4, but my concerns were quickly put to rest when I started actually shooting with it. I had to remind myself this isn't an OVF.

I'm really anxious to get this thing out and try many of my EF lenses and just run it through the paces.  It did come with the RF 24-105 which  so far seems like a fantastic lens.

 Basil Fawlty's gear list:Basil Fawlty's gear list
Panasonic LX100 Canon EOS 5D Mark IV Canon EOS R5 Canon EF 50mm F1.4 USM Canon EF 135mm F2L USM +8 more
Canon EOS R5
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