R2D2
Veteran Member
Hi all.
I normally reserve final judgement on a piece of equipment until after I've gotten Very familiar with it, following lots of shooting and experience out in the field. However I just have to post these examples ASAP of where the Canon R5 Mark II has taken Eye Focus and Tracking to the next level for me. It's kind of like when they cut medical testing trials short due to overwhelmingly positive results! :-D
Now the Canon R5 Mark I had an early version of the DIGIC X autofocus firmware. Firmware updates over time improved AF and Tracking (thank goodness), but there were never any big advances over the years. It did in fact work very well for me, but there were a good number of work-arounds that I had to employ on a constant basis, the big one being the use of good old-fashioned Spot AF in many situations.
I'm now happy to report that this is one area where the R5 Mark II has really shown robust improvements. The Eye/ Subject Detection, Focus Acquisition, and Tracking have been knocking my socks off even in the short time that I've been using this body (and esp once I got the AF settings fairly optimized, after a somewhat rocky start ;-) ).
Take the example of the Wood Ducks below. The R5ii (+ RF 100-500 + RF 1.4x) immediately focused right on the near duck's eye and held it, completely ignoring the intervening branches, the background clutter, and the water reflections. Those of you who've been shooting previous bodies in these situations know that's been something of a rarity.
But this R5ii did it for 90 frames in a row as I took short bursts while the Woodies paddled around this spot. And every single frame was in perfect eye focus. Understand now why I just had to post?! :-D
These are all full size images to aid in evaluation. Click on "Original size"
Cardinal hopping around a tree. Same thing. Huge keeper rates.
The R5ii picked this Cedar Waxwing (out of these cedars ;-) ) with complete ease. If you look closely you can see the very blurred images of the intervening branches I shot through (left and right of the bird).
It knew the Bluejay's form. No problem with the cluttered background or the grasses. Shots like this are completely effortless.
Did you immediately see the Osprey in front of these trees? The R5 Mark II certainly did. And stayed locked on throughout the fly-by. Over 100 shots in all.
BIF shooting has been very satisfying. I use Whole Area AF and the camera finds my subject wherever it is located. Flying behind power wires or branches no problem, and in front of trees AF stickiness has been super. The R5ii does a much better job making sure that the subject stays in focus. I'm simply blown away. (my Tracking Sensitivity is set at -2, and my Accel/decel is set at 0). I'm not done tweaking settings yet, so I expect even more improvements!
Be sure to post your settings suggestions too. I'd love to hear feedback!
Happy shooting!
R2
--
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.
http://www.pbase.com/jekyll_and_hyde/galleries
I normally reserve final judgement on a piece of equipment until after I've gotten Very familiar with it, following lots of shooting and experience out in the field. However I just have to post these examples ASAP of where the Canon R5 Mark II has taken Eye Focus and Tracking to the next level for me. It's kind of like when they cut medical testing trials short due to overwhelmingly positive results! :-D
Now the Canon R5 Mark I had an early version of the DIGIC X autofocus firmware. Firmware updates over time improved AF and Tracking (thank goodness), but there were never any big advances over the years. It did in fact work very well for me, but there were a good number of work-arounds that I had to employ on a constant basis, the big one being the use of good old-fashioned Spot AF in many situations.
I'm now happy to report that this is one area where the R5 Mark II has really shown robust improvements. The Eye/ Subject Detection, Focus Acquisition, and Tracking have been knocking my socks off even in the short time that I've been using this body (and esp once I got the AF settings fairly optimized, after a somewhat rocky start ;-) ).
Take the example of the Wood Ducks below. The R5ii (+ RF 100-500 + RF 1.4x) immediately focused right on the near duck's eye and held it, completely ignoring the intervening branches, the background clutter, and the water reflections. Those of you who've been shooting previous bodies in these situations know that's been something of a rarity.
But this R5ii did it for 90 frames in a row as I took short bursts while the Woodies paddled around this spot. And every single frame was in perfect eye focus. Understand now why I just had to post?! :-D
These are all full size images to aid in evaluation. Click on "Original size"
Cardinal hopping around a tree. Same thing. Huge keeper rates.
The R5ii picked this Cedar Waxwing (out of these cedars ;-) ) with complete ease. If you look closely you can see the very blurred images of the intervening branches I shot through (left and right of the bird).
It knew the Bluejay's form. No problem with the cluttered background or the grasses. Shots like this are completely effortless.
Did you immediately see the Osprey in front of these trees? The R5 Mark II certainly did. And stayed locked on throughout the fly-by. Over 100 shots in all.
BIF shooting has been very satisfying. I use Whole Area AF and the camera finds my subject wherever it is located. Flying behind power wires or branches no problem, and in front of trees AF stickiness has been super. The R5ii does a much better job making sure that the subject stays in focus. I'm simply blown away. (my Tracking Sensitivity is set at -2, and my Accel/decel is set at 0). I'm not done tweaking settings yet, so I expect even more improvements!
Be sure to post your settings suggestions too. I'd love to hear feedback!
Happy shooting!
R2
--
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.
http://www.pbase.com/jekyll_and_hyde/galleries
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