Canon 5DS R Camera

I have a new camera, the first I have purchased in over 5 years. I don’t think I have ever gone that long without a new camera body of some sort before. This time it is different. Much like when I bought a Canon 1D Mark II, the Canon 5DS R is a game changer.

I remember seeing a demo version of the 1D Mark II at trade show in San Francisco in 2004. I ordered one as soon as I got home. I knew it would change my life and it did.

I have the same feeling with the 5DS R. After just a week of shooting, it has already changed how I work. The frame rate is only 5 per second but the resolution and sharpness are incredible. Landscape images look great and the files are large and crisp. The biggest surprise is the quality of wildlife images, birds especially. With 50 MP, I can crop extensively and still maintain a large final image.

There are a few concerns. I notice a lot of chromatic aberration from my 24-105mm lens. It can be corrected in Lightroom but I have to do it manually. The Auto Corrections are not enough to make it completely go away. So I will need to update this lens at some point and have been looking at the 24-70 f 4 IS L. It’s not that the images are unusable with the 24-105. It’s just not taking advantage of all that resolution. I already upgraded my 16-35 to the new f4 version and it performs well with all of my camera bodies – including the Canon 5DS R.

Out of all the lenses I use, the 24-105 seems to be the weakest link with this new camera.

Still, I’m excited thinking of the possibilities.

The downside of the Canon 5DsR camera is you have to be meticulous with your technique. Every flaw will show. I use a tripod 95% of the time. I also try to work at 100 ISO and shoot at f 11 for maximum image quality. With all of this resolution, you need to be extra careful with focusing and managing camera movement.

I can’t wait for the spring shooting season!