rscheffler Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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p.1 #15 · Returning after 6 years: Transitioning from EF to R5 via Adapter. What should I expect? | |
A few thoughts after reading the other comments:
Definitely consider the mount adapter with the filter slot if you think you'll continue using EF lenses for a while. I love it with the polarizer as it's a lot simpler and more flexible than a bunch of front-mounted filters. There are also third parties such as Breakthrough and Kolari Vision who offer other filters compatible with the adapter (and also sell their own adapters), including some pretty specialized filters. One thing to keep in mind though, with the drop-in filter adapter, you need to have a filter in the slot for most lenses to be able to focus to infinity. A while back I tested this and it seemed like 100mm and longer should be able to focus to infinity without the drop-in filter installed, but it may be lens dependent as some lenses will focus past infinity. Therefore the drop-in adapter isn't quite as one-and-done of an adapter as one might think. And it's why Canon also sells a clear filter for the adapter. But it's probably cheaper just to buy a regular adapter, which gets you a second one for redundancy and to keep on another commonly used lens for faster lens swaps.
Continued use of 7DII after acquiring R5: why? R5 in APS-C crop is 17MP. 7DII is 20MP, which is barely any additional reach. The R5 so outperforms the 7DII, I really see no advantage to continuing to use a 7DII. If it was a 90D with 32MP, it would be a different matter if that reach was all that mattered. But then an R7 would be another option, too.
If you shoot RAW, I agree that for most uses the CRAW option, which is lossy compressed, is perceptibly the same as regular lossless compressed RAW. It's only with massive exposure pushes in post production where advantages for regular RAW become perceptible.
Most current mirrorless cameras are vertical line sensitive with respect to AF performance. This is one downside compared to DSLRs, where pretty much all had at least some cross sensitivity AF points. Mirrorless AF may also struggle more in extremely low contrast situations and strong backlighting, especially if the subject is mostly silhouetted in the viewfinder preview image. If you are confident about your exposure, set it manually. If the subject exposure is good, meaning it also has good EVF brightness, rather than being silhouetted, the camera will more easily focus on them.
I kind of ran into a related problem when doing a bunch of strobed portraits in a hallway against a bank of windows. With strobe use, usually your exposure setting is way different than ambient, and the EVF image will be thrown off. Or, if using a Canon dedicated strobe, the camera will automatically disable EVF exposure simulation. Normally this allows you to see the scene normally, but if like in my situation it was a backlit subject, the camera will then silhouette them if using regular multisegment metering because the camera would optimize the EVF image for the bright background. The workaround for this was to put the camera in spot metering mode and to ensure the spot was on the subject. This forced the camera to ignore the bright background and allowed me to at least see the subjects' faces while ignoring the blowout background. When I previously did these sessions on a DSLR, because of the optical viewfinder, my eye would make the necessary adjustments to see the subjects' faces, no matter how strong the backlight was. The more limited dynamic range of the EVF compared to the human eye unfortunately means that in extreme exposure situations, it will either blow out the highlights or block up the shadows. If in doubt, do test shots and review the images in camera to ensure you have the right exposure to retain the exposure range you need.
Batteries: yes, mirrorless cameras are more power hungry. The R5 uses the LP-E6NH battery for optimal performance and is also compatible (with a fw update) with the current LP-E6P battery. If you think you will be upgrading eventually, it would be worthwhile skipping the NH series and buying the P series. There's no downside that I know of to using the P in the R5. On the flip side, the older LP-E6N battery will have some performance limitations with the R5, IIRC. And if you have old LP-E6 batteries, they have further performance restrictions. Note that continuous frame speed in mechanical and electronic first curtain shutter (EFCS) modes is dependent on battery type (NH, N) and also brand. Canon's own LP-E6NH can support full 12fps EFCS down to about 40-45% SOC, after which fps rate will drop. Most third party NH batteries typically support 12fps down to about 70-75% SOC, after which fps rate drops. If you use the vertical grip, you can mix one Canon battery and one third party battery in the tray and EFCS will hold at 12 fps down to around 40-45% SOC. Note that the R5 doesn't seem to notice the difference between Canon brand batteries and correctly chipped third party NH batteries. However, at least with the third party NH batteries I have, the R5II does recognize they are not authentic Canon batteries and refuses to work with them. Just another reason to buy 'P' batteries to maintain compatibility if/when you upgrade. Electronic shutter mode generally sidesteps the fps limitations of batteries and battery SOC, but the R5 only offers single frame and full-bore 20fps in e-shutter.
Anyway, the R5 is a very powerful camera and will rejuvenate all of your EF lenses. It's basically every type of Canon DSLR camera wrapped into one, offering compact size, high resolution, high frame rate and greatly superior AF flexibility, performance and consistency. Once you get used to the minor EVF quirks, there's probably no going back.
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