Camera talk - might be boring!
22nd March 2025
As I have mentioned previously I have always operated with two camera bodies but for the last year I have only had one – the superb Canon R5. The R5 is a great camera, 45 megapixels, eye tracking focus, twenty fps etc. etc. This is a full frame body but with the option of a 1.6 crop mode which is great for a bird photographer, it’s just like zooming in or out for different situations.
However, with the new camera releases by Canon – already the R5 Mk2 and the expected R6 Mk3, there are some good deals to be found on the existing R5 and R6 Mk2.
I will never be sucked in by the marketing people because I have been taking wildlife photos for too long now and getting good wildlife shots is all about field craft rather than new cameras! I particularly wasn’t interested in the R5 MK2 as an upgrade for my R5, it just wasn’t worth it.
Upgrading from a DSLR to a mirrorless camera is undoubtedly worth it on so many levels, but R5 to R5 Mk2 is not IMHO.
I don’t buy without extensive research and for a second body the R6 Mk2 seemed like a good option for me, so I went ahead and bought one along with the BG R20 battery grip. This camera has a 24.2 megapixel sensor in a full frame body, again with the 1.6 cropping option on the sensor. It also has superb animal eye tracking and shoots at various fps, from a ridiculous maximum of 40fps. However, 40fps is not really a viable option because even shooting in CRAW, which I also do on my R5 (as opposed to full RAW) which greatly reduces file size with no discernable loss in quality, the camera buffer fills up in under four seconds – not practicable. Therefore, I will be shooting at twenty fps – more than enough I have found.
Some media cards, particularly inhibit really high frame rates because of their lower write speeds. SD UHS2 V90 cards (The Fastest) claim a maximum write speed of about 300mb/sec. The downside also is these cards are prohibitively expensive, especially Sony and Sandisk.
This is slow compared to the CF Express Type B cards I use in my Canon R5, which write at 1500mb/sec. These cards allow me to shoot basically unlimited frames in CRAW and at 20fps.
After much research and after some tests I can confirm that shooting at 20fps in CRAW and using a Kingston ‘Canvas React’ V60 card, I can shoot around a hundred and sixty frames, about eight seconds before the camera buffer fills up. This may not seem much but it’s quite a long time and the card clears the camera buffer in about five seconds - acceptable to me. You don’t need SD UHS 2 V90 cards unless you are shooting 4K video, admittedly they will clear the buffer in a shorter time but they are also at least twice the price.
The R6 Mk2 also has ‘pre-capture’, a feature that allows a photographer to get shots they would undoubtable miss without it. This feature is suitable in very particular situations, and I will be using it from time to time.
My R5 will sit on my EF 600 f4 is 2 lens with a EF 1.4 TC attached - a great combination.
The new R6 Mk2 will be paired with the Canon 100-500 F7.1 zoom lens as a walk – around combo, very lightweight and sharp.
Another reason I chose this camera is the button layout that is virtually identical to the R5, this may seem irrelevant but it isn’t because when you get used to a particular camera body, switching to another button layout on another body and then back again after is problematic, I know from experience.
Assigning features like double back - button focussing, 1.6 crop/full frame switch and pre-capture to a single customizable button on both cameras is so convenient.
I am looking forward to using both combos in the spring.
However, with the new camera releases by Canon – already the R5 Mk2 and the expected R6 Mk3, there are some good deals to be found on the existing R5 and R6 Mk2.
I will never be sucked in by the marketing people because I have been taking wildlife photos for too long now and getting good wildlife shots is all about field craft rather than new cameras! I particularly wasn’t interested in the R5 MK2 as an upgrade for my R5, it just wasn’t worth it.
Upgrading from a DSLR to a mirrorless camera is undoubtedly worth it on so many levels, but R5 to R5 Mk2 is not IMHO.
I don’t buy without extensive research and for a second body the R6 Mk2 seemed like a good option for me, so I went ahead and bought one along with the BG R20 battery grip. This camera has a 24.2 megapixel sensor in a full frame body, again with the 1.6 cropping option on the sensor. It also has superb animal eye tracking and shoots at various fps, from a ridiculous maximum of 40fps. However, 40fps is not really a viable option because even shooting in CRAW, which I also do on my R5 (as opposed to full RAW) which greatly reduces file size with no discernable loss in quality, the camera buffer fills up in under four seconds – not practicable. Therefore, I will be shooting at twenty fps – more than enough I have found.
Some media cards, particularly inhibit really high frame rates because of their lower write speeds. SD UHS2 V90 cards (The Fastest) claim a maximum write speed of about 300mb/sec. The downside also is these cards are prohibitively expensive, especially Sony and Sandisk.
This is slow compared to the CF Express Type B cards I use in my Canon R5, which write at 1500mb/sec. These cards allow me to shoot basically unlimited frames in CRAW and at 20fps.
After much research and after some tests I can confirm that shooting at 20fps in CRAW and using a Kingston ‘Canvas React’ V60 card, I can shoot around a hundred and sixty frames, about eight seconds before the camera buffer fills up. This may not seem much but it’s quite a long time and the card clears the camera buffer in about five seconds - acceptable to me. You don’t need SD UHS 2 V90 cards unless you are shooting 4K video, admittedly they will clear the buffer in a shorter time but they are also at least twice the price.
The R6 Mk2 also has ‘pre-capture’, a feature that allows a photographer to get shots they would undoubtable miss without it. This feature is suitable in very particular situations, and I will be using it from time to time.
My R5 will sit on my EF 600 f4 is 2 lens with a EF 1.4 TC attached - a great combination.
The new R6 Mk2 will be paired with the Canon 100-500 F7.1 zoom lens as a walk – around combo, very lightweight and sharp.
Another reason I chose this camera is the button layout that is virtually identical to the R5, this may seem irrelevant but it isn’t because when you get used to a particular camera body, switching to another button layout on another body and then back again after is problematic, I know from experience.
Assigning features like double back - button focussing, 1.6 crop/full frame switch and pre-capture to a single customizable button on both cameras is so convenient.
I am looking forward to using both combos in the spring.