Not typically known for its capabilities in the sports and wildlife realm, the EOS R5 Mark II’s improvements take this supremely versatile camera to another level with improvements to its speed and autofocusing performance. Borrowing lots of tech from the flagship R1 and using the higher resolution sensor, the R5 Mark II excels in fast-paced shooting situations thanks to its upgraded processing and stacked sensor design.
DIGIC Accelerator and Autofocus Improvements
One of the key areas where the R5 Mark II has grown is autofocus performance. Using much of the same tech and DIGIC Accelerator processing capabilities as its big brother, the EOS R1, the R5 Mark II now has truly advanced subject tracking and detection capabilities. Canon states this new model has subject tracking capabilities that even surpass the EOS R3, including new tracking cross subject support, which maintains focus on the desired subject even when another subject comes between it and the camera. There’s also Action Priority, which uses deep learning to intelligently recognize and detect specific sports-related movements when photographing soccer, volleyball, and basketball, and a Pre-Registered Person Priority function that allows you to pre-photograph important subjects, deem them a priority, and allow the camera to automatically recognize and track those subjects.
Beyond the sophisticated focusing modes and intelligent tracking capabilities, the R5 Mark II has also inherited Eye Control AF. This unique focus point selection method tracks where your eyeball is looking in the viewfinder and then matches the AF point to that place for quick and intuitive focus point shifting.
Surprising Speed for High-Resolution Sensor
One of the main reasons the original R5 was possibly not considered the best choice for a sports camera was due to its higher resolution 45MP sensor, and the subsequent slowness of processing so many of the larger files. With the R5 Mark II, though, upgraded processing has made this mostly a moot point and the camera can now keep up with most speed shooters out there.
Beyond the DIGIC Accelerator processing, the new stacked sensor design does a lot of the heavy lifting that enables use of this camera for quick continuous shooting applications. This stacked sensor design affords faster readout speeds, greatly reduces rolling shutter distortion, and achieves no viewfinder blackout when shooting in bursts.
In terms of numbers, the R5 Mark II tops out at an impressive 30 fps continuous shooting rate when using an electronic shutter or 12 fps with the mechanical shutter. New to Canon, the camera also features Pre-Continuous Shooting that continuously buffers up to 15 shots prior to fully pressing the shutter button. This is a useful feature for photographing fast and sporadically moving subjects, helping to ensure you don’t miss a critical moment. Also, specifically benefitting indoor sports photographers, the camera includes anti-flicker and high-frequency anti-flicker settings that help cut unwanted ambient light flickering when photographing under fluorescent and LED sources.
Additional Unique Benefits for the R5 Mark II
It’s already a pleasant surprise the R5 Mark II can excel on the sports field or out when photographing birds and other wildlife, but there are still a few other advantages that might make this the primary camera you reach for when photographing some moving subjects.
One of the top reasons this camera will stand out among other sports cameras is due to its size—it’s much smaller and lighter than typical flagships, like the EOS R1, that have an integrated vertical grip, more weather sealing, and other weighty add-ons. Depending on your needs, the smaller, more portable design of the R5 platform might be more beneficial, especially if you’re shooting handheld.
Another facet of the R5 Mark II’s identity that may prove to help many sports, bird, and wildlife shooters is the higher resolution, especially considering the ability to crop into the frame and still have enough resolution for many applications. This can be hugely important when photographing smaller birds or if working with a lens that’s slightly wider than desired. And, for video shooters, the camera can record up to 8K, which gives great resolution for frame grabs in case you’re using a single camera for hybrid shooting.
The EOS R5 Mark II, and the R5 platform in general, is known as one of the most versatile cameras for a reason; despite its status as the high-resolution hybrid model, it can slide in as an excellent choice for sports and wildlife shooting as well. It’s plenty quick, borrows much of the flagship R1’s AF performance, and has some unique benefits of its own compared to traditional sports cameras.
5 Comments
How does EOS R5 mark II compare with EOS R1 for wildlife photography and filming(considering battery and heating perspective)? Terribly confused between the two.
We don't have much real-world experience with the two cameras just yet, but based on the information from Canon's announcement and our brief hands-on time, the EOS R1 should be the better option when it comes to battery life since the LP-E19 battery (used in the R1) is a bigger battery than the LP-E6P of the R5 Mark II.
In terms of overheating during filming, it's a little tricky to compare the two cameras since their specs are a bit different and the R5 Mark II has the dedicated Cooling Grip to help it. Both cameras claim to support 4K 60 recording for 120 min or longer (the R1 and the R5 Mark II without a grip); if you add the Cooling Grip to the R5 Mark II, you can record 8K 30 for 120 min or longer. The R1 doesn't support 8K recording, so it's tough to compare here, but it does permit 6K 60 recording for 120 min or longer.
And for wildlife shooting in general, the R1 is going to be the stronger performer on paper, especially if you're more concerned with sheer shooting speed and autofocus accuracy, subject detection, and tracking. The R5 Mark II is comparable AF, but it's not quite at the same level as the flagship R1. The R5 Mark II does have the extra resolution, though, so there is more cropping potential from those 45MP files than from the 24MP files of the R1. I think it's safe to bet that either camera is going to be a great option for wildlife, the choice mostly lies in if you value a pure speed-shooter of a camera in the R1 or more of an all-arounder with the R5 Mark II.
I am an avid bird photographer and own an R5 and R3. Based on multiple reviews of the new cameras coming out and extensive experience with the R5 and R3, I believe the difference between the R5mkII and the R1 will be similar in a few important respects:
1) The R1 will be significantly heavier than the R5mkII. If you are going to be hand holding while waiting for the right moment, this makes quite a difference.
2) The R1 has a larger battery that will last significantly longer than that of the R5mkII. Having to change batteries while birds are watching can nullify hours of patience (I use a powerbank with my R5 to eliminate this problem).
3) The R1 has only a 24MP sensor compared to the R5mkII 45MP sensor. This is huge if you are shooting small, fast-moving wildlife that you can't get that close to (i.e. birds in flight, in my case). This difference cuts my keeper rate tremendously when using the R3 vs the R5.
4) The R3 (coupled with the RF 100-500 zoom) acquires focus significantly faster than the R5, which has made it possible for me to get great in-flight shots of swallows and other small, unpredictable birds that I would never have gotten with the R5. This is the only reason I use the R3 rather than the R5 for many of my outings. This difference is allegedly due to limitations posed by the higher resolution sensor on the R5. I consider it likely that the relative difference between the R1 and R5mkII will be similar for the same reason, but I'm hoping that improved iautofocus technology in the R5mkII will make up for it enough that I can benefit from the higher resolution.
All of the above issues illustrate the need for Canon and other manufacturers to realize that sports photography and wildlife photography call for very different performance characteristics. With one, you have a relatively large subject moving in a relatively predictable way in a restricted environment, while with the other you rarely benefit from any of these advantages. To market a camera as a "sports and wildlife" camera is nearly as silly as a "sports and landscape" camera, in my opinion.
I hope this helps, as I feel your pain.
I'm using an R% now. Is there any major improvement over it with the Mark II?
The biggest difference is the R5II has the latest DIGIC X and DIGIC Accelerator dual image processors. That alone will support larger volumes of data and deep learning technologies. The camera is not out to check but from the specification it should give more detail. It also has Eye control focus. And Pre-Continuous Shooting. There are other differences but that is some of the largest.