Going Mirrorless
Aka How I Learned To Adapt To A Broken Camera For A While And Learned To Appreciate Autofocus
So I’ve got a bit of a confession to make. I’ve been kind of hesitant to upgrade to mirrorless.
I can’t even tell you why. I think part of it was just being a little out of the loop as mirrorless became ‘a thing’ - photography had slowed down a little in 2019 and as the replacements for Canon’s mirrorless were released in mid 2020… well, you know what happened. Photography had really slowed down - I’ll let you figure out why.
But then I noticed something.
My DSLR (Canon 5D3) was starting to… miss. It would miss focus. I couldn’t grab a focus point and would fall that millimeter short or long. Even focusing on an inanimate object, it’d miss dramatically. You can understand my frustration as someone who generally tends to shoot portraits at shallow depth of field.
Repair costs on a new shutter and mirroring mechanism for my DSLR were not going to be worth it, so time to bite the bullet and upgrade my 9 year old camera.
First impressions
Two things I didn’t realise: Firstly, I can use the same batteries as my MkIII. Secondly, I’d need to get CFexpress cards, not the same CF cards I’ve been using for a decade.
Thankfully, the R5 also takes SD cards - just can’t shoot in higher modes of video and occasionally you’ll need to wait for a buffer in the event you shoot bursts. For me, this isn’t that big a dealbreaker - most video content I shoot is rarely at 4k, let alone 8k as it’s primary for web content, but moving forward it’s inevitably something to consider.
The first thing I noticed was the size. With no mirror mechanism, it’s smaller. While the 5D upon first pick up feels more solid and fits your hand better, after nine years of gripping it, it does get heavy. The smaller body initially feels about the same size as a 7D and the buttons do get some getting used to.
Servo Mode
Remember how I said my 5D wasn’t focusing? Not a problem with the R5. I know, I know, it’s a fancy new toy and you can’t compare broken toys with fancy new ones. I’ve only had it briefly, but I honestly don’t think I would need to take it off Servo focus. The eye-tracking is amazing. Razor-sharp, eye-tracked shots at f1.4 on my Sigma 50 Art. I’m honestly gobsmacked. I’ve seen a few different photographers already comment that they no longer need to use One Point focusing, as Servo picks things up pretty quickly and is much more flexible in more modes. It’s very likely that I’ll also join this school of thought.
Another thing that often is understated about the jump to mirrorless is IBIS (not bin chickens). In-Built Image Stabilisation means that it’s not just your lens that’s doing the heavy lifting of stabilising an image (useful for video and for low light photography).
Final Thoughts
This camera is definitely… something to get used to.
The viewfinder is large, bright, and the colours are stunningly rich.
It’s not all peachy though - I’ve inevitably got to reinvest in a whole lot of lenses to make the most out of this body. Thankfully with the ring adapter, I can use my L series EF mount lenses - BUT I can also use EF-S lenses at a crop for video, which is a handy little thing to know if you’re planning to do more videography work and need some cheaper, flexible lenses (Sigma 18-35 f1.8 for example).
I’ve only had a quick play around at this stage, but I am very much looking forward to trialling it on a few portrait and video sessions over the coming weeks.
Have a few pics from my last two sessions with the 5D before I can post anything new, but keep an eye out! I’m so excited to see what possibilities there are with this next step.
- Yaz
