Leave it to Sony, Canon is trying to be the leader in cutting-edge technology for mirrorless cameras. The company’s new $4,300, 45-megapixel EOS R5 II offers advanced features like eye-tracking autofocus (AF) that can’t be found on any recent Sony model. The new camera also beats Sony’s A1 and other models in the key areas of speed, video, and autofocus. And it’s arguably more desirable than Canon’s own upcoming flagship R1 because it has nearly twice the resolution.
I’ve had the R5 II for a few weeks now, evaluating not only its practicality and speed for both pros and serious amateurs, but also how it stacks up against Sony’s A1, the gold standard for high-resolution mirrorless cameras. And frankly, I’m impressed.
Leave it to Sony, Canon is trying to be the leader in cutting-edge technology for mirrorless cameras. The company’s new $4,300, 45-megapixel EOS R5 II offers advanced features like eye-tracking autofocus (AF) that can’t be found on any recent Sony models. The new camera also beats Sony’s A1 and other models in the key areas of speed, video, and autofocus. And it’s arguably more desirable than Canon’s own upcoming flagship R1 because it has nearly twice the resolution.
I’ve had the R5 II for a few weeks, not only evaluating its practicality and speed for both pros and serious amateurs, but also seeing how it stacks up against Sony’s A1, the gold standard for high-resolution mirrorless cameras. And frankly, I’m impressed.
The R5 II supports CFexpress Type B cards for capturing up to 8K RAW video, as well as SD UHS II if you prefer cheaper and slower media. Other key features include headphone and microphone ports, a full-size HDMI input, and a USB-C port for charging and transfer. Canon also released three new battery grips, including one with a cooling fan that extends video shooting time, which I’ll discuss shortly.
I’m a big fan of the R5 II’s design, and my pro photographer friend agreed, saying that like most Canon products, the R5 II’s ergonomics are so good that the device is comfortable to hold for long periods of time. He also said that he likes the R5 II’s handling a bit more than his Sony A9 III and A1 cameras, as it’s much easier to use with one hand.
Performance
The EOS R5 II offers a blend of speed and resolution that rivals and sometimes even surpasses the Nikon Z8 and Sony A1. This is mainly due to the new stacked 45-megapixel sensor and the updated Digic X processor that crunches all those pixels.
The R5 II can shoot bursts at up to 30 fps with a blackout-free view in electronic shutter mode. That’s slower than the R1, but I’m willing to put up with a slight decrease in performance in exchange for the extra resolution. I was able to capture about 100 Raw frames before the buffer filled up.
The speed drops to 12 fps with the mechanical shutter, but there’s rarely any need to use it as there’s no issue with rolling shutter distortion – thanks to the stacked sensor. The R5 II’s new Pre-Capture mode can record up to 15 photos when you press the shutter halfway. This is great for photojournalists or wildlife photographers who might otherwise miss a shot by a fraction of a second.
Canon’s “Dual Pixel” autofocus has always been good, but on the R5 II it’s the best it’s ever been. When shooting bursts with a subject, 80 percent of my shots were in focus. And the EOS R5 II now tracks animals, birds, and vehicles, on top of people’s faces, eyes, and bodies.
The camera also has a few new autofocus tricks, one of which is called Action Priority. It keeps the AF centered around the ball in three specific sports: volleyball, basketball, and soccer. I didn’t notice much improvement in AF, as my hit rate was about the same without it, but dedicated sports photographers might notice a difference.
Another new function keeps the tracking point on your subject even if someone passes in front of them. It seems to work well most of the time, but sometimes it goes astray and locks on someone else.
When Canon launched the R5 II and R1 in July, it introduced pre-registered Person Priority AF, which lets your camera remember up to ten specific people, such as star athletes. The feature works as advertised, switching AF to the registered person and tracking them instead of other people in the scene.