Leaderboard

Ok have been using and testing the S5ii for a few weeks now as a replacement for Canon R6 and am overall very happy with it. Will be selling the R6. I did consider getting the R6ii but it was nearly £800 more expensive than the S5ii and still had some of the issues I had with the R6 - namely micro HDMI, no external monitor when using the touchscreen, and still the relatively poor DR of Canon mirrorless The new R8 also came into the picture but no IBIS and poor battery life meant it wouldn't work for me. I looked at used R5's too but was put off by the 30 minute record limit, micro HDMI, lingering doubts about it still overheating and relatively poor DR with higher price tag and added expense of new cf express cards. Back to the S5ii and I've really enjoyed using it. Where I feel it is better than the R6 is... IBIS - this is big for me and didnt realise just how much better it is than on the R6. Has really helped speed up the filming process grabbing handheld shots I wouldn't have the confidence to do with the Canon. DR, again quite a big difference, image feels fuller and cleaner than R6 Full size HDMI - again for me a biggie. I tried using a micro HDMI clamp on Fuji Xt3 and it still broke. I detest micro HDMI and has no place on a camera that claims to take video seriously. External monitor works whilst still having access to a fully functioning touchscreen of the camera. You can also put luts on the monitor image. All very nice for my ageing eyes Audio - this is the first mirrorless camera where I feel comfortable recording sound internally on important stuff. The 96khz 24 bit with line level and decent preamps I think make all the difference. I use Sound Devices mix pre-d for XLR on the base of the camera. I know Panasonic and Sony and now Canon using Tascam have an xlr audio adaptor you can attach to the hotshoe but that seems a crazy place to hang xlr cables to me and looks like an accident waiting to happen. Am very happy not using external audio and syncing up. AF for video - using the Sigma adaptor my EF lenses work on the S5ii just as well as they do on the R6. This has been a bit of a surprise I thought the R6 would still be better for AF but for my uses I think they are about the same. The S5ii sticks to its subject just as well. For stills I haven't really tested too much - for sports or wildlife fast moving stuff I presume the R6 maybe better but that's not what I photograph. Am still waiting for Capture one to be able to use RAW on the S5ii but have been very happy with the jpegs so far. Am aware the R6ii has improved feature with subject only that maybe better now for video AF Lenses - I got the 20-60mm and 50mm 1.8 with the S5ii at a good price. They are both great lenses for video - well built, silent and fast AF and come with good quality lens hoods. Drives me mad that with Canon you have to buy an L lens to get a hood. The 20-60mm is surprisingly good, 20mm is a great bonus when traditionally these zooms start at 24mm. The zoom ring is quite firm but solid and won't extend under gravity like my 24-105mm L lens is prone to do. I love the 50mm it has a nice big dampened focus ring and is a good size and weight on the S5ii, feels nicely balanced. Am using it way more than I ever did the little plastic 50mm stm lens I have for the R6 which was slow with AF and cheap feeling focus ring. I think these silent focusing Panasonic lenses are better for video than most of the noisy Canon lenses i have. Crop mode in apsc the S5ii is sharper and cleaner than the R6, handy for extra reach Colour - I really like working with vlog in Resolve and feel it is more malleable than the Canon R6's clog3 which has less DR to play with and has some strange cut off going on in the shadows. One thing I will miss about the R6 is the Meike vari nd filter adapter I used which was great when using EF lenses and better and much cheaper thsn the Canon version. I hear that Meike are making one for the Panasonic so will be keen to get that so long as it works as well as the Sigma adaptor does. R6 has 4k 50p full frame but I don't use it so no big deal for me - obviously for some it is important Anyway that's all I can think of for now, hope someone finds it useful

Are you serious? We should compare to cameras that may be released in the future and thus we should be here saying that is meh release because it will be surpassed in the future?!? Because you, alias Nostradamus 🙂, thinks that in 6-12 months there will be (and I actually hope so) better cameras in this class? But yes if you remove the super sampled 4k with no crop 24-60p, the great AF, the fast still fps, the 10 bit log, the good rolling shutter, the hybrid hot shoe, it is a crappy release... but guess what great AF and great 4k 24-60 image with AF is what many people want. I have also a prediction then, with the "next 6 to 12 months camera on the same price brackets" people can take artifacts free, rolling shutter free and noise free image, by using 0 space on the card compared to the R8 because it does not exit 😁 You don't like canon and is fine but I really don't get what is your contribution here as it not facts based and only hypothetical future predictions that does not help anybody that needs a camera today. Canon has changed a lot on the video side and most of the new release have really good video capacity with great AF: C70 4k RAW R5 8K RAW, 4k 120 R5c 8K RAW 60P with Cinema OS R3 6K RAW 60p R6, R6 II, R8 super sampled 4k 60 10bit CLog 3 R7 super sampled S35 4k 60 10bit CLog 3 Times are changed from the Canon that was not innovating and holding back tons of features on the video sides. Are these camera perfect no, are their competitive in their respective price bracket yes. Just a few years ago RP and R where really meh released for video. The fact that a 1500$ gives you most of the feature that the others much more expensive cameras give you is the good story. And let's not discuss on the stills side that for the sports/actions photographer a R8 will do better in many scenarios than 6k$ 1Dx III (and I owned the 1Dx III)

It is time for a good old fashioned EOSHD article. Everything you’ve seen so far on YouTube is meaningless - yes it is. Check out a new novelty on the web... with my WRITTEN BLOG POST! https://www.eoshd.com/news/is-n-raw-real-raw-nikon-z9-under-the-spotlight-at-eoshd

That's what so-called pundits where expecting three years ago when the original R6 dropped. Still hasn't happened, not even in the sub-$4K range. So who's going to do it? Sony? Nope, they won't put a new FF sensor that will cannibalise their best selling A7IV inside a $1500 camera. Besides FF 40K60p 10-bit sensor won't work in the tiny A7C body. Panasonic? They just released S5ii, have S5iiX planned with no FF4K60p and they don't do $1500 cameras. Who's left.. slow-poke Nikon? We're still waiting on Z8 (a $4K camera). Like it or not Canon have been pioneering quite a number of things in their mirrorless range, including 6K/8K internal RAW cameras. Something only the $6K Z9 can currently do. So yeah sometimes you just gotta give them credit where credit is due. Too easy to just dismiss it by saying no big deal, someone else will do the same soon when they've literally proven to be years ahead.

Check out Lok's R8 test, he sticked it in his oven set at 37 degrees Celsius and it ran for an 1h10mn in 4K25p after what his SD was full and he stopped testing it, the new temp meter was only at about 3 bars. The R50 overheated immediately upon turning on after his initial 5mn off warm up. R8 battery life was I think 53mn (you'll have to check) in those conditions which isn't great but not totally bad. Totally understandable. Not too many scenarios for the EOSHD crowd to go for an R8, we're not really the target. Places like Cined, Gerald Undone etc haven't even bothered reviewing it. Heck even the R5/R6/R5C barely get any traction. Canon is absolutely hated on by pundits. That said, on the field, or even right here, most Canon users are working pros, shooting silently and getting paid while others circle jerk over their bonus features shooting alleys and trees in glorious anamorphic splendour and wobble free stability. Being slightly facetious here, I think all cameras are pretty great right now compared to just a generation or two ago.

I haven't shot RAW since switching from the 5D3 ML to GH5 in 2017. For me, 10bit log is enough. And with an ACES workflow it's easy to make RAW-like linear corrections to exposure and white balance, which was a big attraction of RAW to me. Yes, there's probably more textural detail in the RAW files. But keeping file sizes down means a lot, especially at higher resolutions.

Competition is good isn’t it. Why not share the pie, it would be boring if it’s just Sony and Canon. I’m thankful that there are Sigmas, Panasonic, black magic, Fuji, Leica, DJI etc. because they offer different things for different users. It’s not like these brands are gonna die anytime soon, there are fan bases for them. There all just tools anyways and filmmakers/videographers/photographers are just trying to find the right tool that works for them, there’s nothing wrong about someone being interested in choosing L-mount/Z/fx mount/?, just because they don’t have a high-end cinema line.

Not even worth arguing with at this point. I guarantee you if this camera would be called S8 with a square form factor and a Lumix badge, Panny boys would be praising it. Panasonic users are extremely apologetic when it comes to their own shortcomings like DFD focus ( real men don't use AF ) oh and remember when GH5S was the no IBIS $2500 flagship? real men don't need IBIS. Sensor size? real men prefer MFT to FF. etc etc. Confirmation bias all day.

Maybe because it can oversample a FF 24 mpix sensors at 60 fps 10 bit with full AF and can shoot 40fps 12 bit RAW pictures with full AF and AE. 40 fps RAW I believe it makes it the fastest FF RAW camera (with the R6 ii)…. just a few years ago you would need to buy a 1Dx class camera for 12/14 fps RAW…. But I finally find your problem with this camera … is not a Panasonic 🤣🤣

@newfoundmassyou are talking about the One and only camera that had those benefits 5 years ago..but me and many others didn't own that camera, and we didn't want to.. However, I get where you are coming from, and I said it, but you are not reading the words. GH5 was an amazing tool at the time, so good, that most people still using them I do not see them go for the GH6. I still use the GH5 on a specialized TV series I am working occasionally. I do not want to comment about the GH5, for me was just a great, souless, tool, but not for me to purchase. Also, that job is typical of the GH5 user case. Run faster than Usein Bolt and gun them like you are in Ukraine..I hate those kind of jobs, and that is why I probably never liked this camera. For more personal projects, more controlled, photography, live performances and almost everything in between, I never missed anything of GH5! Also, there is a little thingy called the TRIPOD, most GH5 users, sorry, and I am talking from personal experience, they do not even carry a tripod with them! I, once, had a heavy argument with a director because he didn't want me to use tripod for static shots of cars (it was an auto show), and probably I lost that job from that reason also! I have gimbals, the Flowtech with an FSB head, some Edelkrones, and optical stabilizer of course on so many lenses.. The R8 is not at all like the GH5/6, if you need the GH5, you are very happy, you are set, you own that camera. I do not understand what is your issue here! I am saying that is a great camera FOR SOME, and I explained my user case as much as I could.. The worrying part is the fact that you can't comprehend how this is a very attractive camera for 1.500$ for a huge part of the specific market, and why it matters so much! I didn't have a Canon camera since the 60D(!) but the first RF releases (R and RP) were laughable, but, in my opinion, they have started delivering, not 100% yet, but they are in a nice roll lately. The R7 was a great release, and this R8 is quite good in my opinion. If the R6mkII comes down to 2.350€ soon, that would be great also (is 3.150€ right now, a good release, with an impossible price, so, not that good!). For a dozen of years I didn't own a Canon, so definitely not a fan boy, they started to appeal to some, why not to admit it?

You can fudge an ACES-like workflow in Premiere using LUTs from LutCalc or Resolve: I do this on every project to fix exposure and WB. It's a bit cumbersome but it works! In my example, one LUT transforms log to ACES. Then you can use Brightness and Contrast effect in a linear fashion, and Fast Color Corrector for global WB. Then a second LUT back to V-Log (but you could go to Rec709 or V709 or whatever from here). And if FCPX can load multiple LUTs then you could do the same there. If you have a nice look LUT for your log footage, then brightness, contrast and WB are really all that are needed to grade, I've found. Which makes things incredibly quick.

I'm filming on two S5 bodies and a GH5. I don't care about using the latest and greatest. I'm merely pointing out, in response to people insisting on comparing the R8 to 3 year old cameras to point out how great it is, that someone before long will inevitably come along and release a FF 4k60p camera but without all the compromises for under $2000. I've had a GH5 for 6 years, so yes, I've had IBIS for the last 3-4 years. I've also had no recording limits/overheating, two card slots, good battery life, a body capable of tons of customization, etc. To me these are just as important as the image quality, because they make my job easier. How is this camera built for speed?

A short video I've made with the S22 Ultra:

A small update on the X-H2s + Ninja raw recording. We tried another body and another recorder as well, and this is a general issue, not related to my unit. When you put the body to 6.2K raw mode sometimes you will get like 12 fps. It's easy to reproduce it when you switch between 23.98 and 24fps 10-20 times, at some point you will enter this low fps mode, and sometimes it stays in this mode even if you hit record. Really annoying. I also checked this another X-H2s body for that specific "bad pixel", and it's there, only in 6.2K raw mode, so this is a general issue as well. However, it was not visible when we used the Ninja V, it's related to the Ninja V Plus. I'm discussing these with Atomos already, will keep you posted. However, Fuji doesn't reply to any of my emails, so if it's their fault, I'm not sure what I can do.

It depends on your project/needs, and if you already own any of the cameras mentioned. As someone who has owned the original Pocket, Micro, and currently the P4K, I would take the P4K with the 2.6K Super 16 crop over the original Pocket and Micro. You get color, dynamic range and image quality every bit as good as the older cameras (people like to wax poetic about the old sensors but any of these cameras can be treated in post to match seamlessly), plus you're gaining a dual native iso/better lowlight performance, better rolling shutter performance, more compression options (up to 12:1), better UI (the touch screen and physical buttons for ISO, WB, etc is a godsend compared to the fiddly little buttons and menu of the Micro), more media options (I can shoot up to 8:1 on a Sandisk extreme Pro sd card, plus there's cfast and SSD), frame rates up to 120fps, no moire/no need for the rawlite filter, and the braw codec is very edit friendly. The only thing you'd lose is ProRes. You can only shoot Braw with the s16mm crop. All that said, if you already have the Micro and it's your only camera, shoot with what you have. It still produces a great image and is a perfectly usable camera, even if it is a bit fiddly. I'm actually planning on using it as a first person POV camera on a helmet for a project I'm working on.

This is a superb article! Very, very useful. Would it be possible for you to upload the camera original clips somewhere? I would love to play with them in Davinci.

Can confirm that is the same for me. Have to update the Ninja V to the latest firmware however, maybe that changes something. At least in the specs Atomos says, that the monitor should be able to loop out YCC.

You could say it's a bit of a dogs breakfast?

At the end of the day you are right...tons of economical options; but this is an R8 thread so it is still interesting to see different people's perspectives on Canon's latest release. My final verdict is that its an ok camera at its price point, but not the best fit for my needs even at its price point since the R7 is at the same price point. For me specifically, the FF sensor comes with too many compromises and those compromises are more important to me than the sensor size. If I absolutely had to purchase a FF body today right now I would get the R6II; if price was more important to me then I would get the S5II, there is just no scenario for me where I would get the R8. Most if not all of the used options on your list don't have useable AF which is far more important to me than sensor size. In a year when you can get the R6II, R8, and the S5II at a decent used price then used will look at lot more attractive.

500Mbit in HEVC is like having 1000Mbit in H.264, so that A6500 (which I still have btw) was 100Mbit and still stood up well, so the a1 truly has some thick files going on. X-H2 ProRes would be an interesting comparison. I love the idea of RAW but it never seems to compel me to use it that much. Sigma Fp-L 12bit needs a test though...as does the 5D3 Magic Lantern as that truly was proper RAW!

Mini Hdmi, no IBIS, great AF for video, FF 4K60, no RAW out, for 1799EUR vs Full HDMI, IBIS, great AF for video, S35 4K60, RAW out for 1999EUR I would take the second one for my needs. I never owned the 1DXIII:)