AUGUST 17, 2021 - It's been awhile since Valerie and I have exchanged "things" for milestones like today. We far prefer to celebrate by sharing experiences. On that note, in her Facebook post about this special day, Valerie already let the big cats out of the bag about how we plan to combine the celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary with my upcoming 50th birthday...by going on safari in Africa! She has been really animated since we locked in our itinerary. As always, I intend to do my best to capture our experiences so we can share and remember them. On that note, it's more than just a little appropriate that this package arrived earlier this afternoon.

I've gone mirrorless! I seriously considered doing so with Sony (who has pretty much owned this camera segment since introducing it over a decade ago). Canon had been lagging behind, basically milking the wild success of its 5D Mark II rather than innovating. Mark II's DSLR successors came with increased price and very few innovations. Canon's first mirrorless efforts were easily ignored. There's a reason I've continued to use my 5D Mark II for over a decade, but going on safari gave me a lot of incentive to upgrade.

When Sony debuted Alpha 1 at the beginning of this year, it jumped to the top of my wish list...until I saw the price. Fortunately, Canon launched R5 last summer at a more 5D-like price point...and reviews proved that it was very competitive with Sony's flagship and, in some ways, may even be better.

I love that R5 has a flip touchscreen. Keeping it folded protects it, unfolding and pivoting the display offers shooting angles that would otherwise be hard to achieve when looking through the viewfinder, and flipping the display makes selfies with the camera significantly easier.

I pull out the Canon 30D, my backup DSLR, to capture shots of the R5 and 5DII bodies side-by-side. I am shooting through the same EF 28-70 F2.8L, set to the same aperture and shutter speed. One can immediately appreciate the advantages of full frame sensors when shooting low depth of field shots like this. The 5D Mark II will be a far better backup camera for the R5 since both have full frame sensors. I had not used the 30D much since getting 5D Mark II. It's definitely time to sell it. R5's size and weight are obvious advantages. Early Sony offerings were tiny compared to full frame DSLRs like 5D Mark II, but R5 has a full frame sensor. It isn't dramatically smaller than the 5DII, but it is smaller and 13% lighter.

And yet some things are significantly larger...like R5's touch screen. It is bigger and offers significantly higher resolution. As my eyes have aged, I am finding it hard to judge focus on 5DII's display. Turns out that the R5 boasts numerous advantages in this particular area...and a vastly superior auto-focus.

The reduced size of mirrorless cameras require clutter-free buttons and dials, so one must rely more on the displays when changing settings...the R5 even sports a touchscreen. Electronic viewfinders are a necessity on a mirrorless body in more ways than one, but the R5's provides a number of advantages including replicating all of the touchscreen's on screen display information, being able to zoom in and boost brightness to assist with manual focus in the dark, and adds the ability to review images which definitely will help when shooting outdoors.

Another advantage of mirrorless bodies is they can adapt pretty much any lens mount type from a DSLR or SLR opening up the possibility of trying lenses from other lens manufacturers. Part of the reason I considered a Sony body was that I wouldn't lose my investment in Canon glass. But one of the advantages of staying with Canon is you KNOW their adapters will fully support their lenses. And their Control Ring EF EOS R adapter actually adds the same programmable functionality found in their RF lenses.

Of course, I am personally eager to see how my favorite EF lens works with the new camera body

Part of my eagerness is to prove that I don't REALLY need to spend another $2700 on the RF equivalent of my EF 70-200 F2.8L IS USM. This has been my favorite lens for nearly two decades. The biggest downside is how large and heavy it is.

Locked and loaded

The RF 70-200 F2.8L IS is a few generations newer than mine, offering better optical quality and superior image stabilization when paired with the R5's built-in stabilization

The RF equivalent is significantly shorter than this lens...and weighs a third less. Obviously the RF lens would also not need a mount adapter. It also has a tripod ring, but I could shave some more weight by not using it.

Macro closeup of EOS R5

Macro closeup of the controls...note the red button specific to video recording. On the 5D Mark II, I had to enter menus to enable video recording on a button on the back of the camera that was usually used to select items in the menus.

No, this is not another Sony proprietary format...CFexpress is the new CompactFlash. And R5 requires the speed of CFexpress Type B for capturing 8K RAW video or 45 megapixel stills at high frame rates. That's right, 8K 30fps RAW video. When 5D Mark II came out, 1080p was what defined it...since it offered full HD video with interchangeable lenses.

Speaking of CompactFlash, 30MB/s write speed was all one really needed for recording HD video on 5D Mark II. 16GB filled up quickly on a trip, so I always brought a few of these.

My favorite memory card in the 5D Mark II is my 64GB Extreme...faster than I needed for HD video and with enough capacity to outlast a two week trip. I easily could cut into that with video and timelapse sequences, so I had to be careful when shooting that way...unless I also brough the 3 16GB cards. With double the resolution, I figure R5 minimally needs double the capacity, but I have to remind myself that I may be more tempted to shoot video on the R5 since autofocus was not an option in 5D Mark II's video implementation. I need to research if it is possible to back up the R5 to older CF cards via USB and card readers. I don't plan to travel with a portable harddrive like I once did, but could totally see bringing a stack of old cards. Note that R5 also supports SDXC...and I may have a few compatible cards and card adapters, but the format does not offer the speed of CFexpress...so they can only be used for stills.

With memory card and battery inserted, I power on the R5 for the first time. That display is bright and sharp! And the autofocus works quickly and accurately. I'm not used to my lens focusing this fast.

I've attached the strap...R5 is ready for use!

Moka is my Canon EOS R5's first victim

High ISO shot (12800) I wouldn't have considered taking with the 5D Mark II...Animal Eye Focus locked on and held as Moka started to go away