Canon EOS R5 Mark II commentary

As a Canon EOS R5 user, I was interested in the launch of the Canon EOS R5 Mark II and, to a lesser degree, the new flagship Canon EOS R1, because the latter model would always be oriented at press/agency (sports) photographers. However, it appears that Canon is targeting the same group with the Canon EOS R5 II. Now we have three cameras aimed at photojournalists and two specifically at sports and action photographers, the EOS R1 and R3.

For stills, the move to a stacked sensor enabled improved AF capabilities, including second-generation Eye Control (eye-controlled) AF, which debuted in the EOS R3, high-speed capture of up to 30fps, and the pre-capture option. The specs also look good for video users.

In fairness, Canon had to offer a camera in line with rivals, but there doesn’t appear to be a lot targeting other genres. Wedding photographers are the exception, perhaps, and few wouldn’t mind improved AF. As I use mainly manual focus lenses, I’m not the target audience.

At this stage, the jury is still out on the impact of the stacked BSI CMOS sensor design on image quality, but it’s likely to be not that different from the original Canon EOS R5. Fingers crossed.