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BACK-TO-BASICS GUIDE 100 pages of EOS advice
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CANON WITH CONFIDENCE
MASTER MANUAL MODE Take control of your camera’s key settings and instantly improve your Canon photos
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WE GET OUR HANDS ON THE NEW CANON EOS R6
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CANON EOS R5
EOS SOS
CANON EXPERTS Your technical questions answered
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1 • Six great video tutorials inside - turn to page 5 for details
Full test verdict on new 45mp camera and its unbelievable Animal autofocus ZOOM WITH A VIEW
SOCIAL DISTANCE PORTRAIT SHOOT How our reader took this shot on a camera 200 miles away!
BETTER EXPOSURES
CANON SCHOOL
Get the best from your Canon EOS camera’s metering modes www.digitalcameraworld.com
THEAPPRENTICE NATASHA’S TOP 10 TIPS
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Get a model release These are readily available online and help to clear up the agreement between you, the model, and how you can use the images.
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Make sure you have a superfast connection A laggy connection can make the experience less fun and effective, so make sure you have a decent broadband speed and that you’re the only one in the house using it if you’re struggling to get a decent connection already.
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Shoot in the landscape orientation Try framing the shot so that it’s in the landscape orientation, then you have the flexibility to use it as either a landscape shot or you can crop it to a portrait format in post.
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Keep the ISO low Shoot at your lowest ISO value (eg ISO100) for the best image quality. If your images are coming out too dark increase the flash power, or move the lights closer to your model.
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Get started and go from there A lot of time can be wasted trying to figure out what look or pose to start with, but Natasha suggests just jumping straight in to break the ice and you’ll soon figure it out as you go.
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Zoom in and check detail Just like any other shoot it’s worth double-checking each image to make sure the exposure and focus is spot-on. If it isn’t now is your chance to have another go.
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Fast SD card When Natasha works tethered, she always uses the fastest memory cards she can get my hands on so that the images can be transferred to the computer as fast as possible.
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Keep spare batteries handy Using Live View and constantly sending data to your computer when tethered will drain the batteries quickly, so always have a handful of spares charged and ready to go.
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Take breaks regularly Just as when shooting with a photographer in the room, it’s a great idea to take a break every hour or two to assess the work you’ve done and figure out what you want to try next.
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Use a Pinterest mood board Pinterest mood boards are a great way of figuring out a concept or theme for a shoot with the photographer before the shoot happens. Sharing ideas is also a great way of breaking the ice with models and photographers.
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YEMI’S COMMENT I was getting into the swing of shooting tethered and remotely and found it quite useful to count down from 3, 2, 1, before firing the shutter, as there was a bit of a delay in the connection. This made sure Natasha knew when to hold the pose, so I would catch the right moment without her blinking. For this image Natasha suggested going for a wider mid-length portrait, so I asked her to move the camera away from her a bit to include more of her body. She also changed into this vibrant orange outfit. We continued with the white background, but changed the lights this time so that two softboxes were illuminating all of the background to make it punchy. There was just a single flash in front of Natasha to light her with a large octabox attached.
TETHERING TO CONNECT her Canon EOS 90D directly to her computer and shoot tethered through the Canon EOS Utility 3 app on her computer Natasha uses a Tether Tools cable. She uses the USB 2.0 to Micro-B 5-pin version to fit her 90D, though USB 3.0 options are available for faster connection to fit EOS cameras such as the 5D IV. It’s 4.6m long and is also bright orange, keeping it visible.
TOP GEAR #1
Fast standard zoom lens NATASHA’S MAIN portrait lens is the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM Art lens. It’s an extremely versatile optic, being able to go as wide as 24mm for full-length shots and can zoom in to 70mm for tight close-ups too. The aperture is a wide f/2.8 throughout the zoom range, which makes it possible to get shallow depth-of-field effects and blur the background if required.
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SHOOT WITH A PRO Lens
Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM Art
Exposure
1/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO100
HOT SHOT #2
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STEPUPTOMANUAL CONFIDENCE WITH CANON
TAKE CONTROL IN
MANUAL We help you make the big step up with your Canon camera with our essential guide to mastering the Manual mode
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balance and manually selecting an AF point in the viewfinder. But when a photographer says that they’re ‘shooting in Manual’ that means using the magic M exposure mode on the mode dial. In this 10-page camera skills guide, we’re going to give you the confidence to step up to shoot in Manual mode, and help you to take your Canon photography to the next level…
Ulla Lohman
our Canon camera is more intelligent than ever these days, but despite all the technological advancements one fact is still true – to get the most out of your EOS camera, you need to take full control. Your Canon EOS camera offers many ways to take manual control of settings, including manually setting the white
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CANON SKILLS
Manual mode is crucial for a balanced exposure of landscapes like this in mixed lighting. This was shot by Canon pro Ulla Lohman using the new Canon EOS R5
The Canon Magazine
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STEPUPTOMANUAL
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MAKE THE MOVE TO MANUAL
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Whenever you shoot towards the sun you’re going to have a problem balancing the very bright sky with a dark foreground. Shoot Raw files to record more exposure
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Balanced exposures
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data, then you could also shoot a bracket of exposures on a tripod to merge into an HDR image to darken the sky and brighten the land for a more balanced exposure (more on this on page 40). It’s a great idea to use Manual mode to take full control of your camera settings and to get consistent results. In Manual you control aperture, shutter speed and ISO. They all need to be adjusted to achieve your exposure. If you open up the aperture a stop to let more light in, you’ll need a shutter speed that’s a stop faster, or an ISO setting that’s less sensitive to keep the exposure even.
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Many amateurs rely on the semi-auto modes, Aperture Priority (Av) and Shutter Priority (Tv). With Av, you select the aperture and the camera sets an appropriate shutter speed for a correct exposure. In Tv, you set the shutter speed, while the camera chooses an aperture. These modes give you limited control, but if you want to take full control of your results then step up to Manual.
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The semi-auto modes
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Tackle challenging lighting conditions with your camera
WIDE (MORE EXPOSURE)
APERTURE
NARROW (LESS EXPOSURE)
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CANON SKILLS
When you’re shooting scenes at sunset, take control of your exposures in Manual mode to manually set your aperture, shutter speed and ISO
Using flash or studio lights
You’ll need to use Manual exposure mode if using studio lights or flashguns, as modes like Av or Tv, the camera won’t set a shutter speed or aperture to factor in your lighting power – resulting in over or under exposed shot. Start at an exposure of f/8, ISO100 and 1/160 sec, then adjust the power of the light in steps, like 2.3 or 4.2, or 1/2 or 1/4 power – the output remains consistent, regardless of exposure or framing. The light power determines how much light falls on subjects, yet the exposure is affected by your aperture and ISO, as well as the distance of the light to the subject. We also suggest using a flashgun (aka Speedlite) in manual flash mode. Manual means consistency and control of the flash brightness on subjects, and the overall exposure. The Canon Magazine
Why use Manual mode?
You take full control of your exposure in Manual, controlled by three aspects: 1. Aperture – the hole in the lens – determines how much light is let into the camera; 2. Shutter speed regulates how long the sensor is exposed to light; 3. ISO dictates how much light you need to record a shot. Also when in Manual mode, the camera won’t alter the exposure settings once you’ve dialled them in, even if you shift in the composition, or a change in background, which can risk making the next shot too bright or dark. This is handy when photographing subjects moving from dark-toned backgrounds to light-toned ones or vice versa.
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VIEW THE VIDEO
PROJECT 1
THE MISSION Bracket exposures then merge for a more balanced landscape sunset Time needed 1-2 hours Skill level Intermediate Kit needed • Tripod • Photoshop CC
Bracket and blend
Capture and craft balanced sunset scenic images with Peter Travers
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hen you’re shooting a scene at sunset and don’t want to bother with fiddly ND grad filters, this photo project is a great solution for creating a balanced scene with a full range of tones and colours. By bracketing exposures in the AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing)
mode of your Canon camera, you can capture three Raw photos; one standard exposure, one underexposure for the bright sky, and one overexposure and darker land area. With your three Raw images, it’s then easy to use the Merge to HDR Raw feature in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom in Photoshop. With your HDR Raw
image, we can then edit to reveal more tones, detail and colours, as well as adding digital ND grad filters and selectively warming up areas. We’ve also edited our JPEG image in Photoshop using layers and a warm orange Photo Filter, plus boosted the reds for a brilliant, balanced, sunset landscape photograph.
STEP BY STEP CAPTURE IMAGES TO CREATE HDR SUNSETS First bracket your exposures in camera, then edit your Raw images to reveal their full colourful potential
01 STEADY AS SHE GOES
02 GET SET TO BRACKET
03 THREE EXPOSURES
04 ADOBE CAMERA RAW
05 RAW HDR TIME
06 BOOST THE COLOURS
You’ll need your camera on a tripod for sharp shots, plus it makes it easier to blend your Raw exposures seamlessly for the single HDR Raw photo. We’ve used a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens to zoom into the scene and best parts of the sky.
Open your three Raw images in Adobe Camera Raw (or Lightroom) and edit them consistently, so their colour temperature is the same. Make tweaks to the Contrast, Highlights and Shadows, but don’t change the exposure of any of the pictures.
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In AEB, in our Canon camera’s red menu, we set up to take three Raw images; one at a standard exposure value (0 EV), then one brighter exposure at +2-stops EV for the dark land, and one darker exposure at -2-stops EV for the brighter sky.
With your three Raw photos selected, right-click and select Merge to HDR to create your HDR Raw image. You can then further edit the sliders to boost the image, we added digital grad filters and radial filters to warm up the skyline slightly.
We shot in Manual mode at f/8 for good depth of field in the scene. For our ISO we set it to 200. Our three bracketed exposures were then captured at f/8, ISO200 and with shutter speeds of 1/60 sec, 1/250 sec and 1/15 sec.
Open your Raw image into the main Photoshop workspace for final touches. Duplicate the layer and in Image> Adjustments>Photo Filter we added a Warming Filter (81) at 50%, and boosted the red colours in Hue/Saturation to finish. www.digitalcameraworld.com
QUICK TIP!
The scene we shot didn’t have the best colours at sunset, but with bracketing and boosting colours in our HDR Raw image, we transformed three good shots into one great photograph!
0 EV
-2-STOPS EV
+2-STOPS EV
VIEW T HE VIDE WATCH VIDEO ONLINE O
http://bit.ly/pp_169_2 PROJECT 2
THE MISSION Turn car lights into long striking trails Time needed 30 minutes Skill level Advanced Kit needed • Tripod • Kit lens • Photoshop / Elements
Traffic light trails
Dan Mold captures the passing of time with long exposures at night
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ne of the best things about a mirrorless or DSLR camera is the manual and semiautomatic modes they have, which make it possible to get creative with your shutter speed and aperture. In this project we’ll be showing you how to use your Canon
camera’s Manual mode so that you can extend the shutter speed, which is the length of time that you expose the camera’s sensor to light. A long exposure, usually several seconds, allows you to record the motion of any moving part within a frame, such as action sports, or the lights of moving traffic at night. By locking
off the camera on a tripod we can keep the landscape sharp, but turn the traffic into long, eye-catching vibrant streaky trails. Try shooting at dusk, the hour after sunset, so there’s still a bit of colour in the sky. If you don’t feel safe out at night, don’t be afraid to take a friend along with you for company and safety.
SET UP TO CAPTURE CREATIVE TRAFFIC TRAILS AT NIGHT Use long exposures on a tripod to show the passing of time, turning car lights turn into colourful streaks
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01 CAMERA & LENS
You’ll need a Canon EOS DSLR or CSC camera with a kit lens, or a dedicated wide-angle if you prefer. The main thing is having a camera with a Shutter Priority, or Tv (standing for Time Value) mode, so you can set the length of your long exposure.
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02 STURDY TRIPOD
A tripod is essential to capture sharp shots while shooting for several seconds, though you may find that cars going past can still cause small vibrations to appear in your shot. Go for a rock-solid tripod, like the Manfrotto 055 here.
03 A STEADY STREAM OF TRAFFIC
Find a public walkway that overlooks a busy road at night, so you can maximize your opportunity to shoot lots of cars going past. Make sure your tripod isn’t in the way of people walking past – and definitely don’t set up in the road! www.digitalcameraworld.com
HIGH-SPEED PHOTOGRAPHY SHOOT TRAFFIC TRAILS
BEFORE
AFTER The Canon Magazine
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CANONSCHOOL
DIGITAL EOS ESSENTIALS In this edition of Digital EOS Essentials we explain all you need to know to capture more consistent exposures
MARCUS HAWKINS PHOTO EXPERT Marcus has been passionate about photography for more than 25 years. A former editor of our sister publication Digital Camera, he has written about photography and cameras for a wide range of clients, including Canon and Jessops, and uses a Canon EOS 5D Mk III.
Correcting your exposures T
Why your camera meter can get things wrong – and steps you can take to deal with it
rying to achieve a good exposure with a digital camera is world away from the occasional fingercrossing that came with shooting film. Being able to preview the results on the rear screen and check the brightness range with the histogram means that you know exactly what you’re getting straight out of the camera, and can make any exposure adjustment to ensure you get good results. JUST A REFLECTOR
How your camera meters the light The metering sensor sits near the viewfinder and measures the amount of light reflected up to the focusing screen by the camera’s internal mirror. The sensor is configured to 18% reflectance – or the amount of light reflected by an object that has a mid-tone value (such as grass or pavement, for example). This doesn’t always work out in the real world, which is why some photographers take a meter reading from a grey card and then set the exposure manually to ensure that they get consistent results in shots.
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And you will need to make exposure adjustments. Despite a top-of-the-range EOS body, such as the 5D Mark IV being loaded with a 150,000-pixel metering sensor that can recognize colour and faces as well as brightness – it is, in effect, a miniature imaging sensor – it can still get things wrong occasionally. Rather than measuring the light that’s falling onto the subject of a photograph, your camera measures the light that’s reflected by the subject
Dark
Dark subjects reflect less light; the camera thinks the subject is being underexposed
into the lens, and this can lead to exposure errors. Camera meters are tuned to approximately 18% grey – they assume that the world is a mid-tone grey that reflects approximately 12-18% of the light that falls on it. Although many scenes average out to an overall mid-tone, there will be plenty that are either darker (and reflect less than 18% of the light that falls on them), or brighter (which reflect more than 18%). Generally speaking, your camera still
Mid-tone
Mid-tone subjects should cause no problem
wants to make an exposure closer to mid-tone, which can result in dark scenes looking too bright and bright scenes looking too dark. If the scene or subject is bright, then you’ll need to add more light to keep it bright in the photo. Do the opposite when metering a dark object – take light away, essentially, to keep it dark. If you don’t, then the camera will assume that the bright object or the dark object should appear as a mid-tone in the image…
Bright
Light tones reflect lots of light; the camera thinks the subject is being overexposed
Incident light falling on the scene
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CORRECT EXPOSURES EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
As shot
Overriding the meter
Combine Evaluative metering with exposure comp
very EOS camera apart from the 400D, 2000D and 1300D feature four metering modes: Evaluative, Centre-weighted average, Partial and Spot. The most sophisticated of these is Evaluative. It divides the viewfinder into a number of zones – from 63 zones in the EOS 400D to 384 zones in the EOS R5 – then compares the readings from each zone before calculating the exposure. The subject of the shot doesn’t need to be bang in the centre of the frame when you use Evaluative. This is because the camera uses the AF points to determine where the subject is – it presumes that it’s under the AF point that’s achieved focus – and it priorities the exposure accordingly. As good as it is, there are times when Evaluative needs a helping hand, in the form of exposure compensation. You can apply this in any of the
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I’ve focused on the birds here, but the camera wants to make the bright sky a mid grey tone
+1 2/3 EV (Exposure Value)
Although Evaluative meters the whole scene, it biases its exposure towards the active AF point
sitive Dialling in some po tion corrects sa en exposure comp uent shot this for the subseq
Creative Zone modes; some cameras let you use it even when you’ve set the camera to Manual and have Auto ISO on. On high-end EOS cameras, you can set the compensation by turning the large quick control dial on the back of the camera – to the right to make things brighter, to the left to make the image darker. Some EOS M cameras have a dedicated exposure comp dial on top of the camera. Most entry-level Canons require you to press the ‘+/-’ button, then rotate the main dial, but if your camera has a touchscreen, you can just slide your finger along the scale there. Here’s the thing: before coming up with an exposure, Evaluative metering has already basically applied its own compensation, taking into account the brightness, colour and focus info. The other metering modes don’t do this, so you’re likely to need more substantial adjustments in these modes.
Exposing for the highlights How to avoid burning out bright areas in exposures ather than being a selective adjustment, exposure compensation affects the entire image. So, if you increase the exposure to lighten the shadows in a picture then you’ll brighten pale areas of a shot too – and there’s a risk that you may overexpose, turning them pure white and featureless. While it’s fine to ‘blow out’ highlights on shiny objects, you’ll likely want to retain some detail in other areas. You may have heard photographers talk about ‘exposing for the highlights’; this means adjusting the exposure to ensure the highlights aren’t overexposed. This may result in
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The Canon Magazine
dark areas becoming black and featureless, but it’s usually more preferable than burnt-out whites. To keep track of how your exposure adjustments are affecting the image, check the histogram. If the histogram shape is being ‘clipped’ at the right, it means that some of the bright areas are being overexposed. Dialling in minus exposure comp will reduce the exposure, with the histogram shifting to the left. Shooting Raw files gives you more options. Not only do they hold more picture info than indicated by the histogram, you can push and pull the exposure (within reason) in post-processing.
Shadow Shadow
Shadow Shadow
Mid-tones Mid-tones
Mid-tones Mid-tones
Highlights Highlights
Highlights Highlights
There’s lots of space on the left, so using minus exposure comp to shift the histogram left we can rescue the highlights
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Robert Marc Lehmann
CAMERATEST
CANON EOS R5
The Canon EOS R5 is the most anticipated camera in years. But does the 45Mp, 20fps and 8K beast live up to the hype?
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card format and so much more. Of course, something had to be too good to be true. No sooner had the camera been revealed then the realities hit home regarding the headline video capabilities – and ironically, those red-hot specs are literally too hot for the camera to handle, as the R5 is subject to strict recording limitations to prevent it from overheating.
Robert Marc Lehmann
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t is undoubtedly the most talked-about camera of the last ten years, and now the Canon EOS R5 has finally arrived – and along with it, a tidal wave of hype and expectation is hitting the shores of reality and Reddit experts. The R5 promises the world, with the kind of specs that on paper would make this the ultimate all-purpose camera: a 45Mp full-frame image sensor; uncropped 8K raw internal video; uncropped 4K video all the way up to 120fps; a maximum 20fps continuous shooting speed that matches that of the EOS-1D X Mk III, Canon’s flagship DSLR; autofocus that uses the same AI-based algorithm that powers the flagship, but surpasses it with Dual Pixel CMOS AF II and Animal autofocus; In-Body Image Stabilization that’s good for an incredible 8 stops; support for the cutting-edge CFexpress memory
We fully tested the new EOS R5, which is now Canon’s flagship mirrorless camera setting on top of the R tree
The EOS R5’s 45Mp sensor’s massive amount of megapixels captures so much detail in wildlife images like these
Just how painful is this sting in the tail, and is there anything else on that remarkable spec sheet that’s also proved too good to be true?
Key features
As noted, such are the calibre of the Canon EOS R5’s specs that virtually everything about this camera is a key feature. Let’s start with that 45Mp sensor, which Canon claims makes the R5 “the highest resolution EOS camera ever” – supposedly resolving even greater detail than the 50.6Mp Canon EOS 5DS/R. This is thanks to the new low-pass filter design, which was introduced in the top-boy 1D X Mark III. Traditional low-pass filters (which are designed to get rid of moiré) employ dual-layer,
On paper, the Canon EOS R5’s specs promise the ultimate all-purpose camera www.digitalcameraworld.com
CANON EOS R5
four-point sub-sampling and introduce a layer of softness to images; Canon’s new filter features quad-layer, 16-point sub-sampling and combines it with a Gaussian distribution technique to deliver sharpness that Canon says out-resolves the 5DS/R. That 45Mp sensor is also the muscle behind the much discussed 8K video mode. The R5 can capture uncropped (“full-width” or “full readout”) Raw 8K video that uses the entirety of the 35mm sensor – and it does so internally at up to 29.97fps in 4:2:2 12-bit Canon Log or HDR PQ (both H.265) in UHD as well as DCI. Its 4K capture is every bit as ferocious, recording at up to 119.88fps (in the same 4:2:2 Canon Log or HDR PQ, in UHD or DCI) with external HDMI recording up at up to 59.94fps. However, the R5 is much more than just a video behemoth. Since the 8K DCI video has a resolution of 8192x4320, the R5 possesses a Frame Grab function that enables you to take highresolution 35.4Mp stills (as either JPEGs or HEIF files) from your footage – and those stills have 5.1Mp more resolution than the Canon EOS R! And it’s not just a The Canon Magazine
gimmick, it’s a brilliant feature (more on that later). As noted, the Canon EOS R5 features the same Deep Learning autofocus system as the EOS-1D X Mark III. This is built around an artificial intelligence-programmed algorithm that enables the camera not just to detect and track the human face and eyes, but also the human head. If your subject is wearing goggles or a helmet, or they face away from the camera, most systems don’t know what to focus on. However, with Deep Learning, the EOS R5 knows that
Canon pro Robert Marc Lehmann used the R5 with the new Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM to capture this action shot at 1/3200 sec, f/6.3 and ISO12,800
New Deep Learning Animal autofocus in the EOS R5 enables you to track all types of fast-moving animals with ease
the head is always the point of focus – which means that skiers, motorcycle riders, American football players and so on will always have their heads in focus. The R5 boasts two important new tricks over the top-end 1D X Mark III DSLR, though. Firstly, it possesses the next generation of Canon’s fantastic Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology. Secondly, this new tech dovetails with additional Deep Learning algorithms that imbues the cameras with Animal AF; just like with human subjects, the R5 can now detect and track dogs, cats and birds (along with other animals) by their faces, eyes and bodies. Moreover, it can also track birds in flight – and, yes, it really works (more on this over the page). And, of course, the R5 marks the agonizingly long-awaited debut of
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PREVIEW
Mark II in the product line-up, but it actually shares more in common with the flagship 1D X Mark III DSLR. For starters it features virtually the same 20.1Mp sensor, just without the fancy new low-pass filter (which remains exclusive to the EOS-1D X Mark III and the EOS R5). It also boasts the same shooting speeds, capable of cranking out 20fps shooting electronically, or 12 frames via the mechanical shutter. On top of that, it has the same ace autofocus (AF) tech, built around Canon’s Deep Learning AF – the AI-originated algorithm that enables the camera to track eyes, faces and heads on human subjects.
The R6 even one-ups the 1D X Mark III (and matches the R5), as it also features Animal AF that can track dogs, cats and birds in flight by recognizing their eyes, faces and bodies. And along with the R5, this body is the first to feature the next generation of Canon’s core AF tech, Dual Pixel AF II. Its video specs are robust, too, as the R6 can capture 8- or 10-bit 4K UHD footage at up to 60p, with 1080p/Full HD video at up to 120p (the latter not being an option on the R5), with full AF tracking functions supported across all video resolutions and frame-rates. Low light performance is actually superior on the R6 compared to the
Providing class-leading speed and full frame quality, the new R6 is a powerful and versatile camera
R5, thanks to the fewer (and, hence, larger) pixels on the image sensor. Its standard ISO range covers 100-102,400 (expandable to 50-204,800), and it can autofocus down to -6EV – which is the equivalent of a completely blacked-out room illuminated by a single candle. And of course, it also features the long-awaited debut of Canon’s 5-axis In-Body Image Stabilization (aka IBIS) system, which offers a CIPA-rated maximum of 8-stops of stability depending on the RF lens you mount on the R6.
WHAT CANON SAYS ABOUT THE EOS R6 AT THE Reimagine launch event Canon said, “The EOS R6 delivers unparalleled speed and full-frame image quality. It’s the camera that truly shines in low light, with an ISO range that’s extendable up to 204,800! It really expands your shooting options when light starts to fade. Plus, with the lowest light AF of any Canon camera, the R6 can deliver sharp images even when you can barely see a thing.” Canon Ambassador Samo Vidic – a sports and adventure photographer – had this to say about when shooting canoeists in action with the R6: “We act fast, and so does
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the camera. This camera locks the autofocus on the face and doesn’t lose it. The speed of the intelligent AF with eye, face and people and even animal tracking is blazing fast. I didn’t miss a single shot. Plus the camera’s menus are really easy to work with. It’s a game-changer with 20fps, you can get the speed you need.” While Canon pro Richard Walch said this while shooting speedway racing bikes: “You can freely move your AF centre point where you think the action will start to happen. The face recognition even works when they’re wearing helmets!”
Canon Ambassador and action sports photographer Richard Walch using the R6 and RF 100-500mm
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CANON EOS R6
Javier Cortes
The Canon R6 has the same Deep Learning AF tech like the pro EOS-1D X Mark III DSLR
Build and handling
The R6 closely resembles the Canon EOS RP in both looks and handling, though it’s notably chunkier to hold. Like the RP it lacks a top OLED panel, and features a conventional Canon mode dial, rather than the mode button seen on the Canon EOS R and R5. The back of the camera features a control wheel, replacing the compass-like D-pad buttons of the R and RP, and it also benefits from a joystick – a very welcome addition that isn’t traditionally found on 6-series cameras. Being that it is a 6-series body, the weather sealing is on par with the 6D. However, because it’s so much slimmer, the R6 isn’t as substantial as its bigger-boned DSLR counterpart. It’s far from a fragile camera, in its poly-carbon shell and a lighter body, but DSLRs always feel like you could bash down a door with them if you needed to; this mirrorless body won’t take the same knocks and drops we imagine. In the hand it really is like using the EOS R or RP, as the ergonomics are so similar. Having the control wheel and joystick definitely improves your ability to interface The Canon Magazine
with the camera, menus and particularly the AF, and these DSLR-style inputs will make you feel more at home if you’re moving across from the 6D or Canon EOS 7D Mark II.
Performance
Although we couldn’t take any sample images during our hands-on, our test drive of the Canon EOS R6 left us with very good first impressions. Again, like the R5, if you’ve used the existing EOS R bodies then handling and shooting with this camera will feel very familiar – Canon’s friendly menus and intuitive inputs make navigating modes and changing settings straightforward, enabling you to focus on actually shooting your subject.
With the EOS R6’s native ISO range of 100-102,400 and IBIS, it’s a real low-light beater, even when you’re shooting action in dark rooms indoors
Mic and earphone sockets will make capturing 4K video much easier
Like its big brother, there’s a significant and immediately noticeable improvement in autofocus performance. The AF on the R6 feels much more nimble, adaptable and reliable than current R cameras. The Deep Learning AF engine from the 1D X Mark III makes a huge difference, with the eye, face and head detection proving just as reliable as it was on the flagship DSLR. The tracking seems much better, too, with AF points feeling much ‘stickier’ and more faithful when the view is interrupted by obstacles or passers by. We found the autofocus system in the 1D X III to be the best we’ve ever used – and if anything, the AF in the EOS R6 is a
SPECIFICATIONS SENSOR 20.1Mp full-frame CMOS 35.9x23.9mm IMAGE PROCESSOR Digic X MAX IMAGE SIZE 5472x3684 pixels METERING ZONES 384 STABILIZATION 5-axis, up to 8 stops MEMORY CARD 2x UHS-II SD/SDHC/SDXC VIEWFINDER 0.5-inch OLED EVF, 3690k dots, 100% coverage, 0.76x magnification, 120fps refresh rate VIDEO 4K UHD at 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, 24p / 1080p (FullHD) at 120p, 100p, 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, 24p ISO RANGE 100-102,400 (expandable to 50-204,800) AF POINTS 6072 Dual Pixel CMOS AF II LOW LIGHT AF Sensitive to -6.5 EV MAX BURST RATE 12fps mechanical shutter, 20fps electronic shutter SCREEN 3-inch fully articulating touchscreen, 1620k dots WEIGHT 598g body only (or 680g with card and battery) DIMENSIONS 138x98x88mm PRICE £2499/$2499 body only
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BUYERS’ GUIDE to a few With prices ranging from a couple of hundred ryone, thousand, Canon has an EOS camera to suit eve pro… from the complete beginner to most demanding
What to look for Canon EOS cameras Canon splits its EOS DSLR lineup into entry-level, enthusiast and professional ranges; the 4000D is the most basic, the 800D and 77D for intermediates, the 80D and full-frame 6D Mk II for more advanced enthusiasts, while the 7D, full-frame 5D and 1D lines have pro-level features. With more expensive models, expect greater handling, more robust build quality (weather-sealing and magnesium-alloy shells), more advanced features, and full-frame rather than APS-C image sensors. We also now have the full-frame EOS R cameras for mirrorless fans, the EOS RP as an ‘entry-level’ and more affordable option, with the EOS R for more serious photographers. Plus not forgetting Canon’s compact system APS-C EOS M camera range.
DSLR CAMERAS PRICES QUOTED ARE BODY-ONLY UNLESS STATED
CANON EOS 4000D
TESTED IN ISSUE 140 PRICE: £300/$N/A CANON has stripped everything down to its bare essentials for the 4000D, and it’s a great if basic DSLR for beginners, and at only £300 (body), it’s the cheapest new EOS DSLR. Sadly, it’s let down by a cheap kit lens, that’s tough to tolerate, so we suggest buying the better IS lens.
CANON EOS 2000D (REBEL T7)
18Mp APS-C CMOS Pentamirror, 0.8x, 95% 100-6400 (12,800 exp) 9-point (1 cross-type) 2.7-in, 230k-dot 3fps SD/SDHC/SDXC
TESTED IN ISSUE 149 PRICE with 18-55mm kit lens: £400/$450
ENTRY-LEVEL
THE 2000D is a better-spec Canon camera than the 4000D, but comes with a step up at its RRP current price. It’s arguably worth the extra, but that puts it in a difficult spot, where another step up in outlay will get you an EOS 200D, which is a far better overall DSLR camera.
CANON EOS 250D (REBEL SL3) THE new EOS 250D/Rebel SL3 is not Canon’s cheapest entry-level DSLR, but we think it’s the best budget/beginner DSLR with the perfect blend of power and value. This is the body that will take people from snapping on their smartphones, to getting into the hobby.
CANON EOS 800D (REBEL T7i) CANON has shoehorned much of the tech of the enthusiast-level 80D into a beginner body. The 800D inherits its bigger brother’s 24Mp Dual Pixel sensor for superior Live View autofocus, uses the same 45-point module for viewfinder autofocus, and betters its ISO performance.
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Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card
Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card
24.1Mp APS-C CMOS Pentamirror, 0.8x, 95% 100-6400 (12,800 exp) 9-point (1 cross-type) 3-in, 920k-dots 3fps SD/SDHC/SDXC
TESTED IN ISSUE 168 PRICE: £480/$649 Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card
24.1Mp APS-C CMOS Pentamirror, 0.87x, 95% 100-25600 (51,200 exp) 9-point (1 cross-type) 3-in vari-angle touch screen, 1040k 5fps SD/SDHC/SDXC
TESTED IN ISSUE 149 PRICE: £600/$750 Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card
24.2Mp, APS-C (6000x4000 pixels) Pentamirror, 0.82x, 95% 100-25600 (51,200 exp) 45-point (all cross-type) 3-in vari-angle touch-screen, 1040k 6fps (27 Raw/Unlimited JPEG) SD/SDHC/SDXC
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CANON EOS 77D
TESTED IN ISSUE 156 PRICE with 18-135mm kit lens: £1030/$1400 THE key specs are identical to the 800D, but the extra top-plate LCD gives at-a-glance access to vital shooting info, while a rear control wheel makes dialing in exposure settings much quicker, promoting it to Canon’s ‘enthusiast’ range. Super image quality – even at high ISOs.
CANON EOS 90D
Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card
Pentamirror, 0.82x, 95% 100-25,600 (51,200 exp) 45-point (all cross-type) 3-in vari-angle touch-screen, 1040k 6fps (27 Raw/Unlimited JPEG) SD/SDHC/SDXC
TESTED IN ISSUE 168 PRICE: £1199/$1199 THE Canon 90D is a heavyweight replacement for the 80D, and this decathlete crop-camera comes with a new 32.5Mp sensor, super-quick 10fps continous shooting and 4K video, plus improved handling. This camera is an ideal APS-C camera upgrade for enthusiasts and beyond.
CANON EOS 7D Mk II
Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card
32.5Mp, APS-C (6960x4640 pixels) Pentaprism, 0.95x, 100% 100-25,600 (51,200 exp) 45-point (all cross-type) 3-in vari-angle touch-screen, 1040k 10fps (25 Raw/58 JPEG) SD/SDHC/SDXC
TESTED IN ISSUE 159 PRICE: £1350/$1650 HERE’S the king of action-packed APS-C format cameras. A long-overdue revamp of the original 7D, it has 65-point AF with advanced tracking, 10fps continuous drive, dual DIGIC 6 processors and GPS, all wrapped up in a tough, weathersealed magnesium alloy shell.
CANON EOS 6D Mk II
Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card
20.2Mp, APS-C (5472x3648 pixels) Pentaprism, 1.0x, 100% 100-16,000 (51,200 exp) 65-point (all cross-type) 3-in, 1040k dots 10fps (31 Raw/Unlimited JPEG) CompactFlash + SD/SDHC/SDXC
TESTED IN ISSUE 168 PRICE: £1349/$1349 THE world’s smallest full-frame DSLR – with a vari-angle touchscreen LCD – gets a major upgrade over the original 6D with improved speed and performance rather than outright image quality. It’s a great all-rounder now thanks to an improved AF system and burst rate.
CANON EOS 5D Mk IV
Sensor Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card
26.2Mp, full-frame (6240x4160 pixels) Optical pentaprism, 98% 100-40,000 (50-102,400 exp) 45-point (all cross-type) 3-in vari-angle touch-screen, 1040k 6.5fps (21 Raw/150 JPEG) SD/SDHC/SDXC
TESTED IN ISSUE 168 PRICE: £2789/$2499 A SUPERB all-rounder, the pro-level weathersealed full-frame 5D Mk IV combines a stunning hi-res 30Mp sensor with a swift 7fps frame rate. Its impressive specs list includes 4K video, a touchscreen LCD, Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity, and GPS to automatically geotag images.
Sensor
30.4Mp, full-frame (6720x4480 pixels)
Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer)
Pentaprism, 0.71x, 100% 100-32,000 (50-102,400 exp) 61-point (41 cross-type, 5 dual-cross) 3.2-in touch-screen, 1620k dots 7fps (21 Raw/Unlimited JPEG)
Memory card
CompactFlash + SD/SDHC/SDXC
TESTED IN ISSUE 148 PRICES: £2349/$3700 (£2500/$3899)
THE world’s first 50Mp full-frame DSLR delivers huge and amazingly detailed hi-res images. The higher-cost 5DS R adds a ‘low-pass cancellation filter’ for marginally sharper shots. As expected with such a high-res sensor, max ISO and drive rate are lower than with the 5D Mk IV.
Sensor
50.6Mp, full-frame (8688x5792 pixels)
Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer)
Pentaprism, 0.71x, 100% 100-6400 (50-12,800 exp) 61-point (41 cross-type, 5 dual-cross) 3.2-in, 1040k dots 5fps (14 Raw/510 JPEG)
Memory card
CANON EOS-1D X MARK III THE Canon EOS-1D X Mark III is the ultimate hybrid DSLR/mirrorless machine, with superb low-light performance up to ISO102,400, expandable to 819,200, Deep Learning AF and 5.5K Raw video. It can also capture up to 20fps in Live View mode making it a dream to shoot any action.
CompactFlash + SD/SDHC/SDXC
TESTED IN ISSUE 164 PRICE: £6500/$6500 Sensor
20.1Mp full-frame (5472x3648 pixels)
Viewfinder ISO AF LCD Max burst (buffer) Memory card
Pentaprism, 0.76x, 100% coverage 100-102,400 (exp 50-819,200) 191-point (155 cross-type) 3.2-inch touchscreen, 2.1million dots 20fps (1000 Raw/Unlimited JPEG) 2xCFexpress 1.0 Type B
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PROFESSIONAL
CANON EOS 5DS (5DS R)
The Canon Magazine
24.2Mp, APS-C (6000x4000 pixels)
ENTHUSIAST
9000
BUYERS’ GUIDE CAMERAS