Canon announces development of EOS R5: shoots 8K video, 20fps bursts, features IBIS & dual card slots
posted Thursday, February 13, 2020 at 1:21 PM EDT
Surprise Canon fans! The EOS R-series is expanding and in a MAJOR way with the development announcement of a forthcoming Canon EOS R5 full-frame camera. Though full details are unavailable at this time, what we do know is that the R5 looks to be an absolute beast of a camera specs-wise, going way beyond what the earlier EOS R was capable of, and in fact, beyond what most other cameras on the market today can do.
Based around an all-new, Canon-desiged full-frame CMOS sensor and image processor, the EOS R5 will shoot video at 8K resolution -- a world's first for a consumer-oriented camera. It will also of course shoot 4K video and will allow for still-image extraction from video footage. Back at Photokina 2016, Canon showed off an 8K Cinema EOS camera, though we've still yet to see such a camera make it to market. (The EOS C700 full-frame Cinema EOS camera shoots video up to 5.9K in RAW at up to 60fps.)
Exciting times for video creators, indeed!
On the stills side of things, the upcoming R5 will offer fast continuous burst shooting at up to 20 frames-per-second with the electronic shutter and 12fps with the mechanical shutter, putting it well beyond the speeds of the EOS R's maximum 8fps. The R5 will soon be amongst the fastest full-frame mirrorless cameras, such as the 20fps-capable Sony A9 II. It also puts it up near Canon's own EOS 1D X III, which offers 16fps burst (OVF) or 20fps with Live View. Whether or not the R5's 20fps burst works with continous AF, however, remains to be seen.
In terms of the physical design and other hardware, the EOS R5 looks fairly similar to the original EOS R, at least from the front and based on the single press image released so far. Based on other images and reports, the R5 appears to have opted against the EOS R's finicky Touchbar control and instead offers more physical buttons and a joystick control. Officially, Canon also reveals that the R5 will feature in-body image stabilization -- a first for Canon's EOS R-lne. How many stops of stabilization it will offer is unknown at this time, but the IBIS system is said to also work in tandem with Canon's optically-stabilized RF lenses.
Additionally, the EOS R5 will offer dual card slots, which was a prominent missing feature on the EOS R and RP cameras. Further, the R5 will have wireless connectivity and will offer automatic image transfer capabilities with Canon's newly-announced image.canon cloud platform.
Alongside the development of the R5, Canon has also laid out a few details about forthcoming RF lenses. Overall, they are said to be develpoing seven new RF lenses as well as two RF teleconverters (1.4x and 2x) that should be making their way to market in 2020. Details of what the exact lenses are mostly under wraps, but they did specify that a long telephoto zoom lens, the RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM, is currently in the works.
Given that this is just a development annoucement, specifics on when the Canon EOS R5 will be available is not yet known at this time. Based on the specs we've heard about so far, we absolutely cannot wait to get our hands on it!
