Canon R5C: A True Hybrid

The Canon R5C, a camera that has received a lot of criticism since it's announcement.  Is it really as bad as people say, or is this camera just misunderstood? 

What does it have the R5 doesn't?

• Dedicated Canon Cinema menu

• Waveforms and False Color

• More robust codecs - XFAVC

• Timecode In/Out

• No time or heat limitations

• Tally Light

• Direct Touch UI

• Dual Gain ISO

What does it have in common with the R5?

• Same 45MP sensor

• Same mechanical and electronic shutter speeds

• Same battery

• Same AF system - In stills mode

• Same LCD and EVF

What is it missing?

• CLog2

• IBIS

• Animal Eye Detect in video

• Built in ND

• SDI

• Full size HDMI

• XLR Inputs

Let's get right into it, we all know the elephant in the room, why did Canon remove IBIS?  I think to understand this we need to first understand that this camera was designed to be a hybrid camera and so there are going to be necessary trade offs between the still and cinema departments.  The reason why you don't see IBIS in any dedicated cinema camera's is because of the physical limitations of the system.  Is there room for IBIS in a C300 or FX9, absolutely, so why did Canon and Sony leave it out?  IBIS or in body image stabilization is very good at holding steady shots steady, but where is struggles is when you start to pan, tilt or move the camera in ways that you typically see in video production.  IBIS systems have a very limited range that they can move the sensor and when they hit the edge of that range, they have to reset and move back to center.  When this happens you see the image jump.  While not something that is noticeable in photography, this is very noticeable in video. and the reason why you see gimbals used when shooting anything that has a lot of movement.

Moving back to photography, you might be saying, well that is all well and good, but you said this was a hybrid camera and IBIS is important for photography,  and I would agree with you, yes, image stabilization is important in photography, but IBIS isn't.  Until the R5 and R6, Canon's philosophy has always been, lens based image stabilization is better than camera based stabilization. Take the RF 15-35mm f/2.8 for example, you get up to 5 stops of image stabilization in the lens and only 2 additional stops when paired with the R5 or R6.  Whether you want to believe it or not, lens IS is doing the heavy lifting and is more than enough in most cases.  Now if we dive deeper into how Canon's IBIS system works, it relies on the lens relaying back focus distance information, this information tells the camera to increase or decrease the amount on movement needed out of the IBIS system.  This same technology is being implemented into the R5C, but is being paired with their digital IS system.  My hope it, by using the same technology that makes IBIS work so well, it should greatly help the Digital IS system work more smoothly.

Key points

• Missing IBIS

• No ND Filters

• $4,499 price tag

• Dual Gain Sensor

• Dedicated mode switch w/ dedicated menu systems

• Frame rates and codecs

  • MXF

  • Cinema RAW Light in different flavors

  • H.265

  • H.264

  • Proxy recording

• Full Frame - Super 35 - Super 16 Sensor Modes

• 4K oversampled from 8K sensor

• Audio Input through hotshoe

• 8k, 5.9K and 2.9K RAW out from HDMI for Atomos

• Fan for cooling

• Time code In/Out

• No full size HDMI

• Autofocus

  • Dual Pixel CMOS Auto Focus I in Video

  • Dual Pixel CMOS Auto Focus II in Photo

• Buttons are numbered

• Tally Light

• Focus assist, image magnification, zebras, false color and waveforms

• Battery

  • 1 hour 20 minutes on R5

  • 50min on R5C - Shooting in 8K RAW Light

• 12 FPS mechanical - 20 FPS electronic shutter

Lets talk about some of the strengths and weaknesses of the R5C, starting off with the dedicated photo/video switch.  Now yes, I know some people hate it, saying that they want to take a video and then snap a photo 2 seconds later, but I have yet to ever encounter a situation where this has ever been the case.  I clearly know going into a projects whether or not this is going to be video heavy shoot or a photo heavy shoot and being able to set the camera up to work in one mode and work well in that mode is very exciting.  Once you get use to shooting with Canon Cinema cameras, you really appreciate how they are laid out, how the UI looks, how the menu looks and having that in a stills body is going to be nice. 

The next big win with the R5C in my opinion is the inclusion of oversampled 4K from the 8K sensor.  Now sure, the camera having 8K and on paper that is fine, but will rarely ever be used on a professional job.  What is exciting though is the increased sharpness we get out of the 4K image because of the oversampling.  The C70 has in my opinion a pleasing, but very soft 4K image, the 4K HQ out of the R5 is beautiful, but will  cause the camera to overheat, this looks like a very happy middle ground.  Being able to also shoot this with the very edit friendly MXF wrapper is another pleasing add from Canon.

Let's talk Log profiles for a second because I know this is another big controversy.  Yes, the lack of CLog2 on paper sounds like a bummer, but when you look at sensor performance, this really isn't as big of a deal as most people think.  The C70 has a Dual Gain Output sensor from the C300 Mark III, this sensor is capable of over 16+ stops of dynamic range.  The R5C has the sensor out of the R5 and in lab tests produces around 12 stops of usable dynamic range.  Now when we look at the charts Canon CLog 3 is capable of up to 14 stops of dynamic range, CLog 2 is capable of handling up to 16 stops and it does this by boosting the noise floor.  Giving the R5C CLog 2 would not increase it's dynamic range, but it would produce a much noisier overall image and so I have to sorta have to agree with Canon on this one, Clog 3 is a better move with this camera, with this sensor.

Tally light, time code, the inclusion of a so many different recording formats and framerates, these are all great additions on the video side.  On the photo side, aside from IBIS, you have yourself a R5, same sensor, same 12 frames per second burst rate, same EVF and LCD screen, truly aside from the excision of IBIS, this is a fully featured professional stills camera with amazing video capabilities.  On the internet people are going to complain, but that's what the internet does, but at the end of the day, I think this is Canon's first legitimate hybrid camera and I am stoked to try one out.

I hope you found this helpful, maybe I changed your mind on this camera, let me know down below if this style of camera that you find interesting, or would you rather have a dedicated stills and cinema camera?  Thank you for reading!!