EOS 5DS R or R8

[kevin_blow]

I currently have an 80D and an RP, both of which have and continue to serve me well. I am now considering whether to upgrade to the R8 or get a second hand  5DS R. I am aware that the R8 has plenty of bells and whistles, but, I am more interested in image quality,. I have heard good things about the 5DS R and can obtain one with less than 10000 actuations. I mainly do landscape and low light urban photography.. The camera would be on a tripod shooting at iso 100. Can anyone who owns the 5DS R advise re noise and detail in low light images taken under the conditions outlined?

Edited July 16, 2023 by kevin_blow

[Ken Katz]

Unfortunately, there are far fewer EOS users on PN compared to years earlier, so you may not get a response from someone who actually has used either of these cameras. At 100 ISO, high ISO performance improvement would not be a factor, but for landscapes, DR and ISO invariance are more likely issues, especially if you are shooting scenes that years ago using color transparency film, you would have likely wanted to use split grad filters.

You may want to check out DP Review articles on the cameras, though an R6II review may need to substitute for the R8 if it is not available, since they both have the same sensor.  You may want to look at Ming Thein's review of the 5DS R. He is a talented photographer and well versed in photo technology, but is somewhat biased to Nikon, Leica, and Hasselblad equipment:

https://blog.mingthein.com/2015/08/19/long-term-canon-5dsr/

As a former 40+ year user of Canon equipment (left Canon FF due to deteriorated vertebra), to me the advantage of the R8 over the equipment you have and the 5DS R is better DR, since the latest Canon sensor has almost caught up to the Sony sensor equipped competition.  The improved AF subject tracking and high ISO performance would be what I want, but may not offer you much in what you shoot.  Buying a 5DSR would lock you into the EF lens world which is being slowly discontinued, though used and cheaper options should be around a long time.  At base ISO, in good light with moderate contrast, the 24mp R8 will not produce materially better images than an RP, or even the D80, while the 5DSR is 50mp.

Best of luck and hopefully someone who actually uses these cameras will comment.    

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Ken Katz

[paddler4]

I shoot with Canon (currently, an R6 Mark II), but I haven't used either of those bodies.

It seems like an odd comparison to me. What do you mean by "image quality"? Dynamic range? Fine detail? The 5DS and 5DS R were introduced more than 8 years ago for people who wanted lots of megapixels. The sensor shows its age; at base ISO, it has two stops less dynamic range than the R8 or R6 Mark II. The two cameras differ in lots of ways, although some of these won't matter to you.

So, one question is whether you need all of those megapixels and therefore are willing to pay the price of smaller photosites and an old sensor design, both of which will exact a cost in terms of dynamic range and low-light performance. Most people don't. Unless you crop severely or print VERY large, you won't see any improvement from the additional MPX, and unless you use good lenses, you won't see much, if any. For example, on a Canon professional printer, a 13 x 19 print requires 22.2 MPX. The fact is that most printing software handles moderate up-rezzing well, and you won't see those individual pixels anyway at a reasonable viewing distance. I've exhibited 13 x 19 and 17 x 22 prints from 22 and 30 MPX sensors, and the prints are excellent with those resolutions. On a computer screen, you need even less.

I personally do a fair amount of urban night photography, and one question about that is how you do it. I generally do it with a very low ISO and a tripod for long exposures, and for that, even sensors that don't handle low light well by bumping ISO do just fine. If you do it handheld with short shutter speeds and higher ISO, I would choose a camera with larger photosites and a newer sensor that handles higher ISOs well.

[Mark Keefer]

I personally like higher resolution cameras and cameras that we were shooting with a few years ago were not junk. Getting proper exposure on these older cameras can make a big improvement on the end result. Getting longer exposures on a tripod in low light and advancements in AI post processing like noise reduction and detail or resolution enhancements, can certainly bring images to a new level not easily achievable 8 years ago. 

I know. It wasn't until the 5D MK IV that the Canon sensor made the big improvement in low light and ability to bring things out of the black without horrible banding. This was something in prior Canon cameras that had me envious of the Nikon shooters. But again, I point to it was so important to get proper exposure. The new post processing can make up for some of the short comings when comparing old sensors to the newest Canon R line in 2023, and those sensors have come a long way. Along with those advancements is a big price tag for the latest high resolution cameras approaching 50 megapixels.

There are techniques to achieve higher megapixel images with great detail using lower mega pixel cameras and not extremely wide lenses and compositing and stitching together multiple images to make a larger one, though it is a bit more work. ADOBE Lightroom has made it easier to achieve also.

In the end you have to wiegh in all the factors and decide what is important for your photography and your budget. Happy shooting with what ever you decide and I hope you stop back and let us know and what was your deciding factor.

Edited July 23, 2023 by Mark Keefer

[kevin_blow]

Thank you to those who were able to respond. After a lot of deliberation, I have decided to go with a Sony A7R III and adapt my lenses using the Sigma MC-11, as I have some sigma art lenses and Tamron lenses. Depending on how well they work will determine on what, if any, Sony lenses I buy.

My low light urban is long exposure using a tripod at iso 100.

Edited July 23, 2023 by kevin_blow

[Mark Keefer]

On 7/23/2023 at 11:30 AM, kevin_blow said:

Thank you to those who were able to respond. After a lot of deliberation, I have decided to go with a Sony A7R III and adapt my lenses using the Sigma MC-11, as I have some sigma art lenses and Tamron lenses. Depending on how well they work will determine on what, if any, Sony lenses I buy.

My low light urban is long exposure using a tripod at iso 100.

I did that too, though I have the Metabones Adapter. Only was a bit of a learning curve and weird stuff like some things don't work in some modes, shutter and f-stop front and back are opposite Canon. You will like the bump in resolution. Enjoy.

Edited July 25, 2023 by Mark Keefer