EOS 5DS Body

[grilla]

I am a hobbyist and have noticed that I see Nikon D850's and higher end Sony's in the field. I have never seen a EOS 5DS or 5DS-R and have also seen very little mention of it in the forums. I am curious as to why you might think that might be.It has 50mp, decent reviews, and the price appears to be right (I do see them heavily discounted from time to time).
Just curious as to your opinion.

[BernardLanguillier]

The sensor used in the 5Ds is based on 7 or 8 years old sensor technology. It was in fact already significantly behind its times the day it was announced.

It’s dynamic range is 2 to 3 stops behind the best.

Most other aspects of its performance are similarly outdated, in particular its AF system.

If you have to use a Canon DSLR, the 5DmkIV or 1DxII are probably better overall options. If you are not already invested in EOS mount lenses I would clearly stay away. There are much better options starting with Sony mirrorless.

Cheers,
Bernard

[viewfinder]

Interesting!

A curious feature of 'LL' is that some otherwise well regarded cameras get short shrift here.    When nikon d850 came out there was almost universal enthusiasm across the web but reading here one might have thought that it was not really of saleable quality.....    Now here we have the highly regarded 5D from Canon equally sneered at....mystery!    Many sites across the web consider the earlier 5D moidels to be excellent buys for amateur and occaisonal photographers who desire good image quality/function,...indeed, I have been toying with the same idea myself as a car camera for the odd landscape and tech photo for website use etc....originally I was looking for a nikon d700 b ut have been reliably informed that my meagre funds will go much further and be more effective if I shelve the d700 idea and go for a 5Dii or iii.......

comments would be valued!

[sbay]

The 5Ds came out right about the same times as the sony a7R2. At that time I decided to switch over in part because of the limited IQ on the canon. I think more than a few canon landscape shooters did so as well.

[Martin Kristiansen]

The 5Ds came out right about the same times as the sony a7R2. At that time I decided to switch over in part because of the limited IQ on the canon. I think more than a few canon landscape shooters did so as well.

Yep. I found Canon to be solid, reliable and uninspiring. Moved to Sony with a bunch of APSC bodies and an A7RII.

Of course utterly brilliant and award winning images can be made with a Canon camera.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Oh, my! Why has nobody told me before that I am shooting with an inferior camera, resulting in inferior photographs!?

[32BT]

Oh, my! Why has nobody told me before that I am shooting with an inferior camera, resulting in inferior photographs!?

Comprehensive readingskillzzzz ftw. They are saying no such thing:

Yep. I found Canon to be solid, reliable and uninspiring. Moved to Sony with a bunch of APSC bodies and an A7RII.

Of course utterly brilliant and award winning images can be made with a Canon camera.

[viewfinder]

Well unfortunately I live in the UK where this stuff is "absurdly expensive", and even the early A7 24milpix models are twice the price of 5d models and well outside what i have to spend given a raft of other passions, two classic vehicles, ancient cottage and vital charity to support.   Also there are the sony drawbacks;...namely, the weird shape demanding finger joints where i don't have any, always flat battery and the stock sony reply when (not if) it stops working...."we don't have any parts left and there are better models now so just buy a new one"

[Martin Kristiansen]

Well unfortunately I live in the UK where this stuff is "absurdly expensive", and even the early A7 24milpix models are twice the price of 5d models and well outside what i have to spend given a raft of other passions, two classic vehicles, ancient cottage and vital charity to support.   Also there are the sony drawbacks;...namely, the weird shape demanding finger joints where i don't have any, always flat battery and the stock sony reply when (not if) it stops working...."we don't have any parts left and there are better models now so just buy a new one"

Well then just relax yourself and buy the Canon. Why on earth did you even look at the Sony since it has those glaring flaws anyway?

If you don’t get brilliant  images with the Canon it certainly won’t be the cameras fault.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Comprehensive readingskillzzzz ftw. They are saying no such thing:

I was responding mostly to Bernard's bashing. If I wanted to respond to Martin directly, I would have quoted him.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... I have never seen a EOS 5DS or 5DS-R and have also seen very little mention of it in the forums. I am curious as to why you might think that might be....

Because, like with most online reviews of anything, it is filled with tire-kickers and bitchers & moaners. The rest of us, silent majority, just go out and shoot, making the best of the equipment we have, not chasing the best equipment there is.

[faberryman]

Oh, my! Why has nobody told me before that I am shooting with an inferior camera, resulting in inferior photographs!?

I find members here rarely say anything negative about posted images, so you have to factor that in. I have seen absolutely crap images with a lot of backslapping and high five-ing.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

I find members here rarely say anything negative about posted images...

You obviously haven't read some of my critiques

Having said that, I have never ever said anything like "Hey, dude, your dynamic range sucks in this image." Nor anyone else said that.

[faberryman]

You obviously haven't read some of my critiques

Well, I have only been around here a year or so, but my experience is that you rarely say anything critical about an image. Perhaps you are mellowing out from the old days.

[viewfinder]

Interesting that my impressions are not just mine alone it seems;

https://petapixel.com/2019/06/28/i-switched-from-canon-to-sony-4-years-ago-here-are-8-things-ive-learned/

[BernardLanguillier]

Oh, my! Why has nobody told me before that I am shooting with an inferior camera...!?

Don’t confuse not being told and deciding not to listen.

Even I can take decent images with most cameras, but this doesn’t say anything about how much better off I would be with best in class equipment. Don’t forget that seen from our Sony team it’s rather amazing that anyone using a Nikon Z7 is able to do any write operation to a memory card let alone call that a photograph. But I am able to recognize the superiority of their camera on some aspects.

And... the existence of the expression “silent majority” doesn’t imply that every silence is an expression of the existence of an underlying majority. A much more plausible explanation for silence is that there’s nobody left to speak.

Finally, only fan boys call “bashing” a factual contrary view about their outdated equipment of choice, even if their talent as a photographer helps then overcome most of the negatives. Since you are too smart to be a fanboy, how about trying to escape the society of the spectacle forcing you into a role of defense of a brand you owe nothing to and that has delivered as only thank you the release of a long stream of lukewarm camera bodies?

Cheers,
Bernard

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Bernard,

Choosing a camera is so much more than comparing measurbators' charts.

If I want to generalize, I would say that those who think along the lines "how much better off I would be with best in class equipment" and constantly jumping the ship for the next best thing are typically rather lousy to average photographers.

[BernardLanguillier]

Bernard,

Choosing a camera is so much more than comparing measurbators' charts.

If I want to generalize, I would say that those who think along the lines "how much better off I would be with best in class equipment" and constantly jumping the ship for the next best thing are typically rather lousy to average photographers.

I agree, and that’s why I don’t own the latest a9 with firmware 5.0 (although I agree it focuses better than any canera I own), but there is a difference btwn constantly jumping ship and acknowledging consistant inferiority and calling it a day.

Anyway, your call my friend.

But would you go as far as honestly advising newcomers to buy a 5Ds? I’d be really interested in the rationale...

My view is that we make decisions at a point in time based on what’s best for us. I picked Nikon, you picked Canon. And that’s fine. Canon makes great lenses, their WB is excellent which results in nice colors. Their cameras work for your applications.

But there is frankly zero reason to pick Canon today if your start from scratch, and very little reason to select Nikon also btw. That’s why I advised Sony to the OP. I have no eggs in either basket, I am just being objective as I have always tried to be. I used to belong to a small minority of “serious” photographers not using Canon, now “serious” Canon shooters are becoming a minority.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... But would you go as far as honestly advising newcomers to buy a 5Ds? I’d be really interested in the rationale...

If someone just crawled out from under a rock (that is, completely new to photography, say coming from a smartphone camera), I would not suggest 5Ds. Having said that, I wouldn't suggest D850 or Sony 7 or 9 series either. Too sophisticated for a newbie. But if you (or they) insist on immediately jumping to the best, I would suggest to handle all three cameras, maybe try it for a few days, to see how it feels.

I once wanted to buy a Leica R (reflex), tried it in a store, and immediately disliked it to the point of abandoning the purchase idea. Then a few years later I tried Leica S and immediately fell in love with it (in contrast to the R model, I couldn't afford the S).

Furthermore, the newcomer you mention would need to tell me what are his intentions with the camera. What type of photography? How big the prints? How many lenses? Which type? I bought a 50 Mpx camera, for instance, because at the time I was selling really big pictures in art fairs, and I already own plenty of Canon stuff.

If the newcomer is not really a total newcomer, but is already invested in a certain ecosystem, would need to know how expensive and time consuming it would be to jump the ship.

But let's say I lose all my equipment in a fire or is stolen and I get insurance money fully. I would first reevaluate my current needs. Do I still need big prints? If no, I might downgrade to m4/3 for portability. If my needs remained the same, I would give a chance to Nikon D850 (I still prefer the optical viewfinder), but not until I try it for handling. I would also try Sony for the same. Depending on my mood (long-term one) I might be too lazy to learn a new system and would stick to Canon.

5Ds today is rather old, so I wouldn't buy another one today. If I would stick to Canon, I would probably go the mirrorless route, perhaps waiting for the pro body. The attraction? The new 70-200/2.8 which is significantly more compact than the old version, as well as the new crop of lenses.

Does that answer your question?

[BernardLanguillier]

Yes!

Cheers,
Bernard