A promised and often requested blog post, long overdue.
Fair warning: Today’s blog post may be the photogeekiest post I’ve ever published so if you’re not a photographer, and a fairly serious one at that, proceed at your own risk because you’ll really have to slog through this one. But if you’re still on the fence about switching to mirrorless, or you’re just curious, it might be right up your alley.
When I switched from DSLR cameras (I was shooting the Canon 7D Mark II at the time) to the mirrorless Canon R5 I made a point of extolling the considerable virtues of the R5 to my readers. But only in passing did I mention some of the ‘quirks’ inherent with mirrorless cameras, some of which I found difficult to adapt to. I promised that at some point I’d publish a post about those quirks, but then life, including thyroid surgery and multiple back surgeries, got in the way so I never got around to it.
But apparently there’s a lot of folks still on the fence about switching to mirrorless because I keep getting requests to get off the pot and publish that promised post. I received another one of those requests yesterday so I decided to tackle the project today. Apologies for the extended delay.
Some of the quirks I’ll mention may be specific to the R5 but I suspect many of them are inherent to most or all mirrorless cameras. They will also be specific to my style of shooting, which mostly involves birds and nature, lots of behavior, flight and action shots and no video to speak of.
The Canon R5. Image in Creative Commons – Copyright Harrison Jones.
Following are some mirrorless camera quirks that I’ve noticed, in no particular order. Some may be specific to the R5 and the ones I’ve included here are based on my own experience, or lack of same.
- Mirrorless cameras tend to be significantly smaller than DSLRs, in part because mirrors and mirror boxes aren’t necessary. Some photographers don’t like their ergonomics because they’re too small to feel comfortable in their hands. Over long periods of time, hands can cramp up. Personally, I’ve never had that problem with the R5, even though it seemed quite small to me at first. While photographing I often get pretty severe hand cramps (those damn things hurt!) but they’re never in my right hand, the one holding the camera. Instead, I get them in my left hand, the hand I use to stabilize my long lens.
- Because there’s no mirror in front of the expensive sensor of the R5 to protect it, and because I often remove my lens in the field to swap out my teleconverter, I’m more nervous about swapping it out than I was when I was shooting with DSLR’s. It’s easier to get dust or debris on the more exposed sensor, or to damage it, than it was with a DSLR. Nothing bad has happened yet but I try to be extra careful, which slows the swapping process down a little. Occasionally I miss shots because of it.
- Lens selection is still more limited with mirrorless than with DSLRs but that’s never been a problem for me. I knew from the get-go that I was going to stick with my beloved Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM as my primary birding lens and use an adapter instead of buying new RF glass. I’ve never regretted that decision, in part because I’m usually shooting from my pickup (or a tripod) so my larger, heavier lens isn’t an issue. If you hike regularly with your gear your needs may be different.
- The R5 is a little slow to start up as it comes out of standby mode. It seems to take a half-second or so and that can cause missed shots when you’re trying to lock onto your subject (very fast birds especially) after the camera has been asleep.
- Many mirrorless cameras, including the R5 in certain situations, love to focus on backgrounds. Occasionally it gets stuck on a background and has difficulty focusing on closer, blurrier subjects without a little help. To be honest, this is one of my biggest complaints about the R5. It can be a cussword inducer.
- Many of the R5’s quirks are related, in one way or another, to the electronic viewfinder (EVF).
- I had a hard time getting used to the colors in the EVF because they looked so different from those in the viewfinder of my previous DSLR’s. But now I’m used to them and it’s the colors in my DSLR’s that look funny.
- Because of processor lag and display refresh rates, what you’re seeing in the EVF isn’t happening at that exact instant. Usually I don’t notice the lag (it’s only milliseconds) but sometimes I do and it can be aggravating.
- The R5’s EVF eyepiece has a proximity sensor that will automatically switch from the viewfinder to the rear screen when part of your face isn’t touching or very near the eyepiece. As a result, when you’re shooting a herky-jerky subject like a bird at quickly changing angles your viewfinder can suddenly go dark when your eye pulls slightly away from the eyepiece. It used to really piss me off until I realized I could optionally disable that feature.
- Battery drain with the R5 is a bit of an issue, mostly because of the fairly constant demands of the EVF. But I’ve managed it nicely by only having two batteries at hand – the one in the camera and an extra. Up to this point I’ve never needed more than two in a single photo session, even though I have more if I ever need them.
- The R5, and I presume all other high end mirrorless cameras, are incredibly complicated beasts when you’re trying to get them set up for your style of shooting. Even at this late date, I’m still fine tuning mine.
All things considered, would I ever go back to a DSLR? Not a chance!
Canon’s animal/eye detection is worth the price of admission all by itself. These days I’m getting multiple sharp shots of fast-moving subjects like birds in flight that I had virtually no chance to get sharp with a DSLR. The approximately 45 MB file size of the R5 means I can drastically crop my images and still have more detail than I used to get with my 7DII. And since I’m using compressed RAW, those huge file sizes are whittled down to a much more manageable size without noticeable loss of detail.
In burst mode I can use the relatively quiet mechanical shutter at up to 12 frames per second (my default) or switch to the silent electronic shutter at up to 20 frames per second and still retain full autoexposure and autofocus. When I’m looking through the electronic viewfinder I can see what my exposure looks like without taking my eye away to look at my screen or fiddling with extra buttons or dials. For my style of shooting, that’s huge.
There are other advantages to mirrorless also, but this post is primarily about “quirks” so that’s where I’ve concentrated.
If you’ve slogged through this entire edition of Feathered Photography you’re probably at least considering switching to mirrorless. If so, good luck with your decision. I don’t regret mine.
Ron
Note: Ron Dudley’s middle name is ‘Inflexible’ so I probably had more difficulty adapting to mirrorless than most folks would. If I can do it, you most certainly can.
Not trying to extol the virtues of Nikon but wanted to share that the Z9 has a sensor dust protection curtain. When you turn the camera off, it closes over the sensor. It’s great for safely changing lenses which was something I’d worried about, as you mention, with your R5. It is also a pretty large body, with a built in battery grip. I do personally find more comfortable to use (and I am a woman with small hands and arthritis) and similar in feel to a DSLR. However it is heavier than other mirrorless cameras because of this. Lastly, the battery life is excellent. I can get roughly 700 shots on one fully charged battery. I know my friends say that even the Sony a1 chews through battery.
There are things I am still on the fence with though, and not sure if they are specific to the Nikon Z9 or to mirrorless in general (since the Z9 is my first mirrorless), like I find it a lot more contrasty and sensitive to bright areas (like whites get blown out more easily). And while it’s fabulous at tracking BIF, like other cameras it can be challenging if the bird is in brush or a background without much contrast (or matching the bird’s coloration).
Beth, see Everet’s comment below regarding the “curtain”. I was unaware that the R5 has it.
Fantastic!!
Enjoyed the post, even though a long-time Nikon user (since 1965)! There certainly are aspects of the mirrorless cameras I’d love to have, but I’m not at the point to spend more, having recently purchased a Puget Systems computer for a lot more than I should have spent!
I’ll just continue to be jealous of those new capabilities for the foreseeable future, and anjoy your posts.
Anthony, based on their good reputation I looked into Puget Systems computers some years ago but the exorbitant cost put me off.
It is all of that!
I’ve been shooting with the Canon R3 for 10 months, evolving from the Canon 1DX MIII. Incredible machine! Two points I can quickly offer for consideration that may be of help to you or your readers:
1) You should always shut off your mirrorless camera before changing lenses. When you shut it off, the sensor drops back into the body and mechanical curtains cover the opening to protect from dust or moisture.
2) Read this article on mechanical vs electronic shutter. When you choose mechanical shutter, you’ve eliminated some of the best technical advancements that mirrorless have to offer. I’ve never shot using the mechanical shutter and unless I was using a flash(which I never do with wildlife) I doubt I will ever have reason to use it.
https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/infobank/electronic-vs-mechanical-shutter/
Thanks for your input, Everet.
1) I always have turned off my camera before removing my lens – DSLR or mirrorless. But it’s nice to know that the mirrorless sensor isn’t as exposed as I thought it was.
2) Based on what you said, and after reading the article, I may have to give the electronic shutter a try. I’ve been waiting for Canon to come out with an artificial shutter sound in a firmware update for the R5’s electronic shutter but it’s looking like they’re not going to do it.
But in the end, it’s my guess that I’ll stick with the mechanical shutter. I really don’t like not being able to hear shutter sounds and in most situations I think 12 fps is just about the right compromise for my style of shooting and my aversion to culling images.
My R3 has an artificial sound for the electronic shutter and it’s finely adjustable from loud, to barely audible. I have it just loud enough so I can hear it, but wildlife can’t. It’s been a long time since I tried out the R5, but I believe it had a visual cue in electronic shutter mode. I agree that you can’t shoot without some audible cue, especially at high frames per second. I tried that when I first got my R3 and shot over 300 frames without even knowing it! Seems like a no-brainer and I’d like to know Canon’s reason for not including that basic necessity. Have faith that it will show up at some point in a firmware update.
” I’d like to know Canon’s reason for not including that basic necessity”
It’s my guess that it’s Canon’s way of pushing new camera buyers into newer, even more expensive cameras – like your R3. Marketing…
At this late date I’ll be surprised if it eventually shows up in an R5 firmware update.
Thanks you for posting your experience. I too switched from the 7DMII to the R5. I am still learning it’s uses. I like the smaller size having smaller hands. The 7D was hard to hold, the R5 seems perfect for me. I hike a lot and like the lighter weight. I am still using my old EF lenses until I save for RF. Some of my EF I will continue to use. I shoot in silent and have noticed once the “rolling shutter”, did not bother me too much and I have had the camera lock up twice. I just turned it off and back on to recover, I did not need to remove the battery. I have notice when focus locks onto the background rather than the subject I have to use spot focus to bring the eye tracking to my subject. I also have the problem when there are multiple birds it does not always like to lock and stayed locked on the bird I want. I have to bring it back with spot focus then return to eye tracking. I have missed some great actions shots because of this but I guess I need to plan for it and make adjustments in my shooting. I have been very happy with the R5 so far. I have not used it as much as I like to really get a feel for it in all conditions. I like learning new things, now if I can just remember what I learned!
I was hoping you’d see this, April. I remember that you’ve been requesting this post since before you bought your R5. Sorry I was so late publishing it.
Ron – As a non-photographer, this is a very interesting post. It informs us “nons” of some of the things you deal with to get your images to us. And it explains some of the things one hears/reads about cameras and photography. Just the idea of how your hands feel/cramp holding the camera/lens is fascinating!
Thank you!
Thanks very much, Carolyn. When my hand cramps up like that it really gets my attention.
“To be honest, this is one of my biggest complaints about the R5. It can be a cussword inducer.” See, this is why I read the whole post, I knew you’d have to get to that! 😂
And even though I’m nowhere near being any kind of photographer — my camera of choice is my little iPhone SE, generations old in Apple World — I read your post with interest! If I was much younger and much richer, I might go out and buy an R5. 😉
“I knew you’d have to get to that!”
I’m becoming too damn predictable, Chris!
Good morning Ron,
I concur with your thoughts – I am a Nikon shooter, mainly of birds, and despite a few minor niggles I have no regrets in moving to mirrorless. That and going digital have been game changers.
Thank you for your continuing posts.
Best wishes from New Zealand.
“despite a few minor niggles”
Tradeoffs. It’s always about tradeoffs, isn’t it Gary. But in the case of mirrorless cameras, we gain far more than we lose.
Thank you. I have (yet again) learned things, though I doubt I will ever use them.
I am so very glad that you are happy with your decision.
Me too, EC. It was a big one for me.
Thank you for this post. I’m still shooting with my 7D. While most of my photography is wildlife, I also shoot concerts, where the click of each image can annoy people. When the R5 was announced, I was ready to get one…and then I saw the price. Just about the time I had almost talked myself into it, there were rumors of a MII and I stalled out.
On most of the pelagic birding trips this year, there have been almost as many R5s on the boat as there are birders.
Oh, how I covet this beast.
Catherine, the Canon R7 has an electronic shutter that can be set to silent and that camera is much less expensive than the R5. Just a thought.
Thanks Ron – no interest to me personally, but found it very interesting and of great interest if I was ever to go to the R5. You obviously really know your cameras.
Thanks, Everett. Actually, I may never “really know” my R5. It’s that complicated and I’m more concerned with results than learning all of the whys and wherefores.
Ron, thanks for typing all that up. I’ve been looking forward to it for some time. I know that it was highly technical but also very valuable. All these bird lovers can put up with losing one post to the details about how you are able to capture such great images, right?
Apologies to all you fellow bird lovers. With affection…
Art, your comment made me LOL. You covered some of my own thoughts while I was writing this post and you did it well.
I really appreciate today’s “tech geek” blog. I also made the switch to the R5 (although I do alternate from that to my DSLRs). I have also found that if I know I will be shooting primely perched birds off a tri-pod, that I too prefer my DSLR (1DX Mark II). For hiking and flying birds, yes, the R5 with the 100-500 is hard to beat. My biggest quirk is battery drain, and I have modified all settings to mitigate that as much as possible. I am a “scroller”, and not being able to do that without draining the battery just kills me sometimes. I too have also had issues with cramping in my left hand, and I now ware wrist braces (the weight lifting aisle in a sports store has the best braces), when I photograph. All in all I like the R5 very much, but it is not the “end all beat all” of nature photography. However, for flying birds, I have found that using the R5 on Zone beats anything I could ever do with a DSLR. It grabs the bird, and then goes straight to the eye – It’s amazing! I have gotten flight shots that I would of NEVER had gotten with any of my other cameras. Question: When the camera grabs onto the background, what is your solution to force it to grab the subject instead? I have also had many cussword inducing moments with a blurry subject right in the center of the frame that the camera just will not see.
Rene, in answer to your question – yes, it’s maddening isn’t it! What I usually do to get it to focus properly again is reach up and give my manual focusing a twist. I’ve learned to do it quickly and you don’t have to be precise about it so it’s the best solution I’ve found. I sure wish it wasn’t necessary though.
Do you take your lens out of automatic focus before you twist, or do you twist it manually while the lens is in automatic focus? This is an interesting solution I have not considered.
Thanks for your advice!
I twist it manually.
Thanks!
I do enjoy reading your “reviews” of the nuts and bolts of photography, as well as everyone’s comments. I’m also quite content to enjoy your photos and avoid the second mortgage needed to acquire the gear and the associated learning curve. That, and the lazy factor.
Lyle, the learning curve is a big deal. At least it was for me.
Thank you very much for your interesting and useful post.
I recently bought the Canon R7 (could not afford the price of the R5) and so far I have no complains about it.
I am glad to see that your health condition is improving.
Keep on rocking.
Thank you, Jorge. I’ve heard good things about the R7.
Yes, the R5 has it’s quirks but once you get the camera dialed in and all your buttons customized it’s a hell of a camera.
I had no interest in video either for a good long while. But that changed. A large piece of what you’re purchasing with these cameras is video. Why not jump in? I’ve even taken to shooting in 8K from time to time and punch in close is *incredible*
https://youtu.be/_2pc93pBbuQ
“Why not jump in?”
Thomas, my reaon for not jumping in, at least at this point, is that I’d rather have high quality stills than video and I can’t do both at the same time, not practically. Plus the fact that I don’t like editing video.
I love my R5. Made the switch from canon 7D. All the quirks you mention I, too have noticed but wouldn’t trade it as I love it’s sharpness and it’s speed. I don’t care for it’s battery usage but I just bought extra batteries to be sure I don’t run out in the field. I made the change as I knew it was inevitable. I have some new mirrorless lenses and several of my non mirrorless such as my 16-35 and 24-70. All in all I am very happy with making the change to the R5. Thank you for the article!
Kristy, I meant to mention battery drain but forgot. I’ll add it in a few minutes.
Thanks for the discussion of the pros and cons of your mirrorless Canon R5 compared with a Canon 7D DSLR which is renowned for strong capability in photographing flying birds.
I’ve also had experience moving from DSLR to mirrorless with the purpose of improved capturing of flying birds, especially small and medium size. I transited from a Canon 7D Mark 2 to a Sony A7R4M with a 60 megapixel sensor allowing huge crops and capable of very strong and fast focusing when mounting the right lens. I started out with the very fast focusing 100-400mm zoom but my 78 year old hands found it too heavy and somehow very unpleasant to handle, so I got the very fast focusing 70-200mm lens that has a constant F2.8 throughout the zoom range, and is still rather heavy, but manageable.
This camera indeed does much better than the Canon 7D Mark 2 at capturing flying birds.
However it is suboptimal for capturing static birds. For those, I do far better with my Nikon P1000 superzoom (25-3000mm optical) which is a vastly underrated camera. Test shots in full daylight comparing the P1000 at 540mm with a 400mm Canon prime lens on my Canon 7D (crop factor 1.6) revealed remarkably little difference in photo quality on a 32″ screen. The P1000 of course does less well in low light.
I wish your blog software would allow posting of photos so that I can demonstrate how well the P1000 does with static subjects. It is so much lighter and less strain on my nearly four score year body than either the A7 with a heavy lens or the Canon. It’s no good for flying birds, but great for birds that are not moving, with incredibly good image stabilization allowing hand held, though of course better with a tripod.
Correction… P1000 at 640mm and not 540mm
Looks like you’ve done a lot of field research with different gear, Robert. Thanks for the report.
Thanks for the tech post Ron. Very informative. Wondering about being able to override the standby mode so that your camera is always ready to shoot. I know that’s a big battery drain but what about using an external power source adapter?
Brett, I think there is an option to override standby but I’ve never wanted to do it because of the drain on the battery.
Hi Ron I watched a review of the r5 and I believe there is a setting that closes the shutter over the sensor when the camerea turns off, the might be a way to avoid sensor dust.
I wondered about that, Bryan. In fact, in the photo above it looks like I’m seeing the mechanical shutter instead of the sensor.
It’s called Shutter at Shutdown and it’s in the tools 4 menu. I have my R6 set that way.
Thanks very much, Teresa. I’ll be changing my setting.
Thanks Ron. Not considering a purchase, but I still read this as I find it interesting.
Good to know, Michael. Thank you.
Hi Ron.
We also switched from our 7DmkII’s to R5’s and are very pleased with the R5’s, and yes, we too used to love our 7DmkII’s and we now love our R5’s instead.
Two things that we have noticed with the R5’s:
1. When shooting high-rate burst mode, there are sometimes a frame or two that are slightly distorted. I’m not sure if this is what some R5 users are calling “rolling shutter” or not. This distortion has never caused us to not get the shot, as there are so many other “in focus” pics in each burst that this is really not an issue for us.
2. The R5’s both lock up from time to time and even seem to have the lock up be content aware. What I mean is that when the R5 locks up, it will sometimes lock up repeatedly when attempting to take the same pic of the same content. It’s simple to free up the lock up; turn off the camera and pop out the battery, pop the battery back in and turn the camera back on, and the camera is once again free to take more wonderful pics. Maybe 10 seconds of shooting lost if we are really slow at battery replacement.
Anyway, those are the only two issues that we have with our R5’s that you did not cover in your post.
Very nice post Ron! Thanks for sharing with us.
Rick and Janis
Rick and Janis, I really appreciate your input.
1. Yes, I think that is “rolling shutter”. I never shoot with the electronic shutter so that’s probably why I’ve never experienced it.
2. I don’t think my R5 has ever locked up. Maybe once but I’m not sure because I didn’t have to fiddle with the battery to fix it. I guess I always thought that was only a problem when shooting video but I must be mistaken.
Thx! Some things one wouldn’t think about ahead of time….. 😉 Glad it’s enough of an improvement that you wouldn’t go back – kind of figured that out as you’ve gone along. 🙂
As a pretty casual user these days I won’t be switching but good to have the info.
“Inflexible” is probably my middle name also 😉
““Inflexible” is probably my middle name also”
Something else you and I share, Judy. I wonder if it’s a Montana thing… 🙂
Hi Ron:
Nice summary. I’m with you…. I’d NEVER want to shoot with a DSLR again. For those who are hesitant, eventually, if you want a new camera you will be buying a mirrorless as the production of DSLR’s will end. That fact has been well known for many years now. The current technology is so far superior to DSLR’s, particularly in the AF component that it isn’t even a fair fight. Glad you are enjoying your R5.
You’re right, Keith. If someone is going to continue with their photography over the long haul they’ll eventually have no choice but to switch. Might as well do it sooner rather than later…