Steven Chee stretches the Canon EOS R5 II specs
When given the challenge of designing a shoot to test the new Canon EOS R5 Mark II, Steven Chee considered what would best stretch the specs including next-generation autofocus, in-camera noise reduction and up to 30fps shooting.
The fast and erratic movements of breakdancing inspired ‘125th Street’ – a display of ‘80s energy given a contemporary make-over and captured across video and stills.
With dancers placed within a deliberately low-lit stage, the EOS R5 Mark II would need to locate, track and render a subject amidst a chaotic storm of limbs and clothing.
“When you see the dancer moving in real time, you can almost not see his face”, explained Chee.
“Pictures were all sharp and you could see the focus square on his face as he twirled. It would flash up and then disappear and flash up as his face came in and out of view.”
“I was actually a little bit dumbfounded as how good it was.”
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THE RESULTS
Next-generation autofocus
“The autofocus today on the EOS R5 Mark II was incredible.”
“The other thing that surprised me today was when I went from stills to motion, the auto focus was just as good.”
By Steven Chee on the Canon EOS R5 Mark II
Clog 2
“The biggest surprise of this camera for me was that it actually had Clog 2 - that was my biggest win. How much more dynamic range it has … to now have that we've got more to work with, play with.”
“It allows me to integrate that with my other cameras.”
Up to 30fps shooting with 0.5 second pre-continuous shooting
“Having 30 frames per second in the EOS Mark II is fantastic.”
“The pre-shooting and pre-recording function is super useful. It's just like that little bit of insurance that you're going to get the gold and come home with not a sad story about how you missed the critical moment of some event.”
In-Camera image upscaling and Neural Network Noise Reduction
“One of the great features of the new camera is the ability to use higher ISOs, especially now that you know we're doing more video and stills. You've only got two minutes for this shot, six minutes for that shot, and to be able to remove the constant lighting game that we sometimes have to play is a real win. It also has noise reduction which enabled us to shoot at higher shutter speeds to freeze the dancer's movements and actions.”
“I was really impressed at how it did clean up the noise pattern almost to non-existent.”
New back-illuminated stacked sensor
“The new sensor basically allowed for much faster processing during the day in real time when you watch him twist and turn, there's a lot of momentum. So you wouldn't be surprised to see some swayed bent limbs at those extremities. But every limb looked normal.”
“The camera, it just performed really well, better than I thought it was going to.”
“I've had Canon for nearly 20 years in my kit … They're very reliable, they're fast, efficient, and they're very helpful.”
“And if this is a better solution than what I had, that's what I want to use on my next shoot.”
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