topic Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II in Gear Guide

R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

alyssal — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 19:54:46 GMT

Hi, right now I mainly use two DSLRs for photography. I'd like to dabble into the world of videography, simplified stuff. Mainly reel making. I have been messing with my DSLRs right now, would the R50 have better autofocus with videos? For example animals running? Or pan shots of a still object? Just wondering if it's worth the extra investment, or should I stick with the DSLRs for now? I'd like to have a camera just dedicated to video that I can master and was wondering if the R50 would be a good choice, along with the RF adapter paired with the 24 to 105 lens that I use on my DSLR sometimes. Any advice would be appreciated. This would be very entry-level.

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

deebatman316 — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 20:51:46 GMT

Be aware that not every EF lens produced is compatible with DPAF. This is true even on DSLRs and not just mirrorless. DSLRs have been discontinued a lot of them are nearing the end of support. Also EF lenses aren’t known to have quiet AF & Aperture motors. These sounds can be picked up by the microphone. Also they may not smoothly transition between aperture settings. Instead the lens may jump between aperture settings. Then also cause jumps in exposure. Also older motors may not be fast enough for DPAF. Or may jump around to acquire focus. Instead of smoothly transitioning between different focus points. Now the body itself will be better but it’s limited by the lenses that are used. Especially when you’re adapting EF lenses.

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

alyssal — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 23:50:06 GMT

Thank you - so with that being said maybe the R50 paired with something like the RF 50mm 1.8 STM lens would be better than an adapter with an older DSLR lens? Would that RF lens in particular still work good for autofocus? Or, what is the cheapest RF lens that would go well with the R50 for animals with movement? Or maybe there is a better long term setup you'd recommend instead? Thanks again.

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

deebatman316 — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:01:03 GMT

Using a 50mm lens on an APS-C camera such as the EOS R50 will make the angle of view more narrow. The lens would have an 80mm focal length equivalent compared to Full Frame of 35mm Film. Its also a difficult focal length to use on an APS-C camera. What are you using the camera for still, video or hybrid shooting. The kit lens should cover everything you need. Unless you need a telephoto lens such as a 70-200mm for sports. Or if you need anything wider such as a 10-18mm lens. When I was still shooting with an APS-C camera for stills. I mainly used a 17-55mm lens or another good lens was the 18-135mm lens. Those lenses cover everything you need. But now in the RF system those lenses were replaced by the 18-45mm and 18-150mm lenses.

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

shadowsports — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:39:30 GMT

Greetings,

If you are looking for a video first camera, please look at the R50v.

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

alyssal — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 01:03:29 GMT

Ok, I would mainly cover still shots, some action, and maybe some wedding type. For example a horse galloping in a pasture, I may need to zoom to follow the horse? That's where I need good autofocus tracking. I do like a lot of bokeh, so that's why kit lens aren't my favorite. But, maybe for video footage it's not as noticeable of a difference compared to photography? I'm willing to make more of an investment, but I don't want to go all in on something that I might not end up using as much?

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

alyssal — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 01:05:08 GMT

What's the advantage of that one versus the R50? With which lens do you like? How is the autofocus on fast subjects such as horses galloping?

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

stevet1 — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 01:54:48 GMT

alyssa

@alyssal wrote:

What's the advantage of that one versus the R50? With which lens do you like? How is the autofocus on fast subjects such as horses galloping?

alyssal,

In terms of horses galloping, and following up a little on what Demetrius said, perhaps you could pair an 18-135mm with Canon's PZ-E1 Power Zoom adapter.

Steve Thomas

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

kvbarkley — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 02:57:16 GMT

You are talking about some pretty advanced techniques here and most lenses this side of cinema lenses might not be up to the challenge. I suggest you rent some and try them out.

(Oh, and "bokeh" refers to the quality of the out of focus areas as coined by Mike Johnston of "The Online Photographer". You want a shallow depth of field.)

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

alyssal — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 04:06:52 GMT

Also - Let's say I take even a different approach to this and stick with my 5d MarkIV, and I invest in a really good DSLR lens (because I really love this camera, and I still use it for lots of photos). How is the 5d MarkIV's autofocus tracking compared to the mirrorless ones? Is it still good for with what I'm wanting? For example, pan slow shots of horses grazing, or horses running? Would image stabilization be better on the mirrorless products? I've been trying to watch youtube videos, but there's so much to choose from in the mirrorless world.

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

shadowsports — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 13:46:39 GMT

Greetings,

Circling back, I was tied up yesterday.

The 5D mkiV and 6D mkII are both excellent cameras. I owned the 6D mkII for over 5 years. Its tracking was excellent 45AF points. The 5D mkIV 's tracking is a slight step above at 61AF points.

For video, the camera's perform almost identically in 2k. The 5DmkIV offers 4k, with a 1.74x crop. So you lose some wide angle. The DR between the two body's is slight, but the 5D mkIV has a small edge. Both body's can track galloping horses without issues.

If 2k video is acceptable, one advantage the 6D mkII has (over the 5D mkIV) is digital image stabilization for video. This results in a slight crop (almost undetectable) in comparison to the heavy crop of the 5D mkIV in 4k, though lens IS works pretty well in the majority of situations.

Other DSLR considerations. Both camera's have a 30 min video recording limit for internal recording. Both capture video in 8bit color.

Mirrorless:

Primary differences between R50 & R50v. R50 is a photo-first camera. R50v video-first camera. The R50 can record up to 1 hr clips, the R50v 2 hr clips. R50 records in 8bit 4:2:2, the R50v supports 10bit 4:2:2, and it supports CLOG3 for color grading. The R50 lacks this support. The R50 supports 4k 30p, the R50v supports 4k 60p. Neither crop at 30p, the R50v crops 1.56x in 60p, but you get smoother frame rates if this is important. 4k 24/30 on either looks good, but the R50v's additional color depth and CLOG3 support slightly tips the scales in its favor for video.

Last item worth mentioning. R50's USB port is 2.0, R50v is USB 3.2 (faster)

Now let's look at tracking.

On the surface 5d mkIV 61 AF points, 6D mkII 45 AF points, R50 and R50v 651 AF points. DSLR's use completely different technologies. DSLR's use a cross type AF system that's limited to about 80% of the frame in Live view shooting. Mirrorless uses over 90%. Not only do you get more AF points with mirrorless, but you also get much broader coverage in the frame.

Here's the key differentiator.

DSLR's with the exception of Canon's 1DX series do not support advanced subject detection for people, animals, and vehicles. Note this is previous generation technology.

Canon's mirrorless body, anything R6 and newer support Canon's latest AF tracking and subject detection for people, animals, and vehicles.

**Canon glass recommended. If you have other questions, let us know.

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

alyssal — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 18:50:29 GMT

Thank you for all that info. My flaws are holding a camera still. But, would a gimbal of a certain kind help with the stabilization with the 5div? I would mainly shoot for reels, so I suppose the R50v would do well for that part, for the vertical ratio. Since I have the 5div though, is there any gimbals you'd recommend that would hold it well vertically? I've noticed with my 5div paired with my 24-105 I, it struggled/or maybe it's me, to follow a horse walking in the pasture. If I aim at the horse, start recording, then it doesn't pick up the horse, but if I touch the screen to focus on the horse then it tracks it. Does it always need me to tell it where to start focus? Other thing I noticed, if I have both card slots filled, it puts the videos on the CF card, not the sd, maybe that is a setting? I have it set to put photos on both though for photos.

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

shadowsports — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 21:09:10 GMT

Greetings,

Here's the thing with gimbals. You get what you pay for. This applies to hardware support, control, features and battery life. Best to stick with top brands. DJI Ronins (Best) or Zhiyun Crane/Weebil3 (Better) and Feiyu-Tech (good) are examples. These have strong motors, updated designs and good support. Currently Feiyu-Tech doesn't have US based support.

Make sure you do research. Just because a camera body is supported doesn't mean you can hang a giant lens off the front of it and use it on a gimbal successfully. DJI are the best, strongest and have the biggest weight capacity. However, with smaller rigs you can get away with others.

To help with tracking on your 5D mkIV, enable Face+Tracking. This should help with tracking.

eos5d-mk4-im10-en.pdf

Previous gen DSLRs don't track like mirrorless bodys do now. To select the recording destination select the Wrench menu. Card selection destination.

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

alyssal — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 21:58:45 GMT

Awesome, thank you. And what about a mic? I have never bought an external one, so what would be a good one for capturing natural sounds in the outdoors. Basically if my camera sat on a tripod, and just captured the wind, maybe horses nearby with soft movement grazing in the pasture, etc.

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

shadowsports — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 04:07:50 GMT

Hi,

For which camera?

Re: R50 video autofocus versus 5D Mark IV, or 6d Mark II

alyssal — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 05:05:08 GMT

5div or 6dii