topic Re: Canon r5 problem in the studio in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

taner_169 — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 14:08:52 GMT

Hello, I wanted to get into the topic immediately. I am a studio photographer. I was using my old camera 5D Mark 3 EF24-70 2.8. The colors were beautiful and the contrast was just right. Now I bought R5 and use my old EF lenses. I have to work in jpeg because I do fast processing. I can't get the colors and vibrancy right. I made all the menu settings but I couldn't get what I wanted. And the r5 shoots very softly, I play with the lights, it doesn't work, I blow up the photo, it doesn't explode like the mark3, it's a different explosion, I say I made the perfect adjustment, but when I take another photo, everything is different. Color, contrast and saturation did not change at all on the Mark 3, and the colors looked beautiful no matter who I shot. The only solution in my mind is to buy an RF lens and try it with it, but I guess it doesn't seem to work. If you have a different idea, I would be very happy if you could help me.

I'm thinking of installing 5d mark3 software on R5 hahaha 🙂 I wonder if it can be installed? I've done a lot of text review and menu adjustments so far. If I can't find a solution I'll go back to Mark3 😞

Re: Canon r5 problem in the studio

johnrmoyer — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:34:58 GMT

I am not certain I understood the question, but hope some of this might be helpful.

If you were using "Standard" style on the 5D Mark 3, then I would expect "Standard" on the EOS R5 to be similar. https://cam.start.canon/en/C003/manual/html/UG-03_Shooting-1_0150.html

With the EOS R5, the higher resolution sensor will have less contrast at the same aperture and with the same lens as the 5D Mark 3 partially because of small aperture diffraction blur. Enabling "Digital Lens optimizer" in the camera will correct some small aperture diffraction blur, especially at low ISO. https://cam.start.canon/en/C003/manual/html/UG-03_Shooting-1_0190.html#Shooting-1_0190_3 DLO is only applied to the JPG and not the CR3. I would expect diffraction blur on the EOS R5 to start becoming noticeable at F Numbers larger than 8 and when looking at individual pixels possibly at F numbers larger than 5.6.

You can create a custom picture style https://cam.start.canon/en/C003/manual/html/UG-03_Shooting-1_0160.html with more saturation. I do not know whether saturation would get what you call vibrancy.

You might create a custom white balance for your studio lighting: https://cam.start.canon/en/C003/manual/html/UG-03_Shooting-1_0120.html#Shooting-1_0120_3 or if you know what white balance you used with the 5D Mark 3 then use the same Kelvin color temperature. I would not expect auto white balance to be the same for the 2 cameras. https://cam.start.canon/en/C003/manual/html/UG-03_Shooting-1_0120.html or manually adjust the white balance https://cam.start.canon/en/C003/manual/html/UG-03_Shooting-1_0130.html

Re: Canon r5 problem in the studio

taner_169 — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

You explained a wonderful fine-tuning detail, thank you very much for your interest. But I did all of these. I even tried all the color features but there seems to be something soft in the camera's software. In my opinion, since I use a converter, my EF lenses take very good and clear shots, but they are not satisfactory in terms of color and contrast, so I guess there is nothing I haven't tried. Let me ask you this, do you think there is a difference between EF and RF lenses, or is there a difference in the converter? So can we say that it may be caused by this?

Let me put it this way: I shoot 100-150 different people a day and process them in Photoshop. I feel there is a lot of difference between the two, maybe this may not be felt by normal users or landscape shots. Let me try to convey what I feel. r5 seems to absorb the light falling on the person's face, but in mark3 there is a white hardness, which makes the photo vivid. I hope I could explain.

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

Waddizzle — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 14:36:30 GMT

Check the White Balance setting. It’s different compared to the DSLR.

Re: Canon r5 problem in the studio

johnrmoyer — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:33:32 GMT

@taner_169 wrote:

You explained a wonderful fine-tuning detail, thank you very much for your interest. But I did all of these. I even tried all the color features but there seems to be something soft in the camera's software. In my opinion, since I use a converter, my EF lenses take very good and clear shots, but they are not satisfactory in terms of color and contrast, so I guess there is nothing I haven't tried. Let me ask you this, do you think there is a difference between EF and RF lenses, or is there a difference in the converter? So can we say that it may be caused by this?

Let me put it this way: I shoot 100-150 different people a day and process them in Photoshop. I feel there is a lot of difference between the two, maybe this may not be felt by normal users or landscape shots. Let me try to convey what I feel. r5 seems to absorb the light falling on the person's face, but in mark3 there is a white hardness, which makes the photo vivid. I hope I could explain.

The EF-RF converter with filter will change things. The EF-RF converter with control ring has electronics and might change things. The plain Canon converter will not change things. I have both the filter converter and the plain converter. With some lenses, I do not like the result with the filter converter.

I do not have a studio, but I do have some technical knowledge. I expect that the biggest difference between the older camera and the EOS R5 is the higher resolution of the EOS R5 which will result in less small detail contrast from the same lens. The small detail contrast difference might be fixed by DLO setting in the camera menu and by unsharp mask setting in the picture style. This is still assuming that "Standard" picture style was used for both old camera and for EOS R5. If not "Standard" style, then results likely cannot be easily matched. If not using "Standard", the saturation and colors will differ between the two cameras when using the same settings. I expect it would be possible to create a picture style file that matches the output of the old camera unless the problem is in Photoshop. https://cam.start.canon/en/S004/manual/html/index.html

I have not used any Adobe software for many years, so I might guess that Photoshop treats the two cameras differently. Does the out of camera JPEG look the same in Photoshop as in a web browser or as in Gimp? Does the histogram look different in Gimp than in Photoshop?

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

ebiggs1 — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:45:50 GMT

It sounds like you tried a lot so the solution might just be a preset in Lightroom. Also I would use the plain adapter.

Make your best settings in camera a let the LR presets do the rest upon import.

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

johnrmoyer — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 17:09:40 GMT

One more guess that I hope might be helpful. The lens correction software in the camera is likely much better than that in Adobe software for a Canon lens. Applying the lens correction twice, once in camera and once in Adobe software is likely a bad idea. Newer cameras do much better at lens correction than older cameras.

For unsharp mask, there are many situations where it should be done twice. Once at capture and again before display. This is especially true if the image will be resized for display on a screen or for printing.

Some of the things that should not be done twice include distortion correction, auto lighting optimizer, peripheral illumination correction, and highlight or shadow protection. All of those likely differ between old camera and new camera.

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

Waddizzle — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 17:26:01 GMT

I always use WB White Priority. I suspect that the default setting gives you a true 18% gray color reproduction. It has less pop than the White Priority setting.

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

taner_169 — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:19:17 GMT

I literally tried everything, now I was able to keep the colors at least stable, I turned off all items in the lens error correction menu. Because when I took them, everyone's color was changing. When it comes to white balance I prefer the possibility of white and have a gray test cloth to achieve white. I'm not getting good results with it. I get better results from the gray wall. But I don't know how to get 18% gray. The only solution I can think of is RF lens, I will share the situation with you when I receive the lens.

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

ebiggs1 — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:58:04 GMT

When I did studio work I never used any in-camera special settings. Generally using raw they aren't saved anyway. I always let LR do the magic. Set your exposure and let LR do the rest. You know neutral gray cards are not always correct for white balance settings. They are more for exposure settings. You can actually use the palm of your hand and do the similar thing but it will need a one stop increase. Test before you do it.

The advantage of a calibrated 18% grey card is that you can meter off it and set the exposure directly without any compensation.

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

taner_169 — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 09:02:51 GMT

Hello friends, I bought my 28-70 f2 lens yesterday and I wanted to share it with you now. All my problems were solved, the colors were perfect, all the color deviations were gone. Now no matter who I shoot, all the colors are normal, also I didn't try it every day for the white balance, I took a single frame and the colors were perfect, the lens doesn't tire me at all, when I use the converter, I was constantly changing the white balance or if one person was good, the other one was bad, what I mean is, the converter doesn't work, the R5 cannot adjust the lens, but whoever I shoot with the 28-70, everyone is beautiful and the eye vibrancy is perfect, lastly, let me say this. Those who do studio photography should never use Mount Adapters & Converters. Next, I need to buy a monitor, I use a NEC P232W, I will buy it when I pay off my debt. I would appreciate it if you recommend a monitor.

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

rnyamey — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 14:23:21 GMT

Hey Ive had the same issue. I started with a 5d3 and the colors were perfect in my eyes. Decided to upgrade to our five and everything went left. I noticed the R5 isn’t as vibrant or punchy as the 5D. I also noticed that it isn’t the best in low light situations either. I ended up buying another 5D mark three But I kept my R5 and hopes that I could find some way to make it better. Any luck on your side?

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

ebiggs1 — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 14:31:50 GMT

Settings. 🤔

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

rnyamey — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 14:36:55 GMT

So my settings were pretty much factory settings for my R5. I feel as though they r5 isn’t really the best with natural light photography.

usually when I shoot in low light situations, and the shadows are very harsh and when you boost the ISO, it doesn’t really make things too much better and when it gets past about 1600 you start to see more noise in the photo which just requires more work post production

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

ebiggs1 — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 14:59:48 GMT

I would still do a full reset on the R5. Also, it makes a difference what app you are using to view and compare the images. Your monitor has a lot to do with it too. If you haven't already, d/l DPP4 from the Canon website and use it.

The Canon R5 is a significantly better camera than the 5D Mark III mostly because of its newer technology. The R5 offers major upgrades over your Mk III. The R5 has a higher megapixel count which gives sharper images with more detail.

Re: EOS R5 Problem in the Studio: Colors and contrast off compared to EOS 5D Mark III

taner_169 — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 12:19:09 GMT

Hi, I just saw your message, it's been a while. I've been shooting in the studio with a 5D Mark 3 and R5, and I'd like to share my experiences. The R5 isn't a bad camera, but mirrorless cameras haven't caught up with the old ones. You can reset it and adjust the colors as much as you want, but it's not a 5D Mark 3. I'm not talking about resolution; those who use them will understand. They solved the contrast issue with older cameras, but these cameras give very different results with even slight light deviations. But the Mark 3 is more like a manual car; the more electronics there are, the more problems there are. That's my interpretation, my thoughts. Now we'll have to wait for the R5 Mark 3 in 2027, we'll see.