Anyone Ordering The R5C?

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Anyone else considering?  The R5C was not the road I anticipated taking, but I'm tired of waiting and since this body doesn't overheat, I am more confident about it over the standard R5.      

Although I am a stills shooter, the Cinema EOS side of the body is intriguing.  Its so much smaller than a C70.  I'm not serious enough about video that I'd miss Clog2.  The body has 16 14 stops so plenty of DR for my use.  Its also not limited to Super35 or 16 (which isn't so much a limitation), but Canon has really stepped up here.  I don't care about ibis.  All of my lenses except 1 are IS and the body has digital IS built in.  I have purchased a bunch of accessories.  Control Ring Adapter, 2 512GB CF ExpressB, 2 128GB UHSII, 2x Watson batteries (Canon was out of stock), and I've not tried Manfrotto batteries yet.  

Going to try the AngelBird CFExpress cards and ProGrade for the XD Cards.  I've always used SanDisk so going to try something else.  Both are highly rated.

I also contacted EasyCover in the Netherlands and my contact there has said they do not plan to make a skin for the R5C.  Was hoping for this, but am more excited about a new body.  Haven't pulled the trigger quite yet.  I have a quick business trip and wanted to be back for the arrival.  Plan to wait a week.  If nothing glaring is reported, I will finally move to mirrorless.

[shadowsports]

Good Morning,

I read the post about the gentleman who wrote the script which removed the "c" designation.  DxO doesn't have support  for it yet either, but they are typically super speedy with new body's and lenses so I expect to see it on their roadmap any day.  

I'm going to get a smaller PD as well.  Something with a long cord I can keep in a pocket, with a 90* magnetic mount for the camera.  That or similar variant.  The truth is, I will use the camera more for still photography than video.  At least initially.  Some of the guys here have made some compelling rationalizations on why the R5 is adequate for my intended use.  If there were thousands of dollars difference, I might agree.  But $600 no. 

One of the videos I watched a few weeks ago showed 2 scenarios.  One where the author disabled the EVF and LCD on the R5.  I think he got 3+ hrs of recording before finally saying its possible with the 29:59 limitation.  "Great" he sighted for interviews.

Then he was shooting stills in 95* weather and started getting temp warnings.  It was determined that the camera was not actually overheating, but instead warning of the potential should he decide to shoot video.  He then changed all of his video settings to 1080 or lowest available and the warning ceased.  While I fully acknowledge this is arbitrary, it demonstrated (to me anyway) that the camera is doing something funny or unordinary.  While ignoring a flashing icon is possible, its not something I care to see for $4K.

Then the videos where people are seeing recovery times which are just unrealistic for real world use, and while its unlikely I would see these types of events, if I did just once I'd be extremely disappointed.  I believe much of it is probably a reach, but I'm just not willing to invest in this uncertainty.  The R5's software is doing funny stuff whatever way you want to look at it and no matter how great of a stills camera it is.

Enter the R5C and for a modest amount of additional cost, you get quite a bit more camera (and capability) for the money.  It comes with its own nuances, but these issues are definitely in a different class.  Your G2 lens for example.  You might be pleasantly surprised with a newer FW version although I think you are wise not to expect it.  

Battery level and amount of charge.  I knew this was going to be an issue.  Some of the posts I read did say that people got more than double what Canon claims as number of shots (still) on a charged battery.  They were using conservative EVF and review settings.  This is how I use my camera now, so I will easily adopt this on a newer power hungry body.

Video of course is a different story and anything with smaller DSLR size batteries is going to struggle.  I would consider contacting Canon and making them aware (feature request) of a battery screen on the Cinema side (menu).  I agree there's not likely a reason it isn't there.  I doubt its a memory limitation, etc.  Does the C70 and C300 mkIII have it?  I think the still side menu has 6 segments on the LCD.  The other benefit of the camera is that PD can charge the batteries when the camera is in standby.  So wake up and shoot draws power, charging stops, and when the camera sleeps, charging resumes (I believe) on the battery which is not actively being used.  

I did not anticipate that the camera would be back ordered this long.  For months Canon Rumors was reporting that Canon had anticipated and acquired enough raw materials to meet the demand.  It is what it is.  I've waited and waited and waited some more.  So more time isn't going to matter much.  I have my morning ritual.  Open browser, Home page and R5C's page on B&H's website opens.  Have a stock alert set and it's added to my cart. 

Have A Good Day.

Rick  

[wobbleman99]

Hi Rick,

The backordered issue is certainly bothersome, and it applies to the batteries as well.  The C300 does have a battery level indicator, but it allows only one battery at a time. And the R5c does have a battery level indicator for video, but the problem comes into play with the battery grip that contains 2 batteries, while the camera's battery level meter only reflects the presence of 1, unless it is reporting the sum of both batteries, but there is no documentation to that effect.

I do agree that the R5c is a better choice than the R5 for numerous reasons, but then there is the caveat of no IBIS for stills.  That said, I bought the R5c primarily for video, while my stills requirements are met by the Fuji series of GFX cameras (GFX100, 100s and GFX 50s), however, I have tried using the R5c for stills and the results are great, even without IBIS, and my test clips with the R5c shooting 4k at 29.97 FPS are impressive.

As for a PD power source, I am am still performing my due diligence, and have yet to decide on which to buy. Ideally, I would like something that would fit in a pocket, but a belt loop case would work as well.  The one power issue that sets my C300 apart from the R5c is its battery options, that include Canon's highest capacity battery, as well as the option for a 'V' mount or Anton Bauer type source.  Both of these batteries could be setup with a 'd' tap to the R5c, but I cannot envision a setup for mounting or carrying one of those beasts.

Regards,

Ron

[jaanmasi527]

I have not had any time to play around with the new Cinema RAW Lite available on the C70 and R5 C.  Was very surprised to be getting RAW video capabilities.  Thank you, Canon!

[wobbleman99]

I have yet to try RAW LTE as well, but I have encountered another bothersome issue with the R5c.  There is currently no way to turn off the internal microphone.  I have the Tascam XLR adapter that I am using with a Rode NTG-5 shotgun mic, I have the NTG set to record to channels 1&2, and it appears that the internal mic records to tracks 3&4.  I am able to mute or delete tracks 3&4 in Resolve Studio, but the real issue surfaces when monitoring the recorded audio via headphones.  There is no way to distinguish—as far as I know—the NTG from the internal mic, and there is apparently no way to control the gain for the internal mic, since all of the settings are grayed out when recording in XAVC.  I don't know if this is by design, or if it's an oversight, but it should be addressed by Canon in a future firmware update.

[shadowsports]

Ron,

Wondering it this has something to do with the way the R5C records a separate audio track, or if its actually a bug whereby the camera disables the internal MIC menu options when the updated hot shoe detects a powered accessory?  

This is another contact Canon and report the issue for sure as it might exist on the R3 as well.  

I also asked "Ricky" rs-eos if he has any thoughts.  

[wobbleman99]

Hi Rick,

The audio menu items are grayed out regardless of the presence, or not, of an accessory attached to the hot shoe.  Canon Tech support, who had encountered the same issue with his copy of the R5c, suggested that there might be an incompatible setting, but I have tried every setting change that I can think of, and it has had no beneficial effect on the grayed out menus.  This appears to be a firmware glitch and, since this is the first iteration of this camera I am hopeful that Canon will fix it.  The other issue has already been stated, in re the inability to defeat the internal microphone.  While a user can delete the tracks produced by the internal mic in post, there remains the issue of headphone monitoring.  I will have another look at the Tascam module to see if it allows one to select only the attached XLR mic/s for monitoring.

And with battery supplies non-existent, I've just ordered an 87W power-bank that I hope can be carried in a pocket, or a belt case.  I will report back about the ultimate success or lack thereof.

[wobbleman99]

The Tascam XLR adapter for the R5c does allow for the isolation of the external microphone source when monitoring via headphones, so the only remaining issues are the grayed out audio menus and the ability to turn off, or defeat the R5c's internal microphone.

[shadowsports]

Good Morning,

I'm hoping Canon will be able to help you with this.  At the rate I'm going I'll have a fully accessorized PD kit ready to go before I ever get my body.  This does 480mbps transfers and 100w

[wobbleman99]

Hi Rick,

In regards to a power bank:

I have a 6' USB-C-C cable that I use with an Anker 87 Watt PD  power bank that hangs down the side of the camera.  The power bank is a tad heavy, however, and I am considering the resurrection of a photographer's vest to carry it in.  The vest beats carrying it in a pocket, and provides room for other accessories, if required.  The magnetic connector looks interesting but, other than the right angle feature, I'm not sure what advantage it offers over a straight connection? Perhaps you can illuminate?

Regards,

Ron

[sfogel2]

I've experienced the same problem. All menu items on the Audio Setup page are dimmed when the Tascam CA-XLRd2-C is in the hotshoe. Frustrating, because since the Tascam has no display, the only way to set levels, assuming you're not using an external monitor, is to use the teeny meter in the lower right corner of the main shooting display on the camera. Not good enough.

I understand that you're expected to set levels on the adapter itself, but at least Canon could update the firmware to let us go to the CH1 Levels, CH2 Levels, etc. pages, dim the up and down arrows to indicate we have to set levels on the device, and show the levels meter so we can get an accurate record level.