The High-Res Heavyweight, 50-Megapixel Canon 5DS R

The 50-megapixel Canon 5DS ($3,700) and 5DS R ($3,900) are almost clones of one of the most popular professional and semi-professional cameras of all time: the 22-mega-pixel Canon 5D Mark III ($2,800). With the new cameras, Canon attempts to address the weaknesses—primarily sharpness, noise and dynamic range—that had many photographers, including ourselves, switching to the 36-megapixel Nikon D810 ($3,000) or Sony’s a7R ($1,900).

Canon recently loaned us a late beta version of the 5DS R and while it wasn’t finalized yet, the company said it didn’t expect the final production models to be significantly different. Here’s our take.

DESIGN

The 5DS R has a nearly identical body design to the 5D Mark III, the biggest changes occurring inside the camera body to strengthen the frame against subtle vibrations. Like the 5D Mark III, the buttons and dials respond perfectly, and they’re exactly where we want them to be. Also, like the 5D Mark III, these new bodies lack features we’ve come to love in lower-end bodies, such as an articulating screen to make it easier to compose shots over our head or near the ground (for example, when accentuating foreground elements in a landscape photo).

We’d also love to see a touch screen included in a high-end body, because the ability to pinch and pull a photo makes it easier to verify sharpness on untethered shoots. Touch screens also make focusing easier when using live view.

The 5DS R delivered the sharpest results we’ve seen from a full-frame camera.

IMAGE QUALITY

We found the sharpness on the 5DS R to be better than any other full-frame camera. The sharper the lens you use, the more improvement you’ll see. However, you don’t necessarily need to use high-end prime lenses to get better results. In our tests with the Sigma 24-105 f/4mm zoom lens, the 5DS R was vastly sharper than the 5D Mark III, and noticeably sharper than the D810.

Like every other Canon DSLR, the 5DS model has an anti-aliasing filter designed to reduce ugly moiré artifacts that appear in tight patterns such as fabric or bricks. The 5DS R model’s only difference is that it cancels the effect of that filter, improving sharpness but potentially increasing moiré. In our testing with the 5DS R and our experience with other cameras lacking an AA filter, we see more detail and we’ve only found moiré in test charts, not in the real world. With that in mind, we feel comfortable recommending the 5DS R model over the 5DS.

WHAT WE LIKED

When used with a sharp lens like the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II or 600mm f/4, the detail is astounding. We loved being able to crop extremely tight and still create usable images. For our commercial work, the extra megapixels give our clients more flexibility for how they lay out images. For wildlife and sports, the extra pixels effectively added more reach to our existing zoom lenses.

WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE

The 50-megapixel RAW files brought our top-end, overclocked PC running Lightroom CC to its knees. Just rendering 1:1 previews from a wedding could take more than two hours, and switching between pictures during the culling process took several seconds each. To a professional, time is money, and the extra post-processing time could end up costing more than the camera.

We’d love the extra detail for sports and birds in flight, but at five frames per second, the 5DS R is even slower than the 5D Mark III. While our 5D Mark III slowed down after capturing 33 consecutive RAW photos, the 5DS R slowed down after only 12. For shooting action, most photographers will be happier with the higher frame rates and bigger buffers of a Canon 1DX or Canon 7D Mark II.

HOW IT COMPARES

Compared to the 5D Mark III, we couldn’t find a significant improvement to our ability to recover shadows (an aspect of dynamic range), nor did we see less noise at higher ISOs, such as 6400. However, the increased detail allows you to use higher levels of noise reduction in post-processing while maintaining the same level of sharpness. After editing, recovered shadows and high ISO photos from the 5DS R looked more detailed and cleaner than those from the 5D Mark III.

The D810 maintains its noise advantage, though the difference was only noticeable at higher ISOs, and the 5DS R tops out at ISO 6400 natively with an option to extend to ISO 12,800. The D810’s superior dynamic range also recovers lost shadows better than the 5DS R. Thus, buyers are faced with a choice: get the 5DS R for detail or the D810 for cleaner images in difficult conditions.

The sharpness differences diminish when working handheld in natural light. The 5DS R still showed much more detail than the 5D Mark III, but images were only slightly sharper than the D810.

There are 50-megapixel medium-format cameras, but they’re expensive (ranging from $8,000 to more than $50,000) and bulky, and the lens selection is more limited. Commercial photographers probably won’t be selling their medium-format gear to switch to Canon, but many of us who wanted the extra pixels but didn’t have the budget for medium format will be happy with the 5DS R.

If you’re a Canon user considering selling your gear to get a D810, don’t. The 5DS R gives you even more detail and works with your Canon lenses. If you want the sharpest pictures possible and you have the budget, the 5DS R should be your next camera.

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