Welcome The Canon EOS 5Ds Megapixel Beast To My Table
I recently got the new Canon 5Ds from Canon ME to review and it was perfect timing because we were getting ready for 3 days of intense back to back stills and video work for The Chedi, Muscat production we do every year. No better way to test out the massive 50.6 million pixels inside the Canon 5Ds then with a bunch of 5 star food on the table and world class chefs in the kitchen.
CANON 5DS 50.6MP DSLR IN ACTION!
Canon asked me to share my thoughts on the camera, why I think it would help me as a food photographer and to generally just shoot around with the Canon 5Ds then put it all together into a video product that they could show in their events.
So I took it behind the scenes with me working with the chefs, offered up a few of my favorite specs on the camera, and even put together a full video production I made using the new Canon 5Ds in the video below!
My Review of the Canon EOS 5Ds 50.6MP dSLR Camera for food photographers
The Canon 5Ds is the new megapixel behemoth out on the market. With 50.6 million pixels on a full frame sensor it seems Canon has planted their flag in the MP wars, with more than double the sensor resolution of their previous model, the 5DMKIII.
Even with all those megapixels, amazingly the Canon 5Ds can process 50-70mb raw files at 5 frames per second. To put this in perspective the Canon 5DMKIII shoots 6fps with less then half the resolution and file size.
CROP IT AND STILL HAVE MORE RESOLUTION THAN MOST DSLRS
I don’t crop my images very often, but when the job calls for it, boy do I like having enough resolution left over to get a good size print. When I first got the Canon 5Ds, this is one of the first things that I wanted to test out.
It was pretty much the main theme of the first hands-on video I made for the Canon 5Ds launch in Muscat, which you can check out HERE!
With this amount of cropping power, I can imagine all sorts of scenarios now without sacrificing to much image size, like flying food.
I tried again and again to get the sandwich in the frame perfectly, but I guess I’m not a very good throw, so I just got a little wider and bam! Nailed it. The kicker, I cropped in and still had a 19+MP image to work with!
USB 3.O TETHERING
Before I got my hands on the Canon 5Ds, I was just imagining how slow file transfer and tethering would be with such massive files.
I’m pretty much tethered to my laptop all the time when shooting food. My camera is above the table, I need to compose, grab focus, and the art directors or chefs need to see the results.
So being able to view all that in real time is really important to my workflow. And because I shoot stills more than video at the moment, I am one who appreciates the USB 3.0 connection in exchange for a full HDMI port.
Dedicated video shooters, would most likely go for one of the dedicated video cameras that Canon has put out recently. However, the 5D MKII didn’t have a full HDMI port and that’s the camera, which turned the whole DSLR video revolution on.
AF + CONTINUOUS FOCUS TRACKING
For stills, I could care less about Canon 5Ds auto focus capabilities. Really, my subjects don’t move. If they did I’d have bigger problems, than slow AF, not that the Canon 5Ds is slow by any means. Even when I shoot travel, I rarely switch auto focus on, so it’s never been a deciding factor in a camera for me.
However, in my video work, I’m doing a lot more now with chefs in the kitchen and I’d have to say they move fast. For this the Canon 5Ds continuous auto focus tracking is a big bonus.
For those who dabble with that AF button, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the 61 points, 41 cross type. I played around with it, but I guess I’m still to much of an old-school manual shooter, to care.
THE MOVING IMAGE
Although, I primarily shoot stills, I am shooting a lot more video recently. Is the video capability of the Canon 5Ds a main concern of mine? No. However, I am noticing a bit more sharpness to the clips than with my previous 5D and thats a bonus! Also, there are a lot more choices now in the menu for video, from how the auto focus works to a time lapse video maker, which is fun.
If you want to see for yourself ,what a video from the Canon 5Ds looks like, here is a video I shot for a client recently, exclusively using the Canon 5Ds.
SOME HARD TRUTH ABOUT BUYING CAMERAS
Now there is a lot of asking “who is this camera for?”
And talk about “this camera is not for (enter genre of photographers) .”
So I just have to go into a little rant here, because I really hate being told that “Camera A” or “Camera B” is not for me, because it doesn’t have all 10 out of 10 features I need to get the job done.
The Canon 5Ds, for most people won’t be an entry camera. If you’re considering it, then you most likely own a DSLR already, so you probably know what you need out a camera for the type of photography you like to do.
Can you shoot sports or wildlife with it? Yup! The Canon 5Ds processes 50.6MP at 5 frames per second with 11-13 shots before it buffers and that’s some power!
Can you shoot video with it? Hell ya! It’s got all the frame rates, audio controls, AF goodness, and creamy film like image quality that Canon DSLR’s are know for.
If you’re solely a sports, wildlife or video shooter, would you prefer another camera to the 5Ds? Yes, of course! But if you’re in the Canon 5Ds range, you probably knew that already, right?
Funny enough, people have been making that same statement since the 5D line of cameras came out. “You can’t shoot sports with it.”
It’s true that the Canon 5Ds can’t rocket off 12 fps, shoot in the dark with ISO 1 Million, or be a dedicated video camera, there are other cameras for that.
It was true with the 5D, the 5DMKII, the MKIII and now it’s still true with the Canon 5Ds.
But when did shooting football at night or birds, or even video become the ultimate test of all cameras?
The range of art I’ve seen come from 5D owners over the years is amazing and I guarantee we’ll all see some really great fast action being captured with the Canon 5Ds and that’s because the 5D line has always had a plethora of features that span a lot of different genres.
Ok rant over.
NOW WHO IS THIS CAMERA FOR?
The same great bunch of studio, portrait, travel, wedding and landscape photographers and videographers out there. And, just like every other camera in the line of 5D, the Canon 5Ds has a whole lot of goodies for those of us who enjoy dabbling in other areas like video and yes, even sports!
CHECK THE PRICE ON AMAZON HERE
- 50.6 Megapixel full-frame Sensor
- 150,000-pixel RGB+IR Metering Sensor
- 61-Point AF / 41 cross-type AF points
- Mirror break and selectable shutter release time lag
- 30p HD movie capability and Time Lapse controls
Similar Cameras
SEE THE ENTIRE PRODUCTION WE DID FOR OUR CHEDI, MUSCAT SHOOT INCLUDING STILLS AND VIDEO MADE WITH THE CANON 5DS!
This is not a sponsored post, however this post does contain affiliate links to some great photography gear, products or services I currently use or have used in the past. If you plan on shopping for some new great stuff, please click through the link and I'll receive a small commission. Every purchase helps me continue on my never ending quest to provide amazing content.