The New Canon 5DS and 5DS R

Another addition to Canon’s venerated 5D DSLR series has just been recently unveiled, taking medium format resolution and bringing it into the “normal” DSLR fold. It is undeniably true that the 5D DSLR series has made an enormous impact in the market. The 5D Mark singlehandedly upped the industry standard, while the SD Mark III despite its limitation brought in a new age of amazing raw recordings with the help of hacks, and amazingly beautiful HD video.

After 3 years, Canon tries to set history once again with the release of the 5DS and 5DS R in June. The latest iterations can capture videos just like their predecessors, but will they live up to their high pedigree is a whole, different matter altogether.

The 5DS and 5DS R both use a 50.5 megapixel sensor (8688 x 5792 pixels, making them DSLR cameras with highest resolution around. It does not, unfortunately, measure up to the Pentax 645Z with 51.4 megapixels, and the pricey Leica S with 37.5 megapixels.

There is no doubt for sure that the 5DS and 5DS R will create a commotion among photography circles once again. Pixel rate is everything, and with medium format photography being out of the prosumer type’s reach for some time now, the 5DS and 5DS R will sure make a lot of people happy with the release just as the prosumer filmmakers were when 2K and 4K was way out of their reach until recently.

Canon enthusiasts will not be surprised at the fact that Canon themselves does not categorize the 5DS as a “C” camera as they have their other cameras in the series. Limited to HD video in MPEG 4 AVC H 264 formats, the 5DS and 5DS R redeem themselves by supporting IPB and ALL-i compression modes, just like the 5D Mark III.

There is the port protector meant to shield the HDMI connections from breakage and damage due to wear and tear. Another new feature hints of the camera’s ability to be programmed to shoot stills even when the video is rolling ensuring no interruptions during the video capture process.