Over the last couple of weeks I have purchased a bunch of new Canon camera gear, probably the most I have every purchased in such a short period of time.

I picked up my R5 a couple of weeks ago, and have only had a couple of chances to go out and shoot with it, not enough time to start my review on it.  I will say that the animal eye AF is incredibly good (and really surprising).  It was able to detect the eye of a number of animal test subjects, from deer to little Pika, so it seems like size doesn’t matter.  I am looking forward to putting the camera through the paces and really get a feeling for it. If only there were photo tours!

This week I picked up an R6, and had one chance to go out and use it again with deer and Pika, and it seems like the autofocus is almost as good, or possible even as good of that of the R5.  I am curious how the ISO performance between the two bodies will differ.

And finally I just picked up a RF 70-200 f/2.8L IS lens the other day.  I was surprised that Canon went with the extending zoom on this lens.  It is nice for travelling, or putting in a pack, but I am curious if it will have moisture or dust issues. I am also looking forward to comparing it to the EF 70-200 to see how the performance of the two lenses varies.

Now I am just hoping to find some good test subjects over the coming weeks to really get to start using this new gear.  If you have any specific questions on any of the gear, feel free to email me [email protected].

Since Christmas is near, I thought I would put together my letter to Santa (or Canon Santa) on what I would like to have on the new Canon flagship camera the 1DX Mark III. Since Canon made the announcement that it is developing the 1DX Mark III, I have been anxiously looking forward to its release, and thinking about what I hope the camera comes with.

I know that the press release was pretty vague on details, but some of the rumours are that the sensor will remain at 20.2 megapixels. This is a disappointment to some, but I think it is a sufficient number of megapixels, especially for someone like me that spends the majority of their time shooting hand-held, a bunch of really tiny pixels are a disadvantage.  Also, if you want more megapixels, there is always the 5D Mark IV, or the rumoured 75 megapixel mirrorless camera.  My hope is actually that there isn’t significant changes in the number of megapixels.

One of the details that was provided by Canon in the press release is that Canon has increased the size of the autofocus sensor.  I don’t think you can ever have too fast of autofocus on a camera.  I am really looking forward to trying out the newer, faster autofocus, to see how it performs.

I am also looking forward to seeing how the camera will perform with the new card types, and how that improves the buffer rate.  I can tell you, when you are shooting next to a bunch of Nikon shooters, and your camera buffers out, it is a real bummer.

Given that the majority of my photography is done on the coast of British Columbia, and sometimes in dark, and rainy weather, improved ISO performance is at the top of my list.  I am hoping for improved noise performance and dynamic range at the high ISOs (over ISO 3200).

Another nice to have in the new flagship camera with be in body stabilization (IBIS).  While I am not overly optimistic that the camera will come with this, given that the mirrorless camera (EOSR) didn’t have it, I don’t think I will bet on it.  But some of the rumours are that the camera may come with it.

And my final wish, that Canon will just release the 1DX Mark III already, and have sufficient supply so I can get one quickly!

Feel free to share your wishes (or any rumors you have) with me at [email protected].

I picked up my 90D this fall, and so far I have had just a few opportunities to get out and start shooting with it. I am looking forward to getting the chance to use it even more in Yellowstone coming up.

The first thing I wanted to assess is what the noise is like on the 90D. Given that it is 32.5 megapixels on a cropped sensor, I had a feeling that I would not see much of an improvement in noise, compared to what I experienced with the Canon 7D Mark II.  Well my assumption was correct.  The noise performance falls behind that of what I experienced with the 7D Mark II.

This photo of a Great Gray Owl taken at ISO 6400 is quite noisy, however it’s not easy to see on the web version of the photo.  I have not done any noise reduction on the image, I took it from Lightroom, and performed a few small edits in Photoshop, and compressed to to 2400 pixels on the long end.  That being said, the noise is manageable in the post production, and you are able to make a cleaner, less noisy image with it.

I also had the chance to compare the 90D with the D500 to compare the ISO performance on the two cameras (using 70-200 f/2.8 lenses).  And I am sad to report that the noise performance on the 90D falls behind the Nikon D500.    When looking at the test images, the Canon is almost a full-stop behind the Nikon D500, so the noise at the Nikon at ISO 6400 is more comparable to ISO 3200 on the Canon 90D.  I attribute this partly to the more reasonable sensor size of the Nikon having only 20.8 megapixels.

The following are the images of the Canon 90D at various high ISOs and the sample of the D500 at ISO 6400.  These were all compressed to 2400 on the long end in photoshop using bicubic.

Canon 90D @ ISO 3200

Canon 90D @ ISO 6400

Canon 90D @ ISO 12800

Nikon D500 @ ISO 6400

Also, here are two comparisons of ISO 6400 between the D500 and 90D, with the images cropped to 2400 pixels (no other adjustment made to image size).

Canon 90D @ ISO 6400

Nikon D500 @ ISO 6400

As you can see, the Nikon is less noisy.

I am going to take more time to test it out while I am in Yellowstone, but so far, I am not noticing much improvement in ISO performance. Additionally, I want the opportunity to test out the autofocus and overall image quality of the camera.  But at this point I’m not sure if it will get a permanent spot in my camera kit.  I really think that having a cropped sensor with so many megapixels is really the downfall of this camera.  If I get the opportunity to get my hands on the 7D Mark II to compare it to the 90D, I will report on my findings.

If you are interested in more information on the 90D, please feel free to email me [email protected] to discuss further.

Following in the footsteps of the Nikon “announcement” of the D6, Canon recently announced that it is developing the EOS-1DX Mark III, the successor of the 1DX Mark II, which is the flagship camera body for Canon.  You can read a copy of the Canon Canada press release here.  The announcement is a little light on details, but below are some of the “details” provided.

Canon has stated the updated flagship camera body will have improved autofocus speed and accuracy, which as a wildlife photographer (or even for sports shooters) is one of the features that we look forward to the most.  The improved autofocus will be the result of a bigger autofocus sensor, which is 28x bigger than that on the 1DX Mark II.

The 1DX Mark III will come with an updated CMOS sensor and DIGIC processor, which they say will improve ISO performance, and also allow for the recording of 4K60p video with the camera.

Canon has also advertised the 1DX Mark III as having a faster frame rate, up to 16 frames per second using optical viewfinder, and 20 frames per second in Live View Mode.

As part of the announcement Canon mentions that the camera will support dual card slots which will take CFExpress cards.  While I am happy that Canon has finally decided to have two of the same card types in a camera, I am annoyed that I spent money on CFast cards that are no longer going to be useful, and that I will have to invest in more cards and a new card reader.  However, the CFExpress should help contribute to having a faster camera, so the investment will be worth it, and it will be nice to finally not need to have two different cards for one camera, like was required for the 1DX Mark II.

Included in the feature list are the connectivity features which include built in wifi, bluetooth, and GPS technology.  These aren’t features that I tend to use that often, however it shows that Canon are continuing to stay up on the technology for photographers that would like these features.

What is missing from the announcement is an actual release date for the camera.  I already have my name on the list to get one when the do become available, hopefully before the photo tour season starts next spring, so I can really put it to the test.  If you have questions, feel free to contact me [email protected].

While I was away on my Fall Great Bear Rainforest trip Canon announced the Canon 90D, an updated cropped sensor to replace the Canon 80D, and some are saying that it is also a replacement for the Canon 7D Mark II, and it will be “THE” cropped sensor body.

When I got back from my trip, I got my 90D, and am looking forward to seeing whether it will be a capable compliment to my current camera bodies, the 1DX Mark II, and 5D Mark IV.

The Canon 90D is a 32.5 megapixel cropped sensor with a DIGIC 8 Image Processor.  My first thoughts are, for a cropped sensor, that is a heck of a lot of pixels.  Both the 80D and the 7D Mark II are 24 and 20 megapixels respectively, which to me is a much more reasonable range, especially for a cropped sensor body.  When I get a chance to start using the camera, I have a feeling that it will not be very good at high ISOs, or while hand-held at low shutter speeds.

As a wildlife photographer, the goal is to be able to get sharp shots, well really that’s probably the goal of any photographer.  As a wildlife photographed I am often in situations where I am hand-holding lenses, in low light, and with sometimes quite fast moving subjects.  That means ISO capabilities, and autofocus are really critical.
The 90D has 45 autofocus points through the viewfinder, which I think is somewhat low for a wildlife camera, but the benefit is that they are all cross-type AF points, which is a positive.  By comparison, this is the same number of points as the 80D, but improved because they are all cross type, and it is less than the 65 points that come with the 7D Mark II.

To handle the fast moving subjects, the 90D has 10 frames per second shooting through the viewfinder, which is more than the 7 that comes with the 80D and the same as the 7D Mark II.

For anyone that wants the ability to shoot both stills and video, the 90D has 4k capabilities.

After reading the specs, and getting my hands on one, I am not really that confident that I will like this camera any more than I liked the 7D Mark II (which I didn’t own for long before selling), and I still am not sure whether it will be a capable addition to my photography kit. I will be testing both the ISO performance and the autofocus capabilities of the camera over the next couple months and report back.  If you have questions, feel free to contact me [email protected].