Finally retiring the 5D3, would love RF migration gameplan tips

[ahsanford]

Hey all -- been a while! Trust you all have been well.

I'm finally taking the plunge on an R5 II after 12+ happy years with my 5D3. I've not ordered yet, but I'm getting my ducks in a row for gear I plan to sell / keep / replace. I think I've got a solid gameplan for my current lenses and accessories, but I was curious what best practices in migration you'd recommend.

A few questions specifically come to mind:

• Are two LP-E6P batteries enough for a full day of vaca, sightseeing or landscape work? Presume I'm on the grid and can recharge each night.
  • Other than perhaps a random wildlife moment where I live (an odd fox or eagle), I almost never run high fps stills capture -- but that might only come up 2-3x a year.
• Next to zero need for a rear CPL for what I shoot*, so I should get the control ring adaptor for my EF glass, right?
  • *I already have a 105 CPL for my front filtered Lee 4x6 holder, and that rarely gets used, about 1x a year
• What's your trusted partner for selling old gear (the 5D3 body + EF lenses in particular)? A lot of online houses make it push-button easy, but their offer prices seem absolutely brutal. Is selling on FM's forum still at thing? Is there a new/better show in town?

And I'm always game to hear your tips, best practices and lessons learned from migrating. Thx as always.

- A

 

[neuroanatomist]

You’ll get no answers without first answering a question for us:

Was it the launch of the RF 50mm f/1.4L VCM combined with IBIS that finally tipped the needle?

Welcome back!

 

[ahsanford]

You’ll get no answers without first answering a question for us:

Was it the launch of the RF 50mm f/1.4L VCM combined with IBIS that finally tipped the needle?

Welcome back!

#swish

Good to see you as always, Neuro.

Funny you bring it up: I'm planning on keeping my various L EF zooms + T/C for now, so I'll be purging my non-L EF primes in favor of big paperweight RF primes. Probably leading with the 35 and 50 to start (or maybe the 24 and 50). Would love a fast 28 but would prefer Canon first party and it looks like the 28L missed the boat yet again with RF.

But to answer your question: maybe not the f/1.4? I'll probably get the RF 50 f/1.2L USM instead of the f/1.4 VCM. Neither are particularly small/light (both heavier than the old EF f/1.2 finnicky AF diva!) so if I'm going to go big, let's have fun with the f/1.2? Talk me down if you feel otherwise, but I don't shoot video, don't care about being silent, etc.

(There's an odd side-angle to this: I have a long parked away trove of internal company rewards points that I can exchange for consumer products, and some RF lenses are on there. I can nab that 50 f/1.2L there and the new VCM glass isnt't listed there yet (and may never arrive there)).

- A

 

[docsmith]

A few questions specifically come to mind:

• Are two LP-E6P batteries enough for a full day of vaca, sightseeing or landscape work? Presume I'm on the grid and can recharge each night.
  • Other than perhaps a random wildlife moment where I live (an odd fox or eagle), I almost never run high fps stills capture -- but that might only come up 2-3x a year.
• Next to zero need for a rear CPL for what I shoot*, so I should get the control ring adaptor for my EF glass, right?
  • *I already have a 105 CPL for my front filtered Lee 4x6 holder, and that rarely gets used, about 1x a year
• What's your trusted partner for selling old gear (the 5D3 body + EF lenses in particular)? A lot of online houses make it push-button easy, but their offer prices seem absolutely brutal. Is selling on FM's forum still at thing? Is there a new/better show in town?

- A

Good to see you.

On the R5, two LP-E6NHs are enough for a day. Often 1 battery was enough. With R bodies, the battery life is less about number of pictures taken and more about time active. Turning the r5 off went not in use will save massive amounts of battery life.

That said, I travel/use a 3 battery rotation. Never had a problem.

Control ring. I have yet to find a use for it. You are already gaining a ring going from 5D3 to R5 II, do you have a use for two new rings? Mine are set to ISO, aperture and shutter speed, pretty standard. Personally I use the filter holder adapter most of the time. Breakthrough photography among others have several 3rd party filters.

I haven’t sold anything in awhile, but am getting ready to selling my old Sigma lenses. I am looking at KEH and MPB. I used to sell via EBay, but am tired of the fees and hassle. Plus, take a look at used prices on EF lenses, up to you if x% less is worth it or not. I am more purging EF lenses to clear space than for the money.

 

[ahsanford]

Good to see you.

On the R5, two LP-E6NHs are enough for a day. Often 1 battery was enough. With R bodies, the battery life is less about number of pictures taken and more about time active. Turning the r5 off went not in use will save massive amounts of battery life.

That said, I travel/use a 3 battery rotation. Never had a problem.

Control ring. I have yet to find a use for it. You are already gaining a ring going from 5D3 to R5 II, do you have a use for two new rings? Mine are set to ISO, aperture and shutter speed, pretty standard. Personally I use the filter holder adapter most of the time. Breakthrough photography among others have several 3rd party filters.

I haven’t sold anything in awhile, but am getting ready to selling my old Sigma lenses. I am looking at KEH and MPB. I used to sell via EBay, but am tired of the fees and hassle. Plus, take a look at used prices on EF lenses, up to you if x% less is worth it or not. I am more purging EF lenses to clear space than for the money.

Thx -- appreciate the guidance!

Re: 'do you have a use for two new rings?', I am a bit lost. If I am adapting EF glass, won't I only gain the one new ring with a control ring adapter? Or are you referring to other programmable hardware options on the body that would be incremental relative to my 5D3 body?

(I've rented / CPS loaned an R5 Mark I an adapted EF glass a number of times, but it has been a while.)

- A

 

[docsmith]

The ring/dial around the mode button. It is on the latest R bodies but not on the 5D3. So you will have three customizable rings on the R5II.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Re: 'do you have a use for two new rings?', I am a bit lost. If I am adapting EF glass, won't I only gain the one new ring with a control ring adapter? Or are you referring to other programmable hardware options on the body that would be incremental relative to my 5D3 body?

There are three controls dials on the body of the R5 and R5II.

5DIII:


R5:


So one more dial on the body plus the control ring on the RF lenses (or on the adapter, if you choose that flavor).

 

[ahsanford]

Forgot about that. Absolutely used that extra control ring when I used a rental/loaner R5. Hmm, maybe I don't need the control ring version of the adaptor? Something to think on.

Anything else come to mind in your migration experiences? Things like:

• I never normally shot high fps for stills, but the half press pre-filling of the buffer feature (what is it, pre continuous shooting, pre recording, etc.?) is killer for this particular stills reason...
• Eye control was interesting but it's a pain with glasses for this reason...
• AF was so much better off the sensor that this old EF lemon hated for its AF now has a second life on my R5...
• Moving from principally SD to principally CF is an unexpected pain for ________ reason... (beyond cost)
• Leaving wifi on all the time is worth it for this reason, but get an extra battery for it...

^^^ I'm making things up here -- these don't specifically keep me up at night. I'm just curious what happened in your RF migration that surprised you and might have changed your migration plan had you known, thx.

- A

 

[koenkooi]

[…]

• Are two LP-E6P batteries enough for a full day of vaca, sightseeing or landscape work? Presume I'm on the grid and can recharge each night.
  • Other than perhaps a random wildlife moment where I live (an odd fox or eagle), I almost never run high fps stills capture -- but that might only come up 2-3x a year.[…]

With pre-capture running almost the whole time and trying to shoot some 4k120 video in between, I can drain an LP-E6P in about 2.5 hours.
For a more normal usage pattern, 2 batteries for a day should be enough. If not, you can charge it in your bag using a USB-C PD powerbank.

 

[mmmm]

If not, you can charge it in your bag using a USB-C PD powerbank.

I assume you mean when inside the camera? or do you have a good solution for a usbc battery charger?

 

[docsmith]

Anything else come to mind in your migration experiences? Things like:

• I never normally shot high fps for stills, but the half press pre-filling of the buffer feature (what is it, pre continuous shooting, pre recording, etc.?) is killer for this particular stills reason...
• Eye control was interesting but it's a pain with glasses for this reason...
• AF was so much better off the sensor that this old EF lemon hated for its AF now has a second life on my R5...
• Moving from principally SD to principally CF is an unexpected pain for ________ reason... (beyond cost)
• Leaving wifi on all the time is worth it for this reason, but get an extra battery for it...

^^^ I'm making things up here -- these don't specifically keep me up at night. I'm just curious what happened in your RF migration that surprised you and might have changed your migration plan had you known, thx.

- A

It is amazing how easy the migration can be.

I've kept my 5DIV. In addition to letting a few people borrow it to go shooting with me, I do occasionally use it. Ergonomically, the R5 is familiar, yet significantly smaller, more buttons. More controls and many of those controls are customizable. I've found where I am comfortable handing the 5DIV to someone that is interested in photography, I have my R5 tricked out to the point where it is not as easy.

In addition to customization, the big changes include Eye-detect AF and becoming familiar enough to trust it. Actual AF speed and the normal modes I thought were pretty similar between the 5DIV and R5 except that spot AF on the 5D series I never found very useful and on the R5/R1, it is my most used mode. Much improved. Using the whole frame to potentially AF is very nice.

Memory size. I started photographing birds more during Covid, the R5 has higher FPS and larger file sizes....a few things like this has led to more memory per year of photography than before. I updated my computer in large part to accommodate the additional memory but also help LR better process each file. I alter between two buttons and 3 buttons set for different AF modes. AF-on and * buttons on the back are always their own modes (AF-on is Eye-detect, * is spot AF). I sometimes give the shutter button another AF on mode, but often it is shutter release only.

I found the files process better/quicker/easier. Auto-WB does a better job. I enjoy having the level and histogram displayed in the EVF.

But yeah, the migration is pretty straight forward. Both are Canon cameras. I would be shocked if it did not feel more familiar to you than anything else.

 

[koenkooi]

I assume you mean when inside the camera? or do you have a good solution for a usbc battery charger?

Inside the camera, yes. I haven't come across proper USB-C PD chargers, most of them are the usual out-of-spec ones we've seem before, but with the micro USB socket replaced with a USB-C socket.
If anyone knows about an LP-E6* charger with a proper USB-C PD interface, let me know, I'm certainly interested in one of those.

 

[ahsanford]

In addition to customization, the big changes include Eye-detect AF and becoming familiar enough to trust it. Actual AF speed and the normal modes I thought were pretty similar between the 5DIV and R5 except that spot AF on the 5D series I never found very useful and on the R5/R1, it is my most used mode. Much improved. Using the whole frame to potentially AF is very nice.

I cannot wait to use the whole frame for AF. That's a top, top upside for me vs. my 5D use today.

I alter between two buttons and 3 buttons set for different AF modes. AF-on and * buttons on the back are always their own modes (AF-on is Eye-detect, * is spot AF).

When I finally pull the trigger, customizing the buttons/rings will be interesting. I don't think I would change AF area/cluster with a dedicated button, but dedicated button for eye detect seems a terrific idea. Interesting.

- A

 

[koenkooi]

[...]When I finally pull the trigger, customizing the buttons/rings will be interesting. I don't think I would change AF area/cluster with a dedicated button, but dedicated button for eye detect seems a terrific idea. Interesting.

Since it will be quite different from what you're used to, give the defaults a try* before fiddling with them. I immediately set my RP up for back button focus, but it I changed it back a while later. Thanks to proper subject tracking, the reasons I used BBF for don't really apply anymore. I do have spot-AF and AF-expansion overrides on the 2 back buttons. So if the AF does get confused, I can fix it with one of those buttons most of the time.

* except "release shutter without card", that one should be turned off immediately!

 

[neuroanatomist]

* except "release shutter without card", that one should be turned off immediately!

I changed that on my R1 (because it does make sense), but I’ve never bothered before because I always have other cards to rotate in. Basically, I never close the card door of a camera unless all available slots have a card in them. The first thing I always do after closing the card door is turn on the camera and format the card(s).

 

[ahsanford]

Since it will be quite different from what you're used to, give the defaults a try* before fiddling with them. I immediately set my RP up for back button focus, but it I changed it back a while later. Thanks to proper subject tracking, the reasons I used BBF for don't really apply anymore. I do have spot-AF and AF-expansion overrides on the 2 back buttons. So if the AF does get confused, I can fix it with one of those buttons most of the time.

* except "release shutter without card", that one should be turned off immediately!

I am the weirdo never took to BBAF. I tried it a few times and did not like it. Half-press on shutter has always been my move. I don't shoot fast movers often.

I'd rather reclaim that button for something else if I can reprogram it.

- A

 

[ahsanford]

Okay, let's pivot to lenses briefly. Generally I'm shooting in a 28-50mm space of life, hiking, travel and family photography. Almost exclusively with available light. 1-2x a year I crack out the landscape kit, the front filters, etc. and make a day of it (and 16mm FF has been more than enough width for me). A few times of year we road trip, hop on a boat and it's eagle / wildlife time (but casually so -- like if we see them, it's not a dedicated wildlife shoot at all). And I love the odd art of handheld macro shooting on hikes/walks: I don't crack out the 100L often, but I always bring home something interesting when I do.

I presently am perfectly happy with my odd travel/hiking/landscaping/very amateur birding L zoom trinity:

EF 16-35 f/4L IS USM (staple on all vacations)​

EF 24-70 f/4L IS USM (staple on all vacations, also go-to for hikes in particular: love the weird 0.7x Macro)​

EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM + 2x T/C III (never flies, I only use it for roadtrips with wildlife on offer or the odd family sports / concert situations)​

​

While I've got a mixed bag of primes:

EF 28 f/2.8 IS USM​

EF 35 f/2 IS USM​

EF 40mm f/2.8 USM​

EF 50mm f/1.4 USM (here comes the rain )​

EF 100 f/2.8L Macro IS USM​

My current plan is:

• Keep all my zooms and adapt them
• Sell all primes except for the 35 and the Macro
• Buy one really nice RF lens straight away (and maaaaaaybe that 28 pancake as a 'we're not planning on shooting, but I'll bring something' move)

The big question is which really nice RF lens would you first add to my kit above?

My work rewards thing will effectively place any one of the following lenses in my hands, gratis:

​

RF 50 f/1.2L​

RF 24-70 f/2.8L IS​

RF 28-70 f/2L​

RF 100-500L​

RF 70-200 f/2.8L IS​

Which is a more meaningful upgrade for me, and why? My vote right now is the 50 prime, but talk me down if you feel another one of those is just a game-changer versus what I have for what I shoot. Thx.

- A

 

[koenkooi]

Okay, let's pivot to lenses briefly. Generally I'm shooting in a 28-50mm space of life, hiking, travel and family photography. Almost exclusively with available light. 1-2x a year I crack out the landscape kit, the front filters, etc. and make a day of it (and 16mm FF has been more than enough width for me). A few times of year we road trip, hop on a boat and it's eagle / wildlife time (but casually so -- like if we see them, it's not a dedicated wildlife shoot at all). And I love the odd art of handheld macro shooting on hikes/walks: I don't crack out the 100L often, but I always bring home something interesting when I do.

I presently am perfectly happy with my odd travel/hiking/landscaping/very amateur birding L zoom trinity:

EF 16-35 f/4L IS USM (staple on all vacations)​

EF 24-70 f/4L IS USM (staple on all vacations, also go-to for hikes in particular: love the weird 0.7x Macro)​

EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM + 2x T/C III (never flies, I only use it for roadtrips with wildlife on offer or the odd family sports / concert situations)​

​

While I've got a mixed bag of primes:

EF 28 f/2.8 IS USM​

EF 35 f/2 IS USM​

EF 40mm f/2.8 USM​

EF 50mm f/1.4 USM (here comes the rain )​

EF 100 f/2.8L Macro IS USM​

My current plan is:

• Keep all my zooms and adapt them
• Sell all primes except for the 35 and the Macro
• Buy one really nice RF lens straight away (and maaaaaaybe that 28 pancake as a 'we're not planning on shooting, but I'll bring something' move)

The big question is which really nice RF lens would you first add to my kit above?

My work rewards thing will effectively place any one of the following lenses in my hands, gratis:

​

RF 50 f/1.2L​

RF 24-70 f/2.8L IS​

RF 28-70 f/2L​

RF 100-500L​

RF 70-200 f/2.8L IS​

Which is a more meaningful upgrade for me, and why? My vote right now is the 50 prime, but talk me down if you feel another one of those is just a game-changer versus what I have for what I shoot. Thx.

- A

The RF 28 pancake is hard to beat.

 

[ahsanford]

The RF 28 pancake is hard to beat.

I'm torn, b/c that's why I always heard about the EF 40mm f/2.8 pancake. But once I had it, I almost always chose the EF 35mm f/2 IS USM over it for the speed + IS.

But 28 is so much more my focal length than 40 is. Twist my arm on an impossible 'pick one FL the rest of your life' scenario and I'd say 28mm.

- A

 

[mmmm]

Inside the camera, yes. I haven't come across proper USB-C PD chargers, most of them are the usual out-of-spec ones we've seem before, but with the micro USB socket replaced with a USB-C socket.
If anyone knows about an LP-E6* charger with a proper USB-C PD interface, let me know, I'm certainly interested in one of those.

Me too! That’s why I wondered - I was hoping you had found a solution!