Canon has released yet another tease of its upcoming EOS R5, revealing new details about the mirrorless camera’s video specifications. The new information largely confirms rumors that have been circulating for weeks and proves that the R5, the presumed new flagship of Canon’s mirrorless line, will be a formidable force for filmmaking.
While 8K had previously been announced, resolution alone is rarely the determinant of image quality, especially as we push beyond 4K. We now know more specifics about exactly how the camera will process video, and it isn’t just for those 33 million or so pixels that R5 will excel. It shoots 8K at 30 frames per second in either RAW or 10-bit 4:2:2 in the H.265 format with either Canon Log or HDR PQ color profiles. It does this internally, without requiring an external SSD or HDMI recorder, and without cropping the sensor.
But if 8K sounds like more of a headache than it’s worth — and for most people, it probably is — don’t fret. The R5 will also debut what will likely be the most powerful 4K mode on a mirrorless camera, with frame rates up to 120 fps. That’s sufficient for a 5× slow-motion playback at 24 fps. As with 8K, 4K can be recorded in 10-bit 4:2:2 h.265 from the full width of the sensor, although RAW will not be an option for 4K.
To handle such high bandwidth requirements, the R5 will make use of dual card slots, supporting one UHS-II SD card and one high-speed CFexpress card. Canon was slow to adopt the new CFexpress format, which Nikon and Panasonic previously incorporated into their cameras, but the R5 will be Canon’s second flagship model to feature it, the other being the EOS 1D X Mark III DSLR.
It’s interesting to see Canon revealing so many details about the EOS R5’s video specifications without yet seeing much of anything about its still photo capabilities. The company previously confirmed that it will use a newly designed full-frame sensor and shoot at up to 20 frames per second using the electronic shutter, but little is know beyond that. After years of falling behind Sony, Panasonic, and even Nikon in the video department, perhaps Canon’s first goal is to position the R5 as further proof that it still knows how to be a leader in video.
