Canon EOS 5Ds helps to bridge the gap, professional from amateur photography. It gives advanced DSLR users an affordable route to a full-frame shooting. Pro photographers will enjoy a smaller, lighter camera to back-up their fully professional-level models. It is also the model that kick-started advanced DSLR video shooting.
Canon EOS 5DS Design and Build
Having a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens attached, you would not describe the 5DS as lightweight. But the full front grip and rear thumb ridge make it feel very secure and comfortable in your hand. The advanced level 5DS has a slightly finer texture of the rubber-like coatings. On top of the Canon EOS 5Ds is mode dial and a large mono status LCD panel.
It is used to display key settings. This quite useful feature when you are capturing low-level or table-top subjects. Unlike the screens on some Canon DSLRs, the screen for Canon EOS 5Ds is fixed.
Check Out: Best Lenses for Canon EOS 5Ds
Performance of Canon 5DS
Canon EOS 5Ds has two Digic 6 processing engines. It enables a native sensitivity range of ISO 100-6,400 with expansion settings taking this to ISO 50-12,800. Despite all the processing power, the Canon 5DS is restricted to a maximum continuous shooting speed of 5fps. You get up to 510 Large Fine JPEGs or 14 raw files with a UDMA Compact Flash card installed.
Canon 5DS Viewfinder
Being a full-frame advanced level DSLR, the Canon EOS 5Ds features a large optical viewfinder. This one is beautiful and bright. You can see 100% of the scene. No more nasty surprises hidden around the edges of images. It’s possible to display an electronic level in the viewfinder as well as on the main screen.
The Canon 5Ds viewfinder uses a dedicated icon instead of using AF points. Meaning the level is visible upon the shutter release pressed on focusing. But you can make sure the Canon 5Ds is leveled at the moment the shutter release is pressed home.
Images on Canon EOS 5DS
Canon 5DS has a collection of Picture Styles. These are tailored to the look of JPEGs. You can easily set the saturation, contrast, and sharpening to suit the subject. The advanced level DSLR, however, has a new one called ‘Fine Detail’. It seems a practical introduction given that the Canon EOS 5Ds is likely to be used to shoot landscape, still life and macro subjects.
The new advanced camera has a collection of mirror lock-up options. These trip the shutter, after a set delay following the shutter release being pressed and the mirror lifting. You can access these via the menu along with the standard option. It requires two presses of the shutter release. It would be nice when Canon borrows a leaf from Fuji and introduces a firmware update. it would then roll out this capability to the 5D Mark III.
Canon EOS 5Ds Specifications
| Price | ||
|---|---|---|
| MSRP | $3699/£2999/€3999 (body only) | |
| Body type | ||
| Body type | Mid-size SLR | |
| Sensor | ||
| Max resolution | 8688 x 5792 | |
| Image ratio w:h | 3:2, 16:9 | |
| Effective pixels | 51 megapixels | |
| Sensor photo detectors | 53 megapixels | |
| Sensor size | Full frame (36 x 24 mm) | |
| Sensor type | CMOS | |
| Processor | Dual DIGIC 6 | |
| Image | ||
| ISO | Auto, 100-6400 (expandable to 50-12800) | |
| Boosted ISO (minimum) | 50 | |
| Boosted ISO (maximum) | 12800 | |
| White balance presets | 8 | |
| Custom white balance | Yes | |
| Image stabilization | No | |
| Uncompressed format | RAW | |
| JPEG quality levels | Fine, normal | |
| Optics & Focus | ||
| Autofocus |
| |
| Manual focus | Yes | |
| Number of focus points | 61 | |
| Lens mount | Canon EF | |
| Focal length multiplier | 1× | |
| Screen / viewfinder | ||
| Articulated LCD | Fixed | |
| Screen size | 3.2″ | |
| Screen dots | 1,040,000 | |
| Touch screen | No | |
| Screen type | ClearView II TFT-LCD | |
| Live view | Yes | |
| Viewfinder type | Optical (pentaprism) | |
| Viewfinder coverage | 100% | |
| Viewfinder magnification | 0.71× | |
| Photography features | ||
| Minimum shutter speed | 30 sec | |
| Maximum shutter speed | 1/8000 sec | |
| Aperture priority | Yes | |
| Shutter priority | Yes | |
| Manual exposure mode | Yes | |
| Subject / scene modes | No | |
| Built-in flash | No | |
| External flash | Yes (via hot shoe and PC sync port) | |
| Continuous drive | 5.0 fps | |
| Self-timer | Yes (2 or 10 secs) | |
| Metering modes |
| |
| Exposure compensation | ±5 (at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps) | |
| AE Bracketing | ±3 (3 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps) | |
| WB Bracketing | Yes | |
| Videography features | ||
| Resolutions | 1920 x 1080 (30p, 25p, 24p), 1280 x 720 (60p, 50p), 640 x 480 (30p, 25p) | |
| Format | H.264 | |
| Videography notes | Supports ALL-I and IPB compression | |
| Microphone | Mono | |
| Speaker | Mono | |
| Storage | ||
| Storage types | SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I compatible), CompactFlash | |
| Connectivity | ||
| USB | USB 3.0 (5 GBit/sec) | |
| HDMI | Yes (mini-HDMI) | |
| Microphone port | Yes | |
| Headphone port | No | |
| Remote control | Yes (Wired and wireless) | |
| Physical | ||
| Environmentally sealed | Yes (dust and water-resistent) | |
| Battery | Battery Pack | |
| Battery description | LP-E6 lithium-ion battery & charger | |
| Battery Life (CIPA) | 700 | |
| Weight (inc. batteries) | 930 g (2.05 lb / 32.80 oz) | |
| Dimensions | 152 x 116 x 76 mm (5.98 x 4.57 x 2.99″) | |
| Other features | ||
| Orientation sensor | Yes | |
| Timelapse recording | Yes | |
| GPS | None | |
