14 DAY TRIAL // It wasn't so long ago that 16 megapixel camera sensors were considered high end, save on the really hardcore professional cameras and camcorders, but now they may as well be small fries. The two newest DSLR cameras from Canon make it more than obvious.
The two cameras, part of the EOS series, are called Canon EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R and both have 50.6-megapixel sensors.
They are made for advertising, fashion and landscape photographers, where every pixel counts. Especially when you're expected to Photoshop the pictures to make the human models look their best.
The two newcomers are largely identical, save for the fact that the 5DS R reduces the effect of the optical low pass filter (OLPF) by using a low-pass cancellation filter. This makes it good at capturing detail, although the possibility of greater moiré is there.
The Canon Canon EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R
The 50.6-megapixel CMOS sensor measures 36 x 24 mm, but while it is the main part responsible for the image quality, it is not the one that actually processes the images.
That task falls to the Dual DIGIC 6 image processors, which can record images even when shot at 5 frames per second (fps).
RAW images are stored in 8,688 x 5,792 pixel resolution (you may take some time to blink repeatedly), M-RAW in 6,480 x 4,320 pixels, and S-RAW in 4,320 x 2,800 pixels. JPEG formats are, of course, also supported.
The ISO range is of 100 to 6,400, or 12,800 if you push it. Not exactly the highest ever seen, but since these are the kind of products you are meant to use in conjunction with photography studio continuous lighting kits, low-light sensitivity is a secondary concern.
Once a photo has been snapped, it can be cropped in-camera, down to 1.3x crop (30-megapixel file), 1.6x crop (20-megapixel), and in 1:1 (36-megapixel). This is good for making room on the CompactFlash or SD memory card.
As for video recording, it can be done at 50/60 fps in HD 720p or 30/25/24 fps in Full HD 1080p.
All the hardware is enclosed in a magnesium alloy body that is water-resistant and colored black.
Availability
The Canon EOS 5DS and 5DS R cameras, complete with a stereo mini jack (to attach an external microphone), 100 percent coverage optical viewfinders and 3.2-inch LCD monitors (1,040k dots), will start selling in June, for $3,700 – $3,900 / €3,270 – €3,446.
