Canon EOS 5DS R Review – Image Quality

Canon EOS 5DS R Sample Image Gallery

Image quality is absolutely stunning, although to get the most from the sensor requires high quality lenses and excellent technique. Lenses need to be set to their optimum apertures, usually f/5.6 – f/8, and if shooting hand-held, fast shutter speeds are needed to avoid blur. But under optimum conditions the amount of detail the camera can capture is truly extraordinary, in principle enough for huge 30” x 20” prints.

Noise is essentially invisible at low ISOs, and it’s only at ISO 1600 that it starts becoming obvious. But even at ISO 6400, images are perfectly usable, especially when processed from raw. However the raw files are huge, so you’ll need to invest in large, fast memory cards.

Canon EOS 5DS R Sample Image Gallery

Colour

The 5DS R gives punchy, saturated colours which are attractive without being overblown, aided by accurate auto white balance system. At higher sensitivities the colours remain strong, only starting to desaturate at the top ISO 6400 and 12,800 settings.

Resolution

With its 50.6MP sensor and no low-pass filter, the 5DS R resolves fully 5600 l/ph in our tests at ISO 50. The resolution doesn’t drop much as the sensitivity is raised, and only falls to 4800 l/ph at the highest ISO 12,800 setting – a pretty remarkable result.

Noise

At low ISOs images are essentially free of noise, and it’s only at ISO 800 that it becomes detectable at a pixel level. Shadow detail starts to suffer visibly at ISO 3200, but despite this ISO 6400 and even ISO 12,800 are quite usable.