Making the big decision

It’s the question of so many photographer’s conversations right now. Have you changed from DSLR to mirrorless yet? It’s discussed as though it is inevitable, and with Canon gradually discontinuing its EF lenses, maybe it is. But what if you feel your current kit does everything you need it to do, and you don’t feel the need to switch? Honestly, if you are spending £10k on new kit, this is not a switch to be made lightly. I know how to use my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLRs to achieve what I need, but could the mirrorless EOS R5 do better? I tested it on some working jobs to find out.

To understand my experience, it’s important to know how and what I shoot, as you may be looking for something else in your kit. I have owned two 5D Mark IVs since 2018. As a full-time photographer for the past 12 years, I fill up to 4TB of hard drive space each year, and when I sold my old EOS 5D Mark IIIs they had shutter counts of around a half a million each (and were still working perfectly). I cover many different genres, as diverse as sports, weddings, music and fashion (see www.lensi.co.uk). With all this in mind, I need kit that is robust and versatile.

Testing kit in controlled environments where you have the time and space to work through everything wasn’t for me. Instead, I wanted to see how the EOS R5 would work when I’m actually working. I tested it on a few real-life commissions using the RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM and RF 800mm F11 IS STM lenses, loaned from MPB for one week and from Canon for two weeks. The tests were a sports event (the Diamond League Athletics meet in Birmingham);