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What is it?
Canon's new full-frame sensor offers a resolution of 50.6 million pixels (megapixels). That's 40% more than the Nikon D800/D810, a camera which caused jaws to drop on its own launch, just three years ago.
Comparisons with Canon's own cameras are even more stark. The EOS 5D Mark III was previously Canon's highest resolution DSLR, with 22 million pixels – but the 5DS more than doubles this at a stroke.
Who needs it?
This kind of resolution might be overkill for the average amateur photographer, but for professionals it could be crucial. It could even take away the need to move up to the much more expensive world of medium format digital photography, and will be particularly well-suited to landscapes, architecture, fashion and portrait photography. It provides the kind of resolution needed for large-scale displays like advertising billboards or posters.
Professionals are the main target, but Canon also talks about 'personal' photography. The EOS 5DS isn't cheap, but it's not unattainable either. It goes on sale from June 2015 at a price of £3,000, which is not a whole lot more than the EOS 5D Mark III and much less than Canon's flagship EOS-1D X model.
The Nikon D800/D810 has shown that there are plenty of committed amateur/semi-pro photographers out there who are prepared to spend serious amounts of money to get the best possible quality.
The 5DS R is sharper still
When Nikon launched the D800 in 2012, it also announced a variant the D800E. Until that point, all DSLRs had an optical 'low-pass' filter in front of the sensor to prevent moiré (interference) effects with fine patterns and textures. This slightly softens fine detail as a side-effect, and the D800E variant had the low pass filter effect removed (reduced actually – it was removed entirely for the D810).
Canon has done the same. The 5DS is the 'regular' version with a low pass filter, while the 5D R has the low pass effect removed.
Canon hasn't simply taken the filter away, incidentally, since this would have shifted the sensor's focal plane and required an internal redesign. Instead, the 5DS R has a second optical low pass filter to counteract the effect of the one that's already there.
The 5DS R will, in theory, provide slightly sharper ultra-fine detail, but with the possible risk of moiré effects with some subjects. Canon says it should be fine, however, for subjects with 'organic' detail, like landscapes.
The Nikon D800E proved surprisingly popular – people wanted that extra ounce of resolution, whatever the risk. As it turned out, nobody reported any moiré problems anyway, so it'll be interesting to see which of these two 5DS variants proves the most popular.
The 5DS R goes on sale at the same time as the regular 5DS in June 2015 at a price of £3200.
Where it fits in
It's interesting that Canon has chosen to put its new sensor in the 5D body, not the 1D. Again, there's a parallel with Nikon's approach. The Nikon D800/D810 is cheaper than the flagship D4s, but the D4s designed specifically for high-speed/low-light sports and press photography. Canon's in the same boat with the 1D X. That's a specialised and expensive high-speed model, where the 5D has always been the 'affordable' pro camera.
In fact, apart from the resolution and a some external details, the 5DS is practically the same as the 5D Mark III. The 5D Mark III will continue alongside the new models too, and not just as a cheaper but outdated predecessor – it's better in low light, for a start. The 5DS has a maximum non-expanded ISO of 6400, but the 5D Mark III goes up to ISO 12800. The 5D Mark III is better suited to movies, too, because for the 5DS Canon has dropped the headphone socket for monitoring audio levels in favour of a USB 3.0 port for faster transfer of its huge image files.
Key specs
The EOS 5DS packs dual DIGIC processors to handle those massive 50-megapixel files, and this helps give it an impressive 5fps continuous shooting speed. There are plenty of faster cameras than this, but 5fps is enough for most jobs and a real technical achievement given the sheer quantity of data being captured by the sensor.
You don't have to use all 50 million pixels, though. The 5DS offers a 1.3x crop mode to simulate the sensor size of the old EOS 1D series cameras, and a 1.6x crop mode to simulate Canon's smaller APS-C consumer models.
These produce 30 megapixel and 19 megapixel images respectively, so you'll still get plenty of detail – but the 1.6x crop mode does NOT mean that the EOS 5DS can take smaller EF-S format lenses. There are physical differences that makes this impossible, and the crop mode is simply there to simulate the smaller sensor sizes.
This is more useful than it might sound. You might be used to the 'reach' your 70-300mm telephoto gives you on your APS-C Canon, and now you can get the same effective magnification on the 5DS. You'll also get much more manageable file sizes – 50MP is brilliant, but you won't necessarily need it all the time.
The 5DS uses the same high-tech autofocus system as the EOS 5D Mark III, with 61 AF points including 41 cross-type sensors and 5 dual cross-type. It uses Canon's 'Intelligent Tracking and Recognition AF' (iTR) to track both faces and colour.
The 150,000 pixel RG+IR light metering sensor has the Flicker Detection first seen on the EOS 7D Mark II for more reliable exposures under artificial light (notably fluorescent light).
There's a new Fine Detail Picture Style designed to offer advanced sharpness adjustment without the need for a computer, and it's now possible to customise the Quick Control screen with your own favourite settings.
Keep it sharp
With the 5DS, Canon has also introduced a new Mirror Vibration Control System which uses cams to drive the camera's mirror up and down in a controlled fashion, avoiding sudden stops that could jar the camera and blur the picture.
This highlights a key point with the 5DS and, indeed, the Nikon D800/810 before it – the resolution is so high that small camera movements or focus errors that would go unnoticed in other cameras can start to become visible.
The 5DS will never record less detail than a camera with a lower resolution sensor, but you will need to take more care over focusing and camera shake to really see its full potential. You'll also need to think seriously about getting some bigger memory cards (it takes both CF and SD) and a bigger hard disk for your computer (or maybe a newer, faster computer) to handle those 50-megapixel files.
The EOS 5DS and 5DS R aren't out until June, but we will bring you a full review just as soon as we can. In the meantime, Canon announced another product which will be available much sooner and could be just as exciting for serious/professional Canon owners...
Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM
Oh, right (you think), so this is another APS-C format super-wideangle lens? But it's not. Despite the super-short focal lengths, this is a full-frame lens and, to be more precise, the world's widest angle rectilinear zoom lens. You can get fisheye lenses which are wider still, but they produce a strong, circular distortion effect – this 11-24mm lens records straight lines as straight (hence 'rectilinear') and it's just stunning.
It's going to be especially useful for landscapes and architecture, but it will also be excellent for interior shots, where there never seems to be quite enough room to step back and get everything in.
The new lens has three aspherical lens elements, including one ground aspherical element (most are 'moulded', which is cheaper).
It goes on sale from March 2015 at a cost of £2800 and, given what this lens can do, we're not remotely surprised it costs that much. Even at this price, you'll probably need to pre-order to be sure of getting one.
We'll get one in for review just as soon as we can.
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