Canon 5DS R Comparison Review

The Canon EOS 5DS R is a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera that was announced in February 2015 and is equipped with a full frame sensor. It offers a resolution of 50.3 megapixel.

Is the Canon 5DS R a good camera? The 5DS R has a Camera Elo of 2363. This rating puts the 5DS R among the top 20 percent of all digital single lens reflex cameras. In terms of its sensor size category (full frame cameras), the 5DS R ranks among the top 50 percent. Based on its within category standings, the camera earns a 4-star performance rating.

Headline Specifications

Canon 5DS R
Digital single lens reflex
Canon EF mount lenses
50.3 MP, Full Frame Sensor
1080/30p Video
ISO 100-6400 (50-12800)
Optical viewfinder
3.2" LCD, 1040k dots
Fixed screen (not touch-sensitive)
5 shutter flaps per second
Weathersealed body
700 shots per battery charge
152 x 116 x 76 mm, 930 g

Read on to find out more about the camera's size, sensor, features, reception by expert reviewers, and how it compares to other digital cameras.

Body comparison with a credit card

The physical dimensions of the Canon 5DS R relative to a credit card are illustrated in the side-by-side display below. Three consecutive views from the front, the top, and the rear side are shown. All width, height and depth measures are rounded to the nearest millimeter.

The table below summarizes the key physical specs of the Canon 5DS R alongside a set of comparators. If you want to review a camera pair side-by-side, just select a right-side comparator from among the camera models in the table. Alternatively, you can also move across to the CAM-parator tool and choose from the broad selection of possible comparisons there.

Camera Body Specifications

	Camera Model	Camera Width	Camera Height	Camera Depth	Camera Weight	Battery Life (CIPA)	Weather Sealing (yes/no)	Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Canon 5DS R	152 mm	116 mm	76 mm	930 g	700	Y	Feb 2015	3,699			Canon 5DS R
	Canon 6D Mark II« »	144 mm	111 mm	75 mm	765 g	1200	Y	Jun 2017	1,999			Canon 6D Mark II
	Canon 1D X Mark II« »	158 mm	168 mm	83 mm	1530 g	1210	Y	Feb 2016	5,999			Canon 1D X Mark II
	Canon 5D Mark IV« »	151 mm	116 mm	76 mm	890 g	900	Y	Aug 2016	3,499			Canon 5D Mark IV
	Canon 5DS« »	152 mm	116 mm	76 mm	930 g	700	Y	Feb 2015	3,699			Canon 5DS
	Canon 5D Mark III« »	152 mm	116 mm	76 mm	950 g	950	Y	Mar 2012	3,499	-		Canon 5D Mark III
	Canon 5D Mark II« »	152 mm	114 mm	75 mm	850 g	850	Y	Sep 2008	3,499	-		Canon 5D Mark II
	Canon 5D« »	152 mm	113 mm	75 mm	895 g	400	Y	Aug 2005	3,299	-		Canon 5D
	Nikon D850« »	146 mm	124 mm	79 mm	1005 g	1840	Y	Jul 2017	3,299			Nikon D850
	Nikon D810« »	146 mm	123 mm	82 mm	980 g	1200	Y	Jun 2014	3,299	-		Nikon D810
	Sony A99 II« »	143 mm	104 mm	76 mm	849 g	490	Y	Sep 2016	3,199			Sony A99 II
Convert to Imperial
Note: Measurements and pricing do not include easily detachable parts, such as interchangeable lenses or optional viewfinders.

The listed prices provide an indication of the market segment that the manufacturer of the cameras have been targeting. The Canon 5DS R was launched in the US market at a price of $3,699. Usually, retail prices stay at first close to the launch price, but after several months, discounts become available. Later in the product cycle and, in particular, when the replacement model is about to appear, further discounting and stock clearance sales often push the camera price considerably down. Then, after the new model is out, very good deals can frequently be found on the pre-owned market.

Sensor comparison with a 35mm slide

The size of the sensor inside a digital camera is one of the key determinants of image quality. All other things equal, a large sensor will have larger individual pixel-units that offer better low-light sensitivity, wider dynamic range, and richer color-depth than smaller pixels in a sensor of the same technological generation. Furthermore, a large sensor camera will give the photographer more possibilities to use shallow depth-of-field in order to isolate a subject from the background. On the downside, larger sensors are more costly to manufacture and tent to lead to bigger and heavier cameras and lenses.

The Canon 5DS R features a full frame sensor and has a format factor (sometimes also referred to as "crop factor") of 1.0. Within the spectrum of camera sensors, this places the Canon 5DS R among the large-sensor cameras that aim for top notch image quality.

Since 2007, DXO Mark has published sensor performance measurements that have been derived using a consistent methodology. This service is based on lab testing and assigns an overall score to each camera sensor, as well as ratings for dynamic range ("DXO Landscape"), color depth ("DXO Portrait"), and low-light sensitivity ("DXO Sports"). The adjacent table reports on the physical sensor characteristics and the outcomes of the DXO sensor quality tests for a sample of comparator-cameras.

Many modern cameras are not only capable of taking still images, but also of capturing video footage. The 5DS R indeed provides movie recording capabilities. The highest resolution format that the 5DS R can use is 1080/30p.

Feature comparison

Apart from body and sensor, cameras can and do differ across a range of features. For example, the 5DS R has an optical viewfinder that provides a field of view of 100% and a magnification of 0.71x. The following tables report on some other key feature differences and similarities of the Canon 5DS R and comparable cameras.

One useful feature of the 5DS R is a presence of a top-level LCD. While being, of course, smaller than the rear screen, the control panel conveys some of the essential shooting information and can be convenient for quick and easy settings verification.

Connection comparison

For some imaging applications, the extent to which a camera can communicate with its environment can be an important aspect in the camera decision process. The table below provides an overview of the connectivity of the Canon EOS 5DS R and, in particular, the interfaces the cameras (and selected comparators) provide for accessory control and data transfer.

It is notable that the 5DS R has a microphone port. Such an external microphone input can help to substantially improve the quality of audio recordings when a good external microphone is used.

Expert reviews

While the comparison of technical specifications can provide a useful overview of the capabilities of different cameras, it remains partial and cannot reveal, for example, the handling experience and imaging performance when actually working with the 5DS R. User reviews, such as those found at amazon, can sometimes inform about these issues, but such feedback is often incomplete, inconsistent, and biased. This is why expert reviews are important. The following table reports the overall rankings of the cameras as published by some of the major camera review sites (cameralabs, dpreview, ephotozine, imaging-resource, photographyblog).

Review Scores

	Camera Model						Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Canon 5DS R	+	83/100	5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Feb 2015	3,699			Canon 5DS R
	Canon 6D Mark II« »	+	80/100	4.5/5	4/5	4/5	Jun 2017	1,999			Canon 6D Mark II
	Canon 1D X Mark II« »	-	89/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Feb 2016	5,999			Canon 1D X Mark II
	Canon 5D Mark IV« »	+ +	87/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Aug 2016	3,499			Canon 5D Mark IV
	Canon 5DS« »	+	83/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Feb 2015	3,699			Canon 5DS
	Canon 5D Mark III« »	+ +	82/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Mar 2012	3,499	-		Canon 5D Mark III
	Canon 5D Mark II« »	91/100	79/100	4/5	5/5	-	Sep 2008	3,499	-		Canon 5D Mark II
	Canon 5D« »	88/100	+ +	o	o	-	Aug 2005	3,299	-		Canon 5D
	Nikon D850« »	+ +	89/100	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	Jul 2017	3,299			Nikon D850
	Nikon D810« »	-	86/100	5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	Jun 2014	3,299	-		Nikon D810
	Sony A99 II« »	-	85/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	Sep 2016	3,199			Sony A99 II
Notes: (+ +) highly recommended; (+) recommended; (o) reviewed; (-) not available.

The review scores listed above should be treated with care, though. The ratings are only valid when referring to cameras in the same category and of the same age. Thus, a score needs to be put into the context of the launch date and the launch price of the camera, and comparing ratings of very distinct cameras or ones that are far apart in terms of their release date have little meaning. Also, kindly note that some of the listed sites have over time developped their review approaches and their reporting style.

Camera to camera comparisons

In case you are interested in seeing how this camera compares to another one, just use the search menu below. An an alternative, you can also directly jump to any one of the listed comparisons that were previously generated by the CAM-parator tool.

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