Review: Canon EOS R5 for pet photography

Wildlife, animal and pet photographer Demi-leigh Freeman was looking for a camera to help take her photography to the next level. So, MPB lent her a Canon EOS R5 to see how she got on. Let’s take a look.

After seeing many of the results online, I really wanted to purchase the Canon EOS R5 with its animal eye-tracking and video abilities. So I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to try it out with the Canon EF-EOS R lens adaptor to use my lenses Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II USM and Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM EF. The combination of the lenses and the camera gave me full control with no delay and spectacular results overall. I couldn't have been happier with them.

I decided to test the camera in a range of environments. I don't usually go out in stormy weather but I was motivated by the idea of getting out there to capture some deer in the rain during the storms of February 2022, and it was stormy. I noticed the camera had a fantastic ability in the rain and no functions were affected by the exposure, which was positive.

I was really happy with the animal eye tracking on the deer, and the ability to change it from full-frame to 1.6x gave me that ability to shoot with just as much detail, I was extremely blown away with the sharpness. In particular, the clarity upon editing photographs. I could see the difference instantly between my Canon EOS 90D and the R5 when it came to sharpness and clarity. Furthermore, I noticed I didn't really have much noise in the images in comparison, so the use of denoise tools wasn't as necessary. I felt the camera offered more colour and depth than my 90D, which I feel was a major bonus when it came to editing and correcting. I even got to have a play with some settings.

My next challenge was to go to my local zoo and try it there. Again, I was so impressed with the detail, and for comparison here is an unedited image I had taken of Daseep the Sumatran tiger.

The detail I still maintained upon massively cropping it. As you can see the camera is able to hold an incredible amount of detail, even on a huge crop, right down to the very fur fibres. I found that particularly spectacular! I then decided it was more beneficial to shoot my images in full-frame, then crop in post if necessary, as it still holds the exact same level of detail, it is just the file sizes that have a major difference. I found most images on full-frame were an average of 50MB, whereas on the crop they were around 20MB, which is good if you have a small SD card or a large event to photograph and you don't mind using cropped.

As a pet photographer, the one thing that I wanted to try out the most though, was animals in action, particularly dogs. I reached out to a lady, who had four fantastic collies. They were all very well trained, and asked her if she would like to be my ambassador and if she was happy for me to take some pictures of her dogs while I try out the camera.

We arrived at our location, the gorgeous Cannock Chase, and it began snowing—I couldn't believe it. It was a full-blown blizzard for a good five minutes. After half an hour, the sun was out, all signs of snow disappeared and you'd not think it was a day of all-weather. Rain, wind, snow, sun. If the day could have it, that had it all. I spent a lot of time with the dogs in the forest and I was overwhelmed by the incredible level of detail and the animal eye-tracking ability again. The only challenge I found with it, was on one dog, her eyes were a little darker and blended more with fur, so occasionally the camera would struggle to identify the eyes. But it's all trial and error. 

However, I put the camera mode on H+ Continuous, got myself set up, and shot away with the dogs jumping over a fallen log. I left the focus mode on auto, animal eye-tracking to actually see how good this can put up to the pressures of something so quick. And I can say I am incredibly overwhelmed with the ability! The results were pin-sharp and I couldn't believe my eyes. It made me tear up a little bit because I did this. I got these gorgeous images, and for the first time ever I can say I was truly satisfied with the results and it was a major confidence boost for me.

On my final trips, my dad told me where he found a kingfisher nearby. So we decided to pack our bags and go to the local reserve. After 20 minutes of looking, there she was, flying down catching fish. Found her! She remained outside for around half an hour, and I decided to put the camera in 1.6x crop to be able to see her better, as she was extremely tiny, and it would help me identify the focus a bit better without too much faff. She was extremely quick, and each time I got close enough she would fly off. But, thankfully, even on a crop sensor, I managed to crop down the image and got a beautiful result of my first-ever kingfisher.

Overall I was blown away by the consistent results of the camera and its incredible technology. It wasn't hard to use and it was quite easy to quickly adapt to. I particularly enjoyed that animal eye focus and although it does need some tweaking on animals that have mostly darker features, it's still an incredible piece of kit and I couldn't have been happier with my experience of it, it felt magical. Almost like it's meant to be. But one thing for sure, I made the most of this camera during one of the most mentally challenging points of my life. I now have thousands of images to get through and edit and enjoy for the rest of the year. 

The only downside was the battery life. With everything being electronic, the battery life drained particularly quickly. So I strongly suggest battery backups if you are shooting for longer periods of time or large events, as I had to charge the battery after every trip. But it is totally worth it. If you’re into wildlife photography, the R5 is definitely a Canon wildlife camera worth investing in.

See more of Demi-leigh Freeman’s work on Instagram @missdpetography

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