Review: Canon EOS 5DS specs

In early 2015, Canon shook up the world of studio and commercial photography when it launched the 50.6-megapixel Canon EOS 5DS—an easy-to-handle DSLR offering portrait, commercial, fashion, advertising, and still life photographers the opportunity to deliver high-quality, ultra-sharp images that could be blown up to billboard size.

At the core of the Canon EOS 5DS is the high-resolution full-frame CMOS sensor, which works in tandem with Dual DIGIC 6 processors to offer 14-bit processing of accurate colours in images with low noise and true skin tones. The image processors also help photographers to shoot at up to five frames per second, while USB 3.0 connectivity allows both remote camera control and fast tethered shooting—especially useful for shooting studio portraits, fashion or even still life. Accurate colour reproduction is also aided by a 150K pixel, 252-zone colour-sensitive metering system.

The 61-point autofocus offers 41 cross-type points, of which five are double cross-type points. These cross-type autofocus points are able to analyse both vertical and horizontal lines and hence are more accurate than autofocus points that only analyse vertical lines. Within the camera’s autofocus setup is a feature called EOS Intelligent Tracking and Recognition (iTR), which utilises colour and face information to recognise and track subjects as they move around the frame—another tool that helps when shooting moving subjects.

Photographers can also customise the responsiveness of autofocus to adjust focus tracking according to the subject or shooting environment—this means that any subjects passing in front of the camera don't phase or alter the original focusing. The 61 autofocus points can be used together or can also be grouped into moveable zones that can accurately focus on off-centre subjects. Or, you can just choose a single autofocus point for specific focusing, such as on a subject’s eye.

The ISO values of the 5DS range from 100–6,400, which is expandable down to ISO 50 or up to ISO 12,800. The ISO range is comparatively small when compared to Canon’s EOS 5D Mk III camera, but the 5DS is more about absolute image quality as opposed to capturing a scene regardless of light levels. The 5DS is capable of producing 60Mb RAW files straight from the camera to a screen for immediate review—a very useful tool for photographers working closely with clients who want to see the results of a shoot immediately.

Other key specs on the 5DS include a silent shutter mode, a choice of 1:1, 1.3x and 1.6x ratio crop modes with masked viewfinder display, a Mirror Vibration Control System to help to reduce potential mirror vibration blur, a Fine Detail Picture Style and in-camera Peripheral Illumination and Chromatic Aberration Lens Correction capabilities.

The Canon EOS 5DS also has a sister model in the in the Canon EOS 5DS R—the only difference between the two models is that the 5DS R has a low-pass filter (LPF) cancellation effect. This LPF cancellation effect is designed to deliver greater sharpness and finer detail, but it does raise the possibility of more moiré and false colour artefacts that can be inherent in digital imaging. The decision to choose the 5DS R would be down to the need to capture the maximum amount of detail but, for most shooting situations, the superb specs of the 5DS will be more than enough. Add to that its compatibility with the full Canon EF lens range and you have a potent combination of high-quality images captured through top-notch glass.