Best Canon Full-frame Cameras for Professionals

We have featured EOS R5 before and we know it deserves more than that. If you are asking for one specific reason for its entitlement, we will give you two or more.

First is the astounding 36 x 24 mm 45 MP full-frame CMOS sensor and it is the first EOS camera to have the 5-axis sensor-shift image stabilization, making it a true darling among Canon cameras. With the said attributes, you get the best details in stills that can compete with other high-end mirrorless and DSLR works.

According to SolidSmack Photography Editor Evangeline Summers, you can also get 35 MP Frame Grabs out of its 8K footage which is extremely delightful. Even better, when Canon says ‘35 MP’ quality, it really means 35 MP. The grabs come with magnificent details and you get almost the same elements you’ll experience in actual stills.

On the other hand, Summers said that EOS R5’s burst mode and buffer will amaze you.

“EOS R5 can deliver burst shots up to 12fps with the mechanical shutter and 20fps with the electronic shutter. This is more than enough and the good thing about R5 is how deep its buffer is. It has two card slots and depending on what you use, you either get a max buffer of 180 RAW images with the CFexpress card slot or 87 RAW images with the UHS-II SD card slot.”

And since we’re in the talk about videos, R5 can also deliver 8K videos at 30p. However, there is a caveat here which is the infamous overheating among such cams when you shoot anything above standard 4K 30p video. Yet, for very short clips, we still consider the 8K feature as a good add-on.

On the other hand, R5 boasts the Dual Pixel CMOS AF II which is one of Canon’s current pride in terms of its AF system. It covers stills with 5,940 AF points and videos with 4,500 points. According to Summers, you can enjoy this tech at any frame rate and resolution, which is truly amazing compared to other cam models with very limited AF features and capabilities. Even better, it has inherited 1D X’s Deep Learning AF system.

“The performance is unbeatable that finding your subjects, regardless of the movements, will bring you to tears. The way the AF locks and stays with the subject is really overwhelming; be it face, head, or eye-tracking. Once the camera has recognized the human subject, the focus stays where it should be even if the bride is wearing a veil or momentarily gets her face blocked with a bouquet or hands and whatsoever,” Summers said.

But, of course, that’s something that would just attract street photographers. So, what can R5 bring to the table for wildlife photographers? This brilliant system also supports Animal AF which is something 1D X doesn’t even offer. Not just that… it really works even on animal subjects on the move! Canon did a great job at creating the best algorithm that can recognize the eyes of animals as soon as you point your camera. With just the right simple settings, the camera can track even the wildest and shyest deer within the frame. That said, getting detail-filled stills is possible at all times.

Though EOS-1D X Mark III is a full-frame model, it isn’t your high-resolution camera for stills due to its 20.1 MP resolution. Plus, it is a pretty huge model which can turn down some individuals, not to mention that it also has a fixed touchscreen LCD. Yet, in other sections, it can be monstrous.

It starts with its video capabilities which allow you to shoot not just full-frame 4K/60p videos but so as 5.5K RAW videos! As for the speed, it is a true champion. It doesn’t just come with Dual Pixel CMOS AF but it also boasts of Canon’s new AF method in the form of EOS iTR AFX. Thanks to its additional Digic X processor, this so-called ‘Deep Learning AF’ can track the head of the subject once it has been captured by the system.

“To give a better view of this system, imagine a subject riding a motorcycle at full speed. The brilliant thing about the iTR AFX is that its algorithm is set to focus on the head of the subjects whether they are wearing helmets or not. This predicts the action of the subject which makes it possible for the AF system to follow the subject regardless of speed. You will enjoy its full benefits through the Live View option where the Digic X processor works its magic using the 3,869 Dual Pixel CMOS AF points and eye detect AF,” said Summers.

Even its OVF AF can be powerful. With 191 phase-detection AF points (with 155 of them being cross-type), tracking subjects can almost be effortless. There’s even face detect AF to aid you while the Live View promises full eye detect AF.

On the other hand, while it is true that its 20 MP resolution for stills can be a bit underwhelming, its speed is unbeatable when it comes to shooting them. Thanks to its 20fps max burst, it can leave no moment uncaptured. What will make you fall in love with this bad boy even more is its buffer capacity that breaks the record by using dual CFexpress cards which can cater to up to 1,000 RAW and JPEG files! You can keep the shutter pressed for more than a minute and it will still keep on shooting!

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV doesn’t have the coveted buffer of EOS-1D X Mark III. It only offers a 7fps burst rate and 21 RAW buffer capacity. Nonetheless, it can reach a pleasing level of detail in its works which makes it different from others.

“The 5D Mark IV compensates in terms of the components that contribute to the details of its shots. First of them is the full-frame 30.4 MP sensor which delivers unrivaled details, exposure, saturation, and overall color quality. Even in low-light conditions and high ISO settings, the amount of noise present comes almost unnoticed,” Summers said.

Besides its immaculate color rendition, its dynamic range will give you the best kind of liberty in reviving details. With all this, converting the shots into large prints won’t be a concern in EOS 5D Mark IV. It can also provide decent performance in the precision of shooting stills.

“Even if it just offers a 7fps burst rate, the 5D Mark IV won’t fail to capture subjects with great precision. With its 61-point AF and Dual Pixel AF, it is almost unbelievable how it can get a shot of a fast-moving subject without much blurriness. Even when excessive cropping is applied, you can still get a decent amount of detail which proves how powerful its full-frame sensor is,” Summers added.

It employs 61 AF points with 5 dual cross-type included in its already impressive 41 cross-type points under f/2.8 aperture. This makes the AF truly effective even at the worst low-light scenarios. With this, focusing remains honest and consistent.

The release of EOS R5 and R6 was announced at the same time (July 2020). The latter promises a better set of features that will benefit the general population of photographers but that doesn’t make R6 anything less preferable. It is a beauty in its own way.

“R6 comes with a 20.1 MP full-frame CMOS sensor which shows how huge its difference is with R5,” Summers said. “This means lower resolution for your stills but this allows it to have the same burst capability as R5 with 12fps for mechanical shutter and 20fps for the electronic shutter.”

On the other hand, R6 also has a lot of other good points to offer including a higher ISO that hits up to ISO 102,400, more focus points (6,072 Dual Pixel CMOS AF II), and better battery life (can shoot 40 more shots than R5), just to name a few.

Due to the same AF promoting Canon’s Deep Learning AF and with a higher number of AF points, its autofocus system can be just as effective as what you have in R5. It also comes with the Animal AF, allowing it to be an excellent wildlife camera unit as well.

And while it can’t shoot 8K videos, its video features still meets the standards by delivering 8 and 10-bit 4K UHD footage at up to 60fps. You also have the option for 1080p up to 120fps which R5 can’t offer. The good thing bout it is that its AF tracking features can be enjoyed in any of its video resolution and frame rates, making it a pretty powerful video camera, too.

Thankfully, despite the obvious differences between R5 and R6, it still comes with Canon’s 5-axis in-body image stabilization system we were all waiting for in its cameras. Depending on the lean being used, the stability can go up to 8 stops just like in R5.

The release of the original EOS 6D took years and now that we have the 6D Mark II, we have to admit that we are a bit dismayed at its limitation. For instance, it can’t shoot in 4K. Yet, we still hailed it as one of the best Canon DSLRs. Of course, there are other models that can beat it but it is a full-frame camera that comes at a very affordable price. And that, we think, is enough to justify its place on this list. After all, it gets a lot of improvements that set it apart from 6D.

“If you would compare the two, there would be a lot of reasons to choose Mark II over its predecessor,” said Summers. “Some of them are the availability of the fully articulating touchscreen, Timelapse recording, digital video stabilization, NFC and Bluetooth connection, webcam function, UHS card support, and anti-flicker ability.”