Canon announced today a video-focused version of the EOS R5 camera announced back in July 2020. The new ROS R5C mixes the stills capabilities of the original R5 with a host of new and improved videos capabilities including some robust active cooling systems.
Canon EOS R5c vs. Canon EOS R5
As we mentioned, the R5c is essentially identical to the original R5 when it comes to stills with a few but important differences:
- The R5c has no IBIS – this might be controversial but Canon mentioned it was removed to reduce sensor heat buildup but there is a digital stabilization option (that crops to 1.1x) and it will stabilize the image with IS lenses.
- The camera has a built-in fan – this makes the camera significantly thicker (and slightly heavier) which isn’t necessarily ideal for stills.
- Buttons and menu changes – The camera has a different set of menus for stills and video (takes from the cinema line) and some changes in the buttons.
The new EOS R5c
Besides these, there are mostly differences related to the video side of the camera:
- New video features – There are many new video options including shooting RAW up to 60p at 8K internally (the first Canon camera to do this) as long as you have a power supply connected to the camera. There are 3 new quality settings, HQ (high quality), ST (Standard quality), and LT (light recording). All 3 modes capture 12-bit data regardless of which frame rate you choose. There is also 8K HDR recording in either HLG or PQ formats and simultaneous recording of proxy files to the internal SD card.
- Dual gain sensor – although the sensor has not changed from the original EOS R5 there have been changes to the processor and there is an official dual gain mode with ISO 800 as a base and ISO 3200 as a second.
- More video features – you also got vectorscopes and waveforms, shutter angle, and much more including ProRes Raw video output via HDMI up to 8K/30p and Canon’s XF-AVC codec as well as Canon Log 3 gamma. There is a tally light in the front (a great feature that should be included on any camera in our opinion) and a time code port (although somewhat limited at that).
- Battery limitations – Strange limitation which has to do with sharing the same battery as the R5 is that when recording very fast data rates, the internal battery doesn’t have enough power to operate the lens mount so things like 8K over 30p or 5.9K (Super 35) above 30p will force you to use wither a PD-E1 USB power supply, or the new DR-E6C DC-power dummy battery (mind you even the battery grip will not help you here).
- New multi-interface hot shoe – there is a new multi-interface hot shoe that will also support 4 channel XLR adaptors like the new Tascam CA-XLR2d-C XLR Microphone Adapter).
Other than these both cameras are very similar with similar ports (including, sadly the same micro HDMI port), similar memory cards, battery, and of course same RF mount. There is also surprisingly the same level of weather sealing despite the additional fan and of course, no built-in ND (which are probably hard to squeeze in into a camera of this size).
Initial testings show that the new active cooling system works well and you can easily record over 2 hours of 8K footage internally although this will need to be tested more in much hotter climate conditions. The fan makes very little noise at low settings but it appears that it is more audible at higher settings (there are several options in the menu) but there doesn’t seem to be a way to turn it off completely (which would probably get you back to the same performance we know from the original R5).
The R5c with Canon Cinema lenses
Pricing and availability
On the price front there is actually some good news as Canon decided to price the new EOS R5c quite a bit lower than the video dedicated C70 (which currently sells for $5500), actually, the R5c will start selling in March 2022 for $4500 (about $600 more than the R5).
The R5c and its included accesories
Hands-on and videos from around the web
There are already several hands-on reviews of the Canon EOS R5c on YouTube and we have a few links for you below.
B&H video on the new EOS R5C
ProAV TV – ‘video first’ mirrorless – look at the R5c
CVP look at the EOS R5c
Gordon Laing hands-on with the Canon R5c
Chris Nicholas and Jordan Drake from DPR with some initial thoughts about the R5c
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Iddo Genuth 
