![Canon R5 II Initial Impressions for Underwater Photographers [VIDEO]](http://www.ikelite.com/cdn/shop/articles/Canon_EOS_R5_II_Features_Cover.jpg?v=1724346062&width=1500)
Featuring Logan Wood
We've been waiting four years for the release of the Canon EOS R5 II, so is it worth the upgrade? Logan Wood talks through the best new features of this follow-up to one of the all-time best performing cameras underwater. Find out how image quality, speed of capture, autofocus, and video recording stack up.
Image Quality
So first off, the Canon R5 II has the same 45 megapixels found in the original R5, but it has a new stacked sensor plus an accelerator, and that accelerator is used to power things like in-camera image upscaling and noise reduction, as well as a few more features that I'll cover in a second.
Overall, you're not going to see a massive difference in image quality over the original R5, but that shouldn't be a huge deal because it already took amazing photos.
Burst Rate
That new stacked sensor and accelerator drastically improves the readout speed of the R5 II and allows it to shoot up to 30 frames per second (FPS), up from 20 FPS in the original R5. For a lot of us shooting wildlife underwater, you might appreciate the increase in burst rate.
Pre-Capture
The R5 II also has a pre-capture feature, so it'll start capturing photos up to a half second before the shutters pressed. It also has an increased max shutter speed of 1/32,000.
Auto Focus
The original R5 already had a pretty solid autofocus system, but there's one feature in the new R5 II that I think will make it great for underwater photographers, and that's its ability to find a subject and stay locked on to it, even when it goes behind obstacles - think corals, other animals, your dive buddy who just swam through your shot.
Autofocus subject tracking: subject remains in focus even when obscured.
Overall, if you're looking for the most obvious upgrade in tech in the new Canon R5 II, I would look towards the autofocus.
Video Features
On the video side of things the new R5 II builds upon an already stellar system that the original R5 had, but the biggest improvement is the 8K 60 FPS internal RAW. This is a bump up from the 8K 30 FPS that was offered in the original R5. You can knock yourself out with those massive video files, but if you're not shooting 8K, you can shoot 4K up to 120 FPS and HD up to 240 FPS.
The Canon R5 II also includes C-Log2, which will give you 16+ stops of dynamic range and also match colors with Canon's cinema line cameras. So this is a great camera as b-cam or dedicated underwater camera for bigger productions.
Another cool feature to mention is that the pre-capture available for stills is also available for video, up to 5 seconds before you start recording your video.
This essentially means that you're recording video all the time, so you might run into some heating issues. Now, overheating was always a point of discussion with the original R5, and it's tough to give definitive answers to overheating because every situation is different. But I can say it's good practice to turn up the heat tolerance setting in your camera and also use a memory card that suitable for the type of shooting that you're doing. If you throw an old SD card in the R5 II and shoot 30 FPS over and over again, or record super high quality video for long periods of time, you're going to run into some issues.
That does it for my brief overview of the new tech found in the Canon R5 II. If you're ready to take the Canon R5 II underwater we offer the Canon R5 II 200DL Underwater Housing and we're happy to introduce the Canon R5 II 200DL Underwater Housing Deluxe Version. We've set up the Deluxe 200DL Underwater Housing exactly the way we would use it with Dual Tray with Dual Handles, Trigger Extensions, Vacuum Pump, USB-C Charging & Data Transfer Bulkhead, and a set of spare O-Rings.
If you already have a housing for the Canon R5 and want to use the new R5 II camera underwater, you’re in luck. We've got an Update Kit 200DL Underwater Housing 71764 for Canon EOS R5 II # 9295.14
If you have any questions about underwater photography or getting your camera set up in a housing you can shoot us an email to ikelite@ikelite.com
Additional Viewing
Choosing the Right SD Card for Photos and Video [VIDEO]
BURST shooting // Using Drive Mode to your advantage underwater [VIDEO]
Setting the Right Frame Rate and Shutter Speed for Your Underwater Footage [VIDEO]
Manual Camera Exposure VS Manual Strobe Exposure for Underwater Photography [VIDEO]
How to Find Something to Photograph Underwater
How to Use the Canon R5 II in a Canon R5 Underwater Housing [VIDEO]
Logan Wood is a published photographer, cinematographer, and Producer at Ikelite. Stemming from a great appreciation for the outdoors and living an active lifestyle, his work focuses on capturing and sharing the natural world through the latest technologies. When not in the studio, Logan can be found cruising on his bike, going to concerts, and researching where to go next. You can see more of his work at loganwood.net and on Instagram @jlowood
