Canon’s Killer Duo

Canon’s Killer Duo

The Canon 5DS or 5DSR combined with the Canon EF11-24mm f/4L USM lens is a perfect duo. It’s called a duo because they were both released around the same time, and their age is practically the same, which was also intentional by the manufacturer, not just a coincidence.

Speaking of high-end equipment, camera bodies and lenses from major brands tend to release new models or upgrade existing ones every few years. However, this particular combination is special. While Canon has many generations of cameras and hundreds of lenses, this duo appeared as a groundbreaking release, not just an upgrade. It’s like a limited edition of supercars, with a new release only every few decades. These products are targeted at a niche market, are expensive, and are unlikely to generate as much profit as mainstream products. Moreover, when compared to competitors, their specifications have no direct competition.

So, what makes this duo so special that neither competitors nor even Canon themselves have produced or upgraded anything similar before or for many years after?

As for the Canon EF11-24mm f/4L lens, the 11-24mm focal length is truly unprecedented (never before seen and very difficult to achieve in the future). While other wide lenses with focal lengths like 14mm or 16-24mm will still be released for a long time, no other brand has created a lens like this one.

Regarding the camera, setting aside the technical specifications (at the time of release), its high resolution on the full-frame sensor is truly impressive and unprecedented. So, why is it not widely accepted? Beyond the steep price, the enormous resolution exceeds the needs of most photographers. In many cases, the image files will be quite large. Processing high-resolution files, especially raw files that can be several hundred MB per image, requires powerful computers. This means that while capturing the images is one thing, the real challenge lies in the post-processing stage, where you must deal with tens or even hundreds of massive image files.

When you combine these two powerhouse products, the result is an image with the widest possible field of view, while also having the largest resolution. This means the image will have the highest possible limit for a camera duo.

Most photographers won’t need to reach that level. But for an "enthusiast" photographer who knows how to fully exploit the power and potential of this combination, the experience can be truly fascinating.

As the Canon EF11-24mm f/4L lens has been discussed in a separate article, this one will focus on the very unique advantages of the Canon 5DSR. Below are the advantages of an image from a full-frame sensor with a resolution of 8868x5192 pixels:

1. Large-Scale Printing: It allows for printing at large or very large sizes without any quality loss compared to files with smaller resolutions.

2. Projection on Large Screens or TVs with High Resolution: The image quality will be significantly better than a file with a smaller resolution when displayed on a large screen.

3. Cropping and Composition Flexibility: With just one image, you can crop many different compositions and still retain the resolution equivalent to cameras with more common resolutions. For example, the full composition image below has a very large resolution of 8688x5792. If you crop it according to the golden frames shown, you can generate several new images with different views, and the resolution and image quality will still be high (e.g., 4000x3000). Note that not only the resolution but also sharpness plays a crucial role, and this is where the lens comes into play, not just the camera. Images captured with a smartphone today or from cameras with lower-end lenses will show a significant loss in quality if the crop is slightly off-center

From one image, you can adjust or generate multiple other images, just like taking several different shots 

The "child" images from the "parent" image have very high resolution. 

Next:

4. Image Zoom Function: Enlarging images on a computer, which was previously referred to as "digital zoom," implies the sensation of zooming, but with a decrease in quality. However, with high-resolution cameras (paired with high-end lenses), it works like optical zoom. The quality does not degrade when compared to lower-resolution cameras used as a benchmark.

It increases the focal length of a lens many times. For example, with the 11-24mm lens, after zooming, it can produce an image with a focal length of up to 100mm or more. The two images below clearly illustrate the zoom function (increasing focal length). The first image was taken at a focal length of 20mm in its normal state. The second image has been "zoomed" to the equivalent of a 150mm telephoto lens, with the building's details from a considerable distance still clearly visible.

Melbourne Central Station 

The classical architectural patterns show every detail and line, looking no different from being shot with a true 70-200mm telephoto lens. 

Similarly, if combined with other high-end lenses with different focal lengths, the results are similar. While the image quality might not be exactly the same, the focal length will increase significantly. For example, a 24-70mm lens could become a 24-180mm or more. Of course, it will not have the background blur effect when shooting distant objects like a telephoto lens. However, for close-up subjects, the background blur works very well. Or with a 100-400mm lens, if used with the proper technique, it can extend to 100-800mm or more, depending on the image quality (I have personally verified this with the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens). In this case, the background blur works very well.

In summary, the Canon 5DsR (or 5DS) is not an excess of "power" as many people might think, but rather very versatile if used correctly. The only drawback is that it takes up a lot of storage space on your computer, and the image processing requires a high-performance computer setup to match.

Shot at a focal length of 400mm. Within the yellow frame (50% of WxH), it is equivalent to 800mm. 

Crop from the above image. Equivalent to 800mm, yet still sharp on the monitor. 

A few examples of using the Canon 5DsR combined with various types of lenses. If you don't need to take advantage of the factors mentioned above, the image quality is essentially similar to other high-end camera models. 

Safari shot with Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS III lens. 

Pet shot with Canon 50mm f/1.2 L USM. 

Shot of a tree with Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS III.

Macro shot with Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS. Harnessing the power of high resolution. Magnification increased to 5x. 

Conclusion: There are some limitations compared to newer camera generations, such as the lack of a strong video recording feature, a fixed rear monitor (non-articulating), and the absence of a touch screen; it also does not come with built-in Wi-Fi for data transfer. However, if you are not concerned with these features, the 5DsR is truly a professional camera for top-tier experts.