Let's be honest, if a person can afford to change between systems whenever a brand brings out certain features that are better then they are very fortunate indeed. I suspect that for the vast majority of us once we have started buying into a system then we usually have to stick with it. There will never be a manufacturer which will have an absolute all round best camera. Every brand will eventually have what you need. Sometimes we just have to have a bit of patience.
Another great, often overlooked attribute to staying with one camera system is knowing that particular brand's camera market. I know the Canon camera and lens resale market extremely well and this allows me to read the market and know when is a good time to sell/buy, or what I should be asking when selling or buying used gear. This allows me to make the most of my flips. It would be very hard to know the little ins and outs of multiple camera systems... I just find that important for me.
I used to be a Canon user many years ago (I bought the superzoom prosumer cameras), but I couldn't afford their more expensive cameras, and I saw which way the wind was blowing, so I switched to Sony mirrorless and bought an a6000. It was a total gamechanger for me. My photography improved by leaps and bounds as I gradually bought better and better lenses. Don't get me wrong: I'm not rich by any means. In fact, a lot of people, myself included, consider me rather poor. But Sony offers affordable choices in camera bodies, and although their lenses are pricy, third-party lenses can be found that work almost as well. I'm surprised at the lenses I've collected over the last five or six years on my extremely modest income. It probably helps that photography is a hobby I'll never get tired of. I'll probably die with a camera in my hand. ;) The A1 is beyond my financial means. I'll never be able to justify spending that much for a camera body. But I enjoy hearing about it and seeing the photos it produces, so thanks for the video!
I too was a Canon user...since 1985. Just this year I decided to go mirrorless. I wanted full frame and I wanted Canon. The Canon 5DS specifically and I have always loved canon products. I own a Canon Pro-100 Printer as well. My last camera was the Canon T3i and that is what made me want a FULL FRAME and with mirrorless now on top, I decided. I could not find a Canon 5DS but the more I read and heard about Sony, the more I looked for a change from Canon. I now own the Sony A7R3 and I've never been more satisfied. I have the Sony 24-105 F/4 , the Sony 70-200 F/4, and the Sony 200-600 F/5.6-6.3 and I am content. I may get another Sony, probably the A7R4 in the near future so I can have my wide lens on one and the tele200-600 on the other. I love my Sony! btw...I loved this video and others from Jan as well. He explains things that even an old man can understand. Thank you Jan. 🙂😎 🙂
I’m currently using Sony and I like canon as well. I have thought about getting an a1 but Sony’s lack of firmware updates is pushing me towards canon. I was once told it’s not the camera body that matters, it’s the glass and from what I have heard the RF glass is pretty amazing.
For myself, the R5s are still preferred. The bird / animal vs just bird focusing, the better bird focus at distance, the flip screen, the ease of video / still switching, and the price are reason enough to stay with R5s (given that they have pretty similar performance in most areas). Coming from Canon 5D M3s and prime lenses, the change to R5s for myself may be so extreme it overshadows many of the minor differences between the R5s and A1s. I'm probably dating myself here, but when I first saw your title saying you were using the A1 my thought was you were referring to the Canon A1 and I was thinking just why in the world would you do that and how could one even compare those to an R5... that should be interesting! Oh well, we didn't have a TV in our home until I was in high school either.
Jan I want to praise you for speaking more slowly than most other commentators. One compatriot of yours speaks very fast - as if he is afraid he's going to run out of recording time. When discussing technical details I prefer that the speaker go slower since it's really a separate language all its own and I am not that "fluent" yet! Now regarding the subject matter itself, splendidly done! These two camera companies are exactly where I am right now in my evaluation process. I shoot Canon dSLRs now and have since I began birding, but I can see looming over the horizon and getting closer every day, shutter failure, it's like death and taxes. So I am beginning the process of deciding what to do. Mirrorless cameras just happened to come out at almost the perfect time. I'm nearing the shutter activation failure-point just as mirrrorless have really come into "their own". And they have more to offer than just no mirror. Their quality and features have leaped ahead of dSLRs. As a Canon user (7D mk 2) with its super-loud shutter sound, I am looking forward to a much quieter shutter that won't scare my near proximity birds! (Not that I want a silent shutter! good Lord that would be disorienting!) All told what it comes down to, for me, is pretty much No-Brainers-ville. This Sony A1 is so close to the Canon R5 (or vice versa if you prefer) all told, the decision can easily come down to price point. It would be a different story if I were a millionaire, but as I ain't - I have to consider what a new camera is going to cost. But, on top of that 'what will I do with my Canon lenses?' (or Canon compatibles). So, on top of the greater cost of the Sony A1 would be the cost of Sony lenses to use on the camera. Right? Whereas if I bought a Canon R5 (or R6 mk II, or one of the others) well, 'Bob's my Uncle'! I can get an adapter for my EF lenses. Not that I wouldn't be looking down the road as getting an RF lens itself. But since I have a Canon EF 100-400mm and Sigma Contemporary 150-600mm to fit a Canon mount, the Canon RF 100-500mm sort of falls right in the middle. So...at this point, thanks to your video, my question is: 'Which Canon mirrorless?'. And there I am confused. I've read some bad things about the R6, but now the R6 mk II has come out, perhaps to address the problems reported? And I have no idea what in the heck the R7 is. Or those other R- numbers. But perhaps I will see programs you've done on these. I've not seen any of your other videos. Again Jann, many thanks.
How refreshing to see an 'in the field review' of this two excellent cameras. Considering the price difference the R5 looks like a bargain. I can't help thinking Sony missed a trick here in not putting out an A9III to take on the R5. Financially the A1 is a big leap from the A9II. Maybe too big a leap?
@@cbflazaro I agree and that's what Sony need. A competitior to the R5 at its price point. Sony have hung A9II shooters out to dry. At the miniute it's the A1 or switch systems.
Nice video but It sounds like you're using the wrong AF mode in video on the A1. Everyone that uses the A1 or any Sony camera use continuous touch AF Tracking when it comes to fast video tracking. It keeps up perfectly fine in video. No one use AF Points to track or keep focus on subjects in video on a current Sony camera. Also you can shoot video back and forth to stills mode without going into any other modes or menus in stills mode just press the record button on the top back of the camera for video and with stills use the front shutter button. back and forth without turning or switching any other dual. Nice video Jan keep up the great work.
You can press the record button in manual mode, but it records with my manual mode settings, not dedicated video settings like R5. So I have to change all settings, then press record and then change all settings again. I did not find a workaround for that. With touch AF you mean you select a subject with touch and it tracks it? The problem is when I handhold video and have the camera on my eye, it's difficult to touch the screen and keep the subject in the viewfinder. Or is there another option I may have missed? It sure was a challenge to find everything in the menu!
I think you hit on the 3 main things most reviews are finding. 1) both are exceptional. 2) Canon has the very slightest of an edge in photo AF and doesn't need modes switch between birds, people and animals. 3) For some reason the A1 lacks animal and bird eye AF during video an d is much less completive there. Maybe the 4th is IBIS is a little better on the R5. Did I mention both are exceptional? :)
The A1 still superior. The cannon overheats like crazy just in 4k and it shuts off in a few minutes, in 8k it catches it self on fire within 5 minutes. The sony A1 can record 8k all day with minimal heat issues. I own the A1 and rented the R5. Could not be happier.
Thanks for the clear comparison! I will likely get an R5 shortly. A couple years ago I was doing a MW shoot at 3a.m. and put my Canon 5Div on the roof. You can guess what happened next as I drove away. The Canon had minor damage to the SD card cover door, but other than that still works perfectly. Long hikes in the mountains, extreme heat and cold, and the 5D bodies have never failed. Based on durability I must stick with Canon.
Hey Jan............great work as always. I'm guessing you did this review before the new a1 firmware was released. Holy crap the a1 AF is much improved and sticks to a bird's eye without ever letting go of it. Your review was very fair but I think if you try the a1 again with the new firmware you too will see a big difference.
I did both. 1.0 at the start and then 1.1 the moment it got released. I felt it was better, but the zone still had it's issues. The bird in the tree is with 1.1 for instance. TBH, I found the ye tracking to be quite good even with 1.0. The initial subject recognition seemed to be more the issue. That only really improved for me with spot tracking. The ducks on the water are all firmware 1.1 and the zone still didn't find it well. Spot was very good in the same instance
I'm just glad that the A1 didnt blast my recently purchased R5 out of the water (phew)! And I really appreciate the fully articulating screen. Excellent video and very informative as usual, well done Jan :)
So you prefer the cannon for use and feel? Of corse it’s what you are used to lol. The point of the Sony with all those dials and buttons is to be able to make fast changes on the go without looking at a screen lol. But you have to be used to it and need to program the functions to the different dials and buttons.
Thank you so much for this great video! Looking forward seeing more about video with these two cameras. I have the A9II and I am considering switching to Canon, because the video footage with the A9II is very shaky. Like you I also take short video clips while photographing, often handheld. I did try the R5 but somehow when shooting video the footage starts very stable and after a few seconds it gets shaky and it takes a while to calm down again. I have no idea what I am doing wrong, did you had this in your videos? Did you also test these cameras also on other animals? If so, were the results the same with animal eye tracking? Lind regards, Linda
Thank you! The Sony seems to be a bit better with Humans and animals than birds overall. Yes, sometimes the Ibis/IS can "shake" lose on the R5. But it also depends on the lens used. If that happens I sometimes give it a little shake or restart and it will work.
@@LindaSmitWildlifeImpressions Yes, I think the IBIS/IS has a much harder time stabilising more focal length, simply because the field of view is so narrow and you also notice every little bit of shake much more.
You recommend the use of flash. Did you compare flash performance between the R5 and A1? Did the A1’s high sync speeds and electronic shutter flash functionality give any advantage in the field? What was zero flash recycle like on the A1, using a Rotolight LED flash?
I have not been using flash on either camera really. The Sony will be much better for sure in that regard. The introduction of the silent shutter has made flash for me a bit less desirable and I feel like with the R5s I don't need it as much anymore. Before the shutter sound was always the main reason a bird would get scared. With that gone, the flash becomes the main reason you might miss a shot, so I have been more hesitant to use it.
@@jan_wegener Thanks Jan. In the silent shutter mode on the Sony A1 you can be in silent mode and have a flashing square appear around the EVF or the rear screen. A visual sign the camera is taking an image, even in silent mode. It is turned off by default, from memory (I have used an A1). On the A1 with a Rotolight LED flash you can get 30fps with the flash. The camera does seem to work with flash at high shutter speeds beyond the rated electronic shutter flash sync speed of 1/200, I have seen a single flash shot at 1/32,000 with no banding. The mechanical shutter is on the way out, probably in the next 5 years.
I have not tested it on Rotolight, but on Broncolor at 30 fps and el. shutter. Broncolor can keep up with 30 fps @ no loss of power. I have tested it up to 1/8000 but it should be ok up to 1/32000.
I tested it also on Elinchrome ELB400 and D-Lite RX4 with there special Hi Synch mode. You get full flash power up to 1/32000 and el. shutter. Unfortunately the recycle time is about 1sec. But then the Broncolor costs more than the A1 😉
I switched from Canon to Sony three years ago. I am really enjoying the a1 especially after the 1.1 update. The improvement when coupled with the 200-600 is pretty significant in regards to af speed of acquisition and sharpness. What a fun combo. I am impressed with what I see coming from the Canon system as well. Since I am heavily invested in the the Sony system and I prefer the internal zoom of the 200-600 it makes no sense to switch back - both are great systems.
Many thanks for this well-researched and critical review. I have been a Canon user for the last 50 years, and my workhorse 1Dx died last week. Wondering whether it is time to move brands. I am also looking at lenses available for each brand- Canon, Nikon and Sony. The Canon doesn't have an equivalent to the internal zooming Sony's 200-600 or Nikon's 180-600, though its 100-500 comes quite close. I am still inclined more towards the Canon EOS R5 with the RF 100-500 to be my wildlife setup. Just wondering how the Nikon Z8/Z9 will compare, as it was not included in your review.
This makes the R5 even more attractive for value for money. It can keep up with the best of Sony for half the price. Thanks for making this detailed comparison. 👍👍
For the Canon, were you using a cfast card? While the buffer space isn't huge, cfast is so fast that you can't run out of buffer. I easily run out of buffer while using SD cards but never on my Sony cfast card which is 1800MB/sec write.
This is the best real-life side by side comparison of these 2 cameras that I’ve seen. Thankyou ! I think getting two R5s for the price of one A1 is very notable unless you’re a high-end proffesional. It bugs me that Canon didn’t put two of the same memory card slots however.
Agreed, I think it will be something they sort out going forward. Personally I have only had single card cameras and think I've only had 2 shots 'corrupted' but appreciate Pros value the option of dual cards. I think the Sony option to use 2 different cards is a great idea albeit it only they use the CX Express Type A cards I think.
Hello Jan, do you have experience with the HDMI output (1080i) of the Alpha A1? I used the A1 as a third camera for a live stream and the images the A1 delivers are blurry, unusable for a professional production. For a camera that cost 7,000 euros to deliver such poor picture quality on the 1080i output is a disgrace. Unfortunately, I can only continue to use 1080i signals for my live stream. Do you have contacts at Sony, which could take into account these defects in the Sony A1 for the next firmware?
Great review on these cameras. I personally went with the R5 and couldn't be happier. Primarily being a portrait photographer I couldn't justify the extra money on the 30fps. Although I think the Sony does win in some areas, you can buy nearly 2 of the R5's for the price of Sony's flagship camera. If you are really wanting that higher frame rate or stacked sensor I would say wait to see what Canon does with the R1.
I don't know what system to go for! for a trip to Colombia, sigma have released a prime 500 that looks tempting with the A1 canon don't have many lenses with decent reach... the 200 800 is also still unavailable
Thanks for a wonderful review. The amount of research you must have had to do on these advanced cameras is incredible, this along with your hands on review of AF and IQ with in-depth user stuff like buffer etc is the best on you tube.
Wow, thanks for your kind words! It sure was a bit of a challenge to work my way through the Sony menu. I was a bit afraid I would miss something major that was too well hidden away haha
I really like that the Sony offers a choice of using one of two sets of different memory card types. I hope Canon adopts this feature in the upcoming R3 and all future Canon cameras. As for which is better, I think you can't go wrong with either as both have pro's and con's.
Card slows down to the SD rate if using the cards simultaneously as RAW and JPEG. Better have the same cards cuts down on costs and Sd card not as robust as the CF express
The industry is sort of at the starting phase of a transition. Companies still need to appeal to users that are invested in SD, while transitioning to CFexpress. The fact is CFexpress Type B is simply, much, much more capable, and has a much, much higher ceiling than Type A. Eventually, Sony will have to switch to Type B to keep up as the industry demands faster and faster cards; for this reason I prefer Canon's approach as it allows users to prepare for heavy Type B use now. I bet the gen 2 version of the R5 sports dual Type B slots. Sony has basically chosen to focus on the here and now, but that's going to cost Sony users down the road.
@@pgsanta Let's hope so. Can't wait to get rid of SD cards! Great points. Thanks for all the info! I do find Type B more appealing for sure and it seems to be the mainstream choice, but Sony has track record of trying to use their own memory formats.
Absolutely phenomenal comparison video. If you are a bird photographer weighing these two bodies there is simply no better video. Great attention to detail and kudos for such comprehensive time hacks in the description. Brilliant work Jan!
Hi, Lots of people on utubers are saying that the canon r5 has too many issues? is that the case with you? Im coming from a canon 5d mark 2? i was looking at the sony a7r iii originally as i thought this was an excellent camera? but was worried that the camera was a little small compared to the canon 5d mark ii. with the sony a7riii i would like to take photos without all info on the screen do you know if the sony a7riii is able to take a photo without info?
I guess there's people who like to complain about issue and then the ones who prefer to take great images with the cameras.The camera is not perfect, but most issues will never arise for 99% of the users :D I am pretty sure you would be able to. Coming from a 5D II, the R5 will blow your mind.
Went with the R5 personally, both are amazing no doubt. For me the R5 was everything I needed and I have yet to experience any downsides to the camera. It’s certainly more than enough of a beast to grow with. For the price of the Sony I went the R5 and a fantastic 70-100mm L lens. Images are phenomenal.
Jan, on the SOny don't use zone, use centre. It's a lot smaller, not much bigger than the flexible spot large, and will lock onto your target immediately. Zone is terrible when there's contrast in fg or bg. Birds flying low over water give it total grief. I only have A9 so I always use the spot modes ot centre mode and only use zone or wide for birds against sky, where it works really well. Looks to me as though the Sony meters little darker than the Canon, shots look 1/6 stop or so darker.
It was all manual mode, so must be the actual exposure coming out darker with the same settings. Yes, I just tested all modes and the larger zones really didn't do very well.
Great and fair video. I switched from Sony A9 + A7 III to Canon R5 + R6. I like the overall Performance of the new canon cameras, and their idea of the rf lineup and about what is important for a modern mirrorless system. This really small and lightweight rf 70-200mm f2.8 and f4 lenses for example. I use both of them. Or the coming rf 70-400mm non L lense, that I‘m waiting for. The 100mm macro lense with 1:1.4 magnification. They’re trying to make things different to the DSLR lineup. Not only one to one the same things like before. I like and prefer their IBIS and lense stabilisation that is the best i have ever used in a full frame system. Only my Olympus can do it better. Such a steady viewfinder at 300, 500 or 600mm is great to work with. I can take sharp pictures at 600mm with 1/50 or 1/100 if I want, and that‘s crazy. And like you said, the easy use of animal eye af, without switching between animals and humans. So this are only very small things I like more with the canon or don‘t like so much with the Sony cameras. But all together it was enough to switch and make my workflow better. Can I take pictures I could not take before with my Sony cameras? No, Sony worked very well for me too. And this „my gear is better than yours“ thinking is stupid. Sorry for my english 🙂
Yes, I have been really enjoying the RF lens line up myself. I agree that the IBIS/IS is the best in Canon for sure. Yes, both systems can do very well. In the end it's most important to find what suits you best
I like no blackout shooting on cameras like A9, A1, R3, Z9/8 and I like the high res images. When Canon will release high res stacked sensor camera? It is already 3 years after release of A1…
Outstanding review. Both cameras are amazing. There are advantages to each. If you're already a Canon or Sony shooter I can't see a reason to change if the choice is the A1 or R5. All things being equal and I was 100% into birding and wildlife maybe the R5. I'm mostly landscapes with some wildlife so it's the A-1 for me. I do Canon credit for the price point.
Agreed. Sticking and committing has usually been a very sounds strategy. In saying that I hope Nikon pulls through with the Z9 haha! Yes, each camera has it's pros and cons.
Hi, I am a new Sony Alpha 1 user and I have noticed that my new Sony Alpha 1 machine has been slightly hot for three minutes while I was adjusting the menus. As I continued to adjust the menu, I felt the Sony Alpha 1 inside my hand getting noticeably hot when I adjusted it for ten minutes.
Great comparison thank you! It seems the R5 has several features that I like above the Sony A1 but since I'm already shooting with Sony lenses and I have the 200-600 and the A7iii it probably would make more sense for me to get the A1. By the time you add the 100-500 to the R5 I would have spent as much money and I can't use my other Sony lenses on the R5. Thanks for explaining a lot of the differences when shooting in the field. Best of luck to you!
Great video. Thanks for your hard work. I have a new R5. I am trying to sort out how to best utilize the two different cards. I have a big fast CDExpress. I am wondering how best to incorporate an SD card in the other slot. It seems that the typical SD card is quite a bit slower than the CDExpress cards and that if I use the SD to make a back up of everything on the CDExpress card it will limit the frame rate? What do you do in this regard on your R5? How fast is your SD card. What do you use the SD card for? I am honestly wondering if it might be best to leave the SD card home.
I'm not sure why we'd compare an R5/$3900 camera to an A1/$6800(?) camera, but ok. So what if the R5 is made in Japan vs Thailand for the A1. Perhaps products produced by Japan are better quality than those produced by China, Viet Nam or Thailand? Certainly labor and overall overhead is cheaper outside of Japan. Can you imagine how much cheaper the R5 would be if produced in Thailand...perhaps half the cost? However, would the quality and fit be the same? So Sony saved hundreds producing the A1 in Thailand, why wouldn't they at least introduce a better rear display with full touch capability (like the R5)...why install the same old screen from the A7RIII/A9/A9II/A7SIII? And why install a cheap manual lock for the battery door vs an auto lock on the R5. Yet Sony did not skimp on their CFE A card...it's more than twice the price of the CFE B card, but the CFE A card is half the write/read speed. The A1's tech is great, but the body is old with sharp edges (other than a larger grip an exact replica of my A7RIII) vs the smooth touch of the R5 (I own this as well). Just my humble opinion.
All my body's have an L-bracket installed. On the A7R2 and A7S, I even removed the battery door's, so I could change the batteries very fast. Never had an issue all these years. I have no issues with the manual lock on both the A1 and A9 either. I guess, this is only an issue if you dont own these cameras ;=) There is no data, that supports your claim if production is done outside of Japan. I prefere 2 CFE A to a CFE B/SD mix. Unfortunately SONY is currently the only source. But this will change. I dont care about the displays. They all suck in bright sun light.
You're kidding yourself if you think Canon would save 50% by moving production out of Japan. For example, Fuji moved production from Japan to China to both lower costs and to scale up production volume. This might have reduced the final cost of the camera body by a couple hundred dollars but certainly not half. (In truth, the first iteration produced in China was *more* expensive than the previous-but also included an improved feature set.) The only savings is labor. The parts are all still sourced the same way from the same vendors. As for build quality, there is no difference. China has very sophisticated manufacturing capabilities. The country does export a lot of cheap crap but it isn't because they are incapable of top end manufacturing. If a company sets a certain QC threshold and has representatives there to insure that QC threshold is respected, there should be no difference in quality. That has certainly been true of the Fuji bodies coming out of China.
The more you do something the better you get at it, the same goes for manufacturing! Also you have to remember that even if Sony assembles cameras or lenses in Thailand, they have Japanese quality assurance Managers. (Yes I might be biased as I live in Thailand, but I can assure you the manufacturing quality here is far better than that of China, Malaysia and Vietnam (but also more expensive). There's a reason why Triumph and Harley Davidson have assembly factories here! Anyways, back to the subject matter, I think the differences between the top 3 camera bodies are very minor.
Hi Jan… A different question about R5. Now since Lightroom has many updates since R5 is launched, can we directly process the image all in Lightroom with opening it in DPP and do basic settings?
I switched last year from Nikon to Sony, I am happy with my A1, still learning about it. I do appreciate your fair comparison between these 2 cameras and have learned some good things about how to use my A1 better!
There's a record button next to the viewfinder on A1. Hit record anytime you want. A1 can do flash sync in electronic shutter at 1\200 and 1\400 in mechanical. Also A1 shutter max out at 1\32000 Electronic.
Yes it does, but it then records in the manual mode settings and not with the decimated video settings like the R5. So I would have to change all settings, press record, stop it, then change all settings again.
Interesting and useful! It's so nice to have two companies in the race, nipping at each other's heels. Disclosure: I switched from a long stay in the Canon universe to the Sony world about 6 years ago. I agree with Robert Lawrence below that for most of us it's impractical to switch back and forth every year or two. I am also a "stills" shooter in that I do not care much at all about video. However, my "still" photos are of subjects that are anything but still! I am struck by the wide variation in the way different photographers take pictures with one of these cameras. I am an older person who doesn't lift weights in a gym, so I mostly use my camera on a tripod with a gimbal mount. Sometimes I shoot handheld but with a wrist strap. I never carry a camera dangling at my waist from a neck strap. As far as I am concerned, just about anything on the top of the camera is useless, other than buttons that I can find by feel. That goes for those mechanical mode dials on the A1, too. As a non-video shooter, I have no use for a back screen and I certainly don't have time while shooting to use a touch screen. Menus are wonderful for configuring your camera and perhaps setting up a quick menu, but out in the field they're hopelessly fiddly. I notice that a lot of nature and action photographers also play musical instruments. Musicians are accustomed to the idea that to learn a new instrument you have to spend many hours practicing before you develop the muscle memory to play at full tempo. You also have to be able to access the buttons and dials by feel, as your eyes will often be concentrated on a musical score or the actions of a conductor. For a wildlife camera, my primary visual input is the EVF. Yes, when a musician tunes an instrument they will stop playing and look directly at it, but generally not during a performance. I use a slight variation of the A1 or A9 programming setup described by Mark Smith, an excellent bird photographer. He (and as a result, I) use a three-button focus system: zone for when a bird is flying in empty sky, spot for when a bird is in a high-detail environment, and assisted manual focus for when a bird is hiding from predators behind a tangle of twigs. I can also acquire focus in one mode and switch to another in a fraction of a second. Hopefully, all of you experts will converge on methods to effectively use these new mirrorless wonders, Sony or Canon. Once the new user models have been refined, the manufacturers can better serve our needs.
Great review! I feel like it was very practical and non-biased. I am wondering about a few issues with the R5. Most online seem to feel the 8k codec is very hard to work with. Is this better on the a1? Also, last time I checked the R5 only shoots 20fps if the battery is charged above 60%. Is this still true? And lastly, I know it’s better but is there still an overheating issue with the R5? It’s seems to me that the a1 works with less caveats than the R5. Thanks!
I do agree, the A1 is a bit more straight forward. Overall I feel like Sony codecs were a little bit easier to work with, but 8k takes a big toll on any system. The R5 only shoots 20fps in electronic shutter mode, so I am not entirely how that works with the lower charges. In mechanical it slows down for sure. So far I have gotten the overheating warning a few times when filming, but it has not yet shut off on me.
Sony has no DPAF(Dual Pixel) technology, what they have is PDAF. Meanwhile ,AF points on a Sony Camera are fixed.The camera cannot get focused between these AF points. BTW, The AF points are also dead spots to the image, any objects falling on these AF points would be eaten up by camera. Canon definitely has better AF system DPAF. In theroy, camera can focus anywhere.And it can recognize the eyes better since it can focus anywhere and there don't have dead spots caused by fixed AF points.
Nice review and would agree with everything you said. I have the R5 and are currently testing the A1 to maybe replace my A7S3. Being able to have actually 3-4 different custom shooting modes configured to buttons, is one of the features I really like about the Sony cameras. Also just wanted to confirm that with the A1 (as with the R5) you can start recording video just by pressing the video button while in photo mode. The only problem I noticed is that the picture style/profile used for stills is the one used for video, which is a big issue. Have asked Sony if this can be addressed or customised in the menu. Canon solved this problem very nicely by assigning video recording from photo mode, to Video C3.
I should have been more clear. When I press record in manual mode on the A1 it records with my manual mode settings, not dedicated video settings like the R5. So if I switch in between, I have to change my settings manually, which takes a bit of time
@@renestaempfli1071 Yes, it doesn't take long, but changing ISO, SS and aperture does take a bit of time and you also have to change it back quickly once finished with video. I am not saying it's bad, but it's just done better on the R5, possibly due to not having a physical dial.
@@jan_wegener Yes, that quite an issue, which I have already shared with Sony. It's a very important feature that they need to fix. And the funny thing is there is a menu setting that in theory allows selecting specific settings that you wanna have different in stills and video mode.
Well all these things you talk about sony did not have button to record while you take shots and the screen so you cand bend it any way you want! All of this is fixed in sony a77 mark II .
From the title I thought it was going to be one of those annoying paid for "time to switch" type video's! I should have known better of you Jan, great work as always and very informative. Thank you for what was obviously a lot of work in putting together.
One of your complaints about the A1 with switching quickly from photo to video and back to photo. While in manual mode try pressing the record button to start video (should start recording with your last saved settings in video mode) and when done recording press the record button again and it should return back to manual mode for photos. This works on other Sony camera models, should work with the A1 too
When I do this on the A1, it records in my manual mode settings, not my dedicated video settings, even when set to "different settings for photo & video" So that was my only complaint there. I can only get to the video settings when I turn the dial on top.
@@jan_wegener I def. prepare the a1 colors over the r5. I had the r5 and rented the a1 for a week. I sucked it up and made the switch. Some of the reasons was the color, the view finder, electronic shutter, no rolling shutter, the 30fps, etc. It was a decent a review but you def showed some bias in your review. It was easy to see you are a canon shooter. Everything that a1 had that was better you seemed to downplay it. Probably trying to reassure yourself that staying with canon will be okay. I see this a lot with commenters and reviewers. So no shame in that. Other than that great job
Admittedly, Canon knows what it is doing. The criticism when they released the R6 and R5 was brutal. Crazy they called those who opted for the R5, crazy, wasteful, that's not worth that money. And now Sony brings out, a machine that offers nothing to blow my mind, a camera that is on par with the R5 but for double the money. Where are all those Sony users who said these atrocities about Canon? I can't hear them.
The R5 is a Sony KILLER. The folks who were thinking of switching from Canon to Sony due to all the hype of Sony Cameras, got their wish come true and more with the R5. Hands down that Sony A1 isn't beating the R5, the things Jan mentions are so small, even he said "In the field it isn't noticeable". PLUS you can but two R5's for the price of one Sony A1....if you buy a Sony A1 it's because you had to, because of all the lenses you own....TRUTH 👊😎👊
Yes, but most of the criticism Canon has to blame themselves for and their marketing. Why focus on 8k, when it's the only thing the camera didn't do that well, yet everything else it's kinda amazing at! Very strange strategy.
If you are invested into Sony the A1 is the logical choice. But for someone like me who needs 2-3 bodies on a daily basis, 3 A1 would eat up a lot of budget.
I can’t see my second comment so I try it third times.:-( Have you experienced softer images from R5 than A1? 2 prestigious sites showed this, specially at higher iso and/or in JPEG. it seems (on the sites) that in JPEGs A1 shows better performance resulting cleaner,sharper, more contrasty image.
You can see the sample images in this video, and my next video with the Sony gear will have a lot more images samples. I think the cameras are very close, so the lenses used will have a big impact as well. The Sony has no AA filter, so a slight edge in sharpness should be expected, but I found it to be quite small. You can see the Ibis High ISO sample in this video. Each camera did reasonably well with a similar result. Overall the Sony file might be slightly sharper.
Thanks for this honest and awesome test. I work with the EOS R for photo and BMPCC4K RIG for video so im packed with EF lenses. Thought about R5 in the future but there is everytime this „Sony A1 specs“ then I think… wait there will be an R1 in the future… and for video I will upgrade on an BM 6K for money/value reasons. There is this tingle to switch… I think some of you get me. In video I work with RAW 12Bit and can’t get off off it. If you worked with this Uncompressed video Material you fall im Love with this. So at the end I will wait and work with what I have and invest my money to the point for a BM upgrade or harder an R1 (could be) upgrade. Thanks, awesome work Best from Germany
Yes, once you have found the right tool for the right job it's not that easy to change. And why would you I suppose. If you're only looking for a photo camera then the A1 has some advantages, but if you have a lot of Canon glass and no Sony glass, the choice is almost made for you in a way. I am with you on the R1, very curious to see which direction they will go in.
OK, 7 comments so far and I have to say they have been pretty objective. I have both watched and commented on many other A1 and R5 videos, I have to say if you discount the fanboys, the objective conclusion is the performance of both cameras are fairly similar. Although some A1 users I have encountered like to stress on a number of A1 advantages such as no blackout, 30 fps and no rolling shutter. So, this is when things get complicated. I guess on paper one could say the A1 is a better camera. However, once you start doing a head-to-head comparison, you simply cannot ignore price point. This is also when discussions/debate become heated and go off on separate tangents. The A1 users simply want to claim the A1 is the best camera out there, period. The R5 users want to talk about in-the-field performance difference and more importantly price point. In reality, no one with the right mind would say it is fair to compare a camera that costs almost double the price of another. So, to me, the objective conclusion should be: 1) yes, the A1 is a slightly better camera than the R5 and 2) but, is it worth such a massive premium? The answer is no. Unless you are already heavily invested in the Sony ecosystem, if not you have to ask yourself what would make you pay almost double of that of a R5? Surely, the difference in performance has to be night and day right? And in this case, it simply isn't.
Totally agree. If I pay, double, you should offer me double, or something new without what once I use it I can not live. 10 fps more? two other little things a little better? You keep giving me the same flip-up screen. But do you have to give me double the money? As they comment in one of the comments, with what the A1 costs I have bought the R5 and an RF telecom. I think that little can be said about that. The results speak for themselves, in a blind tasting it would be very difficult to tell which camera captured each photo.
Very well said mate and I agree. The A1 is definitely the more well rounded camera, yet quite close to the R5 in overall performance. we will see how the comments will go :D
It all depends. As long as you don't push the envelop, almost any modern camera will do. But if you push the envelop, then it matters. The A1 does have some important capabilities, no other camera currently has. If you need them, then 2k$ is no big deal.
@@jan_wegener It is all about price point in the end. What I remember is this. When the R5 first came out with the launch price of US$3.9K, people were saying hey that thing ain't cheap you know. But, after the A1 came out when Sony positioned it as the flagship body of the brand and set the price point at US$6.5K, the narrative and sentiments on the streets soon became the A1 made the R5 looked like the bargain of the century. I think many thought Sony would price it like the A9 when the A9 was the flagship. The question is if Sony had priced the A1 somewhere along those lines let's just say for the sake of discussion may be around US$4.5K or even US$5K, may be the general perception could have been quite different. At US$4.5K, I think I might have gone for the A1 instead. But, for me when the R5 dropped to US$3.5K while the A1 still sat at US$6.5K, the difference in price point just became too great to justify myself paying almost double.
Excellent video as always Jan. Both cameras appear fantastic but the main differences are in price and the accompanying lenses. The 200-600 is usefully 100mm longer at the long end and still manages a faster max aperture than the Canon100-500. I wish Canon had made the equivalent lens. On price the A1 camera is much more expensive but the 200-600 is much cheaper here in the UK than the Canon 100-500 (£1599 vs £2979) . The 200-600 is quite a bit heavier than the Canon though. Being a stills shooter I am erring towards the Canon. I look forward to your next video.
Well as I expected Jan both awesome cameras ! Your bias towards Canon, myself Sony ! I think for the neutral the Canon is better value for money overall at the moment ! Sony just slightly better if money is not an issue ! The results on the A1 with the 600f4 are to die for, but again not worth selling a kidney for in the real world !! Great comparison I guess your sticking to the R5 ? Awesome !
The autofocus is amazing on the R5 and it is not even the flagship model for Canon. Sony autofocus is good but Canon has totally taken over this game away from Sony at this point
You need to stop watching them tony and Chelsea video. Sony is still 2 years ahead of Canon in the mirrorless tech since they invested heavily into mirrorless tech. Sony forced both nikon and canon to invest in mirrorless canon with the a7iii. Sony gave canon and nikon the blue prints to build better mirrorless cameras. Sony is still 1 step ahead of them in every way.
I love my Sony A1 with the 35-150. I also have the 150-600 and a couple others. Sony a1 i think will be the top camera for a while still. I think it is so advanced that there's no need to upgrade. The af alone is far more superior and now with the new af and steady firmware update I'd say its extremely hard to beat. If your pictures are not turning out with either camera it's the photographers error. Even in most literature and real world reviews sony af among other things keep coming up on top. With unbiased reviewers ofcourse. I think the Sony is a little power house and if you need that extra grip you can put it on. You don't have to carry that extra weight especially when your hiking taking pics of wildlife and you have one of those huge lenses to capture your subjects. Plus with it's compact size it's more versatile so you can use it with most gimbals. If we're talking about serious videography that's huge plus. You dont have to spend more money for a larger gimbal plus all the add-ons you would use with a cage. This compact size would help keep the weight down which people dont realize how cumbersome these all that can be. So that compact body is perfect.The Sony a1 body alone is extremely versatile. And don't forget Sony makes sensors for most of these cameras including Nikon. So where would Nikon be without Sony tech. As for working in the dark i don't need gimmicks to get the job done. It's called muscle memory. It's not hard to memorize the buttons. Plus all the third-party lenses. Nikon to call this it's flagship i think is a huge error considering the z8 is rumored to come out.I just think people like to jump on the next new not necessarily the best thing. Buy either way you can't really go wrong.
I really enjoy your content. I tried out one Sony camera for years ago that just got released and it wasn’t for me. I hate it. The auto focus system on the Sony went back to the camera store. Brought it back within 15 days and bought the canon 5D Mark IV and so I’m going to continue using the Canon because I just hate the focussing system on the Sony
On the Sony images are darker point. I have noticed this can be caused by the tone curve being applied by the RAW converter, rather than the image itself. The tone curve maybe darker, not sure the RAW file is. Not an issue in practice, because you have WYSWYG and a histogram in the EVF.
Very professionally presented video and content. Thank you! One question and apologies if I missed this in your presentation, did you install the latest Sony A1 firmware ?
Fantastic review Jan! Really want to get my hands on both these cameras to try out. I am stuck in the Sony system but I think I might have to hire a R5 just to try out bird eye focuses in video. No idea why Sony only puts it in photos. Most annoying thing and I am sure it can be done with a simple update. Will check out your lens battle now.
I think that in terms of AF for birds, A1 is better. Switching from Nikon I had to make the A1/R5 choice. I went with the R5 mainly because of the 100-500 lens, which is very sharp and is 2 lbs lighter, with higher magnification, morr versatile with 100mm on the wide end and has a much shorter focusing distance than the Sony. 200-600.
@@jan_wegenerThank you, Jan, I would be curious to hear if the Sony's internal, quarter turn zoom would prevail over the Canon's smaller size and weight in real world use.
Recently saw your comparisin of the Canon R5 and the A1 (07/11/2021) where you mentioned that the Sony exposures appear darker when comparing ISOs. The reason is that the ISO ratings among the various camera manufactures are not equivalent. It will be nice if all camera manufacturers will use a single standard so all ISOs will be the same; this may also apply to aperture openings and shutter speeds.
Eu tenho uma canon RP e uma 70x200 2.8 iii , faço fotos de surf , estou comecando fazer videos de surf , estou em duvida se compro uma lente cano RF 100 x500 , ou uma camera sony e uma lente sony 200x600 ,? se puder faça videos de surf
For the kind of shooting Jan compares the two cameras, either one is fine. I only know the A1 and A9, so I can't comment on the R5. Mark Smith has used them both and favours the A1. Video can be started and stopped by directly pressing the record button and then take pictures again. As for AF, using the right option makes a big difference in critical AF-C situations. When it comes to high speed flash photography, nothing comes close to the A1. I have used the A1 together with Broncolor at 30 fps with the electronic shutter with the 135mm f/2 @ 1/8000s. I forgot to test it at 1/32000 but did test it with Elinchrome at 1/32000 and it worked.
Yes, you can start and stop video, but it records in the manual mode settings then, you cannot record in separate video settings. So you will always have to change your settings. I agree, the flash sync times is great on A1
There are two things the higher end Sony cameras do specifically that draws photographers like Mark Smith and other bird in flight shooters to them and that is the AF works better over horizontal surfaces such as water where the Canon typically gets distracted and they have a faster sensor readout so there is practically no lag at all ever when continuous shooting. Mark says this in one of his videos comparing the systems and other photographers have said the same. Outside of that, they pretty much universally agree that the R5 has better animal eye AF and if you shoot static animals or slower moving birds it will actually get you better in focus shots as a result. The Sony cameras are stickier but we are really comparing the last one to two percentages of difference between the two systems auto focus capabilities.
Watching videos like this makes me feel good about the fact I bought the R5. I'm no pro, but it can do everything relatively well. Just wish Canon would produce some prime RF lenses with IS, although that may make the prices even higher.
Thank you for very clear comparison of the R5&A1 especially comparison of the tracking &AF capabilities.I am a wildlife photographer(amateur).Following your video clips help improve my results. Do you organise photo tour in Australia?
Thanks Jan. Great comparison. Both great cameras. However in the US I can buy the R5 and the 100-500 RF lens for less than what the A1 body costs. Easy decision. Thanks again. G'day mate.
I don't have either camera. However, if I was to buy one I would definitely go for the Canon R5. Why? Well I simply could not see $4000 difference in the photo's. I have seen many reviews on the R5 camera and there is one thing that none have mentioned. That is the "Bulb Timer". Now that is a great feature for those who use bulb mode.
@@jan_wegener Jan please don’t tell my Sony RX100 VII vlogging cam I’m picking up a Canon R5 tomorrow, she’ll be so jealous of that hot (literally during video shooting) Canon body! My RX gets hot, but she’ll let me keep shooting past what she thinks is safe, she just warns me. Lol
Nice review. I wish you would compare the IQ of C-RAW vs 12 bit RAW. I have been shooting C-RAW and can not see a loss of IQ. Buffer limits all but go away with C-RAW.
Let's be honest, if a person can afford to change between systems whenever a brand brings out certain features that are better then they are very fortunate indeed. I suspect that for the vast majority of us once we have started buying into a system then we usually have to stick with it. There will never be a manufacturer which will have an absolute all round best camera. Every brand will eventually have what you need. Sometimes we just have to have a bit of patience.
Any change in system for me has been offset by my having the transition for some time as well.
I agree! I have been sticking with one brand for a long time. It usually pays off in the long run, at least financially.
Yes, definitely takes some getting used to!
Ironically most consolidated pros are still rocking whatever works for them. Which might be 2 year old gear.
Another great, often overlooked attribute to staying with one camera system is knowing that particular brand's camera market. I know the Canon camera and lens resale market extremely well and this allows me to read the market and know when is a good time to sell/buy, or what I should be asking when selling or buying used gear. This allows me to make the most of my flips. It would be very hard to know the little ins and outs of multiple camera systems...
I just find that important for me.
I told my RP about A1 and R5, she just laughed then told me to check my savings balance.
:D
That's what I heard from my Olympus too.
My rp said the same exact thing
Whats RP?
@@rezasaputra2398 EOS RP aka worst canon mirrorless
I used to be a Canon user many years ago (I bought the superzoom prosumer cameras), but I couldn't afford their more expensive cameras, and I saw which way the wind was blowing, so I switched to Sony mirrorless and bought an a6000. It was a total gamechanger for me. My photography improved by leaps and bounds as I gradually bought better and better lenses. Don't get me wrong: I'm not rich by any means. In fact, a lot of people, myself included, consider me rather poor. But Sony offers affordable choices in camera bodies, and although their lenses are pricy, third-party lenses can be found that work almost as well. I'm surprised at the lenses I've collected over the last five or six years on my extremely modest income. It probably helps that photography is a hobby I'll never get tired of. I'll probably die with a camera in my hand. ;)
The A1 is beyond my financial means. I'll never be able to justify spending that much for a camera body. But I enjoy hearing about it and seeing the photos it produces, so thanks for the video!
Thanks for sharing your experience. Appreciate it. Glad you enjoyed the video
I too was a Canon user...since 1985. Just this year I decided to go mirrorless. I wanted full frame and I wanted Canon. The Canon 5DS specifically and I have always loved canon products. I own a Canon Pro-100 Printer as well. My last camera was the Canon T3i and that is what made me want a FULL FRAME and with mirrorless now on top, I decided. I could not find a Canon 5DS but the more I read and heard about Sony, the more I looked for a change from Canon. I now own the Sony A7R3 and I've never been more satisfied. I have the Sony 24-105 F/4 , the Sony 70-200 F/4, and the Sony 200-600 F/5.6-6.3 and I am content. I may get another Sony, probably the A7R4 in the near future so I can have my wide lens on one and the tele200-600 on the other. I love my Sony! btw...I loved this video and others from Jan as well. He explains things that even an old man can understand. Thank you Jan. 🙂😎 🙂
Unfortunately I could never get use to Sony’s menus. And the back screen suck.
I’m currently using Sony and I like canon as well. I have thought about getting an a1 but Sony’s lack of firmware updates is pushing me towards canon. I was once told it’s not the camera body that matters, it’s the glass and from what I have heard the RF glass is pretty amazing.
It's clear that whatever camera you use, you create magic. :)
Thanks man
Good call
Excellent points. Biggest thing for me to is quick switch with r5. R5 is more versatile. Great review
For myself, the R5s are still preferred. The bird / animal vs just bird focusing, the better bird focus at distance, the flip screen, the ease of video / still switching, and the price are reason enough to stay with R5s (given that they have pretty similar performance in most areas). Coming from Canon 5D M3s and prime lenses, the change to R5s for myself may be so extreme it overshadows many of the minor differences between the R5s and A1s. I'm probably dating myself here, but when I first saw your title saying you were using the A1 my thought was you were referring to the Canon A1 and I was thinking just why in the world would you do that and how could one even compare those to an R5... that should be interesting! Oh well, we didn't have a TV in our home until I was in high school either.
hahaha!
I agree with your sentiment about the R5s. And If you are already a Canon Shooter, a switch would be very pricy
Jan I want to praise you for speaking more slowly than most other commentators. One compatriot of yours speaks very fast - as if he is afraid he's going to run out of recording time. When discussing technical details I prefer that the speaker go slower since it's really a separate language all its own and I am not that "fluent" yet!
Now regarding the subject matter itself, splendidly done! These two camera companies are exactly where I am right now in my evaluation process. I shoot Canon dSLRs now and have since I began birding, but I can see looming over the horizon and getting closer every day, shutter failure, it's like death and taxes.
So I am beginning the process of deciding what to do. Mirrorless cameras just happened to come out at almost the perfect time. I'm nearing the shutter activation failure-point just as mirrrorless have really come into "their own". And they have more to offer than just no mirror. Their quality and features have leaped ahead of dSLRs. As a Canon user (7D mk 2) with its super-loud shutter sound, I am looking forward to a much quieter shutter that won't scare my near proximity birds! (Not that I want a silent shutter! good Lord that would be disorienting!)
All told what it comes down to, for me, is pretty much No-Brainers-ville. This Sony A1 is so close to the Canon R5 (or vice versa if you prefer) all told, the decision can easily come down to price point. It would be a different story if I were a millionaire, but as I ain't - I have to consider what a new camera is going to cost. But, on top of that 'what will I do with my Canon lenses?' (or Canon compatibles).
So, on top of the greater cost of the Sony A1 would be the cost of Sony lenses to use on the camera. Right? Whereas if I bought a Canon R5 (or R6 mk II, or one of the others) well, 'Bob's my Uncle'! I can get an adapter for my EF lenses. Not that I wouldn't be looking down the road as getting an RF lens itself. But since I have a Canon EF 100-400mm and Sigma Contemporary 150-600mm to fit a Canon mount, the Canon RF 100-500mm sort of falls right in the middle.
So...at this point, thanks to your video, my question is: 'Which Canon mirrorless?'. And there I am confused. I've read some bad things about the R6, but now the R6 mk II has come out, perhaps to address the problems reported? And I have no idea what in the heck the R7 is. Or those other R- numbers. But perhaps I will see programs you've done on these. I've not seen any of your other videos.
Again Jann, many thanks.
How refreshing to see an 'in the field review' of this two excellent cameras. Considering the price difference the R5 looks like a bargain. I can't help thinking Sony missed a trick here in not putting out an A9III to take on the R5. Financially the A1 is a big leap from the A9II. Maybe too big a leap?
they didnt need to. they already have the 7r4
@@cbflazaro The A7R4 really isn't a successor to the A9II.
@@stevemurnan1702 the r5 isn't a competitor to the a9 line.
You are right too much. But lenses are cheaper in Sony system.
@@cbflazaro I agree and that's what Sony need. A competitior to the R5 at its price point. Sony have hung A9II shooters out to dry. At the miniute it's the A1 or switch systems.
Nice video but It sounds like you're using the wrong AF mode in video on the A1. Everyone that uses the A1 or any Sony camera use continuous touch AF Tracking when it comes to fast video tracking. It keeps up perfectly fine in video. No one use AF Points to track or keep focus on subjects in video on a current Sony camera. Also you can shoot video back and forth to stills mode without going into any other modes or menus in stills mode just press the record button on the top back of the camera for video and with stills use the front shutter button. back and forth without turning or switching any other dual. Nice video Jan keep up the great work.
You can press the record button in manual mode, but it records with my manual mode settings, not dedicated video settings like R5. So I have to change all settings, then press record and then change all settings again. I did not find a workaround for that.
With touch AF you mean you select a subject with touch and it tracks it?
The problem is when I handhold video and have the camera on my eye, it's difficult to touch the screen and keep the subject in the viewfinder.
Or is there another option I may have missed? It sure was a challenge to find everything in the menu!
I think you hit on the 3 main things most reviews are finding. 1) both are exceptional. 2) Canon has the very slightest of an edge in photo AF and doesn't need modes switch between birds, people and animals. 3) For some reason the A1 lacks animal and bird eye AF during video an d is much less completive there. Maybe the 4th is IBIS is a little better on the R5. Did I mention both are exceptional? :)
Nicely summed up :) I will talk about IBIS & IS in my next video. I found some huge differences there.
When you compare the prices of both , R5 seems so much better camera .
Bird videography at the beach...what's my move? A1 with 200-600G or R5 with RF 100-500?
I bought R5 with RF 100-500mm for the price of an A1 and I can honestly say I am satisfied with it. Excellent side by side comparison🙏🙏🙏
Great to hear! Thank you
That pair does seem to be the sweet spot for bird photographers.
i bought same setup! even the 1.4x extender, dont need to change gear in 10 years plus i think. So Happy with it. Great video by the way Jan!
@@Jimmiehammarstrom47 thanks! I love that set up as well.
The A1 still superior. The cannon overheats like crazy just in 4k and it shuts off in a few minutes, in 8k it catches it self on fire within 5 minutes. The sony A1 can record 8k all day with minimal heat issues. I own the A1 and rented the R5. Could not be happier.
Thanks for the clear comparison! I will likely get an R5 shortly. A couple years ago I was doing a MW shoot at 3a.m. and put my Canon 5Div on the roof. You can guess what happened next as I drove away. The Canon had minor damage to the SD card cover door, but other than that still works perfectly. Long hikes in the mountains, extreme heat and cold, and the 5D bodies have never failed. Based on durability I must stick with Canon.
Oh no! Crazy it still worked. My 5Ds have all died from too much rain at some point but always came back to life quickly the day after
Hey Jan............great work as always. I'm guessing you did this review before the new a1 firmware was released. Holy crap the a1 AF is much improved and sticks to a bird's eye without ever letting go of it. Your review was very fair but I think if you try the a1 again with the new firmware you too will see a big difference.
I did both. 1.0 at the start and then 1.1 the moment it got released.
I felt it was better, but the zone still had it's issues. The bird in the tree is with 1.1 for instance.
TBH, I found the ye tracking to be quite good even with 1.0. The initial subject recognition seemed to be more the issue. That only really improved for me with spot tracking. The ducks on the water are all firmware 1.1 and the zone still didn't find it well. Spot was very good in the same instance
R5 bird autofocus is just so much better, there are things which a software update can change, A1 autofocus is better now , still not R5 level..
@@Libinkttm It's mainly the subject recognition, tracking is very good
Great review mate, it was a lot of fun using the Sony in the field. Cheers, Duade
Thanks mate, sure was
The two of you make a "great couple". I enjoy watching both your videos and learn a lot from it!
@@andywessels4719 Great to hear Andy, hopefully we can do some videos together soon. Cheers, Duade 👍
I'm just glad that the A1 didnt blast my recently purchased R5 out of the water (phew)! And I really appreciate the fully articulating screen.
Excellent video and very informative as usual, well done Jan :)
Great to hear! Thank you
So you prefer the cannon for use and feel? Of corse it’s what you are used to lol. The point of the Sony with all those dials and buttons is to be able to make fast changes on the go without looking at a screen lol. But you have to be used to it and need to program the functions to the different dials and buttons.
Thank you so much for this great video! Looking forward seeing more about video with these two cameras. I have the A9II and I am considering switching to Canon, because the video footage with the A9II is very shaky. Like you I also take short video clips while photographing, often handheld. I did try the R5 but somehow when shooting video the footage starts very stable and after a few seconds it gets shaky and it takes a while to calm down again. I have no idea what I am doing wrong, did you had this in your videos? Did you also test these cameras also on other animals? If so, were the results the same with animal eye tracking? Lind regards, Linda
Thank you!
The Sony seems to be a bit better with Humans and animals than birds overall. Yes, sometimes the Ibis/IS can "shake" lose on the R5. But it also depends on the lens used. If that happens I sometimes give it a little shake or restart and it will work.
@@jan_wegener Thank you for your reply. I used the 100-500, it mostly happened at 500mm, zoomed out to 100mm I didn't notice it
@@LindaSmitWildlifeImpressions Yes, I think the IBIS/IS has a much harder time stabilising more focal length, simply because the field of view is so narrow and you also notice every little bit of shake much more.
You recommend the use of flash. Did you compare flash performance between the R5 and A1? Did the A1’s high sync speeds and electronic shutter flash functionality give any advantage in the field? What was zero flash recycle like on the A1, using a Rotolight LED flash?
I have not been using flash on either camera really. The Sony will be much better for sure in that regard. The introduction of the silent shutter has made flash for me a bit less desirable and I feel like with the R5s I don't need it as much anymore.
Before the shutter sound was always the main reason a bird would get scared. With that gone, the flash becomes the main reason you might miss a shot, so I have been more hesitant to use it.
@@jan_wegener Thanks Jan. In the silent shutter mode on the Sony A1 you can be in silent mode and have a flashing square appear around the EVF or the rear screen. A visual sign the camera is taking an image, even in silent mode. It is turned off by default, from memory (I have used an A1). On the A1 with a Rotolight LED flash you can get 30fps with the flash. The camera does seem to work with flash at high shutter speeds beyond the rated electronic shutter flash sync speed of 1/200, I have seen a single flash shot at 1/32,000 with no banding. The mechanical shutter is on the way out, probably in the next 5 years.
I have not tested it on Rotolight, but on Broncolor at 30 fps and el. shutter. Broncolor can keep up with 30 fps @ no loss of power. I have tested it up to 1/8000 but it should be ok up to 1/32000.
I tested it also on Elinchrome ELB400 and D-Lite RX4 with there special Hi Synch mode. You get full flash power up to 1/32000 and el. shutter. Unfortunately the recycle time is about 1sec. But then the Broncolor costs more than the A1 😉
@@michaelhains2291 Yes, mechanical shutter will be gone soon and won't be missed LOL
I switched from Canon to Sony three years ago. I am really enjoying the a1 especially after the 1.1 update. The improvement when coupled with the 200-600 is pretty significant in regards to af speed of acquisition and sharpness. What a fun combo. I am impressed with what I see coming from the Canon system as well. Since I am heavily invested in the the Sony system and I prefer the internal zoom of the 200-600 it makes no sense to switch back - both are great systems.
Yes, once you're invested it doesn't make sense to switch when both systems are excellent
I use 1.0 and 1.1 FW
Bonnie, I have same camera and lens. What do you mean internal zoom? Clear image zoom or APS-C? Btw, I love the combo.
@@derrickrr5516 there's no moving parts outside of the lens on the 200-600, unlike the 100-500 for instance.
Many thanks for this well-researched and critical review. I have been a Canon user for the last 50 years, and my workhorse 1Dx died last week. Wondering whether it is time to move brands. I am also looking at lenses available for each brand- Canon, Nikon and Sony. The Canon doesn't have an equivalent to the internal zooming Sony's 200-600 or Nikon's 180-600, though its 100-500 comes quite close. I am still inclined more towards the Canon EOS R5 with the RF 100-500 to be my wildlife setup. Just wondering how the Nikon Z8/Z9 will compare, as it was not included in your review.
This makes the R5 even more attractive for value for money. It can keep up with the best of Sony for half the price.
Thanks for making this detailed comparison. 👍👍
My pleasure!
For the Canon, were you using a cfast card? While the buffer space isn't huge, cfast is so fast that you can't run out of buffer. I easily run out of buffer while using SD cards but never on my Sony cfast card which is 1800MB/sec write.
I have been using top of the line CFexpress cards for both
This is the best real-life side by side comparison of these 2 cameras that I’ve seen. Thankyou !
I think getting two R5s for the price of one A1 is very notable unless you’re a high-end proffesional. It bugs me that Canon didn’t put two of the same memory card slots however.
Thanks!
Totally agree about the slots!
Agreed, I think it will be something they sort out going forward. Personally I have only had single card cameras and think I've only had 2 shots 'corrupted' but appreciate Pros value the option of dual cards. I think the Sony option to use 2 different cards is a great idea albeit it only they use the CX Express Type A cards I think.
@@SteveP_2426 They do. In the end it's just more practical to just have one card type
Hello Jan,
do you have experience with the HDMI output (1080i) of the Alpha A1?
I used the A1 as a third camera for a live stream and the images the A1 delivers are blurry, unusable for a professional production. For a camera that cost 7,000 euros to deliver such poor picture quality on the 1080i output is a disgrace. Unfortunately, I can only continue to use 1080i signals for my live stream.
Do you have contacts at Sony, which could take into account these defects in the Sony A1 for the next firmware?
Great review on these cameras. I personally went with the R5 and couldn't be happier. Primarily being a portrait photographer I couldn't justify the extra money on the 30fps. Although I think the Sony does win in some areas, you can buy nearly 2 of the R5's for the price of Sony's flagship camera. If you are really wanting that higher frame rate or stacked sensor I would say wait to see what Canon does with the R1.
Or the R3 even. Thanks for the comment :)
You should have went with the a7riv for portraits
@@Yupthereitism no way. The r5 perfect eye af and other features are better than the A7r iv. I had both and sold the Sony
Wow, how wrong you are
I don't know what system to go for! for a trip to Colombia, sigma have released a prime 500 that looks tempting with the A1 canon don't have many lenses with decent reach... the 200 800 is also still unavailable
Thanks for a wonderful review. The amount of research you must have had to do on these advanced cameras is incredible, this along with your hands on review of AF and IQ with in-depth user stuff like buffer etc is the best on you tube.
Wow, thanks for your kind words! It sure was a bit of a challenge to work my way through the Sony menu. I was a bit afraid I would miss something major that was too well hidden away haha
Jan, I would like to know if you have any issue with your R5. Does it freeze or reboot once in a while ? Thanks for your appreciated input !
it has only done that once. My second R5 has never done it.
Thanks 👍
I really like that the Sony offers a choice of using one of two sets of different memory card types. I hope Canon adopts this feature in the upcoming R3 and all future Canon cameras. As for which is better, I think you can't go wrong with either as both have pro's and con's.
I agree!
Unfortunately, for a very strange reason, the R3 will have CFexpress & SD as well from what I heard
Yes I have found it useful to use the second card for transfer no need to buy two CFexpressA cards
Card slows down to the SD rate if using the cards simultaneously as RAW and JPEG. Better have the same cards cuts down on costs and Sd card not as robust as the CF express
The industry is sort of at the starting phase of a transition. Companies still need to appeal to users that are invested in SD, while transitioning to CFexpress. The fact is CFexpress Type B is simply, much, much more capable, and has a much, much higher ceiling than Type A. Eventually, Sony will have to switch to Type B to keep up as the industry demands faster and faster cards; for this reason I prefer Canon's approach as it allows users to prepare for heavy Type B use now. I bet the gen 2 version of the R5 sports dual Type B slots. Sony has basically chosen to focus on the here and now, but that's going to cost Sony users down the road.
@@pgsanta Let's hope so. Can't wait to get rid of SD cards!
Great points. Thanks for all the info!
I do find Type B more appealing for sure and it seems to be the mainstream choice, but Sony has track record of trying to use their own memory formats.
Jan, have you used the battery grip for either camera? did you stay with the R5?
I am using a grip on my R5
From your video why I feel the r5 had better eye AF than a1, the a1 had struggled to hunt the subject.
It definitely picks up the subject better, but once subjects is acquired tracking is very similar or even slightly better on the Sony.
Isn't the Fujifilm Gfx 50 II better than the devices you mentioned in portrait shots?
I'm considering buying a Fujifilm gfx 50 S II for portraits
Never used it or looked into it, so can't help, sorry
@@jan_wegener no problem. thank you
Absolutely phenomenal comparison video. If you are a bird photographer weighing these two bodies there is simply no better video. Great attention to detail and kudos for such comprehensive time hacks in the description. Brilliant work Jan!
Thanks a lot :)
Good call
Hi, Lots of people on utubers are saying that the canon r5 has too many issues? is that the case with you? Im coming from a canon 5d mark 2? i was looking at the sony a7r iii originally as i thought this was an excellent camera? but was worried that the camera was a little small compared to the canon 5d mark ii. with the sony a7riii i would like to take photos without all info on the screen do you know if the sony a7riii is able to take a photo without info?
I guess there's people who like to complain about issue and then the ones who prefer to take great images with the cameras.The camera is not perfect, but most issues will never arise for 99% of the users :D
I am pretty sure you would be able to.
Coming from a 5D II, the R5 will blow your mind.
Thank you for your feed back.cheers mal
Went with the R5 personally, both are amazing no doubt. For me the R5 was everything I needed and I have yet to experience any downsides to the camera. It’s certainly more than enough of a beast to grow with. For the price of the Sony I went the R5 and a fantastic 70-100mm L lens. Images are phenomenal.
Great to hear
Jan, on the SOny don't use zone, use centre. It's a lot smaller, not much bigger than the flexible spot large, and will lock onto your target immediately. Zone is terrible when there's contrast in fg or bg. Birds flying low over water give it total grief. I only have A9 so I always use the spot modes ot centre mode and only use zone or wide for birds against sky, where it works really well.
Looks to me as though the Sony meters little darker than the Canon, shots look 1/6 stop or so darker.
It was all manual mode, so must be the actual exposure coming out darker with the same settings.
Yes, I just tested all modes and the larger zones really didn't do very well.
Great and fair video. I switched from Sony A9 + A7 III to Canon R5 + R6. I like the overall Performance of the new canon cameras, and their idea of the rf lineup and about what is important for a modern mirrorless system.
This really small and lightweight rf 70-200mm f2.8 and f4 lenses for example. I use both of them. Or the coming rf 70-400mm non L lense, that I‘m waiting for. The 100mm macro lense with 1:1.4 magnification. They’re trying to make things different to the DSLR lineup. Not only one to one the same things like before.
I like and prefer their IBIS and lense stabilisation that is the best i have ever used in a full frame system. Only my Olympus can do it better. Such a steady viewfinder at 300, 500 or 600mm is great to work with. I can take sharp pictures at 600mm with 1/50 or 1/100 if I want, and that‘s crazy.
And like you said, the easy use of animal eye af, without switching between animals and humans.
So this are only very small things I like more with the canon or don‘t like so much with the Sony cameras. But all together it was enough to switch and make my workflow better. Can I take pictures I could not take before with my Sony cameras? No, Sony worked very well for me too. And this „my gear is better than yours“ thinking is stupid.
Sorry for my english 🙂
Yes, I have been really enjoying the RF lens line up myself. I agree that the IBIS/IS is the best in Canon for sure.
Yes, both systems can do very well. In the end it's most important to find what suits you best
I like no blackout shooting on cameras like A9, A1, R3, Z9/8 and I like the high res images.
When Canon will release high res stacked sensor camera?
It is already 3 years after release of A1…
Outstanding review. Both cameras are amazing. There are advantages to each. If you're already a Canon or Sony shooter I can't see a reason to change if the choice is the A1 or R5. All things being equal and I was 100% into birding and wildlife maybe the R5. I'm mostly landscapes with some wildlife so it's the A-1 for me. I do Canon credit for the price point.
Agreed. Sticking and committing has usually been a very sounds strategy. In saying that I hope Nikon pulls through with the Z9 haha!
Yes, each camera has it's pros and cons.
That comment helped me greatly for my final choice ! Cheers
Hi, I am a new Sony Alpha 1 user and I have noticed that my new Sony Alpha 1 machine has been slightly hot for three minutes while I was adjusting the menus. As I continued to adjust the menu, I felt the Sony Alpha 1 inside my hand getting noticeably hot when I adjusted it for ten minutes.
I didn't really notice the camera to get hot, but when using the A1 and my R5s certainly get hotter, especially when filming
Great comparison thank you! It seems the R5 has several features that I like above the Sony A1 but since I'm already shooting with Sony lenses and I have the 200-600 and the A7iii it probably would make more sense for me to get the A1. By the time you add the 100-500 to the R5 I would have spent as much money and I can't use my other Sony lenses on the R5. Thanks for explaining a lot of the differences when shooting in the field. Best of luck to you!
Thanks for the comment. Yes, once you are committed to a system, it makes sense to stick with it. That's what I have always done.
Another great video Jan! Can I ask which lens was used for the video here @18:29, it looks quite wide angle
24-70
Great review, really appreciate your impartial approach that is done in real world. Keep up the great work 👍🏻 Jean-Louis
Much appreciated!
Great video. Thanks for your hard work. I have a new R5. I am trying to sort out how to best utilize the two different cards. I have a big fast CDExpress. I am wondering how best to incorporate an SD card in the other slot. It seems that the typical SD card is quite a bit slower than the CDExpress cards and that if I use the SD to make a back up of everything on the CDExpress card it will limit the frame rate? What do you do in this regard on your R5? How fast is your SD card. What do you use the SD card for? I am honestly wondering if it might be best to leave the SD card home.
I'm not sure why we'd compare an R5/$3900 camera to an A1/$6800(?) camera, but ok. So what if the R5 is made in Japan vs Thailand for the A1. Perhaps products produced by Japan are better quality than those produced by China, Viet Nam or Thailand? Certainly labor and overall overhead is cheaper outside of Japan. Can you imagine how much cheaper the R5 would be if produced in Thailand...perhaps half the cost? However, would the quality and fit be the same? So Sony saved hundreds producing the A1 in Thailand, why wouldn't they at least introduce a better rear display with full touch capability (like the R5)...why install the same old screen from the A7RIII/A9/A9II/A7SIII? And why install a cheap manual lock for the battery door vs an auto lock on the R5. Yet Sony did not skimp on their CFE A card...it's more than twice the price of the CFE B card, but the CFE A card is half the write/read speed. The A1's tech is great, but the body is old with sharp edges (other than a larger grip an exact replica of my A7RIII) vs the smooth touch of the R5 (I own this as well). Just my humble opinion.
I agree with most of what you said. I filmed a snippet about the battery door, but it didn't make the final cut! SOOOO annoying that door!!!
All my body's have an L-bracket installed. On the A7R2 and A7S, I even removed the battery door's, so I could change the batteries very fast. Never had an issue all these years. I have no issues with the manual lock on both the A1 and A9 either. I guess, this is only an issue if you dont own these cameras ;=)
There is no data, that supports your claim if production is done outside of Japan. I prefere 2 CFE A to a CFE B/SD mix. Unfortunately SONY is currently the only source. But this will change. I dont care about the displays. They all suck in bright sun light.
You're kidding yourself if you think Canon would save 50% by moving production out of Japan. For example, Fuji moved production from Japan to China to both lower costs and to scale up production volume. This might have reduced the final cost of the camera body by a couple hundred dollars but certainly not half. (In truth, the first iteration produced in China was *more* expensive than the previous-but also included an improved feature set.) The only savings is labor. The parts are all still sourced the same way from the same vendors.
As for build quality, there is no difference. China has very sophisticated manufacturing capabilities. The country does export a lot of cheap crap but it isn't because they are incapable of top end manufacturing. If a company sets a certain QC threshold and has representatives there to insure that QC threshold is respected, there should be no difference in quality. That has certainly been true of the Fuji bodies coming out of China.
The more you do something the better you get at it, the same goes for manufacturing! Also you have to remember that even if Sony assembles cameras or lenses in Thailand, they have Japanese quality assurance Managers. (Yes I might be biased as I live in Thailand, but I can assure you the manufacturing quality here is far better than that of China, Malaysia and Vietnam (but also more expensive). There's a reason why Triumph and Harley Davidson have assembly factories here! Anyways, back to the subject matter, I think the differences between the top 3 camera bodies are very minor.
Hi Jan… A different question about R5. Now since Lightroom has many updates since R5 is launched, can we directly process the image all in Lightroom with opening it in DPP and do basic settings?
You can, but the results are definitely worse.
I discussed my current workflow here:
ruclips.net/video/q-gMFMd9D7s/видео.html
@@jan_wegener Thanks, will try your new workflow 😊
Rumour has it that the R5 expressed its anger by overheating...
No matter what camera you have you can still get great photos :)
haha :D
True!
What software did you use to join all the multiple photos into a movie?
I switched last year from Nikon to Sony, I am happy with my A1, still learning about it. I do appreciate your fair comparison between these 2 cameras and have learned some good things about how to use my A1 better!
awesome! :)
Nikon has useless models these days. No hope for reliable consistent AF
There's a record button next to the viewfinder on A1. Hit record anytime you want. A1 can do flash sync in electronic shutter at 1\200 and 1\400 in mechanical. Also A1 shutter max out at 1\32000 Electronic.
Yes it does, but it then records in the manual mode settings and not with the decimated video settings like the R5. So I would have to change all settings, press record, stop it, then change all settings again.
Interesting and useful! It's so nice to have two companies in the race, nipping at each other's heels. Disclosure: I switched from a long stay in the Canon universe to the Sony world about 6 years ago. I agree with Robert Lawrence below that for most of us it's impractical to switch back and forth every year or two. I am also a "stills" shooter in that I do not care much at all about video. However, my "still" photos are of subjects that are anything but still!
I am struck by the wide variation in the way different photographers take pictures with one of these cameras. I am an older person who doesn't lift weights in a gym, so I mostly use my camera on a tripod with a gimbal mount. Sometimes I shoot handheld but with a wrist strap. I never carry a camera dangling at my waist from a neck strap. As far as I am concerned, just about anything on the top of the camera is useless, other than buttons that I can find by feel. That goes for those mechanical mode dials on the A1, too. As a non-video shooter, I have no use for a back screen and I certainly don't have time while shooting to use a touch screen. Menus are wonderful for configuring your camera and perhaps setting up a quick menu, but out in the field they're hopelessly fiddly.
I notice that a lot of nature and action photographers also play musical instruments. Musicians are accustomed to the idea that to learn a new instrument you have to spend many hours practicing before you develop the muscle memory to play at full tempo. You also have to be able to access the buttons and dials by feel, as your eyes will often be concentrated on a musical score or the actions of a conductor. For a wildlife camera, my primary visual input is the EVF. Yes, when a musician tunes an instrument they will stop playing and look directly at it, but generally not during a performance.
I use a slight variation of the A1 or A9 programming setup described by Mark Smith, an excellent bird photographer. He (and as a result, I) use a three-button focus system: zone for when a bird is flying in empty sky, spot for when a bird is in a high-detail environment, and assisted manual focus for when a bird is hiding from predators behind a tangle of twigs. I can also acquire focus in one mode and switch to another in a fraction of a second.
Hopefully, all of you experts will converge on methods to effectively use these new mirrorless wonders, Sony or Canon. Once the new user models have been refined, the manufacturers can better serve our needs.
Yes, competition is very beneficial for us!
Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Una pregunta, tiene video en 1080p a 120fps??
No, I only do 4k
you know who the real winner is ?
both products they win our money 😁😁😁
true!
Good review , i have both , R5 will stop working because the heat , R5 with 600mm f4 much much bigger than sony , it’s so important to say that
I’ve noticed an improvement in the bird af with 1.1 on the a1, worth updating also fixed my blackout
I have been using 1.1
A1 firmware update seems to have worked very well
Great review! I feel like it was very practical and non-biased. I am wondering about a few issues with the R5. Most online seem to feel the 8k codec is very hard to work with. Is this better on the a1? Also, last time I checked the R5 only shoots 20fps if the battery is charged above 60%. Is this still true? And lastly, I know it’s better but is there still an overheating issue with the R5? It’s seems to me that the a1 works with less caveats than the R5. Thanks!
I do agree, the A1 is a bit more straight forward. Overall I feel like Sony codecs were a little bit easier to work with, but 8k takes a big toll on any system.
The R5 only shoots 20fps in electronic shutter mode, so I am not entirely how that works with the lower charges. In mechanical it slows down for sure.
So far I have gotten the overheating warning a few times when filming, but it has not yet shut off on me.
Sony has no DPAF(Dual Pixel) technology, what they have is PDAF.
Meanwhile ,AF points on a Sony Camera are fixed.The camera cannot get focused between these AF points. BTW, The AF points are also dead spots to the image, any objects falling on these AF points would be eaten up by camera.
Canon definitely has better AF system DPAF. In theroy, camera can focus anywhere.And it can recognize the eyes better since it can focus anywhere and there don't have dead spots caused by fixed AF points.
that might also then explain the better subject recognition
Nice review and would agree with everything you said. I have the R5 and are currently testing the A1 to maybe replace my A7S3. Being able to have actually 3-4 different custom shooting modes configured to buttons, is one of the features I really like about the Sony cameras. Also just wanted to confirm that with the A1 (as with the R5) you can start recording video just by pressing the video button while in photo mode. The only problem I noticed is that the picture style/profile used for stills is the one used for video, which is a big issue. Have asked Sony if this can be addressed or customised in the menu. Canon solved this problem very nicely by assigning video recording from photo mode, to Video C3.
Yes I just press video button to record 120fps 4K on the Sony A1!
I should have been more clear. When I press record in manual mode on the A1 it records with my manual mode settings, not dedicated video settings like the R5. So if I switch in between, I have to change my settings manually, which takes a bit of time
@@jan_wegener In this case, it takes me about 500ms, which is ok for me. Of course a firmware change would be fine to.
@@renestaempfli1071 Yes, it doesn't take long, but changing ISO, SS and aperture does take a bit of time and you also have to change it back quickly once finished with video.
I am not saying it's bad, but it's just done better on the R5, possibly due to not having a physical dial.
@@jan_wegener Yes, that quite an issue, which I have already shared with Sony. It's a very important feature that they need to fix. And the funny thing is there is a menu setting that in theory allows selecting specific settings that you wanna have different in stills and video mode.
I think for the price difference I couldn't justify the Sony. The Canon when compared to the Sony seems to give you much better value for money.
Hard to argue with that line of thinking
Canon RF lenses are more expensive though. In some countries, you can get A1+200-600 at the same price as R5+100-500.
@@frankfeng2701 Interesting. Here I can get an R5 & 100-500 for the price on just one A1
@@frankfeng2701 Very true, I wonder if that's where 3rd party lenses (ie Sigma, Tamron etc) come in to balance it out.
Well all these things you talk about sony did not have button to record while you take shots and the screen so you cand bend it any way you want! All of this is fixed in sony a77 mark II .
From the title I thought it was going to be one of those annoying paid for "time to switch" type video's!
I should have known better of you Jan, great work as always and very informative. Thank you for what was obviously a lot of work in putting together.
haha! The title is always a bit tricky. Has to grab people's attention a bit :)
Glad you liked it.
Hi Ja', happy new year and thanks for your great videos! BTW... Just got an R5 😍
awesome, happy new year to you, too
An excellent comprehensive comparison review of these two cameras. Fantastic post! Thank you Jan!
My pleasure!
One of your complaints about the A1 with switching quickly from photo to video and back to photo. While in manual mode try pressing the record button to start video (should start recording with your last saved settings in video mode) and when done recording press the record button again and it should return back to manual mode for photos. This works on other Sony camera models, should work with the A1 too
When I do this on the A1, it records in my manual mode settings, not my dedicated video settings, even when set to "different settings for photo & video"
So that was my only complaint there. I can only get to the video settings when I turn the dial on top.
Great video. It's funny and I am in a minority I'm sure, but I prefer the colors of the A1 over the R5.
You might be a minority of 1 :D
@@jan_wegener
I def. prepare the a1 colors over the r5. I had the r5 and rented the a1 for a week. I sucked it up and made the switch. Some of the reasons was the color, the view finder, electronic shutter, no rolling shutter, the 30fps, etc.
It was a decent a review but you def showed some bias in your review. It was easy to see you are a canon shooter. Everything that a1 had that was better you seemed to downplay it. Probably trying to reassure yourself that staying with canon will be okay.
I see this a lot with commenters and reviewers. So no shame in that. Other than that great job
Hi Jan, which Alpha 1 firmware version did you use when experiencing the video bird eye detection problems? Thanks a lot in advance! KR Ralf
1.0 & 1.1
I wouldn't really call it problems.
The fact that you can get similar performance from a camera almost half the price says everything you need to know...
Hard to argue about the price point!
Add to that the RF lenses and if you don’t really need a single specific feature only an A1 has, then the choice is clear.
I'm about to purchase a new camera system and narrowed it down to the Canon R5 and the Sony a1. You have made my choice "IMPOSSIBLE"!!! Thank you!!!
haha!
Canon R5 deserves all its money.🙌💪🏆
it's pretty good, hey? :)
The viewfinder resolution is given in dots not pixels. It takes three dots to make one pixel so the Canon is 1.9 mp and the Sony 3.1 mp.
Ha! It felt wrong when i said it, but the right word didn't come to mind!!
Admittedly, Canon knows what it is doing. The criticism when they released the R6 and R5 was brutal. Crazy they called those who opted for the R5, crazy, wasteful, that's not worth that money. And now Sony brings out, a machine that offers nothing to blow my mind, a camera that is on par with the R5 but for double the money. Where are all those Sony users who said these atrocities about Canon? I can't hear them.
The R5 is a Sony KILLER. The folks who were thinking of switching from Canon to Sony due to all the hype of Sony Cameras, got their wish come true and more with the R5. Hands down that Sony A1 isn't beating the R5, the things Jan mentions are so small, even he said "In the field it isn't noticeable". PLUS you can but two R5's for the price of one Sony A1....if you buy a Sony A1 it's because you had to, because of all the lenses you own....TRUTH 👊😎👊
I didn't know there was criticism? Canon is much more established than Sony at least where I am
Yes, but most of the criticism Canon has to blame themselves for and their marketing. Why focus on 8k, when it's the only thing the camera didn't do that well, yet everything else it's kinda amazing at! Very strange strategy.
If you are invested into Sony the A1 is the logical choice. But for someone like me who needs 2-3 bodies on a daily basis, 3 A1 would eat up a lot of budget.
it was mainly the whole overheating thing that didn't actually affect 99.9999% of people :D
*I don't own one yet, but the Sony Alpha should have a WB auto setting named "ambience" which will lean to a warmer white balance???
I just went to manual WB, but it still have me that casty look a bit
I can’t see my second comment so I try it third times.:-(
Have you experienced softer images from R5 than A1? 2 prestigious sites showed this, specially at higher iso and/or in JPEG. it seems (on the sites) that in JPEGs A1 shows better performance resulting cleaner,sharper, more contrasty image.
You can see the sample images in this video, and my next video with the Sony gear will have a lot more images samples. I think the cameras are very close, so the lenses used will have a big impact as well. The Sony has no AA filter, so a slight edge in sharpness should be expected, but I found it to be quite small.
You can see the Ibis High ISO sample in this video. Each camera did reasonably well with a similar result. Overall the Sony file might be slightly sharper.
Thanks for this honest and awesome test. I work with the EOS R for photo and BMPCC4K RIG for video so im packed with EF lenses. Thought about R5 in the future but there is everytime this „Sony A1 specs“ then I think… wait there will be an R1 in the future… and for video I will upgrade on an BM 6K for money/value reasons. There is this tingle to switch… I think some of you get me.
In video I work with RAW 12Bit and can’t get off off it. If you worked with this Uncompressed video Material you fall im Love with this.
So at the end I will wait and work with what I have and invest my money to the point for a BM upgrade or harder an R1 (could be) upgrade.
Thanks, awesome work
Best from Germany
Yes, once you have found the right tool for the right job it's not that easy to change. And why would you I suppose. If you're only looking for a photo camera then the A1 has some advantages, but if you have a lot of Canon glass and no Sony glass, the choice is almost made for you in a way.
I am with you on the R1, very curious to see which direction they will go in.
OK, 7 comments so far and I have to say they have been pretty objective. I have both watched and commented on many other A1 and R5 videos, I have to say if you discount the fanboys, the objective conclusion is the performance of both cameras are fairly similar. Although some A1 users I have encountered like to stress on a number of A1 advantages such as no blackout, 30 fps and no rolling shutter. So, this is when things get complicated. I guess on paper one could say the A1 is a better camera. However, once you start doing a head-to-head comparison, you simply cannot ignore price point. This is also when discussions/debate become heated and go off on separate tangents. The A1 users simply want to claim the A1 is the best camera out there, period. The R5 users want to talk about in-the-field performance difference and more importantly price point. In reality, no one with the right mind would say it is fair to compare a camera that costs almost double the price of another. So, to me, the objective conclusion should be: 1) yes, the A1 is a slightly better camera than the R5 and 2) but, is it worth such a massive premium? The answer is no. Unless you are already heavily invested in the Sony ecosystem, if not you have to ask yourself what would make you pay almost double of that of a R5? Surely, the difference in performance has to be night and day right? And in this case, it simply isn't.
Totally agree. If I pay, double, you should offer me double, or something new without what once I use it I can not live. 10 fps more? two other little things a little better? You keep giving me the same flip-up screen. But do you have to give me double the money? As they comment in one of the comments, with what the A1 costs I have bought the R5 and an RF telecom. I think that little can be said about that. The results speak for themselves, in a blind tasting it would be very difficult to tell which camera captured each photo.
Very well said mate and I agree. The A1 is definitely the more well rounded camera, yet quite close to the R5 in overall performance. we will see how the comments will go :D
well said. The price point would be the main factor for me as well, as I need 2-3 bodies for my work.
It all depends. As long as you don't push the envelop, almost any modern camera will do. But if you push the envelop, then it matters. The A1 does have some important capabilities, no other camera currently has. If you need them, then 2k$ is no big deal.
@@jan_wegener It is all about price point in the end. What I remember is this. When the R5 first came out with the launch price of US$3.9K, people were saying hey that thing ain't cheap you know. But, after the A1 came out when Sony positioned it as the flagship body of the brand and set the price point at US$6.5K, the narrative and sentiments on the streets soon became the A1 made the R5 looked like the bargain of the century. I think many thought Sony would price it like the A9 when the A9 was the flagship. The question is if Sony had priced the A1 somewhere along those lines let's just say for the sake of discussion may be around US$4.5K or even US$5K, may be the general perception could have been quite different. At US$4.5K, I think I might have gone for the A1 instead. But, for me when the R5 dropped to US$3.5K while the A1 still sat at US$6.5K, the difference in price point just became too great to justify myself paying almost double.
Excellent video as always Jan. Both cameras appear fantastic but the main differences are in price and the accompanying lenses. The 200-600 is usefully 100mm longer at the long end and still manages a faster max aperture than the Canon100-500. I wish Canon had made the equivalent lens.
On price the A1 camera is much more expensive but the 200-600 is much cheaper here in the UK than the Canon 100-500 (£1599 vs £2979) . The 200-600 is quite a bit heavier than the Canon though.
Being a stills shooter I am erring towards the Canon. I look forward to your next video.
I will talk a bout that in my next video, there a few quite interesting things I found when using the 200-600.
Thanks John! :)
Can you give any hints on your findings with the 200-600? Was going to go A1 because of the 200-600 vs the RF 100-500
Well as I expected Jan both awesome cameras ! Your bias towards Canon, myself Sony ! I think for the neutral the Canon is better value for money overall at the moment ! Sony just slightly better if money is not an issue ! The results on the A1 with the 600f4 are to die for, but again not worth selling a kidney for in the real world !! Great comparison I guess your sticking to the R5 ? Awesome !
Yes, both are very good. For video the R5 is far better for me.
its funny but you are so right spot focusing is better for eye focusing on the a1. as far as animal or bird i did not see a big difference?
Yes. Both modes work fine unless you're trying to use animal and focus on a bird, that did not work well
The autofocus is amazing on the R5 and it is not even the flagship model for Canon. Sony autofocus is good but Canon has totally taken over this game away from Sony at this point
Canon has certainly made the biggest jump that we have seen from any manufacturer for a while.
You need to stop watching them tony and Chelsea video. Sony is still 2 years ahead of Canon in the mirrorless tech since they invested heavily into mirrorless tech. Sony forced both nikon and canon to invest in mirrorless canon with the a7iii. Sony gave canon and nikon the blue prints to build better mirrorless cameras. Sony is still 1 step ahead of them in every way.
Nop.
I love my Sony A1 with the 35-150. I also have the 150-600 and a couple others.
Sony a1 i think will be the top camera for a while still. I think it is so advanced that there's no need to upgrade. The af alone is far more superior and now with the new af and steady firmware update I'd say its extremely hard to beat. If your pictures are not turning out with either camera it's the photographers error. Even in most literature and real world reviews sony af among other things keep coming up on top. With unbiased reviewers ofcourse. I think the Sony is a little power house and if you need that extra grip you can put it on. You don't have to carry that extra weight especially when your hiking taking pics of wildlife and you have one of those huge lenses to capture your subjects. Plus with it's compact size it's more versatile so you can use it with most gimbals. If we're talking about serious videography that's huge plus. You dont have to spend more money for a larger gimbal plus all the add-ons you would use with a cage. This compact size would help keep the weight down which people dont realize how cumbersome these all that can be. So that compact body is perfect.The Sony a1 body alone is extremely versatile. And don't forget Sony makes sensors for most of these cameras including Nikon. So where would Nikon be without Sony tech. As for working in the dark i don't need gimmicks to get the job done. It's called muscle memory. It's not hard to memorize the buttons. Plus all the third-party lenses. Nikon to call this it's flagship i think is a huge error considering the z8 is rumored to come out.I just think people like to jump on the next new not necessarily the best thing. Buy either way you can't really go wrong.
I really enjoy your content. I tried out one Sony camera for years ago that just got released and it wasn’t for me. I hate it. The auto focus system on the Sony went back to the camera store. Brought it back within 15 days and bought the canon 5D Mark IV and so I’m going to continue using the Canon because I just hate the focussing system on the Sony
On the Sony images are darker point. I have noticed this can be caused by the tone curve being applied by the RAW converter, rather than the image itself. The tone curve maybe darker, not sure the RAW file is. Not an issue in practice, because you have WYSWYG and a histogram in the EVF.
Thanks! Exactly. only shows up when shooting side by side with the same settings, which you'd never do
Very professionally presented video and content. Thank you! One question and apologies if I missed this in your presentation, did you install the latest Sony A1 firmware ?
Yes I did about half way through having the camera. So I used both.
Glad you liked the video!
First time I’ve watched one of your reviews. Well done.
Thanks, glad you found them :)
Fantastic comparison, from somebody who really use the equipment rader than just listing specs!!! Thanks and keep it up
Fantastic review Jan! Really want to get my hands on both these cameras to try out. I am stuck in the Sony system but I think I might have to hire a R5 just to try out bird eye focuses in video. No idea why Sony only puts it in photos. Most annoying thing and I am sure it can be done with a simple update. Will check out your lens battle now.
Hey,
glad you liked it. Yes the omission of the video eye tracking was baffling to me. It's so much easier to track and you have to move a lot less.
I think that in terms of AF for birds, A1 is better. Switching from Nikon I had to make the A1/R5 choice. I went with the R5 mainly because of the 100-500 lens, which is very sharp and is 2 lbs lighter, with higher magnification, morr versatile with 100mm on the wide end and has a much shorter focusing distance than the Sony. 200-600.
Interesting. Yes, I love that R5/100-500 combo. I will look at both of those lenses in my next video
@@jan_wegenerThank you, Jan, I would be curious to hear if the Sony's internal, quarter turn zoom would prevail over the Canon's smaller size and weight in real world use.
@@weltwind coming soon :)
Recently saw your comparisin of the Canon R5 and the A1 (07/11/2021) where you mentioned that the Sony exposures appear darker when comparing ISOs. The reason is that the ISO ratings among the various camera manufactures are not equivalent. It will be nice if all camera manufacturers will use a single standard so all ISOs will be the same; this may also apply to aperture openings and shutter speeds.
Yes, and then there's things like t-stops of the lenses as well
Eu tenho uma canon RP e uma 70x200 2.8 iii , faço fotos de surf , estou comecando fazer videos de surf , estou em duvida se compro uma lente cano RF 100 x500 , ou uma camera sony e uma lente sony 200x600 ,? se puder faça videos de surf
For the kind of shooting Jan compares the two cameras, either one is fine. I only know the A1 and A9, so I can't comment on the R5. Mark Smith has used them both and favours the A1. Video can be started and stopped by directly pressing the record button and then take pictures again. As for AF, using the right option makes a big difference in critical AF-C situations. When it comes to high speed flash photography, nothing comes close to the A1. I have used the A1 together with Broncolor at 30 fps with the electronic shutter with the 135mm f/2 @ 1/8000s. I forgot to test it at 1/32000 but did test it with Elinchrome at 1/32000 and it worked.
Yes, you can start and stop video, but it records in the manual mode settings then, you cannot record in separate video settings. So you will always have to change your settings.
I agree, the flash sync times is great on A1
@@jan_wegener Yes in that case you would have to turn the knob to its preset video mode. As I dont use video that often, I can live with it.
There are two things the higher end Sony cameras do specifically that draws photographers like Mark Smith and other bird in flight shooters to them and that is the AF works better over horizontal surfaces such as water where the Canon typically gets distracted and they have a faster sensor readout so there is practically no lag at all ever when continuous shooting. Mark says this in one of his videos comparing the systems and other photographers have said the same.
Outside of that, they pretty much universally agree that the R5 has better animal eye AF and if you shoot static animals or slower moving birds it will actually get you better in focus shots as a result. The Sony cameras are stickier but we are really comparing the last one to two percentages of difference between the two systems auto focus capabilities.
Hey Jan, if you find you're clipping highlights try turning on Highlight Tone Priority on the Canon.
In the past these things have slowed down the frame rate. Not sure if that's still true on the R5
Watching videos like this makes me feel good about the fact I bought the R5. I'm no pro, but it can do everything relatively well. Just wish Canon would produce some prime RF lenses with IS, although that may make the prices even higher.
Thank you for very clear comparison
of the R5&A1 especially comparison of the tracking &AF capabilities.I am a wildlife photographer(amateur).Following your video clips help improve my results.
Do you organise photo tour in Australia?
Glad you are enjoying my videos. I haven't during Covid, but might start things when it's over.
@@jan_wegener Please let me know when your restart the tour.My email address:
kasem@tei.or.th
Thank you
Thanks Jan. Great comparison. Both great cameras. However in the US I can buy the R5 and the 100-500 RF lens for less than what the A1 body costs. Easy decision. Thanks again. G'day mate.
Thanks for sharing
I don't have either camera. However, if I was to buy one I would definitely go for the Canon R5. Why? Well I simply could not see $4000 difference in the photo's. I have seen many reviews on the R5 camera and there is one thing that none have mentioned. That is the "Bulb Timer". Now that is a great feature for those who use bulb mode.
Great points
Does the Australian version of the Sony A1 really come with a specific Kangaroo auto focus tracking mode?
It's also shaped like a roo ;)
@@jan_wegener lol 😂😂😂
@@jan_wegener Jan please don’t tell my Sony RX100 VII vlogging cam I’m picking up a Canon R5 tomorrow, she’ll be so jealous of that hot (literally during video shooting) Canon body! My RX gets hot, but she’ll let me keep shooting past what she thinks is safe, she just warns me. Lol
Nice review. I wish you would compare the IQ of C-RAW vs 12 bit RAW. I have been shooting C-RAW and can not see a loss of IQ. Buffer limits all but go away with C-RAW.
Yes, I will make a video at some stage I think
Do you prefer 100-500 Canon or 200-600 Sony?
That will be y next video :)