# Do you recommend the 5DSR for birding?



## daniela (Aug 23, 2017)

Hi Guys!

Can you tell me, if the AF speed of the 5DSR is fast enough for birding? Is it much slower than the Af of the 5D Mk IV I own? Do you recommend it for nature photography?
I am looking for an 5DSR or 6D MK II for birding and nature photography.


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## Larsskv (Aug 23, 2017)

The AF speed is very good on the 5Ds/r, as fast as the 5DIII and 7DII. I can't rule out that the IV might be a tad faster, but you wouldn't notice it in real world shooting. 

I have the 5Ds and the 1DXII. The 1DXII AF is a bit faster, especially with lenses that have large lens elements in them. This is due to the larger battery, and probably also that the 1DXII has a dedicated processor for focusing. Despite this, it is in most situations hard to tell any real world difference in AF speed between the two. 

The downside to the 5Ds is slow fps and small buffer. Furthermore the mirror moves slower, making the blackout time between shots a noticeably longer than on the 1DXII.


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## Mikehit (Aug 23, 2017)

I have the 7D2 and the AF is easily fast enough for most real-world BIF and the 5DSR is said to be a bit better than that. I would be surprised if the 5DSR was as good as the 5DIV, though. 

If I had the 5DIV, and I also have a preference for nature and birding, I would go with the 6D2. A lot of nature and birding is best done in morning and afternoon when light is lower and I often need to crop bird photos. So given the need for cropping at higher ISOs (1600 abd above) the 5DSR will start to suffer (it certainly does with my 7D2) and the pixel quality of the other two will allow both. 
The tilt screen on the 6D2 would also give options for low level work (I don't do low level work that often, but boy do I miss the tilt screen on my Olympus when I do).


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## Valvebounce (Aug 23, 2017)

Hi Daniela. 
I think one thing that would be good to know is if the 5DIV is not cutting it for you, what about it is not working for you? Is it that you want a second camera with you that doesn't cost quite so much? If it is a second body is it for shorter lenses that you want to crop the subject out of, or....?
I would have thought that if the 5DIV is not doing what you want you would be looking at a 1D series? 

Cheers, Graham. 



daniela said:


> Hi Guys!
> 
> Can you tell me, if the AF speed of the 5DSR is fast enough for birding? Is it much slower than the Af of the 5D Mk IV I own? Do you recommend it for nature photography?
> I am looking for an 5DSR or 6D MK II for birding and nature photography.


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## daniela (Aug 23, 2017)

Thanks for your answers.
I would get an 5DSR at just the same price as the 6D MK II, so I´d like to know, which one will be better for my needs. I can´t rent an 5DSR to get some feeling for it. The 6D MK II is fine, but if I can buy an 5DSR for the same amount of money, it is hard to decide which one to buy. The 6D MK II is in lowlight like the 6D, I was utilizing for some years. But the 50MP would offer a lot of crop-abilities


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## Larsskv (Aug 23, 2017)

daniela said:


> Thanks for your answers.
> I would get an 5DSR at just the same price as the 6D MK II, so I´d like to know, which one will be better for my needs. I can´t rent an 5DSR to get some feeling for it. The 6D MK II is fine, but if I can buy an 5DSR for the same amount of money, it is hard to decide which one to buy. The 6D MK II is in lowlight like the 6D, I was utilizing for some years. But the 50MP would offer a lot of crop-abilities



My take is that the 5Dsr supplements your 5DIV more than the 6DII, and that is due to the cropping abilities. ISO should be very comparable between 5DIV and 6DII, so I don't see ISO as an argument for choosing the 6DII. The 5Dsr has comparable ergonomics to the 5DIV, making it easier to switch between them.


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## Deleted member 91053 (Aug 23, 2017)

I have never used the 5Dsr in anger so I cannot comment. However a while back I sold my 1D Mk4 to an acquaintance and he was delighted with it for birds with his 500 F4 L IS.

I bumped into him a couple of months ago and he re-iterated how happy he was with the 1D Mk4 - but he was using a 5Dsr on his 500! I was quite surprised but he really likes the 5Dsr for birding (50/50 perched and flight) so it must be pretty good? He still has the 1D Mk4 after all - but prefers the 5Dsr for his birding.

I don't know enough about the 5Dsr to comment but he seems to rate it.


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## Skatol (Aug 23, 2017)

I highly recommend the 5DsR for birding. I went from 7D, 5DM3, 1DM4 to the 5DsR. I do sometimes miss the FPS from the 1D but it hasn't impacted my keeper rate that much. I often shoot at 1600 and occasionally at 3200 when I can fill most of the frame. I haven't bothered looking at the newer cameras. But when the refresh for the 5DsR comes out it will definitely be on my watch list.


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## nc0b (Aug 24, 2017)

I use a 6D and 5DsR for birding, along with wildlife and general photography. For BIF I always go with a 400mm f/5.6. The cropping flexibility of the 5DsR is exceptional. A 15mb JPG can be cropped to a file less than 100k with good detail. For BIF I mostly shoot raptors, successfully with both bodies. I have very poor BIF success with any of my older bodies in my profile.


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## stochasticmotions (Aug 24, 2017)

I use the 5DS almost exclusively for birding now (at least until the sony FE 100-400 shows up). Found I wasn't using the 1DIV anymore and sold it. I now carry the 5DS and the sony A7RII for all nature shoots.


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## RayValdez360 (Aug 24, 2017)

I own a 5D3, SR, and a 4. The 5DSR AF is a little faster than the 5D3 but the 5D4 seems a bit faster in AF and even showing the pic on the LCD than the 5DSR especially in daylight. It focuses so fast that I take a pic by accident if I touch the shutter button a little bit. The 5d mark iv is just a smoother and snappier experience


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## pwp (Aug 24, 2017)

daniela said:


> Can you tell me, if the AF speed of the 5DSR is fast enough for birding? Is it much slower than the Af of the 5D Mk IV I own? Do you recommend it for nature photography?
> I am looking for an 5DSR or 6D MK II for birding and nature photography.



I'd suggest your current 5D MkIV would outperform both 5DSR or 6D MK II for birding. 
Spend your money on travel.

-pw


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## scottkinfw (Aug 24, 2017)

Thanks for asking this question, and thanks for all who gave insightful answers. I had asked a similar question earlier, s I am considering the next generation 5Ds/r/

Reason? I went to S. Africa last year and was shooting my new 1DXII. We mainly went during golden hours and a few night drives (awesome, if you go, you must try this!). Anyway, even though the animals are supposed to be most active during this time, many leopards etc. were still lazy, not really moving, and were close by. I was thinking that more detail would be awesome, and lighting was good enough for iso < 1000 with decent shutter speeds.

I also have to admit, the 1DXII is excellent and any bad shots were due to me not being as adept at using the camera as I should have been, but it takes me a long time to master a new camera.

Anyway, again thanks, this was helpful to me.


Scott



daniela said:


> Hi Guys!
> 
> Can you tell me, if the AF speed of the 5DSR is fast enough for birding? Is it much slower than the Af of the 5D Mk IV I own? Do you recommend it for nature photography?
> I am looking for an 5DSR or 6D MK II for birding and nature photography.


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## streestandtheatres (Aug 24, 2017)

Works for me:
https://flic.kr/p/Ps6jbT
https://flic.kr/p/MRLLWH
https://flic.kr/p/Nc45JH
I have a 7dII and a 5DSr, and I don't see much of a difference in the af for what I shoot. It's lovely to have all those megapixels!


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## Talys (Aug 24, 2017)

streestandtheatres said:


> Works for me:
> https://flic.kr/p/Ps6jbT
> https://flic.kr/p/MRLLWH
> https://flic.kr/p/Nc45JH
> I have a 7dII and a 5DSr, and I don't see much of a difference in the af for what I shoot. It's lovely to have all those megapixels!



Those are lovely photos!


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