Canon's answer to the wildly popular Nikon D800/D810 is here and it is named the 5DS R. This camera is the same as the 5DS but the low pass filter on the sensor has been removed. In theory this camera should be sharper than the standard 5DS but Chris Niccolls decided to put it to the test.
The haters have complained that the 5DS isn't really a significant upgrade from the 5D3. It has the same body, same speed, and basically the same features. The main selling point is the megapixels. The 5DS has 50 of them. Most cameras have a high pass filter to "blur" the light hitting the sensor to cut down on moiré but the 5DS R removes this low pass sensor to produce the sharpest 50 megapixel images possible.
Chris found that the Canon 5DS R is fantastic for certain types of photographers but was also very honest about its shortcomings.
The Pros
Insane resolution at low ISO that was actually superior to the Pentax 645Z medium format.
The Cons
The ISO performance is actually worse than the 5D Markiii and Pentax 645Z
The dynamic range is worse than the 5D Markiii and the Pentax 645Z
Upgrading to the "R" version of this camera for the additional $200 may be worth it if you are shooting landscapes but you may want the lowpass filter if you are shooting things like weddings because certain weaves in fabrics can cause significant moiré. That being said, as cameras improve moiré seems to be less and less of an issue. Personally I've not used the 5DS yet but from the looks of the reviews I would suggest buying it if you are into studio or landscape work. If you happen to shoot events I would probably stick with the 5DM3.
I remember years ago when photographers were arguing that you don't need any more than 6 megapixels. I heard statements like "A 35mm lens can't even render more than six megapixels." It's pretty crazy that we have 50MP DSLR cameras now and most of those old lenses are still holding up just fine.
This would have been amazing three years ago. How did this happen to Canon? Despite the huge resolution, everything else took a step back. Seems like an upgrade, but not innovative.
The body is not as well made as the 5d mark iii and has a lot of parts that used to be metal and are now plastic but then Canon was never big on making things durable.
We have the 5Ds here in our studio. I had some time to play around with it. I can describe it like "it's just 50MP, and that's it...". We have it because the studio needs a poorman's high MP camera.
There's nothing uniquely impressive with it. Good for studios where you can control the light and shoot at low ISO. I still have the D810 as a winner compared to this camera.(calm down people! Just an opinion).
The 5Ds/r is high MP camera simply built to cater EOS system users.
I really don't get the constant comparison with medium format? A dslr ist a dslr and a medium format is medium format.... I have nothing against high Megapixel count. In fact I used the D800 over 2 years.But still it os not anywhere near a medium format. It's weird that people always wan't to compare things that are not comparable.
MP count is not what makes a Medium format camera...
But anyway tried out the Canon 5Ds and it's a very nice camera on it's own. Wouldn't buy it for my job but still I was pleased with it ! Nice camera but a little but too pricey IMHO =) as said it is just a 5D with a sensor on megapixel steroids ^^.
And Lee "I remember years ago when photographers were arguing that you don't need any more than 6 megapixels. I heard statements like "A 35mm lens can't even render more than six megapixels." It's pretty crazy that we have 50MP DSLR cameras now and most of those old lenses are still holding up just fine."
I remember this also ^^ Kind of makes me feel like an old shool guy knowing this :p
But anyway I guess we'll never stop "progress" and in a not so far future we will see even crazier MP counts.
It's like Canon completely stopped doing any R&D after 5Dmk2 and just through the same stuff in slightly different bodies over and over and over.....
They lost the video market some time ago, or simply decided to abandon it. They need to seriously shape up if they are not going to lose still shooters as well.