In January 2025 I was finally in a position to upgrade my camera gear and go mirrorless. The camera I purchased was the Canon EOS R5 Mark II. This was my first mirrorless camera and my first professional level camera. Of course I tested the camera in the garden as soon as I could but I really wanted to find better subjects to see what it could do. So early on a Sunday morning I headed to Callum Brae Nature Reserve. After just a couple of hours of using R5 Mark II, I was so happy with my choice and my only regret was not upgrading sooner.
While I was testing the new camera in the yard a Blue-spotted Hawker (Adversaeschna brevistyla) flew into the front garden and alighted on a dogwood tree. I was able to take a few photographs and I was amazed at the crispness of the image and how much detail the camera captured. I was also very happy to photograph a dragonfly because they make for beautiful subjects.
Blue-spotted Hawker
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Zoom [ISO 500, 500mm, f/8.0 and 1/400])
After photographing in my garden, I wanted to test the camera and one of my favourite nature nearby reserves, Callum Brae. I had a rough I idea about where I thought that I might find photographic subjects so from the entrance of the reserve I followed the main trail eastwards to where it came to a t-junction, and I continued to follow the path that curved north then east. Just after a large bend I wandered into an open area on the north side of the trail. I hadn’t seen much birdlife by that stage but I was hoping that things would change and sure enough, I soon had my first subjects.
There was a group of Dusky Woodswallows (Artamus cyanopterus), including juveniles in the area. They were initially in a tree but some of them started to fly down to the ground as well as to the low, sparse shrubs. The birds were remarkable flyers, turning and wheeling just above the ground. The stripy plumage of the juveniles marked them out. They seemed to be the most energetic flyers, almost like they were amazed at their own abilities. I was able to take a photo of one juvenile with an insect in its mouth, so I wasn’t sure if they were hunting flying insects among the low-growing plants. Woodswallows eat a variety of food including plants and insects, and are capable of catching insects on the wing, as this juvenile did. These birds are not true swallows but are closely related to the Australian Magpie, currarongs and butcher birds.
Dusky Woodswallow
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Zoom [ISO 1000, 500mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Dusky Woodswallow juvenile bird with an insect
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Zoom [ISO 1000, 500mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
A group of three Galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla) landed on the bank of an earthen dam but seemed hesitant to drink while I was nearby.
Galahs by a dam
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Zoom [ISO 500, 500mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
There were a number of Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) around on the morning. I came across this male with a couple of females and I was able to frame him through some vegetation. This was the only photo that had both his ears pointing forward - because kangaroos can move their ears independent of each other allowing the animal to monitor two different directions.
Eastern Grey Kangaroo male
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Zoom [ISO 1250, 500mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
A female Orchid Dupe Wasp (Lissopimpla excelsa) was also wandering around on the mud of the dam’s bank. The long ovipositor at the back of the insect was the clearest indication that it was female - she will use the ovipositor to position her eggs. The wasp was crawling around and then flying to another spot. I was unsure if it was searching for a host to lay an egg on or some other task. This wasp is one of those insects that plants dupe. There are several orchids that mimic the female of this species and the poor male is regularly duped into copulating with the plant. He can then fly off with pollen attached and hopefully, from the plant’s perspective, be duped again and fertilise an orchid not a female wasp.
Orchid Dupe Wasp female crawling on mud at a dam
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Zoom [ISO 500, 500mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
So what about the camera? I am not a professional photographer and I am not an expert on a wide variety of camera makes and models, but I love this Canon EOS R5 Mark II. It has been a revelation to use it. For the trial that I wrote about above I paired the camera with a Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM. I also own a Canon EOS 7D Mark II and a 6D Mark II, so this camera is lighter than those two and was my first mirrorless camera.
The capability that struck me first was the electronic view finder (EVF). I saw what my camera saw and how it saw it. I could use the EVF to magnify the subject to see how the focus was. The camera also showed me what it was focussing on. The actual exposure of the image was displayed, and I also displayed a histogram in the EVF so I could see in real time the lighting of my image. Being able to review images through the EVF was also beneficial, because it minimised my movements behind the camera, an important consideration when photographing wildlife. I also disabled the focus lock beep and with no mirror, the camera is close to silent.
I chose the R5 Mark II over the flagship Canon EOS R1 because of the resolution of the image, approximately 45 MP in the R5 Mark II versus 24.2 in the R1, so the R5 has almost twice the number of megapixels. Admittedly the R1 has a quicker shooting speed and auto focus but because this camera will act as my main camera, I prioritised resolution so that I had the most detail in the picture. And I have not been disappointed.
The camera’s ability to lock onto an aiming mark, and indicate it to me in real time, was impressive. I could then take a high resolution RAW image that to process later. The camera has made me even more excited about my photography.
Callum Brae was a great choice for a location to test the R5 Mark II. The camera was fantastic and handled the conditions well on an overcast day when photography was going to be difficult. I was very impressed with the ease of use of the camera and the images it produced, and I have been enjoying using it even more since that day.
While this is my first mirrorless and I have no other similar camera to compare it to, I can say that I am 100% satisfied with the R5 Mark II and I am looking forward to do more photography with it.
Thanks for reading this post and thanks also for looking at my photos. I hope you come back again to read more about some of the wonderful natural things that the Australian Capital Territory has on offer. All the best until the next post.