I didn’t wake up that morning and decide to upgrade the camera body I had been using for 6 years, but I’m sure glad I did. I was prompted by my friend texting me to let me know she had given my number to another friend of hers for photography services. I mentally added this to all the other work I have in my phone calendar, and decided to research the latest Canon camera for an upgrade. My trusty Canon R5 Mark 1 had been playing up for a while and it took a lot of babysitting in terms of focus, and reshooting. It was becoming needy and I felt like I couldn’t trust it. Six years old isn’t old for a human, but it is for a very busy camera. A workman never blames his tools, but in this case, it wasn’t me, it was the camera.
I searched out a deal and then settled on the Canon R5 Mark 2 that came with a bonus F1.2 45mm lens, claimed later from Canon that arrived by courier. I have owned f1.4 lenses before but never F1.2. If you aren’t a photographer, you’re probably not even gonna care, but if you know what f1.2 is then, hopefully you will be impressed. Not sure how it will go but will see. It doesn’t have to be used wide open at f1.2 but the option is there and fixed at 45mm it should be light to carry and sharp. Will probably be something I use in the city after dark and the rain to do street photography.
I dashed off to a nearby camera store after calling them to make sure my new camera was in stock. I chatted with the young guy behind the counter and he showed me the black box with ‘R’ written on it. It was very stylish and wowed me to the point, I almost walked out with an empty box. At the last minute as the black box was being slid into the paper bag, I heard a small voice in my head say, “Ask to see the camera”. So I asked.
The young guy opened the box, removed the top part of the packaging that was reminiscent of an egg carton, pulled aside the instruction book, the battery and cables to reveal – an empty space – where the camera should have been. It was a very expensive black box with not much inside. He was very embarrassed and I think he truly learnt a lesson that day too. Always open the box and show the customer the camera. He rushed out the back and thankfully had another box in his hands minutes later that actually had a camera body in it. I got him to open and check the camera and unwrap it so I could lay eyes on it for sure.
I have been telling my photographer friends this story just in case they too end up with an empty box. It would be hard to prove you hadn’t just off loaded it at home and driven back claiming an empty box.
I got to try the camera out fully and put it through its paces during a recent small but beautiful riverside wedding. It performed so well on the day in terms of fast and accurate focusing, quiet and fast.
The files were a pleasure to edit and I could really tell the difference compared to my old camera. It is paired with a RF 24-70mm F2.8 lens for most of the work and since it’s RF glass, it’s top notch when paired with the RF camera and not an EF lens and adapter.
I look forward to many more shoots using this.