Canon R5 Anticipation for R5 Mark II?

[jcass]

Having been on an upgrade cycle of 7 to 8 years, I confess that I am likely to purchase an R5 Mark II on introduction after having my R5 for a year and half. That'll be two firsts for me: upgrading after only 1 1/2 years, and buying a camera at intro. Of course, this is depending on an actual release and the final specifications of the camera.

I love my R5 and plan to keep it as a second body. There are a couple of features though that just keep tugging me down the road to upgrade:

1. Pre-buffer shooting. I always miss birds launching by a hair and would like to take photos of lightning. In sports, I have a good sense for the moment of the action, this can only help.
2. Auto-focus improvements, especially QPAF and low light AF. The R5 is fantastic, but it does hunt in low light and improvements in the R6 II and R8 AF have been lauded. I admit, this is a weakness of mine and I can use all the help that I can get.
3. Increased resolution/size of viewfinder and display. My eyes just ain't what they used to be. My unicorn is the articulating viewfinder.
4. Multi-function hot shoe. My old flashes suffice, but the incompatibility moving forward is frustrating.
5. Stacked sensor... dynamic range... improved low light image quality. No complaints in my R5, but can you imagine it being better!

I'd like to know what other folks think about the Mark II... should the February announcement actually occur. I think it will. What features do or don't matter to you?

 

[Dave Williams]

Looks good considering the size of crop @RedCobra although I had already guessed at sky replacement !

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

The only reason to compare 4 year old technology to something introduced only months ago is to point out how far cameras have advanced and where an R5 Mkii might land. Otherwise I struggle with how pointing out that a 4 year old camera shooting at f10 lens doesn't grab focus as well as a new one at f4.5 is relevant, because it's one of those, "Well I sure hope it would be superior", moments.

We know nothing until we know something for sure. For me, the idea that it is coming in with the R1 tells me that we have a similar scenario with the R3/R7 launch - the tech developed for one will certainly be on the other, the only question is "At what level of handicapping?". I do not expect the same gulf as with my example, but the presence of a mechanical shutter tells me that there are likely some specific situations where a larger sensor may require it. Funny but that's the least of my complaints on the current R5. Give me a focus system that's a step up from the R3 and a usable pre-shot implementation and I'm sold (even though I'm already down for one as soon as I can get it).