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REPORT BY

TREVERN DAWES

IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000

READY FOR WORK If you’re truly serious about your print, Canon would like to entice you up to a pro-grade A2 printer that balances high performance with comparative affordability and prosumer usability. Trevern Dawes says the new PRO-1000 is a winner, but demands a different mindset. 52

anon’s new “red line special” imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 is an A2 format photo printer which brings a pro-grade build and capabilities to the enthusiast sector. The imagePROGRAF name has been used on Canon’s professional large-format inkjet printers for a while and the PRO-1000 will, of course, also appeal to pro users, especially as it’s designed to fit on the desktop rather than being a space-hungry standalone unit. The imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 replaces Canon’s imagePROGRAF iPF5100 which was pretty much exclusively a pro-level model if only because it was originally priced at over $3200. However, it was a highly-sophisticated and very much state-of-theart A2 printer for its time. Now, almost a decade later, the long-awaited – if overdue – successor has arrived priced at just under $2000, but no less sophisticated or state-of-the-art. The PRO-1000 (for ease of reading we’ll now adopt the shorter reference) occupies a position between the top-of-the-range PIXMA PRO-1 and the large-format floor-standing imagePROGRAF models. In many respects though it has far more in common with the latter group, including a vacuum system, long ‘checks and balances’ delays between prints, and even distinct operational sounds. As the only feature adopted from Canon’s ‘prosumer’ printers is the Chroma Optimiser cartridge, it’s very much a large-format printer that just happens to be compact enough to be located on a sturdy desk.

ON TRIAL Canon says that the PRO1000 is not only designed for professional photographers and discerning enthusiasts, but also for photo schools, design companies and advertising agencies who all demand accurate, high-quality prints. In order to place an emphasis on quality, Canon’s signature red line – a visual designation of the higherperformance D-SLR cameras and L Series lenses – has been assigned to the PRO-1000 and runs across the front panel.

ON THE OUTSIDE As far as its external housing is concerned, the PRO-1000 is as elegant and handsome as a printer can get. The matte black finish has a distinguished fine-stippled top area, well suited as a holding zone for paper or a completed print. Everything is rock solid with the paper feed and receiving trays both strong items. No doubt the heavy construction and all the technical goodies within contribute to the significant weight of 32 kilograms. The printer incorporates a newly-developed Lucia PRO pigmented inkset of 12 colours to further enhance colour gamut and smooth gradations. Canon claims the colour gamut is increased by 110 percent of the PIXMA PRO-1’s capacity on lustre or gloss media and 119 percent on matte. The matte and photo black inks have separate channels for black and white work and are supplemented by grey and photo grey cartridges. Magenta, yellow, cyan, photo magenta, photo cyan, red, blue and the Chroma Optimiser make

up the remaining inks. For the very first time with an A2 printer, a Chroma Optimiser cartridge has been included, in line with the PIXMA PRO-1 and PIXMA PRO-10S models. The optimiser places a clear overlay over gloss or semi-gloss media to minimise the problems of gloss differential and bronzing situations associated with printing pigmented inks on gloss. Having a Gloss Optimiser cartridge in an A2 printer opens up a cupboard full of potential, especially when the 300 gsm Canon Photo Paper Pro Platinum and 260 gsm Photo Paper Pro Lustre papers are involved. Being able to stand back and admire a glossy or semi-gloss A2 with minimal hint of gloss differential or bronzing is a whole new experience and one that hasn’t been seen since the last days of the 24-inch wide dyebased printers. The PRO-1000’s 1.28-inch print head is 1.5 times larger than that of the PIXMA PRO-1 and employs a total of 18,432 nozzles, capable of delivering 32 million droplets per second. Of considerable importance is a new

CANON IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000

BEING ABLE TO STAND BACK AND ADMIRE A GLOSSY OR SEMI-GLOSS A2 PRINT WITH MINIMAL HINT OF GLOSS DIFFERENTIAL OR BRONZING IS A WHOLE NEW EXPERIENCE. image processing engine called ‘L-COA PRO’. This is designed for more accurate droplet placement with an ink injection system using temperature regulation to help maintain ink at the correct

viscosity for optimal, consistent droplets of ink. Any malfunctional nozzle is immediately detected and corrections made. If paper is slightly askew in either of the two paper feeding supports, the printer adjusts automatically and, with a vacuum air feeding system to keep paper flat, the paper pathway is perfect. As pigments reside on top of the paper surface, abrasions can be a problem, but with silicon added to the new inkset the PRO-1000 takes a step towards providing a protective measure. There is no way of determining if the silicon additive does make for a more resilient print surface, but it’s encouraging to know Canon is addressing the issue. The rear paper support tray and front receiving trays slide out in three sections. At the back of the printer is the single sheet manual feed intended for heavy and fineart papers. It also slides out in three sections and is of the same heavy duty construction. An uncomplicated operational panel consists of the LCD screen, ‘Home’ and ‘Return’ buttons, ‘OK’ buttons with arrows and, at the

The front view of the printer shows off the PRO-1000’s smart styling and the red stripe which signifies a premium Canon product.

CANON IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000 1

ON TRIAL 1

The ‘Main’ print control panel.

The printer’s ‘Quick Set-Up’ panel.

The print panel for making black and white prints.

Matching the print file to the printer’s ICC profile.

The maintenance panel for the printer.

The ‘Page Set-Up’ panel.

After the set-up is completed, the ink levels will be shown at less than half capacity due to the long feed lines that need initial filling.

The Colour Adjustment panel.

4 right-hand side, the ‘Power’ and ‘Stop’ buttons. Everything is designed for smooth and efficient running, even to the extent of an occasional “agitating the ink – please wait” phase appearing between prints when the printer clatters away for a few seconds.

IN THE BOX

Aside from the printer itself, the box contents include the power lead, CD-ROM, 12 full-capacity (80 millilitres) Lucia HD ink cartridges, the print head, two set-up instruction sheets and A4 paper (MP-101) for the print head alignment check. The maintenance cartridge is already fitted. The packing carton measures a sizable 99x55x43 centimetres and weights a hefty 39 kilograms in total – enough to warrant a trolley for transport, while two people are needed to lift the printer out of the box. However, the heavy-duty plastic wrapping around the printer is strong enough to actually hold the printer and so is the easiest way to lift it out of the box. After removing all the plastic sheeting and orange protective tape, the printer is switched on. The orange clamp for the print head should be retained as this will need to be re-fitted if the printer is moved later. As initially daunting as fitting the print head may be, it is simple enough provided the blue handle is used for this procedure. Here is where one of the set-up videos on the Internet will be helpful. An unusual feature is the way the ink cartridges are inserted. The normal arrangement is for the cartridges to stand upright, however with the PRO-1000 they

ON TRIAL

ESSENTIALLY, THE PRO-1000 WILL BE FAR MORE EFFICIENT ON INK IF THE PRINTS ARE LARGE. are inserted on their sides. A fair amount of ink is required to charge up the ink lines and the print head. This works out at about 42 millilitres per cartridge or a total of about 504 millilitres of ink to leave ink levels indicating less than 50 percent capacity… or a total of about 456 millilitres available for printing. A massive amount of ink is involved, but fortunately it is a once-only affair with replacement cartridges remaining at their full 80 millilitres capacity. By comparison, the Epson SureColor SP-P800 allocates about 138 millilitres to its set-up. Although the 64 millilitres cartridges supplied with the Epson printer are of the ‘start-up’ variety, it still leaves about 438 millilitres for printing. The ink required for the PRO-1000’s set-up relates to the broad spacing of the 12 cartridges and the need The PRO1000’s goodsized LCD info screen.

to fill long supply lines. It is a design curiosity that holds a large reservoir of ink being continually replenished by new cartridges. When the printer is eventually discarded, about half a litre of ink goes with it. Very few buyers coming up from A3+ prosumer printers would give much thought to this characteristic, but when you consider there is nearly $500 worth of ink involved, it’s hard to dismiss. Welcome to the world of large-format printers – Canon style. After the print head is inserted a “please wait momentarily” message appears and gives instruction to load one of the provided A4 sheets. Thereafter the printer gurgles away for about 20 minutes, continually showing its progress on the LCD screen as it gets itself organised to charge up the print head. Finally, the set-up CD-ROM is inserted in the computer for prompts to be followed. No matter how experienced you might be with inkjet printers, it’s good practice to always read and follow the instructions carefully, especially when the printer is not a basic type. The PRO-1000 is a complex piece of finely-tuned machinery whose user manual requires consultation before undertaking critical manoeuvres. Absorbing in detail the 858 pages of the Online User Manual from beginning to end doesn’t make for light reading, but when approaching particular features of

CANON IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000

Above: The ‘Print Studio Pro’ panel.

Above: Quality settings can be customised to override defaults. Left: The ‘Print Preview’ display is a critical facility for any printer.

the printer it is wise to do the appropriate research. A basic manual is part of the CD-ROM while the very comprehensive full manual can be downloaded from the Canon Website. Playing around with the menu to ‘see what happens’ isn’t a good idea with this printer. For example, there is a difference between moving the printer a short distance across a room and

transporting it over a fair distance. Putting the printer into its transport mode means draining ink into the maintenance tank and starting again with another inkset in its new location. However, moving the printer by vehicle doesn’t require the full transportation ink dumping procedure, provided the unit can be kept in a level position.

PRINTING The first test print was made on A3 matte paper, but the printer had a 25 millimetres margin default that needed to be turned off via ‘Page Setup’, ‘Print Options’ and then ‘Cancel the safety margin regulation for paper size’. The rear and manual paper feed systems performed admirably with no false feeds or head strikes, or any problems running a set of A4 pages for a book. The centre positioning of paper supported by the two guides and the vacuum platen seal ensure a precise pathway and perfect ink The 12 Lucia HD pigmented inks are positioned in one long line.

CANON IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000

TIME TRIALS As with most inkjet printers, it’s up to the individual to run a series of tests using ‘standard images’ to gauge the difference in quality at different printing resolutions. Certainly the difference between the ‘Standard’ and ‘Highest’ settings is evident enough. The amount of ink consumed with the PRO1000 goes up smartly from ‘Standard’ to ‘High’ and Resolution

Paper

Image Size

A3+

400x300 mm Standard 3:02 min/0.8 ml 3:45 min/1.00 ml

A3+

400x300 mm High

3:34 min/0.8 ml 5:14 min/1.45 ml

400x300 mm Highest

5:45 min/0.9 ml 6:39 min/1.57 ml

540x400 mm High

4:21 min/1.1 ml

Print times and ink usage not only relate to print resolution, but also the content of the print file. For example, a set of A2 seascapes on Canon Pro Platinum Lustre recorded times at highest resolution ranging from 9:28 to 12:39 minutes and ink usage from 1.70 to 3.21 millilitres. The print times for the PRO-1000 could be regarded as average, but overall the printer is not a speed demon because of the ‘checks and balances’ intervals between a run of prints. For example, with multiple copies of the one print or a run of book pages, the intervals between the end of one print and the take-up of the next averaged out at about 40

‘Highest’, as do printing times, but in the end, it still comes down to personal preferences. My view is to always select the best settings for critical work and, with a printer like the PRO-1000, this is likely to be most of the time. In compiling a list of print times and ink usages, the figures for the outgoing imagePROGRAF iPF5100 are also included as a means of comparison. iPF5100

PRO-1000

6:15 min/1.47 ml

seconds with variations from 25 to 210 seconds. Although this may appear to be slow-going, it is actually faster than the venerable Epson Stylus Pro 3880 that takes little time between prints, but has longer times in print head activity. All these observations are based on the maximum print resolution. With printing images via Photoshop, a ‘preview’ and ‘ready to go’ are not available until the previous print has been completed and the printer has stopped. This post-printing delay can take some time and slows up the business of print-making. If this is the price to pay for efficient ink delivery, then so be it.

ON TRIAL placement. The feed slot cover on the rear paper feed must be closed to allow printing to proceed. After a few days of being constantly reminded to close the cover, the message soon sinks in. Most printing was carried out using ‘Let the printer manage colour’ via Photoshop and locking into the appropriate ICC profiles. This proved to be a most satisfactory approach with excellent results over a variety of papers. Settings for favourite papers may be saved to appropriate names for quick recall, thereby overcoming the need to be always re-organising all the parameters. All 16 ICC profiles for the Canon listing were accurate and many proved suitable for similar ‘other brand’ papers. For example, several prints on Innova 280 gsm Fibraprint matte printed so accurately to the screen using the Canon matte profile that a custom ICC profile just wasn’t necessary. Profiles provided by manufacturers like Hahnemühle, Canson and Innova are recommended for best performance or custom ICC profiles can be organised. Compared to A3+ format printers, the ‘vacuum cleaner’ operation of PRO-1000 is noisy, but by no means objectionable. While printing on medium matte paper proceeds quietly enough, printing on heavier papers is noticeably louder (heavier paper = more suction?). The printer does have a ‘Do not use quiet mode’ default in ‘Device Settings’ that can be changed to ‘Use quiet mode’ but, according to the manual, the operational speed may be reduced. All prints created exhibited excellent colour depth with pronounced blacks and strong reds. On gloss media the prints compared well with the brightness and impact of prints created with the dye-based PIXMA PRO 9000 Mark II and the PIXMA PRO-100S. Crisp and clean may not be technical terms to describe the Canon PRO-1000 prints, but without precise instruments to determine D-max and make colour gamut comparisons, this description may be regarded as highly complimentary. The black depth is significant and critical in establishing a foundation for the colour or grey scale tonality ranges.

Canon recommends that the printer be left switched on continuously. This is achieved via ‘Various Settings’, ‘Device Settings’, ‘Energy Settings’ and then having ‘Auto power off’ set at ‘Never’ and changing the ‘Auto power on’ to ‘Off’. This is a long way into the menu and just part of the unit’s sophistication… plus the need to become familiar with the user manual.

SOFTWARE AND CONNECTIONS The supplied CD-ROM not only contains the printer driver, but also bundled software, including Print Studio Pro and Device Management. Canon Print Studio Pro acts as a plug-in for the likes of Photoshop, Elements and Lightroom to provide an alternative means of print-making with the added capacity to handle 16-bit files. In Photoshop it is accessed via ‘File’ and ‘Automate’. For those who might like to prepare custom ICC profiles to accommodate 16bit files, Print Studio Pro doesn’t appear to have any means of turning colour management off. The Device Management software allows control of multiple printers through a single console. A Quick Utility Tool Box, Media Configuration Tool and Account Manager software (for print cost calculations) are also included. Ethernet connectivity is available as well as a capacity to print wirelessly from a range of devices, including laptops, tablets, smartphones and cameras. Direct printing via PictBridge or from on-line storage services such as Dropbox and Google Drive is available along with compatibility with Apple AirPrint and Canon’s own PIXMA/MAXIFY Printing Solutions. Canon indicates PRO-1000 prints under glass will last approximately 60 years and 200 years in dark storage (i.e. in albums). These are Canon’s figures, so we’ll need to wait until Wilhelm Research conducts its own tests. However, a rating of 60 years by Wilhelm Research would put the PRO-1000 at the very bottom of the pigment longevity table… which is highly unlikely. Wilhelm Research rates the Lucia inks for the Canon large format printers at just less than 100 years under glass and over 200 years in dark

ON TRIAL storage so there is good reason to believe the Canon PRO-1000 inkset will be similar. Wilhelm Research longevity ratings are conducted under strictly controlled laboratory conditions and essentially act as a means of comparisons between various ink and paper combinations. Needless to say, the longevity characteristics of the prints you make will be dependent on the protective measures you choose to apply (such as spraying), and the display and storage conditions. The printer driver allows custom paper sizes that vary from 89 to 432 millimetres in width and from 127 to 594 millimetres in length. Panoramic prints on paper considerably longer than 594 millimetres are not possible. Without this capacity and for all of its wonderful features, the PRO-1000 has at least one major limitation.

JOB HISTORY By down arrowing on the LCD screen to ‘Job Management’ and ‘Display Job History’, all the details of a print can be viewed and printed out if required. Although only the last ten jobs appear on the LCD, all jobs back to square one can be printed out. The details not

CANON IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000

THE PRO-1000 IS ESSENTIALLY THE TOP-CLASS MACHINE FOR MAKING A2 EXHIBITION PRINTS, ESPECIALLY ON LUSTRE PAPERS WITH THE BENEFIT OF THE CHROMA OPTIMISER. only include print date, media type, print size, times to the second and total ink consumed, but also the amount of ink per individual cartridge. All this information may be regarded as little more than a curiosity or it can be put to good use for small business accounting.

For example, it took 1.2 millilitres of ink to produce an average A3 print at the highest quality level. As the 80 millilitres cartridges cost $80 each, this results in about $1.30 worth of ink being consumed. For multiple copies of a print or a run of book pages, the time and ink records relate to the total task, not to individual pages. The Job History may be downloaded using WiFi fusing and the Web Browser function. This requires a password set-up and the serial number of the printer.

GORGEOUS GLOSSIES Canon’s Chroma Optimiser and Epson’s Gloss Optimiser (as in the SureColor SP-P405) are intended to overcome the problems of gloss differential and bronzing that have been commonplace with pigment ink on gloss or semi-gloss media. The availability of Canon’s Pro Platinum Glossy 300 gsm paper in A2 sheets would appear to open up The print head shown ready to insert in the printer.

a whole new world of enjoyment and a ‘wow’ impact for those who like to go glossy. Unfortunately, the clear overlays provided by both Canon and Epson do not entirely overcome the problems. So much depends on the picture content in terms of the clear (or un-inked) areas and the distribution of blacks. The capacity of the PRO-1000 to produce striking gloss prints at A2 could well be reason enough for some to be chasing this printer, especially if using Pro Platinum paper. Admittedly, it’s not exactly the same as the flawless and more resilient surface of a dye-based printer, but it is close enough, and has virtually the same colour vibrancy plus, of course, it comes with greater longevity. We don’t tend to appreciate what the Chroma Optimiser does until comparisons are made with images produced on a printer that doesn’t have this facility. The gloss differential and bronzing situations may not be entirely overcome on the slightly dulled down surface of a clear coating application from the PRO-1000, but the difference between not having the optimiser is most noticeable. Papers like Canon’s Platinum Pro Lustre have always been popular for both dye and pigment printing because they occupy the middle ground between relatively flat matte prints and the high sheen of gloss. That makes the paper a good selection for both framing and hand viewing. The facility of the Chroma Optimiser certainly enhances the blacks.

BLACK AND WHITE The grey and photo grey inks in combination with either the photo black or matte black ensure neutral prints with deep blacks and good tonal spread from highlight to shadow areas. The ‘Grayscale’ print panel allows adjustments to be made, if The contents of the Canon PRO-1000 printer’s box.

CANON IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000

ON TRIAL Admittedly, some gloss differential is evident, but it takes little away from the pleasure of viewing prints that have such immense impact.

ECONOMY

The printer shown with the rear and receiving paper supports opened and extended.

required, to the settings of ‘Pure Neutral Black’, ‘Warm Black’ or ‘Cool Black’. Variation between ‘Cool’ and ‘Warm’ may be made by changing ‘X’ and ‘Y’ values or by moving the cursor around on a small target screen. By clicking on ‘View Colour Pattern’, the differences can be monitored. If a black and white image has been assigned RGB colour mode

A FEW A3 PRINTS MADE ON A VARIETY OF MEDIA WERE SUFFICIENT TO PLACE A VERY LARGE TICK AGAINST THE BLACK AND WHITE DEPARTMENT OF THIS PRINTER. 60

it can be printed as colour with unlimited colour tints. It should also be noted that printing B&W images assigned as RGB mode as ‘Colour’ rather than ‘Grayscale’ on certain media can produce more pleasing results and retain better shadow detail. Black and white prints created by the ‘Colour’ method were ever so slightly warmer than those by ‘Grayscale’. There are no rights or wrongs attached, it’s just a matter of what pleases. A few A3 prints made on a variety of media were sufficient to place a very large tick against the black and white department of this printer. Images on gloss, especially the Pro Platinum paper, were simply outstanding and were reminiscent of darkroom glossies.

A full set of replacement ink cartridges will cost $960 or about half the initial cost of the printer. As daunting as this may appear, the discerning aspects are the cost per millilitre and the total number of prints that can be produced. At about a dollar per millilitre, the inks work out cheaper than other printers, especially the A3+ format, and with ink ‘spray down’ being fairly small per print, the PRO-1000 would appear to rate well in the ink economy department. The real cost of printing is not always measured by the amount of ink laid down per print. Other factors come into play as well, such as the amount of ink required to prime a printer, the average print sizes and the amount of ink directed to the maintenance tank. There is one aspect of the printer that needs to be clearly understood. After every print, a check is made and a tiny amount of ink goes to the maintenance tank. This amount is constant, irrespective of the size of the print. Larger prints like A2 require much more ink per print compared to smaller ones like A4 or A5 yet have the same discharge between prints. Those smaller prints consuming an average of 0.3 millilitres could well be sending the same amount to the maintenance tank. Essentially, the PRO-1000 will be far more efficient on ink if

the prints are large. Using an A2 format printer to run off postcards and book pages might seem like overkill when an A3+ printer would seem more appropriate, yet the PRO-1000 is a versatile printer that can handle the smaller tasks as well as the larger ones in any volume. Printing a sequence of pages for book projects presented no problems with the printer being left unattended while other office duties were handled. Nevertheless still be mindful of the more frequent ink dumps to the maintenance tank. If an accurate assessment on ink usage is to be made, calculations on the levels of the screen graphs should not be adopted. These levels don’t move incrementally and may stay the same for some time and then take a big leap. The best approach is to weigh cartridges and the maintenance tank as empty, full or partially-full and then do the sums. Incidentally, the swapping from photo black to matte black ink or vice versa involves no loss of time or wastage of ink. The opposition is still struggling with this.

THE VERDICT In a sweeping overview, Canon’s PRO-1000 would appear to have advantages over its main competitor – the Epson SureColor SC-P800. However, it’s still not going to be an easy choice for intending buyers to make. The PRO-1000 has 11 colours, a Chroma Optimiser, no losses with the black ink changeovers and a 16-

The smaller manual paper feed is located at the printer’s rear.

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Apple Air Print and Google Cloud Print. Acoustic Noise: 41.0 dB (A). 40.4 dB (A) in Quiet mode. Main Features: 6.72 cm TFT LCD display panel, NA ‘Bubble-jet’ type head with 18,432 print nozzles, 1.0 GB printer memory, Standard/ High print quality modes, Print Studio Pro Version 2.0, Media Configuration Tool, Accounting Manager, Device Management Console, Quick Utility Toolbox. Dimensions (WxHxD): 723x433x285 mm (trays closed). Weight: 32.0 kilograms (including print head and ink cartridges). Price: $1999 (inc. GST). Ink cartridges are $80 each. Maintenance tank is $35 (is user replaceable). Distributor: Canon Australia, telephone 1800 804 240 or visit www.canon.com.au

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Vital Statistics – Canon Printer Type: A2 format (17 inches wide) for photo-quality prints via a 12-colour pigmented inkset (which includes a Chroma Optimiser) with auto switching between matte black and photo black. Maximum Resolution: 2400x1200 dpi. Ink Cartridges: Individual per colour, 80 millilitres capacity. Canon Lucia PRO pigments. Colours are matte black, photo black, magenta, cyan, yellow, photo cyan, photo magenta, photo grey, grey, red and blue plus a Chroma Optimiser. Smallest droplet size is 4.0 picolitres. Paper Sizes: Borderless printing on cut sheets from 90x130 mm up to A2. Maximum printable paper length is 594 mm. No roll paper option. Interfaces: Hi-Speed USB 2.0, Ethernet (10/100Base-T/TX), PictBridge (Wireless LAN), Wireless LAN (1EEE 802.1 1b/g/n),

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CANON IMAGEPROGRAF PRO-1000

AI BEATS GO WORLD CHAMPION

VITAL STATISTICS

DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION

scale, but most of us working with print files adjusted for impact might be hard pressed to see the difference against prints produced with an eight or nine colour inkset. The professional print-maker will find the strength and quality of the PRO-1000 appealing while the keen enthusiast who appreciates top class machinery will be equally attracted. In the appraisal of any printer, we are keen to purchase we look at many aspects including the initial outlay, running costs, print quality, image longevity, print speeds and overall reliability. The PRO-1000 is a fortress that will endure for many years. It is competitively priced, turns out prints with quality second to none (but is limited to the A2 size as the maximum printable), has a ‘jury out’ on print longevity, needs large prints for the best ink economy and actually requires firmware attention to the Chroma Optimiser settings. Nevertheless, on balance, the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 is a formidable package with similar conclusions as for the iPF5100. It’s a finely-tuned machine that requires patience and understanding to master before stepping back to savour the output it can produce.

SCIENCE OF LONGEVITY

bit print capacity. It’s heavy-duty all round and can handle traffic all day without a whimper. Nevertheless, it’s also a heavy unit, limited to A2 and consumes a heap of ink that never finds its way to actually making prints. Over three week of testing the printer was given a solid workout. Using paper varying in size from postcards up to A2 on a mix of Canon and other brand papers, but there was not one false paper feed nor any head strike marks, thanks to a precise delivery system. The PRO-1000 is essentially the top-class machine for making A2 exhibition prints, especially on lustre papers with the benefit of the Chroma Optimiser, so the delays between prints are not likely to be an issue. However, printing a run of smaller-sized prints, including book pages, is another matter and here those delays could be frustrating and the ink dumps to the maintenance tank much too numerous. The PRO-1000 is very much a state-of-the-art A2 printer with the potential to extract every nuance from print files. Some enthusiasts will be able to utilise the 12 inks to near maximum capacity with 16-bit print files featuring an extensive tonal

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R U O Y T A E L ON-SA W O N T N E G A NEWS

Firmware Upgrade: Occasionally adjustments are necessary to the software driving a printer and with the review unit supplied there were some issues. Tests began with two A4 sheets of Pro Lustre paper and were followed by a very long run of matte prints. During this time the Chroma Optimiser cartridge went down to a ‘low level’ warning. Of course, the clear coating against a matte paper should be ‘greyed out’ or not applicable in this configuration. Firmware upgrade Version 1.07 is designed to address this situation.

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ON TRIAL

CANON EOS 5Ds

Reward For Effort CANON EOS 5Ds Having 50 megapixels on tap promises superlative image quality, but it also demands more rigorous ways of working. So, although highly desirable, the EOS 5Ds probably isn’t for everybody. REPORT BY PAUL BURROWS

The EOS 5Ds is very similar in size and styling to the 5D III, but it’s what’s on the inside that matters… faster twin processors, new metering system, upgraded AF and, of course, a 53 MP sensor.

Fifty megapixels. Fabulous, right? It’s the magic number in digital medium format right now with Sony’s ‘645’ CMOS sensor doing service in cameras and capture backs from Hasselblad, Phase One, Pentax and Mamiya Leaf. Now, courtesy of a Canon-made CMOS imager, it’s available in the full35mm form factor with all the attendant advantages of size, handing, speed and a comparatively (by DMF standards) huge lens system. But there are actual caveats… and we’ll get to them soon enough. The EOS 5Ds is, in Canon’s own words, “an alternative to medium format cameras” and that, in itself, makes it a different animal to any other full-35mm format D-SLR (even Nikon’s D810). Of course, it looks pretty much the same as the existing EOS 5D Mark III, but there are some quite significant variations between the two models which highlight the differences in their intended applications. Much, for example, has been made of the 5Ds’s reduced video functionality compared to the 5D III which, of course, is the D-SLR darling of pro videographers. This is because the 5Ds – although still actually pretty capable in this department – isn’t really intended to be a video camera and its design emphasis is very much on delivering the optimum still imaging performance. This includes upgrades to both physical elements – such as the reflex mirror mechanism – and the control systems to deal with the increased demands inherent in an effective resolution of 50.6 megapixels. The sensor’s total resolution is 53 megapixels which, on a sensor with an area of 24x36 mm results in a pixel pitch of 4.14 microns (similar, incidentally, to that of the ‘APS-C’ format EOS 7D Mark II). On the 5Ds, the sensor has a conventional optical low-pass filter to counter moiré patterns, but there is also a 5Ds R version which employs an OLPF cancellation system via a second filter – similar in principle to that used by Nikon in the D800E – to further enhance the resolution without completely going without some degree of correction for moiré. Apart from this, the two 5Ds models are identical. Canon has had to overcome a number of challenges to design this sensor, including creating

ON TRIAL

CANON EOS 5Ds a new array of gap-less microlenses to help improve the efficiency and give a sensitivity range equivalent to ISO 100 to 6400. There are one-stop expansion settings on either side (i.e. ISO 50 and 12,800) and while this range may not be as wide as that available on other full35mm D-SLRs, remember that the pixel size is quite a lot smaller (for example, the 5D III’s pixels are 6.25 microns). The maximum image size is 8688x5792 pixels so this gives Canon quite a bit of ‘leeway’ in terms of offering smaller image sizes. Here we encounter something completely new because, normally, it would be hard to see why anything other than the maximum image quality would be used, but… well, sometimes 50 MP may just be too much. So, the 5Ds has a 1.3x crop setting which still delivers an image size of 6768x4512 pixels (that’s 30.5 MP, by the way), and a 1.6x crop setting (i.e. Canon’s ‘APS-C’ format) which gives 5424x3616 pixels (and 19.6 MP). These crops are selected in the main shooting menu and, very neatly, the viewfinder is masked accordingly so there’s never any confusion with framing. There’s also a 1:1 aspect ratio crop. RAW frames can be captured in large, medium (28 MP) or small (12.4 MP) sizes.

Rear panel layout also conforms to Canon’s D-SLR design manual. The fixed LCD monitor screen has a resolution of 1.04 million dots.

Number Crunching The EOS 5Ds’s sensor works in concert with a pair of Canon’s latest generation of DiG!C 6 processors which, given the amount of data being generated, need to work pretty hard. Nevertheless, they enable a maximum shooting speed of 5.0 fps and maintain a range of on-thefly processes with JPEG capture. With

The bodyshell comprises magnesium alloy covers fully sealed against the intrusion of dust and moisture.

JPEG/large/fine capture the file size is in the region of 27 MB at ISO 100, but this could be larger with more detailed subjects and at the higher sensitivity settings. A large 14-bit RAW file is in the order of 65 MB in size and RAW+JPEG capture can represent around 85 MB of data or more. As on all Canon’s higherend D-SLRs, RAW+JPEG capture can be configured to combine any size of RAW file and any size or compression setting for the JPEGs. Regardless, there’s a lot of data flying around which, of course, the camera can handle, but it means thinking about using higher-capacity memory cards – 32 GB is chewed up pretty quickly especially with RAW+JPEG capture – and upgrades all the way

formats, both with high-speed transfer support although, a little surprisingly, the format is only for UHS-I and not UHS-II which means longer waits while the buffer empties. UDMA-7 speed CF cards are still faster which is presumably why Canon continues to offer the two formats, rather than simply switching to dual SD slots as Nikon has done on the D810 (and D610).

Good-Bye Vibrations An ultra-high resolution of 50.6 MP has other implications, in terms of both the camera and its operation… and this mostly comes down to the issue of vibration which, of course, has many possible sources. As far as the camera itself is concerned, the biggest one is the reflex mirror mechanism which involves some fairly violent movements and major impacts as it flips up and down in the fraction of a second. Canon has gone back to the drawing board with the EOS 5Ds, replacing the conventional spring-actuated mechanical arrangement with an electric motor which is able to slow the mirror down as it approaches the end of its

An ultra-high resolution of 50.6 MP has other implications, in terms of both the camera and its operation… and this mostly comes down to the issue of vibration which, of course, has many possible sources. down the line in terms of a computer’s processing power and speed, and the subsequent storing of images… a converted 16-bit TIFF is nudging 300 MB in size. The 5Ds has dual memory card slots, one each for the SD and CF

ON TRIAL

CANON EOS 5Ds

IN DETAIL The top deck monochrome info panel provides a comprehensive set of read-outs.

Main mode dial indicates the EOS 5Ds means business; no subject/scene modes and no special effects.

travel thereby minimising ‘slap’ (which ordinarily sends waves of vibrations throughout the camera body). A spin-off benefit of the motordriven mirror is quieter operation. Users of long telephoto lenses often use mirror lock-up to eliminate these vibrations and Canon has taken this facility further on the 5Ds, providing a selection of delay times. These make mirror lock-up much more convenient to use as it’s simply a case of pressing the shutter release… the mirror locksup and after the set delay time (from 1/8 second up to two seconds), the shutter automatically opens and closes. Vibration – this time of the camerashake variety – requires different ways of working with the 5Ds. A tripod becomes much more essential even when shooting in very bright conditions with faster shutter speeds. Indeed, Canon Australia recommended that our test images should be taken with the camera mounted on a tripod – which we do anyway, but it’s the first time we’ve had a camera manufacturer specifically suggest it’s critical for optimising the imaging performance.

Crossover Camera Dual memory card slots are provided for the SD and CF formats with UHS-I and UDMA7 speed support respectively. The slots can be configured in a variety of ways, including for simultaneous recording of files to both.

Controls for image review and editing are arranged alongside the LCD monitor screen. The button at top provides direct access to the ‘Picture Style’ presets, multiple exposure facility and multi-shot HDR capture.

Which brings up the subject of lenses. As Nikon did when it launched the D800/D800E (and subsequently with the D810), Canon recommends specific lenses for use with the 5Ds and 5Ds R, which is why our test camera arrived

these incorporate optical image stabilisation which has added importance when the pixel density is so high, but as a general rule the minimum ‘safe’ shutter speed – especially when shooting hand-held – will need to be a lot faster than what could have been used previously. Obviously these are practices and disciplines familiar to the users of digital medium format camera systems, and it’s worth noting that Canon includes “studio” in its summation of the EOS 5Ds/R’s likely applications. Given the handling characteristics compared to any ‘box-form’ DMF camera, the 50 MP Canons are shaping up (no pun intended) as the ultimate ‘crossover’ camera… even more so than Pentax’s 645Z. The implications here are considerable.

It’s All In The Details Canon has provided some ‘on board’ options for maximising sharpness starting with a new ‘Picture Style’ preset called Fine Detail which, by default, processes the image for increased sharpness. However, it and all the other ‘Picture Styles’ provide more refined manual control over sharpness via three separately adjustable parameters – Strength, Fineness and Threshold. These work in a similar fashion to Photoshop’s Unsharp Masking, so Strength controls the amount of sharpening, Fineness determines the size of the details which will be sharpened, and Threshold sets the contrast level at which an edge would be subjected to sharpening. This is pretty sophisticated and some degree of experimentation is necessary to determine how these adjustments play out in an image, but it is possible to more precisely match the scope and character of any sharpening to a particular subject or scene. As before, the other ‘Picture Styles’ are labelled Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful and Monochrome; and, in addition to sharpness, determine the contrast, colour saturation and hue. There’s also an Auto preset which adjusts these

Given the EOS 5Ds certainly isn’t designed to be a sports camera – it’s hard to see 50 MP really being needed for this application – its speed capabilities are more than adequate. fitted with the EF 85mm f1.2L II USM fast prime, an otherwise unusual choice. Lovely, but unusual. Not surprisingly, this list of recommended lenses comprises largely the high-end L Series lenses and mostly those of the more recent ‘II’ vintage (although there are a few exceptions), giving a choice of over 35 models from fish-eye to supertelephoto. Many of

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ON TRIAL

CANON EOS 5Ds parameters according to analysis of the AF and AE data, plus provisions for creating and storing three user-defined ‘Picture Styles’. Also in the interests of optimising sharpness, the EOS 5Ds gets an upgraded autofocusing system. It’s based on the 5D III’s 61-point system, but has the 5Ds’s new 150,000-pixels ‘RGB+IR’ metering sensor to assist it in areas such as face recognition and determining the shape, size and colour of a subject. The 61 points are widely spread across the frame (the module is actually 19 mm in width) and include 41 cross-type arrays – ten on either end and 21 in the middle. Furthermore, the vertical row of five centre points comprise dual cross-type arrangements (i.e. a combined + and x arrangement) and are in operation with lenses that have a maximum aperture of f2.8 or larger. The full 41 cross-type arrays are available with lenses as slow as f4.0 and the central 21 with f5.6 lenses. A single, central cross-array is still available at f8.0 with all the remaining points acting as either vertical or horizontal arrays. Low light sensitivity extends down to EV -2.0 (at ISO 100), but AF assist illumination is only available when a compatible Speedlite flash unit is fitted. As is standard on Canon D-SLRs, switching between single-shot and continuous AF operations can be done manually or automatically by the camera when subject movement is detected. Point selection can also be

THE MENUS in all) dedicated to autofocusing, including the ‘AF Configuration Tool’. This provides a choice of six scenarios for configuring the key components of continuous autofocusing, namely the tracking sensitivity, the rate of acceleration and deceleration, and the speed of the point switching. Each of the six settings is further fine-tunable to better match a real-world situation, and deeper into the AF menu is the all-important AF Micro adjustment which enables up to 40 specific lens models – identified automatically via the serial number stored in their CPUs – to be calibrated, correcting for any front- or back-focusing variations.

Colour And Contrast The newish ‘RGB+IR’ metering sensor – it made its debut on the 7D II – drives 252-zone evaluative measurements with the option of selective area (representing 6.1 percent of the total frame area), spot (covering 1.3 percent) or centreweighted average modes. It also controls the camera’s E-TTL II flash metering although, like all of Canon’s top-end D-SLRs, the 5Ds lacks a built-in flash. The choice of exposure control modes is limited to the standard selection of ‘PASM’, but there is a ‘Scene Intelligent Auto’ mode which analyses a range of subject and scene characteristics to determine the most appropriate settings, including autofocus, exposure and white balance. While this is a fullauto mode, the processing behind it is quite powerful so, for example, some of the many determinations made include whether the subject is front-lit or backlit, whether its stationary or moving, the colour of the background, whether sky is included in the frame, and the colour balance of the prevailing lighting. Back in the world of manual control, the 5Ds has an AE lock, exposure compensation of up to +/-5.0 EV and auto bracketing which can be set or operate over sequences of two, three, five or seven frames with adjustment of up to +/-3.0 EV. Additionally, the exposure compensation and the

High ISO performance is also exceptional with excellent detailing, colour rendition and dynamic range maintained all the way up to ISO 6400. performed either manually or automatically with the choice of two ‘Expansion’ settings – giving a five-point + pattern (i.e. plus four) or a cluster of nine points (i.e. plus eight) – and no fewer than nine ‘Zone AF’ patterns. Whatever point configuration is selected, it can be preserved when the camera is reorientated vertically. Similar to the EOS 5D Mark II, the 5Ds has a set of menus (five pages

The menu system is colour-coded, but each page is self-contained. A whole five-page menu (centre and bottom) is devoted to numerous set-ups for the autofocusing system.

Info display in the monitor screen also serves as a ‘Quick Control’ screen, enabling quick and easy access to a wide selection of capture-related functions. Alternate info screen includes AF points. Single point selection with a four-point Expansion as shown here.

The image review screens include a thumbnail with either a brightness histogram or a set of RGB histograms (preset in the Replay Menu).

ON TRIAL

CANON EOS 5Ds bracketing can be combined so it’s possible to move the latter so it occurs around any point in the former (giving a total possible shift of either +8.0 EV or -8.0 EV). The shutter has a speed range of 30-1/8000 seconds and is rated at 150,000 cycles. The white balance controls are upgraded to include the choice of Ambience Priority or White Priority for the automatic correction. The latter is the standard way of doing things while the former is a development of ‘keep warm colours’, but works with whatever colour cast is predominant. There’s a fairly standard set of WB presets, provisions from just one custom setting (which seems a bit low-rent), bracketing (again over sequences of two, three, five or seven frames), fine-tuning and manual colour temperature setting. Like all its higher-end siblings, the EOS 5Ds has Canon’s ‘Auto Lighting Optimiser’ and ‘Highlight Tone Priority’ image processing functions for contrast control and dynamic range expansion. ALO analyses the image for exposure and contrast and subsequently adjusts the levels in order to avoid underexposure while still preserving detailing in the highlights. These corrections are appended to the RAW files so they can be applied during post-production. ‘Highlight Tone Priority’ works differently, adjusting the tone curve in the range from 18 percent grey to the brightest highlights in order to ensure more detail is retained in the highlights without affecting the shadow areas. The two can’t be used together and, with HTP, the base sensitivity is automatically increased to ISO 200 to give more signal ‘headroom’. The alternative method of expanding the dynamic range is to use the Canon’s multi-shot HDR capture mode. As on the 5D III, there’s also a set of four creative effects – called Art Standard, Art Vivid, Art Bold and Art Embossed – which can be applied and these vary the colour saturation, brightness, tonality and boldness of the outlines. The amount of exposure variation can be manually set to +/-1.0, +/-2.0 or +/-3.0 or automatically adjusted according to the brightness range detected in the scene. An auto image align function is also available along with the option of saving all the files or just the final merged HDR image.

TEST IMAGE Image quality is superlative, but obtaining the optimum sharpness and definition requires a more careful approach to shooting to eliminate all sources of vibration and camera shake. These test images are JPEG/ fine/files shot with the EOS 5Ds mounted on a tripod and using the mirror lock-up with delayed shutter release. The lens is Canon’s EF 85mm f1.2L II USM. In general, Canon recommends using the later ‘II’ versions of its L Series lenses to ensure the optical resolution is up to the job of handling 50 MP. High ISO performance is also exceptional with excellent detailing, colour rendition and dynamic range maintained all the way up to ISO 6400.

ON TRIAL

CANON EOS 5Ds The 5Ds also ticks the boxes for a multiple exposure facility, an intervalometer, manually adjustable noise reduction for both long exposures and high ISO settings, and an anti-flicker mode. This last feature (introduced on the 7D II) is designed to minimise exposure variations when shooting continuous sequences under fluorescent lighting. The inherent flickering of these light sources – related to the mains voltage frequency – is mostly invisible to the human eye, but it can make a considerable difference to exposures so the anti-flicker mode detects the frequency of the cycle and adjusts the shutter release timing between frames accordingly (or, when shooting just a single frame, adjusts the shutter’s lag time). The intervalometer can be set to record up to 99 frames – or switched to ‘Unlimited’ – over periods of up to 99 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds. Incidentally, the same maximum duration is also available for the ‘bulb’ exposure timer.

Taking Control Similar in size and styling to the EOS 5D Mark III, the 5Ds has a weather-sealed magnesium alloy bodyshell which has been reinforced in a number of areas to enhance rigidity and help minimise internal vibrations. In particular, the area around the tripod mount has been significantly beefed up via an additional internal plate (a bunch of extra screws are the external give-away) so the camera is more solidly located. As there’s no built-in WiFi, the entire bodyshell is metal and it feels incredibly

the rear is a fixed 8.1 cm LCD monitor screen (with a resolution of 1.04 million dots) and Canon’s combination of a ‘multi-controller’ joystick and its companion ‘Quick Control’ wheel which perform a wide variety of navigation and selection operations. The menu system is also the standard Canon fare so the chapters are colour-coded with entirely stand-alone pages within them (so continuous scrolling isn’t available). Navigation is via a combination of the multi-controller and ‘Quick Control’ wheel), but as on the 7D II the once very lengthy Custom menu has been pared back and many of these items sensibly relocated to the main shooting menu. One idiosyncrasy is that it’s necessary to first press the ‘Set’ button in order to bring up the sub-menus and settings. There are no touch screen controls, but the 5Ds does have a ‘Quick Control’ display to provide direct access to a host of capturerelated functions. This display is navigated conventionally via the multi-controller and settings are selected via the ‘Quick Control’ wheel. In live view, the ‘Quick Control’ function tiles are arranged down each side of the image display and are navigated in the same way. The live view screen can additionally be configured to include a real-time histogram (either brightness or RGB channels), a grid pattern (selected from a choice of three), a dual-axis level indica-

In terms of the imaging performance, the resolution is obviously the big deal, but making the most of it really does require a very disciplined approach to shooting. well-built… much more so, surprisingly, than the 5D III or 7D II. The control layout is classic Canon D-SLR with a lock-set main mode dial and large monochrome LCD read-out panel dominating the top deck. On

Top deck layout is old school Canon D-SLR and, similar to all the company’s higher-end models. There isn’t a builtin flash.

VIDEO

Lean – But Not Mean

tor, a set of status indicators or just the image alone. The level indicator is also available in the monitor screen when using the optical viewfinder. The finder’s neat masking for shooting in the crop modes has already been mentioned, but also noteworthy are its superimposed displays (via a translucent LCD read-out panel) which include the focus points, a dual-axis level indicator, guide grid and a range of status indicators. The level indicator now has both axes together

While it’s probably unlikely that the EOS 5Ds will be purchased primarily to be used as a video camera, it’s still actually reasonably capable here. What’s missing compared to the 5D III or Nikon’s video D-SLR stars is a stereo audio output for connecting headphones and a ‘clean’ uncompressed output from the HDMI terminal for connecting an external recorder. Both are important, but not necessarily essential, especially as the 5Ds can be loaded up with a lot of memory and there’s the provision of back-up recording using the two memory card slots. And, although the 5Ds could quite easily record 4K video, it can’t, leaving this the exclusive domain of Canon’s Cinema EOS cameras. Nevertheless, it records Full HD video using the whole sensor – subsequently downsized without any pixel binning – which means exceptional image quality is possible, particularly in terms of detailing and definition. In the PAL TV standard, there’s the choice of shooting at either 25 or 24 frames (pro-

ON TRIAL

CANON EOS 5Ds in a single cross-type display – rather than separated in different parts of the frame – so it’s much easier to gauge. Canon provides quite a bit of scope for customising the viewfinder display so it’s possible to pick and choose which elements are included. The review/replay screens include a highlight alert, basic capture info or a thumbnail image with either a luminance histogram or a set of RGB histograms. The playback modes include pages of four, nine, 36 or 100 thumbnails, zooming up to 16x and a slide show function with adjustable image display times (plus a repeat function). As on the 7D II, the slide show can be programmed to display selected images – for example, according to the date of capture, the folder name or a star rating.

The connection bay includes a USB-3 terminal, PC socket, HDMI and a 3.5 mm stereo audio input, but no audio output.

Impressively, the buffer emptied this 500 MB worth of data very quickly. It’s only marginally slower when handling the bigger RAW files. Given the 5Ds certainly isn’t designed to be a sports camera – it’s hard to see 50 MP really being needed for this application – its speed capabilities are more than adequate…

and it really wasn’t all that long ago when 5.0 fps was considered fast. In terms of the imaging performance, the resolution is obviously the big deal, but it became evident during testing that making the most of it really does require a very disciplined approach to shooting. In other words, the camera needs to be on a tripod and, if the subject matter allows, the mirror lock-up delay employed. Do all this, and the rewards are truly exceptional levels of crisply-defined fine details complimented with the faithful reproduction of subtle tonal gradations. Whereas we’d typically evaluate test images for sharpness and noise at 100 percent, with the 5Ds this needs to be done at 200 percent. Particularly commendable is that everything holds together exceptionally well across the native sensitivity range so even images captured at ISO 6400 are still superbly detailed and only a small amount of luminance noise is evident in areas of continuous tone (but again only after significant enlargement). Using the Fine Detail ‘Picture Style’ provided some additional edge enhancement, giving a little more visual ‘pop’ without looking artificial.

doubt the twin processors could handle it, the 5Ds doesn’t offer a 50 fps (or 60 fps for NTSC) recording speed. A very nice feature is ‘Silent Control’ which converts the ‘Quick Control’ wheel into a four-way touch pad, enabling noiseless adjustment of the shutter speeds and apertures, the ISO, exposure compensation and the sound recording levels. The built-in microphone is mono, but there’s a 3.5 mm stereo input for an external mic. The left and right audio channel levels can be manually adjusted in-camera (over a usefully wide range) with a set of level meters shown in the movie recording information display. Both a wind filter and an attenuator are provided. Most of the main processing and correction functions available for still photography are also available for video recording, including the ‘Picture Style’ presets, exposure compensation, noise reduction, the ‘Auto Lighting Optimiser’ dynamic range expansion and ‘Highlight Tone Priority’. The native ISO range of

100 to 6400 is available (but not the expansion settings) and exposures can be preset via any of the ‘PASM’ modes. Continuous autofocusing during recording is provided by the ‘Movie Servo AF’ mode, but this uses contrast-detection measurements so its real-world usability is limited by the slower operating speeds. Manual focus assist is via a magnified image (adjustable from 6x up to 16x), but there isn’t a focus peaking display which is proven to be really helpful with fine-tuning (even when shooting stills). A bit surprisingly given video is a sideline for this camera, it has a really nifty facility for making time-lapse movies – a first for Canon D-SLRs – which processes the stills in-camera, turning them into a Full HD movie. Again, the interval adjustments can be set from one second up to 99 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, while the number of frames ranges up to 3600 with a maximum of two minutes and 30 seconds of playback time.

Speed and Performance Loaded with our Lexar Professional 64 GB SDXC 600x reference memory card, the EOS 5Ds captured a sequence of 25 JPEG/large/fine frames in 4.634 seconds dead which represents a shooting speed of 5.39 fps. This is slightly better than Canon’s quoted 5.0 fps and the test file size averaged around 21 MB.

gressive scan) with either IPB or ALL-I compression (i.e. in multiple frames or frame-by-frame, the latter obviously being easier to edit). Also beneficial at editing time is the embedding of SMPTE time-coding. Clips are recorded in the MOV format using the MPEG 4 AVC/H .264 codec and, when the 4.0 GB file size limit is reached, the camera seamlessly starts a new file so the limit on clip length is time – up to 29 minutes and 59 seconds. Although there’s little

The menu for video recording offers a variety of resolution options from Full HD down to 640 by 480 at 30 frames per second.

ON TRIAL

CANON EOS 5Ds The dynamic range is good but not exceptional with JPEG capture and, not surprisingly, a whole lot better with RAW capture which is largely maintained after these files are converted to TIFFs. With its larger pixels, the Pentax 645Z – the 5Ds’s closest competitor in imaging performance terms – does better in terms of both dynamic range and the signal-to-noise ratio at the lower ISO settings, but the Canon catches up dramatically at the higher sensitivity settings especially with JPEG capture, beating all comers from among its full35mm sensor rivals. Subjectively, the EOS 5Ds easily beats the Nikon D810 for definition detailing and dynamic range at ISO 100 and it’s safe to conclude it performs better at ISOs of 3200 and 6400 thanks to carefully balanced noise reduction techniques which result in a negligible loss of sharpness.

The Verdict All hail the new king of the full-35mm format D-SLRs. Fifty megapixels is a significant increase over 36 and it shows, but more importantly Canon has effectively dealt with the issues associated with having smaller pixels so the noise characteristics are something of a revelation, but also – to a lesser extent – is the dynamic range. Consequently, the marked increases in detailing and definition are delivered without some of the usual penalties… including, in the case of moving up to digital medium format, a bigger and bulkier camera. It’s akin to going on an all-chocolate diet and not putting on any weight! While Nikon’s 36 MP D-SLRs have undoubtedly nibbled at the edges of the digital medium format sector, the EOS 5Ds and 5Ds R are taking aim at the very heart of it. And while, of course, all 50 MP sensors aren’t created equal, Canon has done enough with its full-35mm size CMOS to make the questions about price differences – even with the comparatively affordable Pentax 645Z – rather harder to answer. And, in the background, around 30 L Series EF mount lenses are adding their considerable weight to the argument. Put simply, the EOS 5Ds is a magnificent machine. Like the major milestone Canon D-SLRs before it – EOS D30, EOS-1Ds, EOS 300D and EOS 5D – it will change the world.

SPECS

CANON EOS 5DS $4999

Type: Enthusiast-level/semi-professional digital SLR with Canon EF bayonet lens mount. Focusing: Automatic via 61-point wide-area system using phase-detection type CMOS sensor. 41 points are cross-type arrays at f4.0, five points are dual cross-type arrays at f2.8, centre point is cross-type array at f8.0. Focus points may be selected manually or automatically (9, 15 or 61 points selectable), ‘Zone AF’ and ‘Large Zone AF’. AF point expansion (4 points – one up/down/ left/right; or 8 fully surrounding points). One-shot and continuous (Predictive AI Servo) modes with auto/manual switching. Continuous AF with predictive function and acceleration/deceleration tracking and adjustable tracking sensitivity. Sensitivity range is EV -2.0 - 18 (f2.8, ISO 100). AF assist only provided by accessory flashes. AF micro-adjustment for up to 40 individual lenses. Contrast-detection AF in live view and video modes. Metering: Via 150,000 pixels ‘RGB+IR’ sensor. 252-zones evaluative, selective area (13% of image area), spot (6.1%), centre-weighted average and E-TTL II auto flash. Metering range is EV 0 to 20 (50mm/f1.4/ISO 100). Exposure Modes: Continuously-variable program with shift, shutter-priority auto, aperture-priority auto, ‘Scene Intelligent Auto’, metered manual, E-TTL II auto flash. Shutter: Electronically-controlled vertical travel focal plane type, 30-1/8000 second plus ‘B’. Flash sync to 1/200 second. Exposure compensation up to +/-5.0 EV in either ½ or 1/3 stop increments. Flash: No built-in flash. External flash units sync via a hotshoe or PC terminal. Viewfinder: Coverage = 100% vertical/horizontal. Magnification = 0.71x (50mm lens at infinity). LCD displays and LED focus point indicators. Fixed focusing screen. Eyepiece strength adjustment provided. Additional Features: Magnesium alloy bodyshell with weather-proofing, auto exposure bracketing (over two, three, five or seven frames), depth-of-field preview, AE lock, dual-mode self-timer (two and ten second delays), mirror lock-up (adjustable time delays from 1/8 to 2.0 seconds), audible signals, wireless (IR) remote control, wired remote control, silent shutter mode, 16 custom functions. DIGITAL SECTION Sensor: 53.0 million pixels CMOS with 36.0x24.0 mm area and 3:2 aspect ratio. Sensitivity equivalent to ISO 100-6400 (expandable to ISO 50 and 12,800). Focal Length Increase: None. Formats/Resolution: Two JPEG compression settings plus RAW lossless compression. Six resolution settings at 3:2; 8688x5792, 7680x5120, 5760x3840, 4320x2880, 1920x1280 and 720x480 pixels. Six resolution settings at 1.3x crop; 6758x4512, 6016x4000, 4512x3008, 3376x2256, 1920x1280 and 720x480 pixels. Six resolution settings at 1.6x crop; 5424x3616, 4800x3200, 3616x2408, 2704x1808, 1920x1080 and 720x408 pixels. Six resolution settings at 1:1 aspect ratio; 5792x5792, 5120x5120, 3840x3840, 2880x2880, 1280x1280 and 480x480pixels. 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratio settings also available. RAW images are captured at 8688x5792, 6480x4320 and 4320x2880 pixels. 42-bit RGB colour. RAW+JPEG capture is possible. Video Recording: Full HD = 1920x1080 pixels at 25 or 24 fps (progressive) and 16:9 aspect ratio. HD =

body only. Estimated average street price.

1280x720 pixels at 50 fps and 16:9 aspect ratio. SD = 640x480 pixels at 25 fps and 4:3. MPEG 4 AVC/H .264 compression (ALL-I or IPB methods). ALL-I compression requires UHS-I speed memory card). Mono sound recording with adjustable levels and wind filter. Stereo microphone input provided. Time code support. Clip duration limited to 29 minutes and 59 seconds. Recording Media: Dual slots for SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards with UHS-I support, and CompactFlash memory cards with UDMA-7 support. Continuous Shooting: Up to 510 frames at 5.0 fps in JPEG/large/fine mode, up to 14 frames in RAW mode. White Balance: Auto/manual with six presets and one custom setting, white balance bracketing (two, three, five or seven frames), white balance correction (blueto-amber and/or green-to-magenta) and manual colour temperature setting (2500-10,000 degrees Kelvin). Auto correction can be set to either Ambience Priority or White Priority. Interfaces: USB 3.0/AV, mini HDMI (Type C), 3.5 mm stereo audio input. Additional Digital Features: Live view functions (with contrast-detection AF), built-in sensor cleaning, 8.1 cm fixed LCD monitor (1.04 megadots), sRGB or Adobe RGB colour spaces, eight ‘Picture Style’ modes (Auto, Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Fine Detail, Neutral, Faithful and Monochrome), three user-definable ‘Picture Styles’, six adjustable ‘Picture Style’ parameters (Sharpness – Strength, Sharpness – Fineness, Sharpness - Threshold, Contrast, Saturation and Colour Tone), B&W filter effects (Yellow, Orange, Red, Green), B&W toning effects (Sepia, Blue, Purple, Green), grid guides (choice of three), highlight warning, ‘Exposure Simulation’ display, dual-axis electronic level display, long exposure noise reduction (Auto, On, Off), high ISO noise reduction (Low, Standard, Strong, Multi-Shot, Off), ‘Highlight Tone Priority’ dynamic range expansion processing (On, Off), ‘Auto Lighting Optimiser’ settings (Low, Standard, High, Off), in-camera lens abberation correction (‘Peripheral Illumination’ and ‘Chromatic Aberration), multiple exposure facility (up to nine with Additive/Average/Bright/Dark exposure adjustments), multi-shot HDR capture (Auto, +/-1.0, +/-2.0, +/-3.0 EV) with auto align and four effects (Art Standard, Art Vivid, Art Bold, Art Embossed), anti-flicker mode, intervalometer (up to 99 shots or unlimited), in-camera RAW-to-JPEG conversion (ten parameters), adjustable image display time, auto playback, auto image rotation, 4/9/36/100 thumbnail displays, zoom playback (up to 16x), insert copyright information, auto power-off (adjustable duration), DPOF and PictBridge compliant. May be fitted with optional Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E7 II or GP-E2 GPS receiver. Power: One rechargeable 7.2 volt 1865 mAh lithium-ion battery pack (LP-E6N type). Optional BG-E11 battery grip can be fitted and accepts six AA-size batteries or two LP-E6 packs. Dimensions (WxHxD): body only = 152.0x116.4x76.4 mm. Weight: body only = 845 grams (without battery pack or memory card). Price: $4999 body only (estimated average street price). Distributor: Canon Australia Pty Ltd, telephone 1800 021 167 or visit www.canon.com.au