Seems the pixel shift rumors are true. Don't see this on US servers yet, but here you go:
*Adds [IBIS High resolution shot] to the camera menu. By utilizing the in-body IS mechanism, it is now possible to record images with higher resolution. *
www.canon.com.au/support/support-news/firmware-updates/eos-r5-firmware-version-1-8-1
With DPP being what it is, it will take approx. 6 months to process one of those images ..😒
Good news. Finally R5 users can now enjoy pixel shift.
On paper at least this allows Canon to show feature parity against other manufacturers. In fact, more than feature parity, since Canon's 400MP is higher than what we get with most other cameras.
From the various initial quick reviews (which are lukewarm at best), and the fact that this generates JPEG only, whether this feature is useful in practice will be interesting to see.
I use sensor shift. Shift the sensor left, right, up, and down then stitch them later in software. 😁
You must have very steady hands! 😀
Canon Europe web page says:
It seems to me even more sensitive to movement than focus stacking. I get multiple images of every leaf. Maybe it would work to photograph small objects in a light box. Maybe I will find a use for it, but not yet.
I am beyond disappointed with this firmware release. This release shows one clear thing: Canon does not care one bit about customer requests, and only cares about a very poorly implemented new feature whose only purpose is to market “400 megapixels!!!”
At best, this feature helps a very limited number of applications, namely studio photography for ultra high format output.
In reality, there’s no in-camera processing and no RAW support, not even HEIF with HDR-10, so its value is very questionable.
Meanwhile, no AF improvements and no overexposure warnings unless you’re shooting video. Still an artificial 30 minute video recording limit. And to top it off, “Various bug fixes,” but they think we’re all a bunch of twats who are too stupid and undeserving to know what they’ve fixed. It’s quite insulting, to be honest. We’re just the stupid customers, I suppose.
On the one hand, it is quite surprising and delightful that Canon releases a firmware for a 2+ year old camera with such a headliner feature. One normally just expects firmware updates to include "misc bug fixes" and nothing else. Until the rumors a few weeks back, I would not have guessed anything like this coming for the R5.
On the other hand, you're right that this is a pretty niche feature, with some significant limitations - so likely driven as a marketing checkoff item against other manufacturers.
Well, as long as it doesn't break the camera, new firmware is good to have. There are many other features on the R5 I never or rarely use. Who knows, maybe some day I may have a need for a high res shot and be able to take advantage of this new feature.
Description of new feature is in the manual: cam.start.canon/en/C003/manual/html/UG-03_Shooting-1_0440.html
The IBIS high resolution cannot be enable if DPRAW is enabled, but this is not mentioned in the manual.
The IBIS high resolution does work in 1.6x crop mode.
The manual says that IBIS high resolution reverts to disable when the camera is turned off, but for me it remained enabled when I turned the camera off and back on.
IBIS high resolution is very sensitive to camera movement and very sensitive to anything in the scene moving.
Flipping joke IMHO especially given the hype that Canon associated with the release.
I haven't tried 1.6x plus DPRAW but that would be a handy option for us.
Reverting back after power cycle seems to work on one of our R5s have tried the other.
I have not yet removed and replaced the battery, sometimes that changes behavior after firmware update.
I think it is hard to know with certainty what the intended subject is for this application. I think not for outdoor scenes like panoramas due to it's problems with any subject movements. Perhaps indoor product photography or art like bowls of fruit would be subjects than best match this photographic capability.
Even though many like to disparage him, I think Tony Northrup's comparison with the similar Sony feature in the A7R5 was interesting for me to hear.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=05zn0YgwR1Q
It is actually high shutter speeds that cause the most problems with this mode. Remember, the camera has to take 9 exposures, and with a rolling shutter speed of about 16ms, that means that there is a total exposure period of at least 128ms plus exposure time; IOW; about 1/80s or slower, so high shutter speeds for individual frames can't really stop subject or camera motion much. If the camera is taking these shots at only 20fps, like its e-shutter bursts, then we're looking at about 400ms or longer from start to finish, again, making high shutter speeds a joke if anything is moving much. Only when motion is very small, can higher shutter speeds tighten things up. If anything is moving significantly, say a B&W flag blowing in the wind, a fast shutter speed will only make more pixels black or white, interleaved into harsh artifacts, while slower shutter speeds will blur towards grey, which is more realistic.
I've found so far that if the camera goes to its deepest sleep with the switch "on", it comes awake again with 402MP enabled, but if I just flip the switch to "off" and right back "on" again, it is disabled.
People seeing other behavior may be doing something unexpected by the firmware, like turning the switch to "off" when the camera is already asleep, but perhaps turning the camera "off" while it is awake is necessary to disable the feature?
Thanks for your reply.
I had not yet removed and replaced the battery after firmware update. After removing and replacing the battery, the behavior is as documented. Usually after a firmware update I remember to remove and replace the battery, but not this time.
First image is a tear in the paper of a resolution test chart printed on an old and cheap laser printer. This image is IBIS High resolution. The resolution captured is much higher than the resolution of the laser printer.
"[EXIF:Image] Exposure Time : 1/10
[EXIF:Image] F Number : 11.0
[EXIF:Image] ISO : 100
"
Second image is 16 bit tiff saved from ordinary CR3 file by DPP with DLO and scaled to 300% using GraphicsMagick default algorithm.
I expect that I will find a use for this feature using a light box to photograph small items.
Great to see you here John. Thanks as always for your helpful responses.
Joe
Depends on your PC power and in Win 11 on the app optimation settings.
I like DPP very much. I use adobe only for text...
Well, that was a low confidence post of mine, just a guess, but it was not useful, as I further found that anything but sleep turns the feature off. Removing the battery suddenly turns it off, and turning the switch to "off" during sleep turns it off, too, so it is still unclear how it could have stayed on during a power cycle for anyone.
Well, I just roughly measured it using a radar sweep animation of 1 second, and even with only 1/8000s exposure (which of course takes almost 1/30 under the hood with the rolling shutter), it still takes about 0.75s on average to shoot all nine positions!
The individual intervals actually vary quite a bit (some about 2x as long as others), with the total being more consistent.