Canon has made changes to the power supply circuit of the LP-E6P battery, which were necessary for the new Canon EOS R5 Mark II camera. As a result: LP-E6 batteries available on the market are not compatible with this mirrorless model. Third-party batteries will not work with the Canon EOS R5 Mark II.
Over the past few days, foreign specialized sites have been checking the information that Canon has closed the possibility of using third-party batteries in the Canon EOS R5 Mark II camera. This idea seemed strange because it was not officially mentioned either during the announcement, or in the explanatory materials, or in the user manual for the new camera.
The official battery for this camera is Canon LP-E6P and looks like this:
Several users who have already purchased the Canon EOS R5 Mark II have confirmed that the camera does not work with non-original batteries. The company has released a special new battery for this camera (model LP-E6P, shown above), which provides power for all the new functions of the camera, including increased speed of reading information from the sensor, realized by a combination of two processors.
” The LP-E6P has a higher maximum continuous discharge current of 6A, enabling greater performance and functionality in new cameras ,” Canon says.
Yes, the camera can be used with LP-E6NH/LP-E6N batteries with some limitations. For example: When using LP-E6NH/LP-E6N, network functions (Wi-Fi/Ethernet) and multi-functional hot shoe accessories that require a powerful power source from the camera cannot be used. Pre-continuous shooting, HDMI RAW output, and Dual Shooting (photos and movies) are not available with these batteries. Continuous shooting speed may be reduced. Resolution, image quality, and frame rate are limited during movie recording.
But with LP-E6 batteries, the camera won’t work at all. This entails some complications that you should be prepared for if you intend to purchase and shoot with the Canon EOS R5 Mark II.
Firstly, all third-party LP-E6 batteries currently on the market will not work with the camera. This is not just about DigiCare, Raylab, but about all of them. Companies will have to develop new batteries (with no guarantee of success).
Secondly, the original Canon LP-E6P battery is incredibly expensive.
On a single battery charge, you can take 630 frames when using the display (or 340 frames when using the viewfinder). The camera has a number of energy-consuming video shooting modes, but it seems that it will overheat faster than the battery has time to discharge. The measurements are provided by DPreview :
The company also released a special grip with a built-in cooling system – with an additional fan. However, it does not significantly increase the recording time in 8K 60 fps RAW and 4K 120 fps modes.
However, at 4K 60 fps, the camera will not overheat at all in this usage scenario, and at 8K 30 fps it will be able to shoot for up to two hours without interruption.
By the way, the Canon CF-R20EP Cooling Fan Grip costs $600. Thus, in addition to the purchase price of the camera, if you plan to shoot for at least an hour, you need to buy not only a battery, but also a grip.
By the way, the new Canon LP-E6P batteries now support charging via USB directly in the camera. But only via a special USB power adapter PD-E2 or PD-E1, which are sold separately.
A third-party battery company has announced that it is currently testing new LP-E6P batteries that could be a cheaper alternative to Canon’s original batteries. A solution could be forthcoming.
As a result of all the additions and improvements, the new camera from Canon will become one of the most expensive solutions on the market at the moment
Now let’s talk about lenses. One universal (not premium) lens of the Canon RF system (for full-frame Canon cameras with autofocus support, no one produces third-party optics now). For example, Canon RF 24-105mm F/4 IS USM. This is a good lens with optical stabilization and fast autofocus.
Now let’s add it all up: camera, battery, flash drive and lens. This does not include a card reader, a spare flash drive (at least SD format), a battery grip with cooling for longer shooting, ND filters. Thus, at the moment, the Canon EOS R5 Mark II camera turned out to be one of the most expensive on the market at the time of publication of the material.
Canon EOS R5 Mark II Dynamic Range
A number of controversies in the context of the new Canon EOS R5 Mark II camera concern the dynamic range of this new product. Testers recently managed to get their hands on one of the camera samples – and today the results were published:
Here’s a visual comparison with Nikon cameras that compete with this model:
The Canon EOS R5 Mark II also produces more noise than the first-generation camera, which is due to the fact that the high-speed shooting that was added is only available with an electronic shutter.
Earlier, Canon representatives gave a big interview about the new products: the Canon EOS R5 Mark II model, as well as the Canon EOS R1. In addition, some intriguing details about the Canon EOS R6 Mark III camera were revealed.
This camera may get a 24 MP sensor, which is equipped with a more advanced and expensive Canon EOS R3 camera.
