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Cameras

Canon EOS R5 in 2026: Why Does Everyone Hate It?

Chris Gampat
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Last updated on 04/10/2026
04/14/2026
4 Mins read
A Canon DSLR camera with a strap rests on a sunlit, brown quilted bedspread.
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When the Canon EOS R5 II was released, I was insanely suspicious. Seemingly, everyone was praising it as the best camera in the world like the Canon EOS R5 was suddenly rendered useless. In fact, I called it the camera equivalent of catfishing. And still to this day, I wonder about this. Why does everyone hate on this camera? In truth, I think that it’s because Canon tends to spend money on flying YouTubers and influencers to do their bidding. But Phoblographer gave up press trips many years ago. So I steadfastly believe that I’m a lot more level-headed on this. And more importantly, I’m probably one of the only journalists who’s preached that Canon robbed photographers of one of the best features they had for years.

This article is an addendum to our original Canon EOS R5 review. You can read that entire review here at this link. But the rest of the update can be found here below.

The Canon EOS R5 in 2026: Is it Any Good?

A camera with a lens and strap rests on a beige quilt, lit by sunlight streaming in from the left.
Canon EOS R5 product image

Admittedly, I put my Canon cameras away for several years and every time I have to pull them out of my closet, I grunt and groan. My behavior is synonymous to a child expressing their emotional frustrations — and I embrace that. Why? Because all of these cameras are all the same in some way or another. Sometimes it feels like the cameras are made by people who don’t like spice yet constantly go to every single Indian restaurant to buy Chicken Tikka Masala and naan bread like it’s a mark of culture for them. In more plain words, it’s the same experience pretty much everywhere.

So I took it out with the 100-500mm L lens and used it for birding — and I truly did feel like it was a bit behind. But that’s not to say that I didn’t come back with pretty good images. Yet at the same time, I think that Sony has a better lens selection as does Nikon.

Brown duck swimming in clear water, with a droplet hanging from its beak.
A blue jay pecks at a tree branch surrounded by bare, tangled twigs.
A small bird with a dark head and back bathes in shallow water surrounded by rocks.
A mallard duck stands on the edge of a concrete ledge, peering over towards rippling blue water.
An American robin with an orange breast perches on a bare tree branch in soft, natural light.
A small bird perched on a nest made of dry leaves and twigs in a tree with budding branches.
A northern flicker woodpecker perched on a slanted tree trunk in a sunlit forest.
A small bird perches on a bare tree branch with a blurred, muted background.
A small bird clings to the bark of a tree, blending in with the rough brown trunk and new buds.
A mallard duck glides quickly across a calm, reflective body of water, creating a small splash.
A small bird with yellow markings perches on a branch in a forest with dry leaves and rocks.
A mallard duck with a green head swims on rippling water.
A small brown bird with a yellow streak on its head stands on a dark rock in natural sunlight.
A small gray and white bird standing on a sunlit paved path with some shadows and a curb nearby.
A robin perches on a bare tree branch against a blurry background of more branches and blue sky.
A white-throated sparrow with yellow markings perches on a log among dry leaves and twigs.
Two woodpeckers interact midair near a tree branch, with blue sky and budding leaves in the background.
A black cormorant swimming in rippling water, with its beak slightly open.
A small dark bird stands on a mound of dry leaves and wood chips in an outdoor setting.
A small dark bird stands on a mound of brown dirt with a blurred green background.

Oh, and the weather sealing still holds up.

I don’t know why Canon couldn’t do a literal firmware update to give the camera the ability to make autofocus subject detection easier to cycle through.

On my way from Central Park to a meeting with my dietitian, I pondered on why someone would bother with this camera? There’s nothing wrong with it at all for sure. But what makes it so unique? That’s when using this camera I realized and remembered that this is the last Canon camera with a very rare superpower: in-camera multiple exposure with RAW file delivery. The only cameras that do that today are the latest lineup of LUMIX full-frame cameras.

And yet again, I’m reminded of one of the many reasons why I grew so frustrated with Canon. First, they couldn’t give a final good firmware update to the Canon R5 to make it better to cycle through the autofocus types. Then, it wasn’t as great at focusing on people of color in low light. And with the upgrade to the R5 II, they took away one of the single most powerful creative abilities that a stills-based photographer could have. Additionally, they don’t play well with any third parties.

A Canon camera with a lens and strap lies on a brown quilted surface, next to a detached lens hood.
Canon EOS R5 product image

But what’s even more annoying is the fact that they’re constantly changing the positioning of buttons and such for every camera. So there’s no real muscle memory consistency. If I go from the R3 to my R5 or from the EOS R to my R5, there’s a whole lot of annoying differences.

What really annoys me even more is that Canon bent to their knees and glossed up their lips to idiotic content creators who decided to go take the camera into a hot place and complain that it overheats too much when recording video for a long period of time. The camera wasn’t designed to do that. And if anything, I don’t know why those idiotic content creators didn’t just go get cinema cameras or stick with their phones.

The other day, I read in the R/FoodNYC subreddit that content creators and TikTokers have ruined all the good food festivals. And all I could do was sit there and say is, “Me too.” Content creators ruined cameras designed for stills in the same way that gentrifies (AKA content creators) move into your neighborhood and tempt greedy landlords (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, etc.) into abandoning the people who kept them sustainable for a long time (photographers.)

So is the Canon EOS R5 a good camera in 2026?

  • Birding and wildlife: if you keep it solely in that mode, yes. But you then need a better lens selection.
  • Portraits: Incredible
  • Fine Art: Multiple exposure RAW makes this the GOAT of all Canon cameras.
  • Landscape photography: Heck yes
  • Events: Totally.
  • Street Photography: Canon needs some higher end small L-series lenses for sure.
  • Photojournalism: Absolutely

The thing is though that if you move up to the Canon R5 II, you lose some really good capabilities. If you stick with just the R5, then you also don’t get some of those other capabilities. The best case scenario then is to keep the original R5 as the backup camera and use the R5 II as your main camera.

All of these cameras make damn good photographs today. But what makes the Canon EOS R5 so unique is that it’s the last one that does multiple exposure RAW. Otherwise, it’s basically the immediate evolution of a 5D.

A hand holds a glass with ice, cityscape and lights reflecting through the glass.
Sunlit leaves with a fiery, abstract overlay near a window, creating a vibrant, warm atmosphere.
Silhouetted plants and a Buddha statue on a window ledge with large red letters on the window shade.
Street view of 69 Bar lounge with a yellow sign, satellite dish, and assorted storefronts in an urban area.
Five golden candle holders on a marble counter with a red rose in a vase; warm, ambient lighting.
A potted plant with a moss pole sits on a windowsill next to another pot, with curtains partially drawn.
A red car parked on a city street in front of a white apartment building with fire escapes.
Wavy gold metal divider with reflections and warm ambient lighting in the background.
A clear glass of light yellow drink with flower petals floating on top, placed on a wooden surface.
A clear drink with a large ice cube and pink flower petal in a glass, next to a small teapot on a wooden table.
Modern restaurant interior with a long bar, hanging globe lights, flowers in vases, and wooden chairs.
Five golden candle holders on a marble counter with a vase of red roses in a warmly lit room.
White daffodils blooming in green grass with a blurry tree and fence in the background.
A row of barefoot people in red robes walking on a sunlit surface, photographed from the knees down.
Wavy gold metal bars reflect warm light and a chandelier, creating an abstract, decorative pattern.
A black plate with a creamy dip and five slices of toasted bread, on a wooden table.
autofocus camera canon canon eso r5 canon eso r5 ii multiple exposure
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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