Marelux has released its underwater housing for the new Canon EOS R5 Mark II. The second-gen pro-level full-frame mirrorless camera features a back-illuminated, stacked 45MP sensor, shoots up to 30fps using its electronic shutter, and records 8K/60p RAW video internally.
Aiming to take full advantage of the R5II’s capabilities, Marelux’s anodized aluminum alloy housing features an ergonomic design with controls arranged around the built-in handles. A quick-release baseplate allows the camera to be easily inserted with precision and removed again. Dual locking levers ensure the housing is safely closed, while ports and extension rings are secured in place using another locking lever. The housing ships with a vacuum detection and moisture alarm system.
The housing is compatible with various novel accessories, including the Flashfuel FF2100, which combines a flash trigger and a power bank (for charging the camera as well as powering the flash trigger); and the Remote Shutter Module, which allows you to control the shutter remotely using the Marelux Artemis 4500 RMT video light.
The MX-R5II housing has an MSRP of $3,398 and can be ordered directly from the Marelux website.
PRODUCT INFORMATION
MX-R5II Housing for Canon EOS R5II Mirrorless Digital Camera
INTRODUCTION
Marelux housing has the industry leading design that’s not only more compact than other brands but also more simplified in mechanical structure to make it easy to assemble. With 125mm port diameter, the biggest in the market, users can easily install and uninstall cameras with large lens through the housing.
Marelux housing is built using uniquely anodized aluminum alloy which provides superb scratch resistance, sea water erosion durability as well as the attractive options of various surface colors. The housings maintain a perfect balance between sturdy body and lightweight. It has the best-in-class ergonomics with all the camera controls readily available at your fingertips including AF-ON and Q Menu.
Marelux housing can be connected to other innovative products made by Marelux, such as 180-degree Smart Viewfinder etc., making diving and underwater photography easier, safer and more enjoyable.
FEATURES
Flashfuel FF2100 (Manual Flash Trigger + 2100mAh Power Bank Combo)
Patented Design: Tailored for underwater photography and high-speed shooting, combining flash triggering and camera power supply in a single compact device.
Ultra-durable Trigger Performance: Powered by a single CR123A 3V lithium battery, it can handle up to 300,000 flash triggers before replacement.
Robust USB-C Power Output: Integrates a 2100mAh rechargeable battery, offering up to 30W output (5–20V), capable of powering your camera directly.
Remote Shutter Module
With an invention patent, the Remote Shutter Module is designed to enhance underwater photography by providing remote control capabilities to remotely control the camera shutter release via Marelux’s Artemis 4500 RMT Light (42703). It features an effective receiving distance of 10 meters and an optical signal receiving angle of 140 degrees, allowing for flexible positioning and reliable performance.
Dual Locking System
Requires little effort to lock it in place, while making it almost impossible to be unlocked by accident, and it will take only a second to open if needed for a battery change.
Manual Flash Trigger
The flash trigger can translate the electric signal from the camera into light signal, with an extremely long battery life of 10,000 triggers on only two CR2032 batteries.
Built-in Lock
Extension ring and port can be safely locked in place with the built-in locking system on the housing with one simple click.
Sturdy Baseplate
A 50kg force is applied to secure the camera with the design of the quick release baseplate, while being extremely convenient to operate.
Aquatica has announced its housing for the Canon EOS R5 Mark II. The second incarnation of the pro-level full-framer sports a new back-illuminated, stacked 45MP sensor, promising much greater readout speeds. The new hardware allows the camera to shoot full-resolution RAW images with AF at 30fps using its electronic shutter as well as record 8K/60p RAW video internally.
Hewn from aluminum, anodized and baked with tough powder coat paint, Aquatica’s housing features integrated handles, stainless steel push buttons, and compatibility with both native RF and legacy EF lenses (using a mount adapter and extension ring). The housing has a large-bore M24 port supporting HDMI 2.0 output to a recorder/monitor like the Atomos Ninja V+.
The housing can be ordered in four configurations: (i) with dual Nikonos bulkheads, (ii) with dual optical bulkheads and an LED trigger, (iii) with a single Ikelite bulkhead, and (iv) with Ikelite TTL capability (which requires the separate purchase of Ikelite’s DL5 Canon TTL converter). All versions include Aquatica’s Surveyor vacuum circuitry (pump, valve and sensor) as standard.
The housing is available for pre-order from retailers such as Backscatter at an MSRP of at $3,400.
When purchasing underwater photography equipment like the products mentioned in this article, please support DPG by supporting our retail partner—Backscatter.com.
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Aquatica AR5 II: 20099
Price includes your choice of strobe connectors & our complete vacuum, sensor & pump system:
Double Nikonos
Single Ikelite-Manual
Dual Optical-Flash trigger included
Ikelite TTL capability
*Ikelite DL5 external converter required #46074
We are proud to present one of our latest housings: The AR5II for the Canon EOS R5 MKII Mirrorless camera! Continuing in Aquatica’s reputation for offering premium quality and at affordable prices, the AR5II housing has the finest ergonomics and control accessibility combined with the famed ruggedness of our all aluminum construction and distinctive hard coating.
THE CAMERA
The EOS R5 Mark II Mirrorless Camera is the multimedia professional’s solution for versatility, image quality, and intelligence. Features:
45MP Full-Frame Stacked BSI CMOS Sensor
DIGIC Accelerator Processing
Dual Pixel Intelligent AF, Eye Control
8K 60 Raw/4K 60 SRAW/4K 120 10-Bit Video
Up to 30 fps, Pre-Continuous Shoot Mode
76m-Dot EVF with OVF Sim. View Assist
2″ Vari-Angle Touchscreen LCD
In-Camera Upscaling to 179MP
CFexpress & SD UHS-II Memory Card Slots
Wi-Fi 6E / Wi-Fi 6 Support
ABOUT THE HOUSING
As to be expected with all Aquatica housings, it is CNC machined from 6061 T6 Aluminum with a MIL-A-8625 anodized coating and added on top a baked on, extra tough powder coat paint. All control shafts and push buttons are made from T304 stainless steel. This, as for all our housings, will take a licking and keep going!
The AR5II housing supports not only the new RF mount lenses but also the EF mount by simply using our new adaptor extension ring #48474. This new adapter can easily be installed and will enable the AR5 housing to function with any previous Canon EF lens and its corresponding extension ring.
Surveyor monitoring system INCLUDED
What was previously an optional accessory, we are now including our field proven Surveyor Vacuum System (Pump, valve and sensor) as standard.
VIEWFINDERS
The Aquatica AR5 II housing is supplied with our Galileo type eye piece. This high quality and coated optical finder gives a bright and full view of the view finder. For those seeking the ultimate in viewing for still image, the optional Aqua View Finder, available in straight and 45 degrees version, are among the best of the industry, they can easily be installed in a matter of a few minutes by the user. The enlarged and enhanced image provided by the Aqua View Finder (#20054 & 20059) is second to none in clarity; it provides the photographer with tack sharp corner to corner viewing of the camera view finder for composing and critical focusing.
SPECIFICATIONS
Part Number:
20099-NK-VC: with double Nikonos bulkheads & complete Surveyor vacuum circuitry
20099-KM-VC: with single Ikelite bulkhead & complete Surveyor vacuum circuitry
20099-OPT-VC: with dual optical bulkheads, LED trigger & complete Surveyor vacuum circuitry
20099-KTTL-VC: with Ikelite TTL capability & complete Surveyor vacccum circuitry
*Ikelite DL5 External converter required #46074. Purchased separately from Ikelite.
Composition: Aerospace grade 6061 T6 Aluminum with MIL-A-8625 Anodized Coating then finished with a baked on, super tough, abrasion resistant powder coat paint. Control shafts and all push buttons are T304 Stainless Steel
HDMI: Large 23.75mm (.950 inch) HDMI Bulkhead Opening
Depth Rating: 90m ~ 300 ft. Can be upgraded to 130m, ~ 450 ft with our deep spring kit
Weight: 6.5 lb (2.94kg)
Dimensions: 9.50” x 7.10” x 5.96” (W x H x D) (241mm x 180mm x 151mm)
Port System: Compatible with all Aquatica DSLR sized Bayonet Mount Ports
SUPPORTED ACCESSORIES
Aqua View and Aqua View 45 & 180 viewfinders
Full line of the Delta 3 Arm System
5HD Monitor
Aquatica Close Up Kit
Aquatica Housing Lanyard K
RETAIL PRICE AT ONLY $3,399.00
For more information, please contact: info@aquatica.ca or call 514-737-9481
The R5 Mark II has arrived! It is a good camera but very similar to the old R5 which came out in 2020. I’ve had the original R5 since it came out in October 2020 and the question I want answered is should I buy the new R5 Mark II?
In this post I will strive to answer this question with an honest comparison of these two great cameras.
Taken with the R5.
The old R5 has already been marked down by $1,000 on most websites. Previous generations always get reduced in price prior to the next gen camera’s but it still seems like a bit of a low price for a high quality camera like the R5. It looks like market demand for the R5 has tailed off substantially, and that is true for the R3 and R5C as well. That is why Canon is going for a relatively quick refresh of the R5 after almost exactly 4 years they’re upping the ante with a new R5, the R5 Mark II.
The main thing I want to know is this, is the old R5 at it’s reduced price a good purchase? Below are some stats to help you make sense of this puzzle.
Canon claims that the R5 Mark II is using a stacked sensor with Sony’s BSI technology. Stacked sensors are supposed to be able to “read out” the sensor much faster than the “old technology”. However, when it comes to video rolling shutter, the R5 Mark II performs exactly the same as the original R5. Perhaps the original R5 had a stacked sensor even though it wasn’t marketed as such? Or, maybe Sony’s sensor technology just isn’t that great.
Resolution
The R5 Mark II has the exact same resolution as the current R5.
Readout Speed / Rolling Shutter
The R5 Mark II has faster read out speed when using electronic shutter for still photos only. When using the fully electronic shutter for stills, the new R5 Mark II is more than twice as fast as the original R5 which makes the new R5 a lot better if you like to use electronic shutter… but it still isn’t anywhere close to as fast as a mechanical shutter.
The R5 Mark II’s readout speed remains the same as the R5 for video with a maximum speed around 13 milliseconds. However, the R5 Mark II now adds in 8k 60fps shooting at 13 milliseconds readout speed. This results in a similar readout performance to the original R5 which shot 4k 120fps at its maximum. 4k 120 is equal to 8k 60 in terms of readout performance as 4k 120 is done line skipped in the original R5. Reading half the lines at 120fps is obviously the same speed as reading them all out at 60fps. This type of readout is called “line skipped” readout. The new R5 Mark II, unfortunately, also does 4k 120fps as line skipped, limiting its maximum readout speed to the same as the original R5 for video purposes.
Video Improvements
The R5 Mark II now has 8k 60fps resolution which goes above the original R5’s 8k 30fps video resolution.
The R5 Mark II has also improved upon the dreaded overheating issues the original R5 had, even without the new external cooling battery grip available only for the R5 Mark II.
AF improvements
The R5 Mark II has the same AF system as the original R5 just with more firmware updates. There are no new features other than supposedly better tracking AF. Despite initial reports, I doubt the R5 Mark II will be as good as the R1 when it comes to subject tracking.
Faster CPU
There is no indication that the R5 Mark II has a different CPU when compared to the current R5.
Dynamic Range
According to online review sites, the new R5 Mark II has no dynamic range improvements in stills from 100 ISO to 6400 ISO. In fact, it appears to have slightly less dynamic range than the original R5. It is not known if the new R5 Mark II uses a dual gain sensor like the R5 used, but if it does use a dual gain sensor, it no longer switches to another gain circuit at 400 ISO, instead, this appears to be done at a much higher ISO past 1600.
The R5 has no problem picking up all the details in this scene of a white building with a gigantic white dome.
The 100% view crops below show that there are very few details missing in this shot taken in bright midday sun.
The basic point is, if the R5 isn’t adding more dynamic range then how is it going to make an image like this substantially better?
Well, for video at least, the R5 Mark II is going to add a couple features that some people will want to buy. It appears to have slightly more accurate colors out of camera which is great for people who want a faster workflow. I think the R5’s colors are close enough most of the time but it does require some color grading to look normal.
The R5 Mark II is also supposed to have a lot more dynamic range in video mode when shooting in LOG formats. Camera’s like the R5 C have a lot of dynamic range in LOG getting all the way up to 14 stops, but, the R5 Mark II is supposed to have 16+ stops when shooting LOG. That puts the R5 Mark II less than a stop below the latest and greatest cinema cameras… I know a lot of video people will be interested in that capability.
Ergonomics Updates
The R5 Mark II has slightly changed ergonomics and physical design. The power switch has been moved to the right side of the camera and there is now a fan included in the battery grip which modestly increases recording times for video. There is also a new flash hot shoe which allows the camera to work with Canon’s new lineup of super high-performance flashes.
Bottom Line
The new R5 Mark II is a great camera, which makes sense, since it is nearly the same as the original R5, but now with a few performance updates. Because of all the updates it is now $4,299. And at this price the fully electronic shutter is now competitive with the Nikon Z9, the Canon R3, and the Canon R1. In stills mode the electronic shutter can readout in about 6.3 milliseconds, whereas the original R5 is set to read out in about 16.8 milliseconds for a still photo. Unfortunately, the video readout speeds are just about the same between the two cameras. Because the new R5 Mark II still has overheating as an issue when shooting high resolution video, the sensor is intentionally slowed down to about the same speed as the original R5 to help increase shooting times. On a brighter note, the new R5 Mark II has 16+ stops of dynamic range when shooting in video LOG formats. Since there is no log format for stills, the dynamic range there is just about identical to the original R5. But, getting 16+ stops of dynamic range for 8k 60fps video means the R5 Mark II can definitely deliver some high quality video if called upon to do so.
If you shoot video the new R5 Mark II appears to be an upgrade over the original. However, if you shoot stills, the original R5 doesn’t give up a whole lot compared to the new one. True, you can shoot with the new electronic shutter, but, the good old mechanical shutter is still superior to every camera’s electronic shutter. Yes, the MECHANICAL SHUTTER IS STILL #1. Basically, there’s no point to an electronic shutter just yet, even though random dip shits will say ITS SOOO IMPORTANT. Well, it really isn’t GOOD ENOUGH. If electronic isn’t better than the mechanical shutter then it really isn’t a replacement for the mechanical shutter, is it?
If you really need maximum electronic shutter performance, the R5 Mark II still isn’t good enough in my opinion. It reads out in 6.3 milliseconds which is still quite slow. While it’s not exactly the same, it’s still only as fast to scan as a 1/160th shutter speed. And that means it’s more than 3 times slower than the R1 which reads out in 2 milliseconds. That disparity is partially explained by the lower resolution sensor (24mp vs 45mp), but it isn’t entirely explained by that. All things being equal the R5 should be able to read out in about 3-4 milliseconds.
Ok, the bottom line is this, the new R5 Mark II is a solid camera, but it’s more of a video-oriented camera. If you shoot video, it appears to be better than the original R5, but not really better than the R5 C which doesn’t overheat. For video, the R5 Mark II kind of makes sense if you want 8k 60fps right now, but it overheats even with the fancy battery grip. However, if you don’t need the highest resolution settings, you can enjoy 16+ stops of DR when shooting in LOG. Previously, the only Canon camera with that amount of dynamic range was the C300 Mark III.
For stills shooters the R5 and R5 Mark II are a little close for comfort. Aside from the electronic shutter being improved and the supposed AF improvements, there’s not a lot to get excited about. With the R5 now being about $1,500 cheaper it seems like the better option if you’re a landscape photographer or the like. It remains to be seen how much the R5 Mark II can really improve on its predecessor.
Did you just get a new R5 or R5 mk II? Here are 5 helpful settings that can help you get more out of your R5 mk II.
Tip #1: Make sure IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization) is turned on.
Both version of the R5 have IBIS. Make sure IBIS is on so you can get more sharp pictures with less camera shake.
Tip #2: Turn your EVF and rear display up to the max!
Set your display to use 120 hz pro motion for the best result. When looking at your screens it will look smoother and better, especially when there’s things moving.
On the same menu you’ll see a setting called “Suppress lower frame rate”. To maximize performance, turn this off as well.
Please enjoy the use of your camera.
Tip #3: “Lower” the image quality to get more on your cards.
The EOS R5 mk II can record with a variety of different file formats and compression algorithms to help you fit more data onto your memory card. This can be especially useful for 4k video and higher resolutions.
Tip #4: You can use EF lenses on your R5 mk II with an EF to RF adapter.
Canon was very nice to design an adapter that will let you use an EF lens with your RF camera. Simply buy Canon’s adapter and attach it to the back of your EF lens, then you can attach the lens to your R5 mk II just like any other RF lens. By do this, you can save money and still have a Canon lens. (Very nice.)
Tip #5: Use the joystick to control your focus point.
The R5 mk II has a joystick on the back of it that you can use to move your focus point around. By using the joystick, you can easily select where you want your camera to focus on the frame.
