Using the CANON R5 to Film a Commercial Video at Home

This week, I used my Canon R5 to shoot a rum commercial. Now, to make it interesting and challenging, instead of buying new gear like a slider or new lights, I decided to use whatever I could find in the attic. I love the result but... how is the Canon R5 for video?!

Check out the commercial and behind-the-scenes video
on my YouTube channel...

Does the Canon R5 work for video?

So, I've been using the Canon R5 for a while now and it's a great camera. For the particular commercial, I shot with my Canon RF 35mm 2.8. The perfect lens for videos like this. Of course, I shot everything in 4K and in frame rates ranging from 24 to 120 frames per second. The Canon R5 had real problems when released because it overheated all the time.

It seems like the overheating is not as bad anymore but I do have to say that I didn't use 120fps as much as in previous videos. So, I can't tell you for sure if there's a real improvement. The only problem I have at the moment with the Canon R5 is that you really have to shoot in 4K HQ to get the best quality and it's just a pain in the ass because the files are huge.

And the biggest problem of all is that the Canon R5 files shot in C-LOG (all frame rates and modes) are impossible to edit. I have to transcode to ProRes and that makes that every project takes a lot longer.

So, does the Canon R5 work for video. I think so but it's not at all perfect. Where as for photography, I think it's the perfect camera, for video... it feels a bit rough and unfinished. That's why, if you shoot a lot of video, I wouldn't recommend the Canon R5. Now, if you're a photographer first who also shoots some video... go for it. It's a beast!

My lighting setup

When shooting in 120fps with the Canon R5 or any other camera for that matter, you need a lot of light. I used my Godox SL60-W as the key light and while it was OK for this commercial, it's not powerful enough when you shoot a lot in 120 frames per second. It was OK because a commercial like this is usually shot in a small space.

I also used my Pixel RGB light to create a nice glow in the rum bottle and another RGB light to get that blue background. And that's actually it. You don't need much. Just improvise and make it work.

Make sure to check out the video to see the what else I used to shoot this commercial!
You’ll be surprised…!

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