[toni-a]

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/the-canon-eos-r5-is-a-cheat-code-for-wildlife-photography

R5 autofocus seems a killer option for wildlife and birds in flight 
This review looks like a Canon commercial but if what they are claiming is true you should consider it 
IMHO what they are claiming is too good to be true and when things look too good to be true usually they are... My humble experience says that for birds the challenge is locking at the bird not tracking itself and here DSLRs are still the best option

[davidmanze]

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/the-canon-eos-r5-is-a-cheat-code-for-wildlife-photography

R5 autofocus seems a killer option for wildlife and birds in flight 
This review looks like a Canon commercial but if what they are claiming is true you should consider it 
IMHO what they are claiming is too good to be true and when things look too good to be true usually they are... My humble experience says that for birds the challenge is locking at the bird not tracking itself and here DSLRs are still the best option

 Thanks but .........they are using a 70-200mm lens ....... I'm interested in seeing BIF at 600mm/800mm and for example the 800mm plus teleconverter.....

[toni-a]

I am taking what they are saying with a grain of salt... Their eye AF should be very good, already my EOSRP is doing a great job, dual pixel autofocus technology is a game changer.
But for birds in flight I seriously doubt it is as fast as flagship DSLRs for locking autofocus on the bird, from the instant it has locked on the bird things should be quite easy for it, locking on the bird is the hard part, I seriously doubt it is good enough at it

[Brightcolours]

The R5 will do better than just about any camera with BIF, Toni. The eye AF works fast even with birds, as female mixed bag Tony did manage to show.

It does not matter whether you test with a 200mm lens or a 1000mm lens, if the camera does better with 200mm than others, it will do the same with longer focal lengths.
Canon's DPAF II is pretty advanced in a lot of situations (speed, tracking, smooth video AF to name a few). Both with new RF lenses and new EF lenses, and even with old EF lenses like the old 500mm female mixed bag Tony used.

[Klaus]

Conceptually mirrorless cameras are vastly superior to DSLRs when it comes to tracking.
A DSLR is essentially blind - it simply doesn't know what it is tracking. It can detect phase changes in the AF module covering an object.
A mirrorless AF _COULD_ interpret the image. Thus it _COULD_ know the thing that it is tracking.
Whether it actually CAN do that today depends on the specific camera. Of course, the latest and greatest are better than older models here.
Given Canon's history with sports/wildlife photography, they should be good.
Whether they are better than Sony - who had more experience with eye-tracking than all others - is a different question.
It does also depend on the specific setup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyBZ2aFk93I

[Brightcolours]

Conceptually mirrorless cameras are vastly superior to DSLRs when it comes to tracking.
A DSLR is essentially blind - it simply doesn't know what it is tracking. It can detect phase changes in the AF module covering an object.
A mirrorless AF _COULD_ interpret the image. Thus it _COULD_ know the thing that it is tracking.
Whether it actually CAN do that today depends on the specific camera. Of course, the latest and greatest are better than older models here.
Given Canon's history with sports/wildlife photography, they should be good.
Whether they are better than Sony - who had more experience with eye-tracking than all others - is a different question.
It does also depend on the specific setup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyBZ2aFk93I

The newest DSLRs, like the Nikon D4/5, D850, D500, 5D mk IV, 1D-X II/III, 90D have exposure sensors that act like low resolution image sensors, giving the possibility to actually identify and track subjects in a similar manner (with more or less performance depending on the make/model).
That is why cameras like the D850 and 1D-X mk III have shown such progress in subject tracking, even against difficult backgrounds or even disappearing for moments behind foliage for instance.

[toni-a]

It is not about tracking, mirrorless tracks more accurate it's about finding and locking on the subject which is essential for birds in flight, can it do it as good as a DSLR

[Brightcolours]

It is not about tracking, mirrorless tracks more accurate it's about finding and locking on the subject which is essential for birds in flight, can it do it as good as a DSLR

It does it better than a DSLR (see that video from Tony that botched the tracking via the EVF due to the review setting).
With my DSLR for instance, I have to make clear to the camera what to focus on by putting the center AF point over the bird at first. Even then, it can arbitrary focus on the bill, the body, the head or the wing.
With this R5, it can lock on an animal all by itself, and even on the eye of the animal, even with birds in flight. You can eve switch between animals with the joystick.

[toni-a]

Exactly position the bird on the center AF points and AF locks instantly, with mirrorless it needs to lock on the bird
for birds in flight I tried 7D2 and EOSRP
7D2 instantly locks on the birds, focus precision isn't as good as EOSRP and while tracking autofocus is often OFF but it does track
EOSRP needs some time to find the bird and lock at it, however once it locks precision is deadly, it tracks it perfectly all pictures are perfectly focused, which one is better ??? I tend to prefer 7D2 since often the bird is gone before EOSRP locks on it
I did a test for shooting my daughter on a swing 7D2 did an acceptable job but hit rate was around 50% using 24-105f4, EOSRP nailed every single shot, repeated test using 85f1.8 7D2 hit rate was less than 20% again EOSRP nailed all shots but one which is impressive, here it had all the time to lock on my daughter face

[Brightcolours]

Exactly position the bird on the center AF points and AF locks instantly, with mirrorless it needs to lock on the bird
for birds in flight I tried 7D2 and  EOSRP
7D2 instantly locks on the birds, focus precision isn't as good as EOSRP and while tracking autofocus is often OFF but it does track
EOSRP needs some time to find the bird and lock at it, however once it locks precision is deadly, it tracks it perfectly all pictures are perfectly focused, which one is better ??? I tend to prefer 7D2 since  often the bird is gone before EOSRP locks on it
I did a test for shooting my daughter on a swing 7D2 did an acceptable job but hit rate was around 50% using 24-105f4, EOSRP nailed every single shot, repeated test using 85f1.8 7D2 hit rate was less than 20% again EOSRP nailed all shots but one which is impressive, here it had all the time to lock on my daughter face

The RP is not the R5... But then again, the 7D mk II is not  1D X mk III either.