Canon EOS R5 Mark II Mirrorless Camera (Body Only)

Canon's own specification page lists trains, airplanes and racing cars among the vehicles the autofocus can recognise, which makes this the only camera of the four whose subject detection names the subject you are chasing. Add 30 fps with the electronic shutter, 12 fps mechanical, and an optional pre-burst that records up to 0.5 seconds before you press the shutter fully, and the R5 Mark II is built for the single decisive frame of a fast passage. The 45-megapixel sensor leaves room to crop a distant locomotive from a safe public position.

DPReview shot extensively with the camera, including bike racing, and found tracking held up well on cyclists rounding corners, with a very high hit rate when subject recognition was on; at 30 fps it stayed consistently focused, though it sometimes locked onto a cap rather than the pupil. The review does not report a train test, so how well the train setting performs at the lineside is not confirmed by that test. Canon quotes the buffer at 760 JPEG or 230 RAW at 12 fps mechanical with a CFexpress card, and 200 JPEG or 93 RAW at 30 fps electronic; with an SD card the mechanical RAW figure falls to 95 and the electronic one to 86. DPReview measured stills readout of about 6.3 ms, which limits skew from the electronic shutter. Video has limits: body-only 4K/60 is rated at about 45 minutes and 8K/60 Raw about 18 minutes at the standard setting, in 23 degrees C conditions. The body weighs 746 g with card and battery.

Expert pick · DPReview: DPReview scored it 93 percent, calling it faster, smarter and a little more capable than the original R5, with fast subject tracking and Action Priority modes; its reservations were slightly less base-ISO dynamic range and temperature limits on demanding video. Read the review

It suits experienced photographers who already shoot fast trains and want the highest hit rate, more cropping room and a faster burst, and who can accept a heavy, premium-tier body and CFexpress cards. Look elsewhere if you are new to photography or want a light kit for long walks; the APS-C bodies cost less and weigh much less.

The Canon EOS R7 offers a 15 fps mechanical shutter, 32.5 megapixels, 1.6x crop reach and a body weight of 612 g with card and battery, at a lower price tier. Its subject detection does not list trains, however.

Photo: Dinkun Chen / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Canon EOS R10 Mirrorless Camera with RF-S 18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM Lens Kit

Canon · Mid-range

A compact 24.2-megapixel APS-C mirrorless camera with a 15 fps mechanical shutter and Canon subject-tracking autofocus, supplied here with the RF-S 18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM zoom.

Expert pick · DPReview, Apr 2023

Why railfans pick itCheck price on Amazon (affiliate link, opens Amazon in a new tab)

Photo: Henry Söderlund / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · source

Canon EOS R7 Mirrorless Camera (Body Only)

Canon · Mid-range

A 32.5-megapixel APS-C mirrorless body with a 15 frames-per-second mechanical shutter, in-body stabilisation and dual card slots, built for action and wildlife photography.

Expert pick · DPReview, Jun 2023

Why railfans pick itCheck price on Amazon (affiliate link, opens Amazon in a new tab)