Canon EOS 5DS R vs Nikon D610 — Which Is Better?

The Canon EOS 5DS R and the Nikon D610 are both DSLRs. The 5DS R arrived in 2015, two years after the 2013 D610. The D610 is the lighter carry at 850 g against 930 g, and smaller at 141 x 113 x 82 mm versus 152 x 116 x 76 mm.

The 5DS R is the stronger choice for heavy cropping and large prints, with 50.6 megapixels against the D610's 24. A distant bird cropped hard still leaves pixels for a big print. The D610 answers with a modest burst edge, 6 frames per second against 5. They also use different mounts, Canon EF and Nikon F FX, so lenses do not cross between systems.

The 5DS R reaches a shorter exposure of 1/8000 second against 1/4000, helping with wide apertures in bright daylight, and its 61 autofocus points outnumber the D610's 39. Both use full-frame CMOS sensors, share a standard ISO range of 100 to 6400, and lack in-body stabilisation, so handheld work depends on technique or a stabilised lens. In expanded settings the D610 reaches ISO 25600 against 12800 on the 5DS R.

Video tops out at Full HD on both, with maximum frame rates of 30 frames per second, so neither suits 4K timelines or heavy slow motion. Each includes a built-in intervalometer, so timelapse sequences need no external trigger. The recording file format differs, MOV on the 5DS R and MPEG-4 on the D610, mainly affecting editing software compatibility.

The D610 is the more connected body day to day. It has built-in Wi-Fi for wireless transfer plus a pop-up flash for fill light, neither of which the 5DS R offers. The Canon answers with a more detailed rear screen, 1,040,000 dots against 921,000, when checking focus.

Some protections and controls are shared. Both are weather sealed, both accept external flash, and both offer live view on a fixed, non-touch screen, so neither assists waist-level or overhead framing. Neither has GPS, so geotagging needs an external accessory.

The D610 offers the longer rated shooting day, 900 shots per charge against 700 for the 5DS R under their respective test conditions. The 5DS R counters with more flexible storage, its slots taking SD plus Compact Flash while the D610 takes SD only. Neither charges over USB, so each battery returns to its own charger.