EOS VR System
Reimagine Storytelling: Enter the World of Canon EOS VR
Dive into the future of visual storytelling with the Canon EOS VR System. This innovative solution empowers you to create impactful, three-dimensional virtual reality content. By seamlessly pairing a compatible Canon full-frame EOS camera with the ground-breaking RF 5.2mm F2.8L DUAL FISHEYE lens, the EOS VR System ushers in a new era of streamlined VR production.
Effortless VR Creation: A Single Take for Stunning Depth
Say goodbye to complex setups and tedious post-production with Canon’s ingenious EOS VR System. It revolutionises 180° VR capture by leveraging the power of the RF mount. This innovative design allows for a compact, dual fisheye lens that projects both left and right eye images simultaneously onto a single full-frame sensor. No more wrestling with lens alignment or image synchronisation. The EOS VR System captures everything in one go, delivering a seamless side-by-side fisheye image within a single file. This streamlined approach simplifies the conversion process, making the journey to creating high-quality equirectangular VR content smoother than ever.
How the Canon EOS VR System works
Shoot
With compatible Full Frame, RF mount cameras, such as the EOS R5 / R5 C and its stunning high-resolution sensor, it is now easier to set up and shoot for stereoscopic 180° VR. Simply attach the RF 5.2mm F2.8L DUAL FISHEYE lens to a supported camera with the appropriate firmware, choose your desired camera settings and immerse yourself in a whole new world of virtual content creation.
Convert
What was once a complex process of alignment, synchronisation and stitching with multiple camera/file systems, is now made infinitely easier thanks to Canon’s EOS VR Utility1, (supporting Canon RAW with supported cameras, including 8K RAW LT/60P from the EOS R5 C), which makes conversion of the stereoscopic footage and stills for editing and playback, a much more efficient process. You can even import and automatically convert Canon’s VR footage (MP4) direct into Adobe Premiere Pro1, by using Canon’s EOS VR Plug-in.
Edit
Canon’s EOS VR Utility can do basic cropping of your Canon VR video files, before conversion. However, for greater control over the grade and edit, for more professional productions, then use Adobe Premier Pro by importing the converted files from the EOS VR Utility, or simply use the EOS VR plug-in for Adobe Premier Pro to import and convert your EOS VR files in one process.
The benefits of the Canon EOS VR System
Two lenses, one sensor
Enables compatible high resolution, RF mount cameras such as the EOS R5/R5 C2 to record two images onto its single Full Frame sensor, for a quicker, simpler and more robust camera setup, requiring no camera or lens alignment and synchronisation. Plus, using a single sensor system on a single camera, means that both images exhibit the same colour response and exposure characteristics, and by default, all the camera settings will be exactly the same, meaning less time needed in post-production to make the left and right images match.
Efficient single file management and conversion
Capturing both the left and right eye images onto one sensor, enables the recording of the already aligned and synchronised images into one file. This simplifies file management for equirectangular conversion (requiring no additional processes for stitching of multiple images/files) and export to various professional codecs, ready for playback or further editing in an NLE timeline.
EOS Camera system
Utilising an EOS camera such as the EOS R5/R5 C, with its 8K sensor, enables operators to shoot with a more familiar and flexible camera system, while having the ability to shoot Canon Log/Log3, providing images with both a high resolution and wide dynamic range for footage with a greater sense of immersion and realism in the final output.
The Canon EOS VR System in action
Clive Booth capturing Swan Lake in VR at the Birmingham Royal Ballet
In this video, you can get behind the scenes with Canon Ambassador, Clive Booth, who explains the concept and how it was brought to life with the help of the Canon EOS R5 C, the RF 5.2mm F2.8L DUAL FISHEYE lens and the EOS VR Utility software.
“As a photographer and filmmaker, I’m always looking for new and meaningful ways to tell a story and now for the first time, I can immerse an audience quite literally inside the narrative. This project brings dance to those who wouldn’t normally be able to visit live theatre and is a wonderful example of technology used for good.” – says Clive Booth.
Behind the scenes with VR filmmaker, Sam Baumel
In this video, you can get behind the scenes with VR filmmaker, Sam Baumel, who shows how VR can transport your audience to the scene much more effectively than traditional video
“When you’re watching a traditional video, there is a frame. Whether it’s a movie screen, your phone or your TV but when you’re wearing a VR headset, there really isn’t a frame. So there are no peripheral distractions, everything you see is the intention of the filmmaker.” – says Sam Baumel.
Canon EOS VR System Cameras and Lenses
Full-frame Mirrorless Camera
- 45MP CMOS Sensor
- 8K 12-bit 60p video
- Unlimited recording
Full-frame Mirrorless Camera
- 45MP CMOS Sensor
- 8K 12-bit 30p video
- Up to 29min recording
Full-frame Mirrorless Camera
- 24.2MP CMOS Sensor
- 4K 60p video
- Unlimited recording
Full-frame Dual Fisheye Lens
- Fast f/2.8 aperture
- L-series build quality
- 180° VR capture
APS-C Mirrorless Camera
- 32.5MP CMOS Sensor
- 4K 30p video
- Unlimited recording
APS-C Dual Fisheye Lens
- STM focusing motor
- Rear screw-on filter
- 144° VR Capture
Notes
1 EOS VR Utility and the EOS VR Plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro are required to perform the equirectangular projection of recorded 180° VR images from a compatible Canon camera. Version 1.2 or later of the EOS VR Utility will enable the conversion of supported Canon RAW files, including 8K RAW LT/60P from the EOS R5 C (compatible RAW formats may vary per camera), plus support for Apple Silicon and GPU acceleration. A paid for subscription service may be required to convert videos longer than 2 minutes, requiring a Canon ID. The installation of the specific “HEVC Activator” for the camera used, will also be required.
2 May require the latest firmware update for VR compatibility.
