Canon T5i Performance


Timing and Performance

Mixed performance from the Canon T5i.

Startup/Shutdown

Power on
to first shot

~0.7 second

Time it takes to turn on and capture a shot.

Shutdown

3 seconds

How long it takes camera to turn off.

The Canon Rebel T5i turned in a reasonably fast startup time of well under a second. Shutdown time will depend on whether you have auto sensor cleaning enabled or not. (With it disabled, shutdown took about 0.4 second.)

Mode Switching

Play to Record,
first shot

~0.3 second

Time until first shot is captured.

Record to Play

~1.4 seconds

Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture.

Display
recorded image

~0.4 second

Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.

Switching from Play to Record and taking a shot was quite fast, however switching from Record to Play to review a photo just captured was sluggish. Viewing previously captured images was fast.

Shutter Response (Lag Time), Optical Viewfinder, 18-55mm IS STM

Full Autofocus
Single-point AF

0.264 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture.

Full Autofocus
Auto Selection AF

0.106 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture.

Full Autofocus
Single-point AF
TTL flash enabled

0.167 second

Time to capture while forcing flash to fire. Metering pulses from flash often slow shutter response.

Continuous AF

0.118 second

This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects.

Manual Focus

0.091 second

For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".

Prefocused

0.074 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

Shutter Response (Lag Time), Live View, 18-55mm IS STM

Full Autofocus
Live View
"Quick Mode"
(Phase Detect)
Single-point

0.973 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture. This is phase-detect autofocus, the camera drops the mirror to focus, then raises it to grab the shot.

Full Autofocus
Live View
FlexiZone AF
Single-point

1.082 seconds

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture. This is using the Hybrid CMOS AF system.

Prefocused
Live View

0.060 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Canon Rebel T5i's full autofocus shutter response was a touch slower than average these days when using our standard single-point AF test, at 0.264 second. Interestingly, switching to Auto Selection AF and allowing the camera to choose the focus point reduced AF shutter lag to only 0.106 second, which is very fast for a consumer DSLR. Enabling the built-in flash resulted in full AF lag of only 0.167 second on average, but it varied quite a bit, from 0.09 to 0.35 second, which is odd. In Continuous AF mode, shutter lag was a fast 0.118 second, though the subject may be out of focus in this mode. Shutter lag with Manual focus was very good, at 0.091 second. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure resulted in a lag time of only 0.074 second, which is good for a consumer DSLR.

As expected, the Canon Rebel T5i's AF lag time in Live View mode was quite a bit longer than using the optical viewfinder, and not as fast as the SL1's newer hybrid AF system. We measured 0.973 seconds using "Quick Mode" (phase-detect AF). The T5i's FlexiZone AF mode was noticeably slower than "Quick Mode" at 1.082 second, though still reasonable. Prefocused shutter lag in Live View mode was surprisingly quick at only 0.060 second, faster than with the optical viewfinder.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

Cycle Time (shot to shot)

Single Shot mode
Large/Fine JPEG

0.36 second

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots with no signs of slowing, 2 seconds to clear.

Single Shot mode
RAW

0.33 second

Time per shot, averaged over 9 shots, 5 seconds to clear.

Single Shot mode
RAW + Large/Fine JPEG

0.33 second

Time per shot, averaged over 4 shots, 5 seconds to clear.

Early shutter
penalty?

No

Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.

Continuous mode
Large/Fine JPEG

0.21 second (4.83 frames per second);
15 frames total;
3 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over 15 shots, then slowed to an average of 0.35s or 2.87fps when buffer was full.

Continuous mode
RAW

0.21 second (4.85 frames per second);
6 frames total;
5 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over 6 shots, then slowed to an average of 0.74s or 1.35fps when buffer was full.

Continuous mode
RAW + Large/Fine
JPEG

0.21 second (4.88 frames per second);
3 frames total;
5 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over 3 shots, then slowed to an average of 1.01s or 0.99fps when buffer was full.

Flash recycling

3.1 seconds

Flash at maximum output.

*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s UHS-I SDHC card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times in the Canon T5i's single-shot mode were quite good for a consumer DSLR, at 0.36 second for large/fine JPEGs, 0.33 second for RAW mode and 0.33 second for RAW + large/fine JPEGs.

Continuous mode speeds were about average for a consumer model these days, ranging from 4.83 to 4.88 frames-per-second depending on the file type.

Measured buffer depths in continuous mode were fair for large/fine JPEG frames at 15 frames, but quite shallow when RAW files were included. We were only able to capture 6 RAW frames or 3 RAW + large/fine JPEGs before the frame rate slowed. (Note that in our cycle time testing we shoot a target consisting of a fine-grained digital noise pattern, designed to be very hard to compress. This gives us worst-case buffer capacity numbers for compressed files: You're likely to see greater buffer capacity when shooting more normal subjects.) Buffer clearing was fast, though.

The Canon T5i's flash took an average of 3.1 seconds to recharge after a full-power discharge, which is good.

Download Speed

Windows Computer, USB 2.0

8,734 KBytes/sec*

Typical Values:
Less than 600=USB 1.1;
600-769=USB 2.0 Low;
Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, the Canon Rebel T5i's download speeds were good with our 95MB/s UHS-I card.

Bottom line, the Canon Rebel T5i offers mixed performance. Continuous modes were faster than the entry-level SL1 model, but otherwise the T5i 's performance was similar or even slower (Live View AF), with shallow buffers when shooting RAW.

Battery

Battery Life
Below average battery life for a lithium-ion DSLR design.

Operating Mode Number of Shots
Still Capture,
(CIPA standard, Optical Viewfinder)
440
Still Capture,
(CIPA standard, Live View LCD)
180

The Canon T5i uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Battery life is below average when using the optical viewfinder even for a consumer DSLR, and of course Live View mode draws more power reducing battery life to less than half. We recommend you pick up a spare battery (or two) and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the Canon T5i is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))