herein2020

I have been shooting with the Canon R5 Mark II for about two weeks now for various small projects, mostly just testing the camera out in the types of conditions in which I usually shoot; very hot, humid, run and gun with little to no control over the lighting or venue. I mostly shoot event work and work quite a bit with models and fashion as well. I plan on replacing my Canon R7 with the Canon R5 II as my hybrid run and gun camera. To fill that role it must have one usable mode that does not overheat, and must be reliable in less than ideal conditions. 
So below are my thoughts on the Canon R5 II so far, some bad, mostly good and possibly some of it was just due to me not fully getting used to the camera, so my opinions on some of the bad things may change over time as I get more familiar with the camera and hopefully as new firmware is released for it.
THE GOOD
Ergonomics - As usual, Canon hits this one out of the park. The grip is even more comfortable, the dedicated photo/video switch is way better than fiddling with a custom function switch, and everything is pretty much exactly where I expect it to be. I do miss the thumbwheel around the joystick like the R7 has, it made changing the Aperture a little faster while keeping the camera steady, but the R7 was the only camera to have this so its not a huge loss. Video Quality - I tested everything from 8K60FPS to 4KSRAW to 4K HEVC S and it all looks good to me. I will probably use 4K30/60FPS HEVC S 90% of the time with 4KFine for interviews, and 4K30FPS HEVC S for long form content. I believe it will not overheat in that mode so that is another place where it will replace the R7. Dynamic Range - I don't pixel peep or use charts and graphs, I just get out and shoot; so far the dynamic range seems acceptable, not really more or less than other current cameras in my opinion. The one simple test that I do with each camera is have the sun directly behind the model and try to film her face without a fill light...basically the harshest possible scenario possible; and the R5II looked no different to me in that scenario than every other camera that I have tested. CLOG 2 - All I can say is wow....this to me is the biggest improvement in image quality that I have seen in any mirrorless Canon camera. I have always shot in CLOG3 because I was used to it and with the C70 I used CLOG3 because it had to match the R7. I had no idea CLOG2 could make such a big difference. The highlight roll off, colors, and overall image quality in difficult lighting conditions is pretty incredible when compared to CLOG3 out of the R5. Any camera can get a good image in ideal lighting conditions, the real test is harsh lighting, highlight clipping, and highlight roll off, and with CLOG2 the camera excels in these situations. This one feature alone makes it hard to compare IQ out of the R5II vs other Canon mirrorless cameras; I can't tell if the sensor's DR is that much better, if its CLOG2 doing the heavy lifting, or both; but I am definitely satisfied with the image quality. Viewfinder/Backscreen - Both seemed good to me, I still to this day prefer my OVF in my 5D4 vs any mirrorless EVF, but that's just me. The EVF in the R5II seems acceptable as EVF's go, and the backscreen was easy to see regardless of the lighting. Dual Slot Recording - Of course the R5II can record to dual slots but only for a few modes due to the data rate limitations of SD cards. The main modes that I will use; 4K30/60FPS HEVC both can write to the SD card so for most of my work, I will have redundancy. One nice feature is that even when shooting video that can only record to the CFE card, the camera can be set to still save images to both cards. Photography Features - I don't shoot sports so I don't really care about all of the new AF settings, I did test photography as well though and it performed exactly as expected. For me, there's nothing really new in this area that interests me; it triggered my remote flashes when it was supposed to, triggered the hotshoe flash properly and reliably, and overall felt like the R5 and every other Canon mirrorless camera. Auto Focus - It has so many AF modes that I need to practice more in this area for video. I found myself switching modes more than I expected during the test shoots because the AF wasn't working the way I needed. Not the camera's fault, but just due to the sheer volume of settings, I need to get better at figuring out what mode is best for the situation. Low Light - Haven't done almost any testing with this yet, but a second native ISO at 4000 is perfect and is the most useful place for a second ISO. I believe this second native ISO is only for video though, so it is a little murky to me what happens to noise when you set it to 4000ISO for photography. I will be shooting a lowlight event this coming weekend so I will do some more testing then. So long story short, the Canon RII predictably builds on the R5 with the biggest surprise for me being CLOG2. After using the R5 and R7 I believe it fix the small things that I did not like about the R7 (no dual native ISO) and add things I didn't even know I was missing (4K SRAW, CLOG2, etc.). 
THE BAD
Firmware Bugs - I really hope these things are fixable via a FW update, but at this point I almost feel like I need to bring a backup camera to shoots. I never felt that way even with FW 1.0 with the R7.  Screen Shuts Off Video Display - This one is bad.....3x now the back screen has gone black and will not show the video. It will show all of the configuration data on the screen such as WFM and histogram, but no video feed. If I switch to photography the display comes back, switch back to video there is no feed. The sensor is still working because the histogram shows changes when moving the camera around, but it will not display on the back screen. The only fix for this so far is to restart it. Stops Communicating with Lens - This happened twice for me. The Aperture read F00 and I had no Aperture or AF. This was with my Meike vND adapter and an EF lens. I tried changing EF lenses, removing the adapter then reinstalling it, etc. The only thing that fixed it was putting on my one RF lens then taking it off and putting back on the adapter. Of course  I will get no help from Canon because the adapter is a 3rd party adapter.....not good. Lost Settings - It has only done this one so far but it reverted some of my settings back to their default settings after a restart. IBIS - Compared to my R7, the IBIS in the R5II is not as good. Its correction is very harsh when it reaches the end of its travel, and it jerks the image back to the center of the IBIS. If you do not reach the end of its travel then it is fine, but if you try walking for example, no matter how carefully you walk, the IBIS will jerk the image around instead of slowly correcting back to center. My Smallrig cage is on order, I am hoping when I get it installed that I will have better control over the camera when shooting handheld. Battery Life - The battery life is noticeably worse than the R7. I went through 2 batteries shooting short clips with the camera mostly turned off in between. I was shooting 8K/4K RAW/Compressed up to 120FPS but they were still all pretty short. My battery life could have been so bad because I set my EVF to smooth, but I barely used the EVF because I was shooting video. Overheating - The overheating warning came on when shooting 4KFine. I was shooting approximately 4 or 5 very short 30s clips and two bars showed up and it looked like it was going to climb pretty quickly. The ambient temps were around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and 80% humidity. No other mode displayed the warning for the rest of the day. Electronic Level - Still a pet peeve of mine, it still disappears while recording. 4KSRAW - This codec has some major moiré issues that are not fixable in post. If the scene has nothing that will bring it out then the mode is fine, but it definitely has major issues. On a production shoot I don't think I would ever trust this mode for paying work. THE ODD
The camera also has some weird quirks that take some getting used to. Once you know them and if you can remember them in the middle of a shoot then you are ok, but they are annoying nonetheless.
Histogram - The histogram will only display if Exposure Simulation is turned on. I do not like exposure simulation in certain lowlight situations so turning it off means I lose the histogram. WFM - It is great that they included the WFM, but you can't move it, you can't resize it, and you can't turn it off/on via a button or even via a direct option in the Favorites menu.  Aspect Ratio Bars - They finally included this in the R5II, but it is only visible on the backscreen, so if you are shooting photos with the EVF you are out of luck. The Panasonic S5 had this years ago and displayed them in both places. 8K Compressed - 8K Compressed options disappear from the list if the recording option is not set to CFE only. Instead of just greying it out and telling you that when you try to use it, it completely disappears.  Even odder, 8K RAW does not disappear and it tells you that you must use the CFE card only for recording. 8K60FPS - This is not documented clearly anywhere I have seen, but 8K60FPS is only an option if you pick compressed raw. I am fine with that, 8K is massive as it is, but I never saw the advertising materials mention 8K60FPS RAW is compressed raw only CONCLUSION
If the bugs get worked out this is a worthy successor to the R7 for me. The image quality and features are what I expected when getting the camera.  The bugs though really make it hard to trust this camera, it stopped communicating with the lens after a 1.5hr drive to a shoot that could only be done that day.....if I had not brought along my RF70-200 lens (which I usually don't for a video shoot), I may have been unable to get the camera working again...not a good feeling after buying a $4300 camera.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Here are my reviews for:
The S5 - Panasonic S5 User Experience
The C70 - Canon C70 User Experience
BONUS
I shot a camera test video with some local models and exotic cars to put the camera through its paces. This is the way that I will be using the camera every single day so that's how I tested it....no control over nature, lighting, venue setup, etc. For this shoot I used the Meike vND RF to EF adapter, Sigma EF 50mm F1.4, Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8, and the Canon RF70-200 F2.8. Mostly handheld, but I did use a gimbal for some of the longer walking shots.
 

I have been shooting with the Canon R5 Mark II for about two weeks now for various small projects, mostly just testing the camera out in the types of conditions in which I usually shoot; very hot, humid, run and gun with little to no control over the lighting or venue. I mostly shoot event work and work quite a bit with models and fashion as well. I plan on replacing my Canon R7 with the Canon R5 II as my hybrid run and gun camera. To fill that role it must have one usable mode that does not overheat, and must be reliable in less than ideal conditions. 
So below are my thoughts on the Canon R5 II so far, some bad, mostly good and possibly some of it was just due to me not fully getting used to the camera, so my opinions on some of the bad things may change over time as I get more familiar with the camera and hopefully as new firmware is released for it.
THE GOOD
Ergonomics - As usual, Canon hits this one out of the park. The grip is even more comfortable, the dedicated photo/video switch is way better than fiddling with a custom function switch, and everything is pretty much exactly where I expect it to be. I do miss the thumbwheel around the joystick like the R7 has, it made changing the Aperture a little faster while keeping the camera steady, but the R7 was the only camera to have this so its not a huge loss. Video Quality - I tested everything from 8K60FPS to 4KSRAW to 4K HEVC S and it all looks good to me. I will probably use 4K30/60FPS HEVC S 90% of the time with 4KFine for interviews, and 4K30FPS HEVC S for long form content. I believe it will not overheat in that mode so that is another place where it will replace the R7. Dynamic Range - I don't pixel peep or use charts and graphs, I just get out and shoot; so far the dynamic range seems acceptable, not really more or less than other current cameras in my opinion. The one simple test that I do with each camera is have the sun directly behind the model and try to film her face without a fill light...basically the harshest possible scenario possible; and the R5II looked no different to me in that scenario than every other camera that I have tested. CLOG 2 - All I can say is wow....this to me is the biggest improvement in image quality that I have seen in any mirrorless Canon camera. I have always shot in CLOG3 because I was used to it and with the C70 I used CLOG3 because it had to match the R7. I had no idea CLOG2 could make such a big difference. The highlight roll off, colors, and overall image quality in difficult lighting conditions is pretty incredible when compared to CLOG3 out of the R5. Any camera can get a good image in ideal lighting conditions, the real test is harsh lighting, highlight clipping, and highlight roll off, and with CLOG2 the camera excels in these situations. This one feature alone makes it hard to compare IQ out of the R5II vs other Canon mirrorless cameras; I can't tell if the sensor's DR is that much better, if its CLOG2 doing the heavy lifting, or both; but I am definitely satisfied with the image quality. Viewfinder/Backscreen - Both seemed good to me, I still to this day prefer my OVF in my 5D4 vs any mirrorless EVF, but that's just me. The EVF in the R5II seems acceptable as EVF's go, and the backscreen was easy to see regardless of the lighting. Dual Slot Recording - Of course the R5II can record to dual slots but only for a few modes due to the data rate limitations of SD cards. The main modes that I will use; 4K30/60FPS HEVC both can write to the SD card so for most of my work, I will have redundancy. One nice feature is that even when shooting video that can only record to the CFE card, the camera can be set to still save images to both cards. Photography Features - I don't shoot sports so I don't really care about all of the new AF settings, I did test photography as well though and it performed exactly as expected. For me, there's nothing really new in this area that interests me; it triggered my remote flashes when it was supposed to, triggered the hotshoe flash properly and reliably, and overall felt like the R5 and every other Canon mirrorless camera. Auto Focus - It has so many AF modes that I need to practice more in this area for video. I found myself switching modes more than I expected during the test shoots because the AF wasn't working the way I needed. Not the camera's fault, but just due to the sheer volume of settings, I need to get better at figuring out what mode is best for the situation. Low Light - Haven't done almost any testing with this yet, but a second native ISO at 4000 is perfect and is the most useful place for a second ISO. I believe this second native ISO is only for video though, so it is a little murky to me what happens to noise when you set it to 4000ISO for photography. I will be shooting a lowlight event this coming weekend so I will do some more testing then. So long story short, the Canon RII predictably builds on the R5 with the biggest surprise for me being CLOG2. After using the R5 and R7 I believe it fix the small things that I did not like about the R7 (no dual native ISO) and add things I didn't even know I was missing (4K SRAW, CLOG2, etc.). 
THE BAD
Firmware Bugs - I really hope these things are fixable via a FW update, but at this point I almost feel like I need to bring a backup camera to shoots. I never felt that way even with FW 1.0 with the R7.  Screen Shuts Off Video Display - This one is bad.....3x now the back screen has gone black and will not show the video. It will show all of the configuration data on the screen such as WFM and histogram, but no video feed. If I switch to photography the display comes back, switch back to video there is no feed. The sensor is still working because the histogram shows changes when moving the camera around, but it will not display on the back screen. The only fix for this so far is to restart it. Stops Communicating with Lens - This happened twice for me. The Aperture read F00 and I had no Aperture or AF. This was with my Meike vND adapter and an EF lens. I tried changing EF lenses, removing the adapter then reinstalling it, etc. The only thing that fixed it was putting on my one RF lens then taking it off and putting back on the adapter. Of course  I will get no help from Canon because the adapter is a 3rd party adapter.....not good. Lost Settings - It has only done this one so far but it reverted some of my settings back to their default settings after a restart. IBIS - Compared to my R7, the IBIS in the R5II is not as good. Its correction is very harsh when it reaches the end of its travel, and it jerks the image back to the center of the IBIS. If you do not reach the end of its travel then it is fine, but if you try walking for example, no matter how carefully you walk, the IBIS will jerk the image around instead of slowly correcting back to center. My Smallrig cage is on order, I am hoping when I get it installed that I will have better control over the camera when shooting handheld. Battery Life - The battery life is noticeably worse than the R7. I went through 2 batteries shooting short clips with the camera mostly turned off in between. I was shooting 8K/4K RAW/Compressed up to 120FPS but they were still all pretty short. My battery life could have been so bad because I set my EVF to smooth, but I barely used the EVF because I was shooting video. Overheating - The overheating warning came on when shooting 4KFine. I was shooting approximately 4 or 5 very short 30s clips and two bars showed up and it looked like it was going to climb pretty quickly. The ambient temps were around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and 80% humidity. No other mode displayed the warning for the rest of the day. Electronic Level - Still a pet peeve of mine, it still disappears while recording. 4KSRAW - This codec has some major moiré issues that are not fixable in post. If the scene has nothing that will bring it out then the mode is fine, but it definitely has major issues. On a production shoot I don't think I would ever trust this mode for paying work. THE ODD
The camera also has some weird quirks that take some getting used to. Once you know them and if you can remember them in the middle of a shoot then you are ok, but they are annoying nonetheless.
Histogram - The histogram will only display if Exposure Simulation is turned on. I do not like exposure simulation in certain lowlight situations so turning it off means I lose the histogram. WFM - It is great that they included the WFM, but you can't move it, you can't resize it, and you can't turn it off/on via a button or even via a direct option in the Favorites menu.  Aspect Ratio Bars - They finally included this in the R5II, but it is only visible on the backscreen, so if you are shooting photos with the EVF you are out of luck. The Panasonic S5 had this years ago and displayed them in both places. 8K Compressed - 8K Compressed options disappear from the list if the recording option is not set to CFE only. Instead of just greying it out and telling you that when you try to use it, it completely disappears.  Even odder, 8K RAW does not disappear and it tells you that you must use the CFE card only for recording. 8K60FPS - This is not documented clearly anywhere I have seen, but 8K60FPS is only an option if you pick compressed raw. I am fine with that, 8K is massive as it is, but I never saw the advertising materials mention 8K60FPS RAW is compressed raw only CONCLUSION
If the bugs get worked out this is a worthy successor to the R7 for me. The image quality and features are what I expected when getting the camera.  The bugs though really make it hard to trust this camera, it stopped communicating with the lens after a 1.5hr drive to a shoot that could only be done that day.....if I had not brought along my RF70-200 lens (which I usually don't for a video shoot), I may have been unable to get the camera working again...not a good feeling after buying a $4300 camera.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Here are my reviews for:
The S5 - Panasonic S5 User Experience
The C70 - Canon C70 User Experience
BONUS
I shot a camera test video with some local models and exotic cars to put the camera through its paces. This is the way that I will be using the camera every single day so that's how I tested it....no control over nature, lighting, venue setup, etc. For this shoot I used the Meike vND RF to EF adapter, Sigma EF 50mm F1.4, Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8, and the Canon RF70-200 F2.8. Mostly handheld, but I did use a gimbal for some of the longer walking shots.
 

I have been shooting with the Canon R5 Mark II for about two weeks now for various small projects, mostly just testing the camera out in the types of conditions in which I usually shoot; very hot, humid, run and gun with little to no control over the lighting or venue. I mostly shoot event work and work quite a bit with models and fashion as well. I plan on replacing my Canon R7 with the Canon R5 II as my hybrid run and gun camera. To fill that role it must have one usable mode that does not overheat, and must be reliable in less than ideal conditions. 
So below are my thoughts on the Canon R5 II so far, some bad, mostly good and possibly some of it was just due to me not fully getting used to the camera, so my opinions on some of the bad things may change over time as I get more familiar with the camera and hopefully as new firmware is released for it.
THE GOOD
Ergonomics - As usual, Canon hits this one out of the park. The grip is even more comfortable, the dedicated photo/video switch is way better than fiddling with a custom function switch, and everything is pretty much exactly where I expect it to be. I do miss the thumbwheel around the joystick like the R7 has, it made changing the Aperture a little faster while keeping the camera steady, but the R7 was the only camera to have this so its not a huge loss. Video Quality - I tested everything from 8K60FPS to 4KSRAW to 4K HEVC S and it all looks good to me. I will probably use 4K30/60FPS HEVC S 90% of the time with 4KFine for interviews, and 4K30FPS HEVC S for long form content. I believe it will not overheat in that mode so that is another place where it will replace the R7. Dynamic Range - I don't pixel peep or use charts and graphs, I just get out and shoot; so far the dynamic range seems acceptable, not really more or less than other current cameras in my opinion. The one simple test that I do with each camera is have the sun directly behind the model and try to film her face without a fill light...basically the harshest possible scenario possible; and the R5II looked no different to me in that scenario than every other camera that I have tested. CLOG 2 - All I can say is wow....this to me is the biggest improvement in image quality that I have seen in any mirrorless Canon camera. I have always shot in CLOG3 because I was used to it and with the C70 I used CLOG3 because it had to match the R7. I had no idea CLOG2 could make such a big difference. The highlight roll off, colors, and overall image quality in difficult lighting conditions is pretty incredible when compared to CLOG3 out of the R5. Any camera can get a good image in ideal lighting conditions, the real test is harsh lighting, highlight clipping, and highlight roll off, and with CLOG2 the camera excels in these situations. This one feature alone makes it hard to compare IQ out of the R5II vs other Canon mirrorless cameras; I can't tell if the sensor's DR is that much better, if its CLOG2 doing the heavy lifting, or both; but I am definitely satisfied with the image quality. Viewfinder/Backscreen - Both seemed good to me, I still to this day prefer my OVF in my 5D4 vs any mirrorless EVF, but that's just me. The EVF in the R5II seems acceptable as EVF's go, and the backscreen was easy to see regardless of the lighting. Dual Slot Recording - Of course the R5II can record to dual slots but only for a few modes due to the data rate limitations of SD cards. The main modes that I will use; 4K30/60FPS HEVC both can write to the SD card so for most of my work, I will have redundancy. One nice feature is that even when shooting video that can only record to the CFE card, the camera can be set to still save images to both cards. Photography Features - I don't shoot sports so I don't really care about all of the new AF settings, I did test photography as well though and it performed exactly as expected. For me, there's nothing really new in this area that interests me; it triggered my remote flashes when it was supposed to, triggered the hotshoe flash properly and reliably, and overall felt like the R5 and every other Canon mirrorless camera. Auto Focus - It has so many AF modes that I need to practice more in this area for video. I found myself switching modes more than I expected during the test shoots because the AF wasn't working the way I needed. Not the camera's fault, but just due to the sheer volume of settings, I need to get better at figuring out what mode is best for the situation. Low Light - Haven't done almost any testing with this yet, but a second native ISO at 4000 is perfect and is the most useful place for a second ISO. I believe this second native ISO is only for video though, so it is a little murky to me what happens to noise when you set it to 4000ISO for photography. I will be shooting a lowlight event this coming weekend so I will do some more testing then. So long story short, the Canon RII predictably builds on the R5 with the biggest surprise for me being CLOG2. After using the R5 and R7 I believe it fix the small things that I did not like about the R7 (no dual native ISO) and add things I didn't even know I was missing (4K SRAW, CLOG2, etc.). 
THE BAD
Firmware Bugs - I really hope these things are fixable via a FW update, but at this point I almost feel like I need to bring a backup camera to shoots. I never felt that way even with FW 1.0 with the R7.  Screen Shuts Off Video Display - This one is bad.....3x now the back screen has gone black and will not show the video. It will show all of the configuration data on the screen such as WFM and histogram, but no video feed. If I switch to photography the display comes back, switch back to video there is no feed. The sensor is still working because the histogram shows changes when moving the camera around, but it will not display on the back screen. The only fix for this so far is to restart it. Stops Communicating with Lens - This happened twice for me. The Aperture read F00 and I had no Aperture or AF. This was with my Meike vND adapter and an EF lens. I tried changing EF lenses, removing the adapter then reinstalling it, etc. The only thing that fixed it was putting on my one RF lens then taking it off and putting back on the adapter. Of course  I will get no help from Canon because the adapter is a 3rd party adapter.....not good. Lost Settings - It has only done this one so far but it reverted some of my settings back to their default settings after a restart. IBIS - Compared to my R7, the IBIS in the R5II is not as good. Its correction is very harsh when it reaches the end of its travel, and it jerks the image back to the center of the IBIS. If you do not reach the end of its travel then it is fine, but if you try walking for example, no matter how carefully you walk, the IBIS will jerk the image around instead of slowly correcting back to center. My Smallrig cage is on order, I am hoping when I get it installed that I will have better control over the camera when shooting handheld. Battery Life - The battery life is noticeably worse than the R7. I went through 2 batteries shooting short clips with the camera mostly turned off in between. I was shooting 8K/4K RAW/Compressed up to 120FPS but they were still all pretty short. My battery life could have been so bad because I set my EVF to smooth, but I barely used the EVF because I was shooting video. Overheating - The overheating warning came on when shooting 4KFine. I was shooting approximately 4 or 5 very short 30s clips and two bars showed up and it looked like it was going to climb pretty quickly. The ambient temps were around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and 80% humidity. No other mode displayed the warning for the rest of the day. Electronic Level - Still a pet peeve of mine, it still disappears while recording. 4KSRAW - This codec has some major moiré issues that are not fixable in post. If the scene has nothing that will bring it out then the mode is fine, but it definitely has major issues. On a production shoot I don't think I would ever trust this mode for paying work. THE ODD
The camera also has some weird quirks that take some getting used to. Once you know them and if you can remember them in the middle of a shoot then you are ok, but they are annoying nonetheless.
Histogram - The histogram will only display if Exposure Simulation is turned on. I do not like exposure simulation in certain lowlight situations so turning it off means I lose the histogram. WFM - It is great that they included the WFM, but you can't move it, you can't resize it, and you can't turn it off/on via a button or even via a direct option in the Favorites menu.  Aspect Ratio Bars - They finally included this in the R5II, but it is only visible on the backscreen, so if you are shooting photos with the EVF you are out of luck. The Panasonic S5 had this years ago and displayed them in both places. 8K Compressed - 8K Compressed options disappear from the list if the recording option is not set to CFE only. Instead of just greying it out and telling you that when you try to use it, it completely disappears.  Even odder, 8K RAW does not disappear and it tells you that you must use the CFE card only for recording. 8K60FPS - This is not documented clearly anywhere I have seen, but 8K60FPS is only an option if you pick compressed raw. I am fine with that, 8K is massive as it is, but I never saw the advertising materials mention 8K60FPS RAW is compressed raw only CONCLUSION
If the bugs get worked out this is a worthy successor to the R7 for me. The image quality and features are what I expected when getting the camera.  The bugs though really make it hard to trust this camera, it stopped communicating with the lens after a 1.5hr drive to a shoot that could only be done that day.....if I had not brought along my RF70-200 lens (which I usually don't for a video shoot), I may have been unable to get the camera working again...not a good feeling after buying a $4300 camera.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Here are my reviews for:
The S5 - Panasonic S5 User Experience
The C70 - Canon C70 User Experience
BONUS
I shot a camera test video with some local models and exotic cars to put the camera through its paces. This is the way that I will be using the camera every single day so that's how I tested it....no control over nature, lighting, venue setup, etc. For this shoot I used the Meike vND RF to EF adapter, Sigma EF 50mm F1.4, Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8, and the Canon RF70-200 F2.8. Mostly handheld, but I did use a gimbal for some of the longer walking shots.
 

I have been shooting with the Canon R5 Mark II for about two weeks now for various small projects, mostly just testing the camera out in the types of conditions in which I usually shoot; very hot, humid, run and gun with little to no control over the lighting or venue. I mostly shoot event work and work quite a bit with models and fashion as well. I plan on replacing my Canon R7 with the Canon R5 II as my hybrid run and gun camera. To fill that role it must have one usable mode that does not overheat, and must be reliable in less than ideal conditions. 
So below are my thoughts on the Canon R5 II so far, some bad, mostly good and possibly some of it was just due to me not fully getting used to the camera, so my opinions on some of the bad things may change over time as I get more familiar with the camera and hopefully as new firmware is released for it.
THE GOOD
Ergonomics - As usual, Canon hits this one out of the park. The grip is even more comfortable, the dedicated photo/video switch is way better than fiddling with a custom function switch, and everything is pretty much exactly where I expect it to be. I do miss the thumbwheel around the joystick like the R7 has, it made changing the Aperture a little faster while keeping the camera steady, but the R7 was the only camera to have this so its not a huge loss. Video Quality - I tested everything from 8K60FPS to 4KSRAW to 4K HEVC S and it all looks good to me. I will probably use 4K30/60FPS HEVC S 90% of the time with 4KFine for interviews, and 4K30FPS HEVC S for long form content. I believe it will not overheat in that mode so that is another place where it will replace the R7. Dynamic Range - I don't pixel peep or use charts and graphs, I just get out and shoot; so far the dynamic range seems acceptable, not really more or less than other current cameras in my opinion. The one simple test that I do with each camera is have the sun directly behind the model and try to film her face without a fill light...basically the harshest possible scenario possible; and the R5II looked no different to me in that scenario than every other camera that I have tested. CLOG 2 - All I can say is wow....this to me is the biggest improvement in image quality that I have seen in any mirrorless Canon camera. I have always shot in CLOG3 because I was used to it and with the C70 I used CLOG3 because it had to match the R7. I had no idea CLOG2 could make such a big difference. The highlight roll off, colors, and overall image quality in difficult lighting conditions is pretty incredible when compared to CLOG3 out of the R5. Any camera can get a good image in ideal lighting conditions, the real test is harsh lighting, highlight clipping, and highlight roll off, and with CLOG2 the camera excels in these situations. This one feature alone makes it hard to compare IQ out of the R5II vs other Canon mirrorless cameras; I can't tell if the sensor's DR is that much better, if its CLOG2 doing the heavy lifting, or both; but I am definitely satisfied with the image quality. Viewfinder/Backscreen - Both seemed good to me, I still to this day prefer my OVF in my 5D4 vs any mirrorless EVF, but that's just me. The EVF in the R5II seems acceptable as EVF's go, and the backscreen was easy to see regardless of the lighting. Dual Slot Recording - Of course the R5II can record to dual slots but only for a few modes due to the data rate limitations of SD cards. The main modes that I will use; 4K30/60FPS HEVC both can write to the SD card so for most of my work, I will have redundancy. One nice feature is that even when shooting video that can only record to the CFE card, the camera can be set to still save images to both cards. Photography Features - I don't shoot sports so I don't really care about all of the new AF settings, I did test photography as well though and it performed exactly as expected. For me, there's nothing really new in this area that interests me; it triggered my remote flashes when it was supposed to, triggered the hotshoe flash properly and reliably, and overall felt like the R5 and every other Canon mirrorless camera. Auto Focus - It has so many AF modes that I need to practice more in this area for video. I found myself switching modes more than I expected during the test shoots because the AF wasn't working the way I needed. Not the camera's fault, but just due to the sheer volume of settings, I need to get better at figuring out what mode is best for the situation. Low Light - Haven't done almost any testing with this yet, but a second native ISO at 4000 is perfect and is the most useful place for a second ISO. I believe this second native ISO is only for video though, so it is a little murky to me what happens to noise when you set it to 4000ISO for photography. I will be shooting a lowlight event this coming weekend so I will do some more testing then. So long story short, the Canon RII predictably builds on the R5 with the biggest surprise for me being CLOG2. After using the R5 and R7 I believe it fix the small things that I did not like about the R7 (no dual native ISO) and add things I didn't even know I was missing (4K SRAW, CLOG2, etc.). 
THE BAD
Firmware Bugs - I really hope these things are fixable via a FW update, but at this point I almost feel like I need to bring a backup camera to shoots. I never felt that way even with FW 1.0 with the R7.  Screen Shuts Off Video Display - This one is bad.....3x now the back screen has gone black and will not show the video. It will show all of the configuration data on the screen such as WFM and histogram, but no video feed. If I switch to photography the display comes back, switch back to video there is no feed. The sensor is still working because the histogram shows changes when moving the camera around, but it will not display on the back screen. The only fix for this so far is to restart it. Stops Communicating with Lens - This happened twice for me. The Aperture read F00 and I had no Aperture or AF. This was with my Meike vND adapter and an EF lens. I tried changing EF lenses, removing the adapter then reinstalling it, etc. The only thing that fixed it was putting on my one RF lens then taking it off and putting back on the adapter. Of course  I will get no help from Canon because the adapter is a 3rd party adapter.....not good. Lost Settings - It has only done this one so far but it reverted some of my settings back to their default settings after a restart. IBIS - Compared to my R7, the IBIS in the R5II is not as good. Its correction is very harsh when it reaches the end of its travel, and it jerks the image back to the center of the IBIS. If you do not reach the end of its travel then it is fine, but if you try walking for example, no matter how carefully you walk, the IBIS will jerk the image around instead of slowly correcting back to center. My Smallrig cage is on order, I am hoping when I get it installed that I will have better control over the camera when shooting handheld. Battery Life - The battery life is noticeably worse than the R7. I went through 2 batteries shooting short clips with the camera mostly turned off in between. I was shooting 8K/4K RAW/Compressed up to 120FPS but they were still all pretty short. My battery life could have been so bad because I set my EVF to smooth, but I barely used the EVF because I was shooting video. Overheating - The overheating warning came on when shooting 4KFine. I was shooting approximately 4 or 5 very short 30s clips and two bars showed up and it looked like it was going to climb pretty quickly. The ambient temps were around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and 80% humidity. No other mode displayed the warning for the rest of the day. Electronic Level - Still a pet peeve of mine, it still disappears while recording. 4KSRAW - This codec has some major moiré issues that are not fixable in post. If the scene has nothing that will bring it out then the mode is fine, but it definitely has major issues. On a production shoot I don't think I would ever trust this mode for paying work. THE ODD
The camera also has some weird quirks that take some getting used to. Once you know them and if you can remember them in the middle of a shoot then you are ok, but they are annoying nonetheless.
Histogram - The histogram will only display if Exposure Simulation is turned on. I do not like exposure simulation in certain lowlight situations so turning it off means I lose the histogram. WFM - It is great that they included the WFM, but you can't move it, you can't resize it, and you can't turn it off/on via a button or even via a direct option in the Favorites menu.  Aspect Ratio Bars - They finally included this in the R5II, but it is only visible on the backscreen, so if you are shooting photos with the EVF you are out of luck. The Panasonic S5 had this years ago and displayed them in both places. 8K Compressed - 8K Compressed options disappear from the list if the recording option is not set to CFE only. Instead of just greying it out and telling you that when you try to use it, it completely disappears.  Even odder, 8K RAW does not disappear and it tells you that you must use the CFE card only for recording. 8K60FPS - This is not documented clearly anywhere I have seen, but 8K60FPS is only an option if you pick compressed raw. I am fine with that, 8K is massive as it is, but I never saw the advertising materials mention 8K60FPS RAW is compressed raw only CONCLUSION
If the bugs get worked out this is a worthy successor to the R7 for me. The image quality and features are what I expected when getting the camera.  The bugs though really make it hard to trust this camera, it stopped communicating with the lens after a 1.5hr drive to a shoot that could only be done that day.....if I had not brought along my RF70-200 lens (which I usually don't for a video shoot), I may have been unable to get the camera working again...not a good feeling after buying a $4300 camera.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Here are my reviews for:
The S5 - Panasonic S5 User Experience
The C70 - Canon C70 User Experience
BONUS
I shot a camera test video with some local models and exotic cars to put the camera through its paces. This is the way that I will be using the camera every single day so that's how I tested it....no control over nature, lighting, venue setup, etc. For this shoot I used the Meike vND RF to EF adapter, Sigma EF 50mm F1.4, Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8, and the Canon RF70-200 F2.8. Mostly handheld, but I did use a gimbal for some of the longer walking shots.
 

I have been shooting with the Canon R5 Mark II for about two weeks now for various small projects, mostly just testing the camera out in the types of conditions in which I usually shoot; very hot, humid, run and gun with little to no control over the lighting or venue. I mostly shoot event work and work quite a bit with models and fashion as well. I plan on replacing my Canon R7 with the Canon R5 II as my hybrid run and gun camera. To fill that role it must have one usable mode that does not overheat, and must be reliable in less than ideal conditions. 
So below are my thoughts on the Canon R5 II so far, some bad, mostly good and possibly some of it was just due to me not fully getting used to the camera, so my opinions on some of the bad things may change over time as I get more familiar with the camera and hopefully as new firmware is released for it.
THE GOOD
Ergonomics - As usual, Canon hits this one out of the park. The grip is even more comfortable, the dedicated photo/video switch is way better than fiddling with a custom function switch, and everything is pretty much exactly where I expect it to be. I do miss the thumbwheel around the joystick like the R7 has, it made changing the Aperture a little faster while keeping the camera steady, but the R7 was the only camera to have this so its not a huge loss. Video Quality - I tested everything from 8K60FPS to 4KSRAW to 4K HEVC S and it all looks good to me. I will probably use 4K30/60FPS HEVC S 90% of the time with 4KFine for interviews, and 4K30FPS HEVC S for long form content. I believe it will not overheat in that mode so that is another place where it will replace the R7. Dynamic Range - I don't pixel peep or use charts and graphs, I just get out and shoot; so far the dynamic range seems acceptable, not really more or less than other current cameras in my opinion. The one simple test that I do with each camera is have the sun directly behind the model and try to film her face without a fill light...basically the harshest possible scenario possible; and the R5II looked no different to me in that scenario than every other camera that I have tested. CLOG 2 - All I can say is wow....this to me is the biggest improvement in image quality that I have seen in any mirrorless Canon camera. I have always shot in CLOG3 because I was used to it and with the C70 I used CLOG3 because it had to match the R7. I had no idea CLOG2 could make such a big difference. The highlight roll off, colors, and overall image quality in difficult lighting conditions is pretty incredible when compared to CLOG3 out of the R5. Any camera can get a good image in ideal lighting conditions, the real test is harsh lighting, highlight clipping, and highlight roll off, and with CLOG2 the camera excels in these situations. This one feature alone makes it hard to compare IQ out of the R5II vs other Canon mirrorless cameras; I can't tell if the sensor's DR is that much better, if its CLOG2 doing the heavy lifting, or both; but I am definitely satisfied with the image quality. Viewfinder/Backscreen - Both seemed good to me, I still to this day prefer my OVF in my 5D4 vs any mirrorless EVF, but that's just me. The EVF in the R5II seems acceptable as EVF's go, and the backscreen was easy to see regardless of the lighting. Dual Slot Recording - Of course the R5II can record to dual slots but only for a few modes due to the data rate limitations of SD cards. The main modes that I will use; 4K30/60FPS HEVC both can write to the SD card so for most of my work, I will have redundancy. One nice feature is that even when shooting video that can only record to the CFE card, the camera can be set to still save images to both cards. Photography Features - I don't shoot sports so I don't really care about all of the new AF settings, I did test photography as well though and it performed exactly as expected. For me, there's nothing really new in this area that interests me; it triggered my remote flashes when it was supposed to, triggered the hotshoe flash properly and reliably, and overall felt like the R5 and every other Canon mirrorless camera. Auto Focus - It has so many AF modes that I need to practice more in this area for video. I found myself switching modes more than I expected during the test shoots because the AF wasn't working the way I needed. Not the camera's fault, but just due to the sheer volume of settings, I need to get better at figuring out what mode is best for the situation. Low Light - Haven't done almost any testing with this yet, but a second native ISO at 4000 is perfect and is the most useful place for a second ISO. I believe this second native ISO is only for video though, so it is a little murky to me what happens to noise when you set it to 4000ISO for photography. I will be shooting a lowlight event this coming weekend so I will do some more testing then. So long story short, the Canon RII predictably builds on the R5 with the biggest surprise for me being CLOG2. After using the R5 and R7 I believe it fix the small things that I did not like about the R7 (no dual native ISO) and add things I didn't even know I was missing (4K SRAW, CLOG2, etc.). 
THE BAD
Firmware Bugs - I really hope these things are fixable via a FW update, but at this point I almost feel like I need to bring a backup camera to shoots. I never felt that way even with FW 1.0 with the R7.  Screen Shuts Off Video Display - This one is bad.....3x now the back screen has gone black and will not show the video. It will show all of the configuration data on the screen such as WFM and histogram, but no video feed. If I switch to photography the display comes back, switch back to video there is no feed. The sensor is still working because the histogram shows changes when moving the camera around, but it will not display on the back screen. The only fix for this so far is to restart it. Stops Communicating with Lens - This happened twice for me. The Aperture read F00 and I had no Aperture or AF. This was with my Meike vND adapter and an EF lens. I tried changing EF lenses, removing the adapter then reinstalling it, etc. The only thing that fixed it was putting on my one RF lens then taking it off and putting back on the adapter. Of course  I will get no help from Canon because the adapter is a 3rd party adapter.....not good. Lost Settings - It has only done this one so far but it reverted some of my settings back to their default settings after a restart. IBIS - Compared to my R7, the IBIS in the R5II is not as good. Its correction is very harsh when it reaches the end of its travel, and it jerks the image back to the center of the IBIS. If you do not reach the end of its travel then it is fine, but if you try walking for example, no matter how carefully you walk, the IBIS will jerk the image around instead of slowly correcting back to center. My Smallrig cage is on order, I am hoping when I get it installed that I will have better control over the camera when shooting handheld. Battery Life - The battery life is noticeably worse than the R7. I went through 2 batteries shooting short clips with the camera mostly turned off in between. I was shooting 8K/4K RAW/Compressed up to 120FPS but they were still all pretty short. My battery life could have been so bad because I set my EVF to smooth, but I barely used the EVF because I was shooting video. Overheating - The overheating warning came on when shooting 4KFine. I was shooting approximately 4 or 5 very short 30s clips and two bars showed up and it looked like it was going to climb pretty quickly. The ambient temps were around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and 80% humidity. No other mode displayed the warning for the rest of the day. Electronic Level - Still a pet peeve of mine, it still disappears while recording. 4KSRAW - This codec has some major moiré issues that are not fixable in post. If the scene has nothing that will bring it out then the mode is fine, but it definitely has major issues. On a production shoot I don't think I would ever trust this mode for paying work. THE ODD
The camera also has some weird quirks that take some getting used to. Once you know them and if you can remember them in the middle of a shoot then you are ok, but they are annoying nonetheless.
Histogram - The histogram will only display if Exposure Simulation is turned on. I do not like exposure simulation in certain lowlight situations so turning it off means I lose the histogram. WFM - It is great that they included the WFM, but you can't move it, you can't resize it, and you can't turn it off/on via a button or even via a direct option in the Favorites menu.  Aspect Ratio Bars - They finally included this in the R5II, but it is only visible on the backscreen, so if you are shooting photos with the EVF you are out of luck. The Panasonic S5 had this years ago and displayed them in both places. 8K Compressed - 8K Compressed options disappear from the list if the recording option is not set to CFE only. Instead of just greying it out and telling you that when you try to use it, it completely disappears.  Even odder, 8K RAW does not disappear and it tells you that you must use the CFE card only for recording. 8K60FPS - This is not documented clearly anywhere I have seen, but 8K60FPS is only an option if you pick compressed raw. I am fine with that, 8K is massive as it is, but I never saw the advertising materials mention 8K60FPS RAW is compressed raw only CONCLUSION
If the bugs get worked out this is a worthy successor to the R7 for me. The image quality and features are what I expected when getting the camera.  The bugs though really make it hard to trust this camera, it stopped communicating with the lens after a 1.5hr drive to a shoot that could only be done that day.....if I had not brought along my RF70-200 lens (which I usually don't for a video shoot), I may have been unable to get the camera working again...not a good feeling after buying a $4300 camera.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Here are my reviews for:
The S5 - Panasonic S5 User Experience
The C70 - Canon C70 User Experience
BONUS
I shot a camera test video with some local models and exotic cars to put the camera through its paces. This is the way that I will be using the camera every single day so that's how I tested it....no control over nature, lighting, venue setup, etc. For this shoot I used the Meike vND RF to EF adapter, Sigma EF 50mm F1.4, Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8, and the Canon RF70-200 F2.8. Mostly handheld, but I did use a gimbal for some of the longer walking shots.
 

Here is one of the guys that I really trust for reviews, he makes a living every day as a videographer, not a YT reviewer. Funny thing is, he said almost exactly the same things that I said in this thread (C70 is almost too soft, C70 falls apart after 3200ISO, if you already have the C70 it might be all you need, etc.). Honestly, his video makes me want the C80 more than anything I have seen so far (but I'm not upgrading).
I fall squarely into the category where the C70 is more than enough for my needs but the C80 would fix everything I don't like about the C70.
 
 

Here is one of the guys that I really trust for reviews, he makes a living every day as a videographer, not a YT reviewer. Funny thing is, he said almost exactly the same things that I said in this thread (C70 is almost too soft, C70 falls apart after 3200ISO, if you already have the C70 it might be all you need, etc.). Honestly, his video makes me want the C80 more than anything I have seen so far (but I'm not upgrading).
I fall squarely into the category where the C70 is more than enough for my needs but the C80 would fix everything I don't like about the C70.
 
 

Here is one of the guys that I really trust for reviews, he makes a living every day as a videographer, not a YT reviewer. Funny thing is, he said almost exactly the same things that I said in this thread (C70 is almost too soft, C70 falls apart after 3200ISO, if you already have the C70 it might be all you need, etc.). Honestly, his video makes me want the C80 more than anything I have seen so far (but I'm not upgrading).
I fall squarely into the category where the C70 is more than enough for my needs but the C80 would fix everything I don't like about the C70.
 
 

No IBIS is why I also skipped the R5C, the C70 is great for tripod work, it's nice to have an A cam that I know can run for hours, no overheating, and XLR inputs so that's what I use it for. For gimbal work it is so so if you are a solo shooter; it is right at the edge of what is reasonable for a one-handed gimbal, probably much more manageable with something like the Helix Jr.
That sounds like a seriously expensive switch, those RF lenses that you listed are pretty much some of the most expensive that you can buy for those ranges.
I am happy the C80 has no IBIS; without it the C70 still does everything that I need and more so Canon won't get any more of my money this year (hopefully).

We all knew that was coming, the triple base ISO is going to be a big advantage over the C70 so if you shoot in low light a lot the C80 will be the better option. The C80 will also fix the soft image out of the C70, although it can be sharpened in post, the image straight out of camera in the C70 has always been soft, also no more speed booster needed to get back the stop of light lost due to the S35 sensor.
The C80 would make a nice A cam to my C70 as a B cam instead of me using the R7 or R5II, but I don't shoot enough long form content to justify it. Maybe in a few years I will pick up a used one.
 

Definitely a better representation of the C80 vs CVP's sample footage.  The white hot sunlight on the floor does a good job showcasing the DR and highlight rolloff.  The Lotus Helix Jr gimbal did a good job stabilizing it and showcasing how small of a setup that you can use to combine a gimbal with the C80. 
I would be curious to see how the C70 would perform in the same venue.

To me it still seems pretty noisy around 4000ISO, a second native ISO at 4000 would be nice, I have never filmed somewhere where 12,800 is necessary, but definitely 4000ISO is pretty common and to me it gets noisy. When I can crush the blacks in that scenario it is fine, but when I need 4000ISO just to properly expose skin tones then it is definitely noisier than say the R5II at 4000ISO.
I know it's been stated that it is soft by design, but it is the softest camera that I have ever owned; softer than the C200, S5, R5, R7, etc.  I have gotten used to sharpening in post, but it's still a little disconcerting to almost look out of focus prior to post processing. 
All I can tell you is that identical lenses pointed at the same source and the R7 is a stop under exposed vs the R5 every time. To expose them the same I have to do something (ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed) to the R7 to match the exposure of the R5. The C70 with the speedbooster beside the R7 has the same problem.
 
All this video did was make me appreciate the C70 even more and made it apparent that the C400 does not have IBIS. The handheld footage was hard to watch. I did like how sharp it was straight out of camera (assuming they did not add sharpness), but it is definitely not a run and gun camera without a gimbal or tripod.
I know...cinema cameras don't need IBIS, but I think if it had it, and they had a way of locking it in place when you did not want it enabled, that would make it a truly killer run and gun cinema camera. It's small size already makes it a good fit for gimbals, but no IBIS makes it a hard sell for handholding. Maybe the digital IS works better than most prior digital IS, but I doubt it.
The image quality, other than sharpness, did not really look any better to me than the C70 with its DGO sensor. I think today, if you did not already own the C70, the C400 might be the way to go, but I don't think buying it to replace the C70 makes sense considering how good the C70 is.

I think Canon has joined the ranks of the rest of the disposable world, where nothing is expected to last more than 2-4yrs and right at the end of that 2-4yrs they will have a shiny new object for you to buy, and of course when it breaks they expect you to blame yourself for "using it wrong". 
I don't know much about Nikon, but I have held a few of their bodies in the retail stores and I can say without a doubt, between Nikon, Sony, and Canon, Panasonic's bodies feel the highest quality by far.
 
 
It is odd to me though, when you put away all of the charts and pixel peeping and actually get out and shoot, the DR still seems about the same as the R5, there are a few YT videos where they just shot the same outdoor scene with them side by side and the difference did not seem that dramatic; it definitely did not look like the C70's amount of DR. The R5C to R5II comparisons seemed like even less of a difference in real world shooting.
The inclusion of CLOG2 will help with highlight rolloff and make it easier to match the R5II to the C70 when using it as a B cam; in my opinion that will make a bigger visual difference than the DR improvements.
I am noticing in Davinci Resolve that CLOG2 also seems to affect saturation when using managed color, so I will need to brush up on how to properly color grade CLOG2.  Exposing properly seems easier than CLOG3, but color grading it even with managed color seems a little more difficult.

The first clue that quality has decreased is when you hold any current R body; not even close to the quality of the DSLRs or even my Panasonic S5; so much plastic. The RF 70-200 F2.8 is nice in the way it is compact compared to the EF version, but feels so much more cheaply made due to all of the plastic.
I have to admit that RF 70-200 F2.8 lens is sharper than the EF version that I used to use, but for video sharper isn't necessarily better. So basically, you are paying exorbitant prices for lower quality lenses and losing the ability to use the vND adapter....no thanks, my current collection of EF glass is all I need.

I saw that too, but I have yet to see a good video DR test, we were always told CLOG2 wasn't included in the other camera bodies because they didn't have enough DR for it, then Canon says the R5II has 16 stops of DR and they included CLOG2. Of course it doesn't really have 16 stops of usable DR, but I have to believe that for video it has some sort of DR improvement or the reason CLOG2 was missing from the R5 and R5C was just a lie all along.
I personally will never use that feature; I am used to assigning expand AF to the half press of the shutter button and eye AF to the back button and together that is all I ever use. When I want to target a single subject, I use expand AF to pick the subject then while half pressing the shutter I press the back button eye AF then release the half press of the shutter, the eye AF will track the chosen subject after that until I am ready to take the picture.
Eye control AF feels too much like AWB, Auto ISO, and other automatic features. Too much control is handed over to the camera nearly guaranteeing it will let you down at the worst possible moment. Also, I am pretty sure having that feature on will drain the batteries faster.
I still only own a single RF lens....the RF 70-200 F2.8 and the only reason I got it was for photography. This leads me to something which is one of the biggest selling points for me for the Canon ecosystem....the ability to put the vND filter behind the lens if you use EF glass. So not only are you saving immensely vs the RF lenses, you also get a fantastic vND for video. The vND never leaves the lens mount for me for hybrid shooting.
If you shoot a lot of handheld that is probably a dealbreaker for the R5C, it certainly was a dealbreaker for me. I shoot my first project with the R5II next week, so I will be able to get a good look at how CLOG2 looks compared to CLOG3 but the online video tests show highlight rolloff is much improved and the colors look more natural as you mentioned.
Another big plus for me vs the R7 is the dual native ISO, with the R5II it was moved to 4000ISO which is where the Panasonic S5 had its second native ISO.....IMO the most useful second native ISO location possible. 

The Canon R5 Mark II FW 1.0.0 definitely has bugs.  It keeps not saving my settings. I know, this is the early adopter penalty, and typically I wait at least 6 months and a few FW updates before buying a camera body, but I have so many jobs coming up that I decided to buy it now. Not quite regretting it yet, still setting it up, but very annoying that the settings keep reverting back to something other than what I set.
On my first test photoshoot it saved JPG and RAW although I told it RAW only, it also keeps reversing my VF and screen settings back to their defaults. The worst is when it changes your video resolution or LOG profile. I now have to closely check everything on the screen every time I turn the camera off and back on....very annoying. The video below discusses it in more depth. 
As a temporary workaround, I got everything set up in the camera the way I want it then exported the settings to the memory card, if it goes haywire and loses all of my settings then I can hopefully restore them from the memory card.
 

Gimmick in this context means it's mainly for publicity and marketing; yes, it's usable in the R5 and R5II, but I would estimate it's a capability used by less than 0.5% of the buyers of the product and it comes with many limitations (battery type, storage limits, overheating, lack of redundancy, etc.) that a cinema camera with the same capability would not have.
So, from an overheating standpoint, what the majority of the population wants to see is how it performs in more mainstream modes like 4K Fine, 4K SRAW, 4K HEVC, etc. IMO 8K in any current mirrorless hybrid isn't much more than a marketing gimmick at this point, a somewhat useable one yes..but a gimmick nonetheless.

I hate actual lens flare, in my opinion when it comes to lens flare from photography lenses used for video or in photographs there is nothing more annoying than lens flare. I am guessing anamorphic lenses flare in a much more complimentary way than the lenses that I own because I do everything I can to avoid it during a shoot. 
My lenses when they flare completely ruin the contrast and clarity, and usually the flare is a very undesirable odd pattern that is burned into the footage. It is on my list of complaints regarding my Canon EF 24-105 F4.0 L lens, even with the lens hood on it, it flares uncontrollably if the sun is at just the right angle.

The C200's AF was marginal at best when compared to any current AF system, it is also a massive camera by today's standards with mediocre IQ (I have one).
Are you actually going to buy a camera for just one project? Why not rent instead? Renting for a week or two is far cheaper than buying. I rent things like lenses all the time when I need something for one project.

I hate actual lens flare, in my opinion when it comes to lens flare from photography lenses used for video or in photographs there is nothing more annoying than lens flare. I am guessing anamorphic lenses flare in a much more complimentary way than the lenses that I own because I do everything I can to avoid it during a shoot. 
My lenses when they flare completely ruin the contrast and clarity, and usually the flare is a very undesirable odd pattern that is burned into the footage. It is on my list of complaints regarding my Canon EF 24-105 F4.0 L lens, even with the lens hood on it, it flares uncontrollably if the sun is at just the right angle.

And that is exactly it. I would prefer to get the cleanest/nicest image as in, 'like a raw file' and edit it to taste after the fact.
Also, shooting for that in the first place as already knowing what the intended grade etc might be, but if there is some great fooking flare across the thing...and you don't want that, then you're fooked!
Bladerunner in 1982 was fantastic and one of my all time favourite movies, but then Michael Bay came along...

I have never used an anamorphic lens (and probably never will) but I nearly always shoot for both portrait and landscape resolutions so you definitely do not need an anamorphic lens for that. I simply keep the subject matter near the center and crop space for the edges and I can easily convert to a social media friendly portrait resolution in post while still having the landscape resolution for everything else, this is particularly useful for drone footage where the camera only has a landscape orientation.
For lens flares, they are trivial to add in post, I have a whole library of lens flares that were created in a studio with anamorphic lenses that I can add in post.
 
 
I will admit that I use flares quite a bit for fashion/modeling videos but they are pretty common in the fashion world to add interest to an otherwise 'flat' scene.  I do think they are overused at times but it's one of those things where if the client sends you a reference video that they like with them in it then I add them as well to mimic the look.
For weddings or most other types of events I can't imagine a situation where I would use them.
I definitely would not want them to be burned into the footage, its much nicer adding in post because you can control the intensity, direction, and location of them.

Rebel moon was also shot with 5 and 6 figure lenses, had a $166 million budget, and was graded by professional Hollywood colorists......the R5II's footage would be just as different under the same situation. Not saying different cameras don't look different and obviously a Red 8K camera is built for a very different target customer, but just trying to figure out your point here.

Yes, that's pretty ridiculous. Reminds me of Peter Mckinnon in his review of the R5 when the overheating light came on in the middle of his review.....he explained it away saying of course it's going to get hot shooting 8K footage....it was his ONLY mention of overheating well before the R5 showed its true colors and there is no way that's the only time it overheated on him during his review of the camera. I have never watched one of his videos since.

Yes, that's pretty ridiculous. Reminds me of Peter Mckinnon in his review of the R5 when the overheating light came on in the middle of his review.....he explained it away saying of course it's going to get hot shooting 8K footage....it was his ONLY mention of overheating well before the R5 showed its true colors and there is no way that's the only time it overheated on him during his review of the camera. I have never watched one of his videos since.