Canon R5 Mark II Background Blur: Aperture, Distance, Lenses

To blur the background on the Canon EOS R5 Mark II, set the smallest f-number your lens allows, move close to your subject, and leave plenty of space between your subject and whatever stands behind them. Then zoom toward the long end of your lens and let the camera's eye detection keep the eye sharp.

You don't need any special tricks. A soft background comes from four simple ideas working together, plus a lens that lets in enough light. Each idea is explained below in plain words, so you can try it on your next walk.

The four things that blur a background

Think of background blur as a recipe with four ingredients. Use one and you will see a small change. Use all four and the background melts into soft color.

1. Aperture: the pupil of your lens

The aperture is a hole inside your lens. It works like the pupil of your eye: it can open wide or squeeze down small. Thin metal leaves called aperture blades do the squeezing. The Digital Picture points out that shooting wide open means no time is lost waiting for those blades to close.

The size of that hole is written as an f-number, such as f/4 or f/22. This part confuses almost everyone at first, so don't worry if it feels backwards: a small number means a big opening. f/4 is a wide pupil. f/22 is a tiny one.

For a blurry background, you want the wide pupil, so pick the smallest number your lens offers. Two of PetaPixel's underwater sample photos from the R5 Mark II were shot at f/22 and f/25. The caption on the f/22 shot praises how much detail it shows. That is the opposite end of the dial from where you want to be for blur, and it shows how much one number can change a picture.

2. Get close to your subject

Move closer to the person or thing you are focusing on, and everything far behind it gets softer. If your portrait looks flat, take two big steps toward your subject and try again. A head-and-shoulders photo will show more blur than a full-body photo taken from across the yard.

3. Push the background far away

This one is the easiest, and it costs nothing. If your friend leans against a brick wall, the bricks will stay sharp no matter what settings you use. Ask them to walk ten steps away from the wall, toward you. Now the wall sits far behind them, and it softens.

Look for long views behind your subject: an open field, a street that stretches away, or trees on the far side of a park. Space behind your subject works in your favor.

4. Focal length: zoom in, then step back

Focal length means how zoomed in your lens is. A small number like 24mm shows a wide view, like standing at a window. A bigger number like 105mm shows a narrow view, like looking through a paper towel tube.

Zoom to the long end, then walk backward until your subject fills the frame the way you like. The background will look larger, closer, and softer behind them. Canon sells the R5 Mark II in a kit with the RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens. If that is your lens, 105mm at f/4 is your go-to blur setting.

Step by step: your first blurry background on the R5 Mark II

1. Choose aperture priority. Turn the mode dial to aperture priority, the mode where you pick the f-number and the camera picks the shutter speed. Your manual shows which letters mark it on the dial.
2. Turn the aperture to its smallest number. On the kit lens, that number is f/4.
3. Leave ISO on auto for now. ISO works like a volume knob for brightness. Letting the camera handle it means you only have one thing to think about while you learn.
4. Turn on subject and eye detection. PetaPixel lists AI subject detection on the R5 Mark II, including modes for dogs, cats, birds, and horses, with eye detection working alongside it. Watch for the little focus box to land on the eye before you press the shutter.
5. Try Eye Control AF if you use the viewfinder. The R5 Mark II borrows the R3's 5.76-million-dot viewfinder, which lets you move the focus area just by looking where you want it. You need to calibrate it to your eye first.
6. Shoot, then zoom in on the screen. Check the eye. If the eye is crisp and the background is soft, you've done it.

When the photo comes out too bright

A wide-open aperture in midday sun can let in more light than you need. In aperture priority, the camera responds by speeding up the shutter. The shutter is like a door that opens and closes, and a faster door lets in less light. If your photo still looks too bright, the electronic shutter can go very fast: The Digital Picture's buffer test ran the R5 Mark II at 1/32000 of a second.

That speed comes with a small trade. DPReview's testing found that the electronic shutter carries "an appreciable noise cost". Noise is the speckly grain you sometimes see in dark areas. Photons to Photos measured the R5 Mark II's peak dynamic range at 11.45 with the mechanical shutter and 10.92 with the electronic shutter. Treat this as useful information, not a reason to worry. Use the electronic shutter when you need the speed, and the mechanical shutter when you don't.

What the R5 Mark II's sensor gives you

The R5 Mark II has a 45-megapixel full-frame sensor, the same resolution as the original R5. Each photo measures 8,192 x 5,464 pixels.

That gives you plenty of room to crop. PetaPixel notes that a 1.6x APS-C crop, done in camera or later on a computer, still leaves a 17.3-megapixel file. That helps with a bird that is too far away to fill the frame. For portraits with soft backgrounds, though, try to move closer or zoom in first and crop second. Moving your feet changes the picture. Cropping only trims it.

Lenses that make background blur easier

Your lens sets how small the f-number can go, so it matters more than any menu setting. The table lists the lenses named in the research on this camera, with a plain note on how each one helps with blur.

Lens	Widest aperture in its name	For background blur
Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM	f/4	The best starting point on this list. Zoom to 105mm and get close.
Canon RF 14-35mm f/4 L IS USM	f/4	A wide-angle zoom. PetaPixel's underwater team picks it for subjects too far away for a fisheye. You will only see blur if you get very close.
Canon RF 10-20mm F4 L IS STM	F4	An ultra-wide zoom and the first lens to support Peripheral Coordinated Control on the R5 Mark II. It suits big scenes more than soft backgrounds.
Canon 8-15mm fisheye	Not given in the research	PetaPixel used it for an underwater nudibranch photo shot at f/22. Think of it as a creative lens, not a blur lens.

Every zoom in that table stops at f/4, and f/4 is a perfectly good place to learn. When you want even softer backgrounds, look for a lens whose smallest f-number is lower than 4. Many of these are prime lenses, which means they don't zoom. You zoom with your feet instead.

Native RF lenses vs adapted EF lenses

You can mount older Canon EF lenses on the R5 Mark II with an adapter, but PetaPixel notes that many photographers prefer native RF lenses because autofocus can noticeably suffer when adapting. At a wide aperture, focus decides whether you keep the shot, so keep this in mind before you buy an older lens just for blur.

Mistakes that teach you something

Every photographer makes each of these. Each one shows you which ingredient to adjust next time.

The background is blurry, and so is the face

This means focus landed somewhere else, often on an ear, a shoulder, or the background. Zoom in on the screen and look at where the focus box was. With eye detection on, give the camera a moment to find the eye before you shoot. PetaPixel's underwater testers found the R5 Mark II could stay on a chosen subject even when another object passed in front of it. That kind of tracking helps, but checking your photos is still a good habit.

The background is still sharp

Go back through the four ingredients one at a time. Check that you are at the smallest f-number. Then move closer, ask your subject to step away from the wall, and zoom in. Changing one thing at a time teaches you how much each one does.

Only one face is sharp in a group photo

A wide aperture leaves only a thin slice of the scene sharp. If people stand at different distances from you, some of them fall outside that slice. Line everyone up at the same distance, or close the aperture a little to f/5.6 or f/8. This isn't a failure. It is a tool for later, when you want one face sharp and the others soft on purpose.

Is the R5 Mark II the right body for this?

The R5 Mark II is sold body only or in a kit with the RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM. PetaPixel calls it Canon's most versatile camera to date.

If you mostly shoot portraits and landscapes on a tighter budget, PetaPixel suggests the original R5 might even be more desirable, because it has slightly better dynamic range. Background blur comes from your lens and your distances, so either body can give you soft backgrounds.

If video matters most to you, the EOS R5 C, released in 2022, added more video features and mostly solved the original R5's overheating problem.

For a fuller look at the camera, read Canon R5 Mark II: Is It Actually Worth It? If a friend shoots on a different Canon body, the same four ingredients apply, and Canon R6 Mark II: How to Get a Blurry Background walks through them for that camera.

Start with one ingredient today, then add the others one by one. If you'd like more plain-English camera lessons, sign up for the thecamera.school newsletter.