Daring to be different: Tier Zero and the EOS R5 C

"In Canada, you don't really see a creative agency where everyone is literally from a different country," says Jamal Burger, co-founder of the Toronto-based Tier Zero creative agency. "Coming to Canada as a minority, how that affects our thought process creatively, and with no prior business experience – we are trying to do the same thing our parents did for us. Trying to figure it out."

Originally working as independent creatives armed with the most affordable equipment at the time – including the Canon EOS 600D (now succeeded by the Canon EOS 850D) and the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM – friends Jamal, Charlie Lindsay and Due Pinlac joined forces as Tier Zero after their individual commissions began to gather momentum and project requirements grew.

'We'll figure it out!' is a Tier Zero philosophy that keeps coming up in conversation. It's central to this young and growing agency – even though they don't know everything, they remember where they came from, they take it forward and they grow together.

"Everyone in our team started with a Canon – I started with a Canon EOS 600D," recalls Due, Tier Zero's creative director. "It was accessible from a price standpoint, but also produced great quality images, even for a starter. You get the 600D, the nifty fifty [Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM] and you're like, 'Wow, I can do depth of field, I can get it sharp like my colleagues do.' It was a starter pack that really gave you confidence to produce creative work, and prompted you to go out and shoot, even if you didn't have a client or project in mind."

From the EOS 600D, the crew stepped up to a Canon EOS 5D Mark III (now succeeded by the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV), and then the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III. It's this history with Canon DSLRs that made the team's transition to the mirrorless Canon EOS R5 C for upcoming projects such an easy one, while also giving them the opportunity to take advantage of the camera's additional video production capabilities.

Camera gear has come a long way since the team were shooting independently with "DSLRs that happened to do video" as Due dubs them. This is why Tier Zero are genuinely excited about the Canon EOS R5 C.

Now a collective with bigger clients who demand both video and photography, the team has found that a hybrid mirrorless camera such as the EOS R5 C makes the seamless switch between media so much easier. Moving up to 8K video with unlimited record times and 45MP photos is a huge leap forward tech-wise, but crucially the EOS R5 C shares the same ergonomics as the DSLRs that the team is used to working with. "The EOS R5 C allowed us to go back to our roots – having a small camera and really experimenting," says Due.

The efficiency and capability of the Canon EOS R5 C effectively halved Tier Zero's usual production time, plus its headline features have been a dream for post-production. For instance, the 8K video resolution provides extra flexibility for 4K output. Due says: "There will always be those 'smoke and mirrors' aspects that will allow you to get that advanced production value. You can rely on that to retain the quality while working on a full budget shoot, or even when doing it on your own. Canon Log 3 internal is a big step for us, too."

For Jamal and the team, while they look ahead and dream of ambitious projects with the EOS R5 C in hand, it's also important that their creative process stays grounded. "Our dream is to get to a place where we can be those kids with the Canon cameras five to 10 years ago, but do it at a higher level," he says. "We still want to be those people coming up with the ideas and seeing them follow through in ways that are personal to us."