Canon EOS R Review

Alanstrainor

Well I've owned this camera for about 3 months or so, and I've shot in and around 2,500 photos with it. So I thought I would write a bit of a review, although there's plenty of them out there already.

Now first things first, a bit about my background in photography and my gear history. I started out over 10 years ago with a Canon 350D with 18-55mm kit lens, about 6 years ago I upgraded to my beloved Canon 60D and last year made the full frame jump to the EOS R. The decision to go with the R was slightly forced due to an upcoming New Zealand trip which I wanted the new camera for, and I had been considering a mirrorless system as my next. I shoot landscapes mainly, and thus far that's what makes up the majority of my use with this camera.

I should also note that I do not shoot video. Never ever have I done it, and I have no need for that function. Maybe in the future I will, but for now this review is entirely photo related.

Canon EOS R with 24-105mm F4

Form and feel.

To start, how does it feel in the hand. The camera is very premium feeling, and exudes quality and robustness. The body is a magnesium allow shell and has a weighty feel to it. Anyone expecting a light body to sling over their shoulder might be disappointed here. The body felt no different to my 60D and the lens is big and heavy too. None of this was a problem for me, and in fact it was a big plus. The camera is very comfortable to hold, and my large hand fits nicely over the grip. It doesn't feel cramped at all and all the dials and buttons are in a great position.

Controls

I will discuss the touch bar in it's own little section I think. The default layout for all the controls works well. I'm a manual shooter 99.99999% of the time, the aperture dial sits on top where your thumb can easily access, and the exposure dial is right where you'd expect it above the shutter. Now something people initially complained about, was that unlike the Canon 5D and others, there was no separate buttons for ISO/Metering/Shooting mode etc. But this is covered by the m-func button, which sits above the shutter. It is even more intuitive than the 5D imo. One touch of the m-func button will allow you to change the ISO with the exposure dial. Want to change the metering? Use the aperture dial to scroll through the options.

The other point of note with the controls is that every button and dial is configurable. You can change absolutely everything. Which presents you with a massive amount of customisation (almost too much), but with time and trial and error you figure out some nice and worthy changes.

Touch Bar.

Since this was a bit of a controversial feature, I figured I'd give it its own section. In short, it does work, but I would have to admit that it could be better. At first I was adamant to give it a chance despite all the complaints I had read. But what to use it for? I can't even remember the default setting, perhaps ISO. But this was a problem, it is too easy to swipe accidentally and change your ISO without you noticing. Now there is a lock you can apply, you must hold the bar for 2 seconds before it become active. But this didn't work great for me either.

But, as with the controls, there is a huge amount of customisation here. So you can try out tonnes of features. For me, the best use was for focus checking. I shoot landscapes, and obviously my shots being pin sharp is important. So you can set the bar to be a digital zoom. Swipe right and you zoom in on your focus point and check how sharp it is, swipe left to return to full screen. This is great, easy to use and access. I also have it so if I tap it on the left side it brings up the digital level (spirit level) to check how straight my shots are. Again very handy indeed.

Viewfinder

This is my first real EVF, I had picked up a Sony A7III briefly, but didn't use it for long enough to compare. All I can say is that the Canon is very very impressive. The resolution makes the images look incredible, and the detail you can make out is fantastic. And obviously the main advantage of using an EVF is seeing your exposure before taking the shot. I am quite experienced, so this is not something I really looked for when buying, but there are big advantages in always getting the exposure you want.

Again there's lots of customisation here, you can add or remove almost anything of use from the screen. An always on histogram is a godsend.


Image Quality

Perhaps it's no surprise that I found the image quality to be fantastic. The lens is incredible. Pin sharp across the frame and with little vignetting around the edges (none that I could detect wide open at 24mm). The sensor is the same as the 5D mk4 as far as I know, and it produces wonderfully clean images with little noise and great colour. Ultimately this is what I wanted, the 5D was always a dream camera and this gives me that image quality. What's not to like? Even pushing the ISO produced surprisingly clean images, although I tend not to have to push beyond ISO800, but I was very surprised to see how nice images were pushing ISO3200.

Battery Life

Now, this is the one part of my experience where I was disappointed. I found the battery life to be on the low side and I couldn't figure out why. Almost all the reviews praised the battery life of this thing, and said that the estimated 350 shots per charge was way too low. However my findings were quite different and I found I needed to recharge before this was reached. I do have to stick my hands up here and say that this could be on me. When shooting my DSLR I would never turn it off. It would go to sleep at some point and when I needed it I would just tap the shutter and wake it. I would almost never need to charge the bloody thing.

I do realise that this being a mirrorless camera it brings with it a compromise on the battery. The sensor is constantly reading and either of the 2 screens are always on when in use which is a big battery drain. I ended up just closing the rear screen and not really using it when shooting. The viewfinder was more than enough and it didn't impact my shooting working like this. Adjusting the optical viewfinder to a lower FPS in the last few days has helped with the battery, and changing the suspend time to 30 seconds also helps here.

Again, I feel that this one is on me, and perhaps some user error. But all the same I felt it worth mentioning.

Conclusions

I love it. I did a lot of research before I even knew of the Canon EOS R being released, and I was moving in the direction of the Sony A7III or A7RIII. No doubt these are fantastic cameras, but I have no regrets jumping on the R. The battery issues are probably due to my use of the camera thus far, and even still it didn't impact me too much. I'll buy a spare battery and consider a battery grip in the future.

I'm working through some images from New Zealand, so I will post up some here if people want to see. I can make available the RAWs if there's any interest there too. Any questions just ask away and I'll do my best to answer.

awec

Nice! Mind linking to some of your shots?

ED E

Alans linked his Insta here before so hope he doesnt mind me reposting. Recent shots are with the R.

https://www.instagram.com/alanstrainor/


The battery bit does strike me as a user thing, I always flick my Canon off while not actively shooting or about to shoot. Its so easy to flick as I grab it off the sling its habit.

Alanstrainor

I will post up photos here lads. I've been busy the last while, still working through a lot of RAWS.