Photography News Issue 61

Camera test 35

Photography News | Issue 61 | photographynews.co.uk

Performance: ISO

ISO 100

ISO 800

ISO 1600

Original image

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

ISO 12,800

The sub menu LCD panel shows mode selection and you get the same detail on the rear monitor too. If you prefer, using the rear touchscreen to alter exposure mode is fine and pushing the MODE button to bring up the options on themonitor as well as on the top-plate LCD. The collar around the MODE button is deep and knurled for a good grip but I found getting at it to adjust settings needed a slight thumb position shift, to the right from where the thumb naturally rests. The EOS R’s default ISO range is 50 to 25,600 with expansion down to ISO 50 and up to 102,400. This series of shots of the Church of St John Baptist, Cirencester was shot with the EOS R with the EF 24-105mm f/4 L (using the EF-EOS R mount adapter) on a Gitzo carbon-fibre tripod with the shutter released with the camera’s self-timer. (The purple hue was due to the lights of a fairground ride directly behind the camera position). All in-camera noise reduction was switched off and no NR was applied in the processing through Adobe Lightroom. Image quality is impressive with excellent detail rendition and minimal noise. Peering closely into the deep shadows of the ISO 800 image at 100% on a high resolution screen and you will see some very fine noise compared with slower ISO shots but it’s negligible. Noise is not an issue at ISO 1600 or even at 3200 either so

if you need to venture into such high speeds for sharp pictures getting big, grain-free prints is not an issue at all. If push came to shove and you needed to use ISO 6400, in all honesty only the most critical photographers would quibble about the noise levels and the impact on fine detail. This is impressive stuff from the EOS R. Eventually, of course, noise does start to get more evident and while ISO 12,800 is still capable of very decent image quality the more obvious graining and detail loss is a factor and that applies even more so at the higher speeds. The EOS R uses a front illuminated CMOS sensor and it does show itself, with the DIGIC 8 image processor capable of an impressivehigh ISOperformance. The scene was also photographed with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV using the same lens, again with in-camera NR turned off. Although both cameras have the same 30.3-megapixel

ISO 25,600

ISO 51,200

ISO 102,400

Canon EOS 5DMark IV ISO6400

Canon EOS 5DMark IV ISO 12,800

Canon EOS 5DMark IV ISO 25,600

Images High ISO performance from the Canon EOS R is very slightly better than the EOS 5DMark IV’s.

resolution the EOS R has an updated sensor through the DIGIC 8 image engine compared with the DIGIC 6+ of the EOS 5D Mark IV. Looking at the resulting files from both cameras revealed

little if any benefit of the newer camera in terms of overall noise levels at the higher ISO settings. A close look showed that the EOS R was very marginally better at handling fine detail,

although whether this would be appreciated even in a big print is doubtful. What it does show is that the EOS 5D Mark IV introduced over two years ago is still a leading full-frame camera.

This applies to the AF-ON button too, which to me should be where a new control called the M-Fn bar sits. Canon’s camera design ingenuity is second to none. I’ve always considered the large rear command dial on my old EOS 3 a truly brilliant piece of design. The M-Fn (multi-function) bar is Canon’s latest innovation. It is a touch swipe or tap bar placed to be quickly accessed by your right thumb. It can be assigned various shooting and playback functions. So, for example, it can be dedicated to altering ISO. Swiping to right increases the ISO value and to left sets a lower value with a scale appearing on the monitor and in the viewfinder showing you what’s going on. You can also set a lower and upper value which you access by a single tap on the left or the right end of the swipe bar. It can also be used as a focus check with a right swipe (or tap) showing a 5x and then a 10x magnified image and then a left swipe (or tap) taking you back to the normal viewing image.

The EOS R body is weather sealed and the body deep enough for me to get a firm grip

Above This dimly lit Cirencester street scene needed ISO 12,800 for a handheld exposure of 1/25sec at f/4.

In principle, the M-Fn bar and just setting it up at home before testing it seemed a great idea and as I was trying the camera’s ISO skills it made sense to try it to alter speeds. With ISO I did like swiping it to change values which was easy with the camera up to the eye. It was also

to change values just because it is right next to where thumb sat. With the right/left tap setting enabled I found I was constantly changing ISO when I didn’t intend too. What you can do with ISO is set upper and lower limits so the swipe motion works within that range. With the