Camera test 39
Photography News | Issue 61 | photographynews.co.uk
Canon EOS R v EOS 5DMark IV
Using the EOS R’s M-Fn control
The Canon EOS R and EOS 5D Mark IVboth have 31.7-megapixel CMOS sensors and their effective resolutions both give 6720x4480-pixel files. With a two-year gap between them you wouldn’t expect the sensors to be identical and Canon says the EOS R has an upgraded sensor. The two cameras use different image engines: the EOSRuses the DIGIC 8 and the EOS 5DMark IV the DIGIC 6+. Out of curiosity we shot the same scene with the same lens, an EF 24-105mm f/4 L – fitted on the EOSRwith theEF-EOSRadaptor – and at a range of ISO values, from ISO 50 to their respective top settings. Both cameras were
fixed to a Gitzo carbon-fibre tripod with the shutter released with the self-timer. The resulting full-size Raws were processed identically through LightroomClassic CC. Does the new camera out- perform the oldie? Yes: the EOS R did an even better job showing fine detail and noise performance was better but we are talking small margins of difference and we’re deep into the scary world of pixel peeping. Put it like this, if you were hoping for a big difference in pure picture quality terms, then expect to be disappointed. Of course there are many other differences to sway your buying decision.
Canon’s latest innovation is the M-Fn (multi-function) bar and that’s why it deserves an explanatory panel all of its own. This is a touch, swipe or tap bar placed to be quickly accessed by your right thumb. In other words, it is positioned in one of a camera’s most important areas and it can be assigned to a few shooting and playback functions. So, for example, it can be dedicated to altering ISO. Swiping toright increases the ISOvalueand to left sets a lower value, passing through other speeds as you do so. If you want to work quickly without scrolling through the intermediate ISO values you can set a lower and upper value which The new RF lens mount gives the opportunity for high spec lenses such as this super fast aperture standard lens. It is a hefty optic that makes the camera/lens combination front heavy and there is no integral IS to help defeat camera movement. Its price and spec mean this is a top-end lens and it performs like one. There’s no point having a fast aperture lens if it delivers soft shots at its widest setting but there is absolutely no danger of that. This lens gives excellent resolution and contrast from f/1.2 onwards and that is across the whole frame.
Above You can customise the M-Fn bar in the menu.
you access by a single tap on the left or the right end of the bar. In practice, with the bar set to change ISO I found myself regularly adjusting speed when I didn’tmean to. I endedup shooting at inappropriate exposure values or the wrong ISO. For focus check a right swipe (or tap) shows a 5x and then a 10x
magnified image then a left swipe (or tap) takes you back to normal. With this feature set, several times I found myself looking at a magnified image instead of the full image, which was annoying. The M-Fn bar has potential but after using it for a while I turned it off completely. It obviously doesn’t suit my thumb position.
Canon EOS R
Specs
RF 50mm f/1.2 L USM£2349.99
Price £2349.99 Optical construction 15 elements in nine groups Aperture range F/1.2-16 Diaphragmblades 10 Filter size 77mm
Stopping improves sharpness even further although it is true that the only reason to go for a smaller aperture is for depth-of-field reasons. And if you do want to shoot at f/16, you can do so in complete confidence with this lens because diffraction doesn’t impact sharpness much at all. With its price tag, down
ISO 200
ISO 6400
Minimumfocus 40cm IS Not available Dimensions 89.8x108mm Weight 950g
this standard lens isn’t a mass appeal product. Its performance though is amazingly impressive so it is a shame that only a few people will get to enjoy its optical skills.
Canon EOS 5DMark IV
Original image
F/5.6
ISO 200
ISO 6400
F/8
does mean you can use your thumb on the monitor to guide the AF point to where it is needed, and very quickly too. There are options with the Touch & Drag focus feature too. For example, if you prefer just to have the left side of themonitor active you can. The problem I found with Touch & Drag AF was that it seemed overly sensitive and I’d find the AF point in the corner of the screen and had been moved while I was bringing the camera up to the eye or moved by my nose. The touchscreen has two sensitivity settings, standard and sensitive so perhaps a less sensitive option would work better for me.
Turningoff Touch&DragAF then means you need another method of moving the single AF point around and there is no focus lever or joystick. To do this you have to first push the AF selector button and then use the rear four-way pad to navigate the AF point to where it is needed. This two step operation can be cut down to one with the Direct AF point selection custom control which I had set to the up control on the rear four way cluster. A dedicated focus lever would have been nice though. Ultimately, the Touch & Drag option is best used to move the AF point around the screen at speed. There is a custom function to
F/1.2
F/2.8
F/11
F/1.8
F/4
F/16
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