Camera test 40
Photography News | Issue 61 | photographynews.co.uk
reset the AF point to the centre so I just dedicated that function to the movie record button, so just had to remember to dab that button as I brought the camera up to the eye. Continuous drive shooting on the EOS R is a pedestrian 8fps with fixed focus and 5fps with AF and AE tracking. A few years ago, sports photographers would have been ecstatic with such shooting speeds but not nowadays. The claimed 8fps was delivered by the camera so no problem there and in full Raw mode only, I got a burst of 35 frames until buffering. In CRaw I got over 50 shots without buffering while in Large JPEG that increased to 100, and a full buffer took 15-20secs to clear. To be fair that is a more than decent number of frames. These rates were obtained with a Samsung EVOMicro SD card.
The flip out monitor is equally good in showing a lovely image and its flexibility is good too. The Q button lets you dive straight into key camera settings and alter values with a touch or two and the same goes for the Quick Control screen. There is also scope to customise the camera to your personal preferences too. In stills shooting 14 buttons or controls can be customised some with up to 41 options including off. Finally,justawordonthecamera’s video skills. TheEOSRgivesFullHD and 4k video althoughwith the latter there is a significant 1.7x crop which makes shooting in tight confines an issue – the 24mm focal length giving an effective 40mm. The AF in movie shooting is responsive and good at tracking moving subjects and the IS in the 24-105mmworks well.
Although of handling I had small issues with, there is plenty of great stuff to enjoy too. The EVF is excellent – bright, contrasty, high resolution and with little smearing during panning. some aspects
Verdict
Features 22/25 Rich in features for the still shooter, the crop in 4k video is not so good Handling 22/25 The M-Fn bar isn’t great, the AF ON button is poorly placed, no focus lever and an over sensitive touch monitor are minor negatives Performance 24/25 Lovely images at low and high ISO though, how you judge a camera is by the quality of the images it produces. On this point, with close to 2000 images shot for this review, I am very much impressed by the EOS R’s output. speeds. Fine AF too Value for money 23/25 Any new systemmeans serious commitment, and the EOS R is no 91/100 Canon’s first full frame mirrorless is good, but has a few flaws Pros Image quality, high ISO quality, AF speed, price, articulating monitor, EVF image Cons No IBIS, some handling niggles, M-Fn bar could be much better, no focus lever, one SD slot, cropped 4K video different Overall To be frank, I’ve been unconvinced by Canon’s commitment to mirrorless and the EOS M system comprised OK cameras with an uninspired lens range, but with the arrival of the EOS R system I feel Canon has finally embraced the mirrorless opportunity (threat!). The EOS R is without doubt a very fine camera and capable of brilliant-quality pictures from its 30.3-megapixel sensor but perhaps it’s held back by a few aspects of handling. The lack of IBIS, the M-Fn bar, the 4k video crop factor, the lack of a focus lever and the very sensitive touch monitor are things I noted but many users will disagree and that is perfectly right. One thing that is right is its price tag, especially to existing Canon users who can buy the body/EF-EOS R adapter kit for £2350 and start to enjoy mirrorless shooting immediately. When all is said and done,
Above left Astronaut Tim Peake’s Soyuz descent module capsule shot in Peterborough Cathedral using the 50mm f/1.2 lens at 1/125sec at f/1.2 and ISO 800. Above right Fairground ride. No image quality issues with the EOS R at ISO 3200 and an exposure of 1/60sec at f/6.3. Above Fotheringhay Church looking great in late afternoon light. A tripod mounted camera allowed an exposure of 1/50sec at f/10 and ISO 50. Right Crocuses in Kew Gardens. Getting a low viewpoint is no problemwith the articulating monitor with the picture taken using the touch shutter. Exposure of 1/1250sec at f/4.5 and ISO 400. Below left Roundel in IWMDuxford. The joy of the 50mm f/1.2 lens. Indoors, little light, but shot wide open handheld at 1/10sec and ISO 100. Belowright Peppers looked lifelike and nicely saturated with this straight out of the camera JPEG. Shot at 1/60sec at f/6.3 and ISO 200.
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