Canon Throws Its Hat into the Mirrorless Camera Ring with EOS R

The launch of the EOS R is a very big deal for Canon, which came pretty late to the Mirrorless Camera party, and expectations were pretty high. So what’s the verdict? Well, according to most “expert” reviews, the EOS R is a mixed bag.

Pros: Silent mode, easy to use with existing Canon lenses, Great control customization, Dual Pixel AF with 5,655 AF positions, Fully articulating screen.

It’s not really a camera for professionals because it has only one card slot and not enough native lenses. But for everyone else, it has several features that make it attractive over any of Canon’s other flagship cameras. First of all, as a mirrorless camera, it can shoot completely silently. This gives it an immediate advantage over any other senior Canon camera. It also has an electronic viewfinder, meaning that you don’t keep checking to see whether shots ‘came out okay’, wasting precious seconds each time. The camera body is also slimmer and lighter than other high-end Canon DSLRs. And almost all of your existing Canon lenses will work flawlessly on the new body through the included adaptor. Finally, there’s the quality of the images (through the new native lenses and older DSLR lenses), which is excellent.

Cons: Very pricey, single card slot, No in-body image stabilization, Cropped 4K Video.

Potential downsides to the camera include not having any usable 4K video functionality (there is, but it’s a useless 1.7 crop, wiping out your lens choice). And it’s very pricey, at about $1,200 more than Canon’s full-frame DSLR equivalently, the 6D Mark ii. The four native lenses are very expensive, too: one of them, the 28-70mm f2, costs over $3,000 on its own. Yikes.

Overall, the EOS R performs well and takes some really good quality images. So if you can afford it, it will deliver. But it’s up against such stiff competition that it feels like you’re paying a bit over the odds for this model. However, with the enormous success of the EOS R so far, speculation has been rife about Canon’s upcoming mirrorless camera entries. Canon has recently confirmed that an 8K EOS R is in development, along with reports that the manufacturer has ditched its medium format research in favor of working on a 100MP EOS R with IBIS. So, looks like Canon fans have a lot to look forward to.

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