ISSUE 379|COMPUTERSHOPPER|SEPTEMBER 2019
Batterylife
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
Seepage108forperformancedetailsSENSORRESOLUTION30.3megapixels•SENSORSIZE36x24mm
- FOCALLENGTHMULTIPLIER1x•VIEWFINDERElectronic
(3.69milliondots)•LCDSCREEN3.2in(2.1milliondots)•
VIEWFINDERMAGNIFICATION(35mm-EQUIVALENT,
COVERAGE)0.76x,100%•WEIGHT580g•DIMENSIONS
98x136x84mm•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.
canon.co.uk•PARTCODE3075C059
SPECIFICATIONS300shotsentry-levelprolens.Gorgeously
sharp and rockingan image
stabilisercapableof five stops
of stabilisation,it’s agreat
everydaylens to start with.
Like every other R-mount
lens, it has acontrol ring
at the front, allowing
photographersto adjust the
lens’ aperturewithoutreaching
forarear or top-mounted
control.As the controlring
is fly-by-wire,asopposed
to being mechanically
linked to the apertureitself,
it can be repurposed.The
EOS Ralready has front and
rear dials –the latter is already
linked to aperturecontrol–so
repurposingthe controlring to,say,ISO or
exposurecompensationmaymake sense.
Other RF-mountoptionsincludeafaster
24-70mmf/2 and a35mm f/1.8 capableof
focusing as closely as 17cm from the camera’s
focal plane formacro photography.There’s also
an ultrafast 50mm f/1.2, and abrace of lenses
planned,includinga70-200mmf/2.8 and a
travel-friendly10x zoom, the 24-240mmf/4-6.3.
Unlike some mirrorlesscameras,the EOS R
doesn’t have in-bodystabilisation,meaning
unstabilisedlenses remain exactlythat.
CRACK SHOT
It’s temptingto assumethat image quality from
the EOS Rwill be top-notch, given Canon’s track
record when it comes to producingfull-frame
camerasforboth the professional and consumer
markets.HappilyforCanon, regularfull-frame
shooters will be unable to distinguishbetween
the EOS Rand any of Canon’s other full-frame
cameras.Imagesare crisp and detailed,thanks
in no small part to the excellentoptics of the
24-104mmf/4 lens. ISO performanceis excellent,
as you’d hope from the wide-spacedpixel sites.
There’s little meaningfuldistinctionto be made
betweenISOs 100 and 800, and even at ISO 3200
noise is kept well and truly under control.
Push farbeyond that and you’ll start to see
plenty of speckling,but to our eyes we preferred
the EOS R’s noise performanceat very high ISOs
to the Nikon Z7’s. At ISO 25,600,forexample,the
EOS R’s grain was relativelysmall randomnoise.
On the Z7,noise took on achunkier,more
colourfulprofile that might prove harder to
ignore.Suffice to say, give it the right lens and
we’d be more than happycarrying the EOS R
intojust about any low-light situation.
Autofocus is excellent:with asingle AF point
selected, we hardly missed.The EOS Ralso packs
auseful trick forthose who want to use individual
autofocus points rather than letting the camera
decide foritself.Select the relevant menu option,
and the right side of the touchscreeneffectively
becomesajoystick, allowingyou to drag your
autofocus point aroundthe viewfinderwithout
taking your eyeaway. It works fantastically.
The EOS R’s video modes make it ahighly
temptingpropositionforall self-facilitating
multimedianodes. Frame-ratechoice at 4K is a
little narrow,ateither 25 or 24fps,
althoughthe EOS Rwill shoot 1080p
at 50fps, 25fps or 24fps. Alternatively,
100fps high-speedrecordingis
available at 720p.That means it
doesn’t comparewell to,say,the
Fujifilm X-T3 (Shopper 375),
which can shoot up to
60fps in 4K and 120fps
in 1080p,but as long
as you’re happyto
shoot standardframe
rates –adocumentary,
forexample–there’s
plenty to like about
the output.That
full-framesensor gives
areal sense of depth of field, while all the
thingswelikeabouttheEOSR’simagequality
are as true forvideo as theyare forstill images.
There are afew tricks up the EOS R’s sleeve,
too. Focus peakingis available in manualfocus
mode (but not, arbitrarily,inautofocus mode),
and there’s the option to shoot in Canon Log,
which will endear the EOS Rtocolourists
everywhere.Indeed, shootingin log is feasible in
both 8-bit and 10-bit; the latter made possible
when you connectthe EOS Rtoanexternal
HDMI recorder.Naturally,you get twin mic
and headphonesockets.EOS PLEASE
This is acrackingdebut on the mirrorlesscamera
marketforCanon. It is lacking in afew areas –
namelybody controls,frames per secondand
battery life–but forenthusiastswho simply want
the very best image quality,ithas to make the
shortlist.That high-resolutionsensor simply
drinks in light, while the Canon 24-105mmf/4
RF-mountlens is deeply impressive.
Performanceis otherwiseexcellent,with few
droppedshots due to either autofocus or burst
mode performanceforthe vast majorityof
subjects.It’s very usable,particularlyif you’re
willing to sacrificeafew manualoptionsin favour
of the EOS R’s very good automatic metering.
We love the touch-sensitiveautofocus point
repositioning:an unusualinstanceof afeature at
once both novel and useful.
We can’t wait to see what Canon does next
with its mirrorlessrange,and we’re particularly
interested to see if it starts bringingout
mirrorlesscamerasthat better bridge the gap
betweenprofessional and consumer,but this
is an absolutely brilliantstart.
DaveStevensonCUSTOM BUILD
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