Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-): Canon EOS R Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

Started Sep 13, 2018 | Discussions

Steve Balcombe • Forum Pro • Posts: 15,571

Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

Sep 13, 2018

Canon has begun taking the EOS R around the UK and I was lucky enough to get a place on a session this afternoon. I guess I had about an hour with the camera in total - a decent amount of time but not enough to become totally comfortable with it as there's a lot to adjust to. It was impossible to go through things systematically but first impressions include:

- It's a proper camera which feels great in the hand. Just like a DSLR in that respect.

- The EVF is not like an OVF - I did feel I was looking at a screen - but I very quickly forgot that and just used it.

- AF is superb and the near-100% coverage is liberating. I did miss the joystick though.

- My shooting style often means trying to keep my eye to the viewfinder as much as possible, so all the extra information is superb.

- The EOS R with the RF24-105/4L IS is similar in size to my 80D plus 24-70/4L IS, which I took along specifically to compare. Of the two, the EOS R handles better.

- Image quality of the kit lens wide open is impressive!

I am totally outside my comfort zone working with models, but luckily Rosie is a consummate professional.

- The 50/1.2L is fabulous, but I didn't get any shots I'm happy with, just through lack of experience with that sort of lens.

- We weren't allowed to shoot with the 28-70/2L as they only had a pre-production copy, but I did get to handle it on the camera and the size and weight are fine for serious work.

The camera, 24-105 and 50/1.2 are available in the UK from October 9th. The other two lenses sometime in December I think.

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Canon EOS R Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM

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Thoughts R Us • Senior Member • Posts: 2,910

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to Steve Balcombe • Sep 13, 2018

Thanks for your thoughts. It seems that when people get their hands on the EOS R that most really like it!

Good to hear that AF seems to work very well.

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Rick Knepper • Forum Pro • Posts: 17,870

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to Steve Balcombe • Sep 13, 2018

Steve Balcombe wrote:

Canon has begun taking the EOS R around the UK and I was lucky enough to get a place on a session this afternoon. I guess I had about an hour with the camera in total - a decent amount of time but not enough to become totally comfortable with it as there's a lot to adjust to. It was impossible to go through things systematically but first impressions include:

- It's a proper camera which feels great in the hand. Just like a DSLR in that respect.

- The EVF is not like an OVF - I did feel I was looking at a screen - but I very quickly forgot that and just used it.

- AF is superb and the near-100% coverage is liberating. I did miss the joystick though.

- My shooting style often means trying to keep my eye to the viewfinder as much as possible, so all the extra information is superb.

Did you have the histogram enabled?

- The EOS R with the RF24-105/4L IS is similar in size to my 80D plus 24-70/4L IS, which I took along specifically to compare. Of the two, the EOS R handles better.

- Image quality of the kit lens wide open is impressive!

Looks like.

I am totally outside my comfort zone working with models, but luckily Rosie is a consummate professional.

- The 50/1.2L is fabulous, but I didn't get any shots I'm happy with, just through lack of experience with that sort of lens.

- We weren't allowed to shoot with the 28-70/2L as they only had a pre-production copy, but I did get to handle it on the camera and the size and weight are fine for serious work.

The camera, 24-105 and 50/1.2 are available in the UK from October 9th. The other two lenses sometime in December I think.

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Once you've done fifty, anything less is iffy.

Rick Knepper's gear list:Rick Knepper's gear list

Pentax 645Z Canon EOS 5DS R Fujifilm GFX 50S Sony a7R IV Pentax smc D FA 645 55mm F2.8 AL (IF) SDM AW +11 more

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J A C S • Forum Pro • Posts: 20,521

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to Steve Balcombe • Sep 13, 2018

Thank you. How is that image processed?

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NRBlack • Contributing Member • Posts: 706

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to Steve Balcombe • Sep 14, 2018

Steve Balcombe wrote:

- The EVF is not like an OVF - I did feel I was looking at a screen - but I very quickly forgot that and just used it.

- My shooting style often means trying to keep my eye to the viewfinder as much as possible, so all the extra information is superb.

Thanks for the report. These are a couple of things that are making me wonder/think about mirrorless.

If you don't mind me asking, do you wear glasses?

NRBlack's gear list:NRBlack's gear list

Canon EOS 7D Canon EF-S 10-22mm F3.5-4.5 USM Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Canon EF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM +4 more

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OP Steve Balcombe • Forum Pro • Posts: 15,571

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to Rick Knepper • Sep 14, 2018

Rick Knepper wrote:

Steve Balcombe wrote:

- My shooting style often means trying to keep my eye to the viewfinder as much as possible, so all the extra information is superb.

Did you have the histogram enabled?

No - so many things I didn't try in the limited time. I did use exposure simulation in the viewfinder which seems to be pretty good. A histogram will be more precise obviously.

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OP Steve Balcombe • Forum Pro • Posts: 15,571

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to J A C S • Sep 14, 2018

J A C S wrote:

Thank you. How is that image processed?

I don't yet have a way to process EOS R CR3 files, so that's a camera JPEG with just a very slight tweak to the exposure in Lightroom. I do have the CR3 files though, so it will be interesting to compare when the RAW converters become available.

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OP Steve Balcombe • Forum Pro • Posts: 15,571

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to NRBlack • Sep 14, 2018

NRBlack wrote:

Steve Balcombe wrote:

- The EVF is not like an OVF - I did feel I was looking at a screen - but I very quickly forgot that and just used it.

- My shooting style often means trying to keep my eye to the viewfinder as much as possible, so all the extra information is superb.

Thanks for the report. These are a couple of things that are making me wonder/think about mirrorless.

If you don't mind me asking, do you wear glasses?

No, but I spoke to someone at the event who was shooting with glasses and he had no problems.

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Rick Knepper • Forum Pro • Posts: 17,870

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to Steve Balcombe • Sep 14, 2018

Steve Balcombe wrote:

Rick Knepper wrote:

Steve Balcombe wrote:

- My shooting style often means trying to keep my eye to the viewfinder as much as possible, so all the extra information is superb.

Did you have the histogram enabled?

No - so many things I didn't try in the limited time. I did use exposure simulation in the viewfinder which seems to be pretty good. A histogram will be more precise obviously.

One more question. Does the camera have peaking or zebras?

-- hide signature --

Once you've done fifty, anything less is iffy.

Rick Knepper's gear list:Rick Knepper's gear list

Pentax 645Z Canon EOS 5DS R Fujifilm GFX 50S Sony a7R IV Pentax smc D FA 645 55mm F2.8 AL (IF) SDM AW +11 more

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Rick Knepper • Forum Pro • Posts: 17,870

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to Rick Knepper • Sep 14, 2018

Rick Knepper wrote:

Steve Balcombe wrote:

Rick Knepper wrote:

Steve Balcombe wrote:

- My shooting style often means trying to keep my eye to the viewfinder as much as possible, so all the extra information is superb.

Did you have the histogram enabled?

No - so many things I didn't try in the limited time. I did use exposure simulation in the viewfinder which seems to be pretty good. A histogram will be more precise obviously.

One more question. Does the camera have peaking or zebras?

Answered my own question. The manual says it has peaking but a search does not turn up the word zebra.

-- hide signature --

Once you've done fifty, anything less is iffy.

Rick Knepper's gear list:Rick Knepper's gear list

Pentax 645Z Canon EOS 5DS R Fujifilm GFX 50S Sony a7R IV Pentax smc D FA 645 55mm F2.8 AL (IF) SDM AW +11 more

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OP Steve Balcombe • Forum Pro • Posts: 15,571

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to Rick Knepper • Sep 14, 2018

Rick Knepper wrote:

Rick Knepper wrote:

Steve Balcombe wrote:

Rick Knepper wrote:

Steve Balcombe wrote:

- My shooting style often means trying to keep my eye to the viewfinder as much as possible, so all the extra information is superb.

Did you have the histogram enabled?

No - so many things I didn't try in the limited time. I did use exposure simulation in the viewfinder which seems to be pretty good. A histogram will be more precise obviously.

One more question. Does the camera have peaking or zebras?

Answered my own question. The manual says it has peaking but a search does not turn up the word zebra.

I was just about to suggest downloading the manual (in the nicest possible way ).

Seriously though, I downloaded it myself today. I'm not a big reader of manuals as a rule, but so much is new/different with this camera. My 'hands on' yesterday was more about getting the feel of the camera rather than investigating specific features. Apart from asking a few questions like "How do I change the ISO speed?" (there's no button, but it turns out to be easy) I shot without any prior knowledge or tuition. As you can imagine that was very instructive.

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73Instamatic • Regular Member • Posts: 409

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to Steve Balcombe • Sep 14, 2018

Steve Balcombe wrote:

Canon has begun taking the EOS R around the UK and I was lucky enough to get a place on a session this afternoon. I guess I had about an hour with the camera in total - a decent amount of time but not enough to become totally comfortable with it as there's a lot to adjust to. It was impossible to go through things systematically but first impressions include:

....

Thank you for the post!

One question... on the off chance that you've ever tried the M50 (?), how would it compare to that (size, weight, feel)?

I love the M50, and am really hoping the R feels like a bigger/pro version of it.

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OP Steve Balcombe • Forum Pro • Posts: 15,571

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to 73Instamatic • Sep 14, 2018

73Instamatic wrote:

Steve Balcombe wrote:

Canon has begun taking the EOS R around the UK and I was lucky enough to get a place on a session this afternoon. I guess I had about an hour with the camera in total - a decent amount of time but not enough to become totally comfortable with it as there's a lot to adjust to. It was impossible to go through things systematically but first impressions include:

....

Thank you for the post!

One question... on the off chance that you've ever tried the M50 (?), how would it compare to that (size, weight, feel)?

I'm afraid not. I can say though that the EOS R is big enough to feel like a full-sized DSLR, albeit a small one. It's not a million miles away from the 80D which I took along to compare.

There were 6D2s available at the event - I wish now that I'd tried them side by side but I didn't.

I love the M50, and am really hoping the R feels like a bigger/pro version of it.

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J A C S • Forum Pro • Posts: 20,521

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to Steve Balcombe • Sep 14, 2018

Steve Balcombe wrote:

J A C S wrote:

Thank you. How is that image processed?

I don't yet have a way to process EOS R CR3 files, so that's a camera JPEG with just a very slight tweak to the exposure in Lightroom. I do have the CR3 files though, so it will be interesting to compare when the RAW converters become available.

The new DPP is available on the Canon HK site.

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OP Steve Balcombe • Forum Pro • Posts: 15,571

Re: Hands on with the EOS R and lenses :-)

In reply to J A C S • Sep 14, 2018

J A C S wrote:

Steve Balcombe wrote:

J A C S wrote:

Thank you. How is that image processed?

I don't yet have a way to process EOS R CR3 files, so that's a camera JPEG with just a very slight tweak to the exposure in Lightroom. I do have the CR3 files though, so it will be interesting to compare when the RAW converters become available.

The new DPP is available on the Canon HK site.

Excellent, thanks for the heads-up. I've downloaded it and it works - just have to re-learn how to use DPP!

Hopefully Adobe will have an update soon.

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