Canon eos R8 vs Eos R

[Nemofoto]

Hi all,

I ve had an eos R since 2019 and I am wondering what would be the improvement of replacing it with an R8, excepted size? I know that the AF is better, but I don't do neither sport nor wildlife photography, only photos of my 2 young sons and a lot of travel photography.

I do love the build quality of my R, it's excellent viewfinder and screen, and it's handling. I also love it's rendering and colors. The af is also really reliable. But I replace it sometimes with a fuji xt2 which is smaller and lighter.

The R8 is an appealing camera, with really good specs and several downsides.

I don't know what to think about that. What about you? Thanks for your help!

 

[gipper51]

I think you answered your own question. The better AF and smaller size will be the main improvements. The video specs are also better too, if that matters. The R8 sensor is also a bit better at higher ISOs and has a tad more dynamic range. Not a monumental improvement, but it's there.

If none of these are that important to your shooting style, it's probably not worth 'upgrading'. Battery life is also pretty poor on the R8, and the EVF is lower res.

 

[jayk0607]

Hi all,

I ve had an eos R since 2019 and I am wondering what would be the improvement of replacing it with an R8, excepted size? I know that the AF is better, but I don't do neither sport nor wildlife photography, only photos of my 2 young sons and a lot of travel photography.

I do love the build quality of my R, it's excellent viewfinder and screen, and it's handling. I also love it's rendering and colors. The af is also really reliable. But I replace it sometimes with a fuji xt2 which is smaller and lighter.

The R8 is an appealing camera, with really good specs and several downsides.

I don't know what to think about that. What about you? Thanks for your help!

It depends on what your 2 young sons do.

I went from RP to R6II, which has comparable AF system as R to R8, respectively.

The biggest reason I went for better AF is because my daughter's into gymnastics and does swimming and it made night and day difference from RP. Especially when she's jumping off trampoline or vault and do aerial moves.

 

[Andy01]

Hi all,

I ve had an eos R since 2019 and I am wondering what would be the improvement of replacing it with an R8, excepted size? I know that the AF is better, but I don't do neither sport nor wildlife photography, only photos of my 2 young sons and a lot of travel photography.

I do love the build quality of my R, it's excellent viewfinder and screen, and it's handling. I also love it's rendering and colors. The af is also really reliable. But I replace it sometimes with a fuji xt2 which is smaller and lighter.

The R8 is an appealing camera, with really good specs and several downsides.

I don't know what to think about that. What about you? Thanks for your help!

The R8 is a very nice little camera and it's biggest advantages over the R would include;

• Size & weight - significantly lighter especially. You may not need the Fuji.
• Better AF, the excellent subject & eye detection may be a nice benefit to shooting young kids.
• Faster burst speeds (up to 40fps), which may be of some use if young kids are moving around quickly.
• Generally more responsive newer Digic X.
• As mentioned above, the R8 sensor has improved DR (so more latitude for correctly exposures of lifting shadows). It also performs well in low light.

Possibly the biggest downside might be the smaller battery and the need to buy new spare batteries, although the LP-E17 batteries are significantly cheaper than LP-E6NH. My R8 is fairly new, but I really haven't found the battery life too bad at all. It is FAR better than the pathetic spec result suggests.

 

[BirdShooter7]

What are the downsides of the R8?

 

[lumenite]

Hi all,

I ve had an eos R since 2019 and I am wondering what would be the improvement of replacing it with an R8, excepted size? I know that the AF is better, but I don't do neither sport nor wildlife photography, only photos of my 2 young sons and a lot of travel photography.

I do love the build quality of my R, it's excellent viewfinder and screen, and it's handling. I also love it's rendering and colors. The af is also really reliable. But I replace it sometimes with a fuji xt2 which is smaller and lighter.

The R8 is an appealing camera, with really good specs and several downsides.

I don't know what to think about that. What about you? Thanks for your help!

If you want a smaller, lighter setup, the change from R to R8 does not make a big difference because both of them share the same lenses. However, if you want some improvements such as AF, you would be happy to go for R8. So it comes down to what you need.

 

[Nemofoto]

Hi all,

I ve had an eos R since 2019 and I am wondering what would be the improvement of replacing it with an R8, excepted size? I know that the AF is better, but I don't do neither sport nor wildlife photography, only photos of my 2 young sons and a lot of travel photography.

I do love the build quality of my R, it's excellent viewfinder and screen, and it's handling. I also love it's rendering and colors. The af is also really reliable. But I replace it sometimes with a fuji xt2 which is smaller and lighter.

The R8 is an appealing camera, with really good specs and several downsides.

I don't know what to think about that. What about you? Thanks for your help!

If you want a smaller, lighter setup, the change from R to R8 does not make a big difference because both of them share the same lenses. However, if you want some improvements such as AF, you would be happy to go for R8. So it comes down to what you need.

I know, you're right, that's why I can hardly make a decision. It's benefits are really appealing but several things like the lower specs of the viewfinder and screen, the lack of an upper screen or the 24mp instead of 30 mp are slowing me down. I have an xt2 with 35 1.4, which is light and delivers great pictures but the af is not as reliable as the one of the R.

 

[Nemofoto]

The R8 is a very nice little camera and it's biggest advantages over the R would include;

• Size & weight - significantly lighter especially. You may not need the Fuji.
• Better AF, the excellent subject & eye detection may be a nice benefit to shooting young kids.
• Faster burst speeds (up to 40fps), which may be of some use if young kids are moving around quickly.
• Generally more responsive newer Digic X.
• As mentioned above, the R8 sensor has improved DR (so more latitude for correctly exposures of lifting shadows). It also performs well in low light.

Possibly the biggest downside might be the smaller battery and the need to buy new spare batteries, although the LP-E17 batteries are significantly cheaper than LP-E6NH. My R8 is fairly new, but I really haven't found the battery life too bad at all. It is FAR better than the pathetic spec result suggests.

Thanks a lot, I think you're right, wouldn't need my fuji anymore. Even if that piece of equipment is a real joy to use, despite a so so AF.

What do you think about the viewfinder of the R8?

 

[winston_smyth]

Downsides of the r8, There aren't many and most are not really issues once you get down to using the camera.

Battery

Battery life is not an issue. I bought 3 batteries with he expectation of chewing through them.

So far I have only once gotten through 1 battery in a day shooting, and even then it was towards the end of the day.

Single card slot

this is an issue if you're using the camera as your only camera in a professional situation, in which case you should really have the R6ii or higher. Falling foul of this issue mens you didn't do your research, the camera isn't for you.

No ibis

Ibis is nice to have but with a modern is lens I can easily hand hold to 1/10 , and probably more, I just haven't tried. This is with pin sharp results.

Again, you need ibis, get the R6ii or higher.

For price, form factor and AF there is no beating the R8 in its niche, it's my personal opinion that it's one of the best cameras produced by canon. I say this as someone who was reluctant to purchase it initially, it has massively exceeded ally expectations.

Overall, the form factor and price of the R8 mean it has almos

 

[Nemofoto]

What about the viewfinder? Do you like it?

 

[lumenite]

Hi all,

I ve had an eos R since 2019 and I am wondering what would be the improvement of replacing it with an R8, excepted size? I know that the AF is better, but I don't do neither sport nor wildlife photography, only photos of my 2 young sons and a lot of travel photography.

I do love the build quality of my R, it's excellent viewfinder and screen, and it's handling. I also love it's rendering and colors. The af is also really reliable. But I replace it sometimes with a fuji xt2 which is smaller and lighter.

The R8 is an appealing camera, with really good specs and several downsides.

I don't know what to think about that. What about you? Thanks for your help!

If you want a smaller, lighter setup, the change from R to R8 does not make a big difference because both of them share the same lenses. However, if you want some improvements such as AF, you would be happy to go for R8. So it comes down to what you need.

I know, you're right, that's why I can hardly make a decision. It's benefits are really appealing but several things like the lower specs of the viewfinder and screen, the lack of an upper screen or the 24mp instead of 30 mp are slowing me down. I have an xt2 with 35 1.4, which is light and delivers great pictures but the af is not as reliable as the one of the R.

In terms of size and weight, EOS R8 with 50 1.8 is similar to XT2 with 35 1.4. But I do not know the performance difference between the lenses. So if you want one body solution, R8 would be the best choice for you with some cons as you mentioned. But do you really need to change from your current setup when you are having and enjoying both systems?

 

[winston_smyth]

What about the viewfinder? Do you like it?

I was initially concerned about the EVF, having come from a 5DMk2 with a large OVF & a fuji x100T and its large OVF & my only experience of EVF's was an early one on a Panasonic FZ7 bridge camera from about 12 years ago, which was not great.

Like the battery, it turned out to be a non issue. I have not felt limited in any way by the EVF on the R8. I just use it as i did any other camera to take pictures. There has never been a time where ive been using it that i wished it was something different.

Im sure a larger higher res EVF will be better, but its at the point where (to me) we are at diminishing returns.
I feel this about cameras in general, my shots are no better than they were when i was working with an 8 year old 5DMk2, although AF has improved drastically!

If i can sound pretentious for a second, ive grown beyond pixel peeping and trying to squeeze marginal gains out by adding huge cost or effort and I just like to get out and use my gear now. Ive taken a similar journey with guitars! We spend way too much time nowdays comparing spec's and not enough time practicing and using our stuff!

 

[NoosaPete]

What about the viewfinder? Do you like it?

I have only had the r8 for a week now and overall a very happy with it. However I am finding the viewfinder a bit of a disappointment. It is even less clear than my nikon z50.

I guess that we shouldn't complain given the price but still ...

 

[Andy01]

The R8 is a very nice little camera and it's biggest advantages over the R would include;

• Size & weight - significantly lighter especially. You may not need the Fuji.
• Better AF, the excellent subject & eye detection may be a nice benefit to shooting young kids.
• Faster burst speeds (up to 40fps), which may be of some use if young kids are moving around quickly.
• Generally more responsive newer Digic X.
• As mentioned above, the R8 sensor has improved DR (so more latitude for correctly exposures of lifting shadows). It also performs well in low light.

Possibly the biggest downside might be the smaller battery and the need to buy new spare batteries, although the LP-E17 batteries are significantly cheaper than LP-E6NH. My R8 is fairly new, but I really haven't found the battery life too bad at all. It is FAR better than the pathetic spec result suggests.

Thanks a lot, I think you're right, wouldn't need my fuji anymore. Even if that piece of equipment is a real joy to use, despite a so so AF.

What do you think about the viewfinder of the R8?

I recently changed from a 6D ii + EF lenses & M5 + EF-M lenses to a R8, R10 + RF lenses, so I had a FF OVF and earlier (but decent EVF) on the M5.

Technically the R8 & R10 EVFs are slightly different - I think the actual "screen" is the same, but the magnification is slightly different.

The bigger difference is the rear LCD where the R8 has a 1.62 million dot screen and the R10 has a 1.04 million dot screen. I have not compared them side-by-side, but I can't say that I have noticed a difference between them in normal use. Perhaps if I was pixel peeping shots (playback) at maximum magnification I might notice, but I don't typically do that.

I am quite happy with both / either of them. I can see everything I want to see, including the histogram (I use "Small"). Now, I will say that I haven't used a R5 (or similar), so it may be a case of I don't know what I am missing out on.

My view is that the EVFs are perfectly adequate (but clearly not industry leading), and while you may notice a difference if comparing side-by-side, I do think that you would very quickly acclimatise to the R8 EVF and not notice that you may be "missing out". I think that some people tend to read too much into the spec differences and "think" that they can pick the differences in normal everyday usage - or maybe I just don't pay enough attention

I thought I might miss the bright FF OVF on my 6D ii, but I adapted to the R8/R10 EVFs very quickly. Yes, they are not as bright as the OVF, but they do show a lot more info, so it is swings & roundabouts (pros & cons). I really don't miss anything about the 6D ii (except maybe it's all-day / multi-day battery life) or the M5.

The R8 has a much deeper grip than RP (or any M camera), so it is perfectly usable with anything from a RF16 to RF 100-500L (I haven't tried anything bigger - well I supposed I have tried it with an adapted EF 100-400L ii which is bigger and heavier). I don't know what lenses you have/use, but I suspect the R8 would handle any of them.

 

[BirdShooter7]

Downsides of the r8, There aren't many and most are not really issues once you get down to using the camera.

Battery

Battery life is not an issue. I bought 3 batteries with he expectation of chewing through them.

So far I have only once gotten through 1 battery in a day shooting, and even then it was towards the end of the day.

Single card slot

this is an issue if you're using the camera as your only camera in a professional situation, in which case you should really have the R6ii or higher. Falling foul of this issue mens you didn't do your research, the camera isn't for you.

No ibis

Ibis is nice to have but with a modern is lens I can easily hand hold to 1/10 , and probably more, I just haven't tried. This is with pin sharp results.

Again, you need ibis, get the R6ii or higher.

For price, form factor and AF there is no beating the R8 in its niche, it's my personal opinion that it's one of the best cameras produced by canon. I say this as someone who was reluctant to purchase it initially, it has massively exceeded ally expectations.

Overall, the form factor and price of the R8 mean it has almos

 

[BirdShooter7]

What about the viewfinder? Do you like it?

I have no issues at all with the viewfinder. I never noticed it being inferior.

 

[BirdShooter7]

What about the viewfinder? Do you like it?

I have only had the r8 for a week now and overall a very happy with it. However I am finding the viewfinder a bit of a disappointment. It is even less clear than my nikon z50.

I guess that we shouldn't complain given the price but still ...

I know this is probably a dumb question but have you adjusted the diopter? I have pretty good eyesight and when the diopter is dialed in I find the R8 viewfinder to be quite clear. It might be nice if it was bigger and brighter but to my eye it’s nice and clear.

 

[Nemofoto]

I also have an M5 and this R8 could replace it favorably. How is the viewfinder of the R8 compared to the M5?

 

[NoosaPete]

What about the viewfinder? Do you like it?

I have only had the r8 for a week now and overall a very happy with it. However I am finding the viewfinder a bit of a disappointment. It is even less clear than my nikon z50.

I guess that we shouldn't complain given the price but still ...

I know this is probably a dumb question but have you adjusted the diopter? I have pretty good eyesight and when the diopter is dialed in I find the R8 viewfinder to be quite clear. It might be nice if it was bigger and brighter but to my eye it’s nice and clear.

Yes I have. It is OK, just not quite as good as I would have liked. Still a great camera though.

 

[Nemofoto]

Downsides of the r8, There aren't many and most are not really issues once you get down to using the camera.

Battery

Battery life is not an issue. I bought 3 batteries with he expectation of chewing through them.

So far I have only once gotten through 1 battery in a day shooting, and even then it was towards the end of the day.

Single card slot

this is an issue if you're using the camera as your only camera in a professional situation, in which case you should really have the R6ii or higher. Falling foul of this issue mens you didn't do your research, the camera isn't for you.

No ibis

Ibis is nice to have but with a modern is lens I can easily hand hold to 1/10 , and probably more, I just haven't tried. This is with pin sharp results.

Again, you need ibis, get the R6ii or higher.

For price, form factor and AF there is no beating the R8 in its niche, it's my personal opinion that it's one of the best cameras produced by canon. I say this as someone who was reluctant to purchase it initially, it has massively exceeded ally expectations.

Overall, the form factor and price of the R8 mean it has almos

I agree with all you’ve said. Honestly, the R8 is my favorite camera I’ve ever owned and that includes the R5. The lack of ibis actually turned out to be a benefit for me because I have a couple of old EF lenses with early IS. I’ve found that those lenses really have trouble synchronizing with the ibis and I usually have to turn off stabilization all together to keep from having error messages and jumping viewfinder. For whatever reason Canon doesn’t allow you to turn off ibis and keep is on. They are either both on or both off. With the R8 I can use the lens is and it works just as it did on my SLR’s.