Canon EOS R - Real World First Impression

Last week, Canon sent me a brand new Canon EOS R to take for a test run. 

The timing couldn't have been better; Austin City Limits Music Festival just wrapped, and I was shooting multiple Late Night Shows throughout the week in between festival weekends. Perfect time to try this thing out in challenging lighting environments.

A little backstory: I tend to shoot a lot of shows. Austin homies Do512 are my regular outlet, and the access I gained to shows last week is all on their behalf - the following images are produced for them first and foremost. 

I'm no stranger to mirrorless cameras - I've owned Fujifilm in the past, and currently shoot Sony. I've also owned Canon and Nikon DSLR's, so it is safe to say I've had a good little taste of every brand...

The Canon is super intriguing to me - it's not quite a 5D IV but it's better than the 6D Mk II. It's small in the hands as a camera body, but some of the lenses are larger than their DSLR lenses. 

Canon sent me a fully working final copy to play with for a few weeks, and I took the opportunity to test it in the situations I know best - low light concerts.

10/9 - Bishop Briggs + Donna Missal at Emo's Austin

I knew going into this shoot that lighting would be questionable at best. I love shooting at Emo's, but unless the artist brings their own lighting rig, the house lights can be relatively difficult to shoot in. That is exactly what happened this night - house lights only.

I made sure to set my Drive Mode to Low-Speed Continuous - This mode prioritizes autofocus tracking over frame-rate speed. Since the light wasn't fantastic and I knew Bishop Briggs would be running around the stage, I saw this as my best option for nailing the most in-focus images. 

I photographed C-RAW + Fine JPG, as at the time of writing this, Lightroom is not able to support these raw files yet.

Below are JPG images edited + unedited - trust me, if I could have edited RAW files, I would have done so.

Donna Missal - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 50mm f/1.2 R
1/160th | f/1.2 | ISO 640

Donna Missal - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 50mm f/1.2 R
1/160th | f/1.2 | ISO 640

Donna Missal - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 50mm f/1.2 R
1/160th | f/1.2 | ISO 640

Bishop Briggs - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 50mm f/1.2 R
1/160th | f/1.6 | ISO 1000

Bishop Briggs - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 50mm f/1.2 R
1/160th | f/1.6 | ISO 800

Bishop Briggs - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 24-105mm f4 R
1/160th | f/4 | ISO 3200

Final Thoughts:

Holy moly, that 50mm f/1.2 R is a dream. I've always been a prime gal, although the 35+85 combo are my favorite weapons of choice. But I have to say - the 50mm f/1.2 R wide open stayed on focus and sharp CONSISTENTLY. I was really impressed with how I was able to rely on this system when shooting at f/1.2.

Ultimately, I wish I could look at the RAW files, but that will have to wait for another day. Out of camera, t he color of the JPGS are lovely and accurate - something Canon is very well known for. As you can see, I purposefully underexpose when I can with the goal of saving shadows as I can. 

It was unfamiliar to me up-front to control AF strictly using the touch screen, but I definitely got use to it after a while. It was quick and responsive and accurate. Something I find helpful about the touch screen is the positioning of where the touch screen can work - I set the right side of the screen to be active which allowed for me to control the entire AF selection of the camera without having to reach across the entire back LCD. The grip is a bit bigger than other mirrorless cameras on the market - so something to keep in mind for those with smaller-ish hands - definitely get this in your hands if you can to see how it feels.

10/10 - Golden Dawn Arkestra at Stubb's

For those of you that are familiar with the outdoor stage at Stubb's, you can pretty much be guaranteed a fun light show, even with the house lights. I knew that I was in for an eclectic and fun show with Golden Dawn Arkestra with dancing, costumes, and theatrics

Because the lighting was going to be better, I set the Drive-Mode to High-Speed Continuous. I used the 50mm f/1.2 mostly, but also used the 24-105mm f/4 for one song.

As with the previous show, the edited files are JPGS, not edited RAWS, as Lightroom is not supporting the new RAW files yet.

Golden Dawn Arkestra - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 50mm f/1.2 R
1/160th | f/1.6 | ISO 500

Golden Dawn Arkestra - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 24-105mm f4 R
1/320th | f/4 | ISO 8000

Golden Dawn Arkestra - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 50mm f/1.2 R
1/160th | f/4 | ISO 160

Golden Dawn Arkestra - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 24-105mm f/4 R
1/320th | f/1.2 | ISO 12800

Golden Dawn Arkestra - Edited + Unedited
Canon EOS R + 50mm f/1.2 R
1/160th | f/1.2 | ISO 200

Final Thoughts:

Regardless of the high-speed shooting mode, the autofocus was still accurate and reliable. Almost every frame kept the subject in focus - often times these were dancers spinning, twirling, kicking. 

In addition to the high-speed focusing and shooting, there were a few times that the ISO jumped really high during this set - all when I was using the 24-105mm f/4 R. This is no surprise - f/2.8 and brighter lenses are most ideal for concert settings, even when the lighting is decent. That being said - the image quality and noise visible at ISO 8000 - 12800 is extremely minimal, and almost unnoticeable in the final .jpg output. I cannot wait to open the RAWs and see how they rendered without (what I assume to be) in-camera noise reduction. Luckily, you are able to at a limit to the ISO range, but since I was in the process of testing this camera out, I was excited to see how well the performance was in the high ISO range.

Something I did notice while shooting this show in particular, was a slight lag in the viewfinder. While every frame I wanted to nail was in focus - again, the autofocus on this camera is fantastic - the viewfinder failed to keep up at certain times, and didn't reflect that I had nailed my shot. This lag in the viewfinder felt familiar - I've experienced it in other, older mirrorless models - and it is something that could easily be upgraded/updated in a future model. 

Overall Assement:

There is a lot to like about Canon's first go at a full-frame mirrorless. 

• Ergonomics are friendly and familar - Canon's UI seemingly always comes across as the most user-friendly
• The image quality is fantastic - based on what I've been able to experience. (I really can't wait to open the raws!)
• Autofocus is rock solid, accurate, and very reliable - regardless of any lag in the viewfinder when shooting
• The fully articulating screen is huge for a lot of photographers and videographers alike, and has, until now, been simply on the wish list for many.
• The size and weight will make this camera a huge win for Canon shooters that travel. 

Plus - Something I didn't get to test in this review, but possibly one of the biggest selling points of the camera, isn't even the camera at all; it's the adapters for all of the legacy Canon EF + EF-S glass. 

One thing I do wish for in future models - or as a firmware upgrade for this model - is a faster start up time. The camera takes just under 1-second to fully turn on, which can mean the shot is gone if you are trying to turn it on quickly to take a photo. It isn't a huge deal, but I can certainly envision a situation where having something with a faster start time can come in handy.

I think any Canon user looking to upgrade to full-frame or move into a mirrorless system would love the EOS R - it's light weight and small size accompanied with its superb image quality and autofocus capabilities would make this a great addition to any Canon user's bag. 

Ultimately I look forward to seeing how Canon pushed the envelope with future models of their R series of cameras. If the R is not considered "professional" - surely Canon is cooking up something amazing when they release a "pro" model.