Mirrorless Goes Large

It’s taken a while, but full-frame mirrorless cameras are finally being produced by companies other than Sony. We put the latest off erings from Sony, Nikon and Canon to the test to see which one is best.

- Marcus Wong

CANON EOS R

The first full-frame mirrorless offering from Canon, the EOS R introduces a brand new mount, the RF Mount, to go with a new series of RF lenses. Canon says the new RF mount is shorter, which allows them to design smaller lenses than what’s currently possible with EF Mount.

At the heart of things is a 30MP full-frame sensor with Dual Pixel autofocus capabilities, setting up the camera for faster focusing with both stills and video. The EOS R actually has a total of 5,655 AF points spread across the frame, and can achieve focus as quick as 0.05s. However, the only group AF mode in which all AF points can be used automatically is face detect mode. The two Large Zone AF modes only cover about 1/3 the frame horizontally or vertically.

At first glance, the EOS R looks very much like EOS cameras of old, with a deep handgrip on the right and an information panel on top. However, the power switch is now a knurled dial.

A small change that really doesn’t work well in practice, as trying to quickly turn on the camera to get a picture now takes more effort than necessary. The vertical orientation of the front dial didn’t sit right either, nor was it the most responsive.

We do like the implementation of a new Multi-function Bar though. This is a bar that sits just beneath the top information panel that you can slide your thumb across or tap on either side to activate different settings. You can assign a good number of settings to this bar, so we think you will definitely find a way to add this into your work flow.

Unlike the other contenders, there’s no in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with this camera. Coupled with the fact that there’s only a single card slot with the camera (that takes SD UHS-II); you get the feeling the camera is an offering for amateurs rather than serious photographers.

AT A GLANCE

SENSOR