Too Little, Too Late

So finally, the two big camera giants, Nikon and Canon, have entered the battleground of mirrorless cameras, with the reigning champs Fuji and Sony as the formidable opponents. Sony’s Alpha line has dominated the hybrid market, jam packing awesome image quality and excellent video & photo features, in a package that’s a bit too small with bad usability. Where Fuji holds strong with an amazing form factor, usability, and color, but lacking the bleeding edge technology. Both Fuji and Sony though, winning the hearts of the pro-sumer market in its entirety. So the entire pro photo/video world was waiting on Canon and Nikon to jump into the ring to show them how it’s done. But…unfortunately…the entire world of content creation let out a great sigh of disappointment.

So Close

Here’s what the new Canon EOS R does right

  • Full Frame 30.3MP Sensor
  • Dual Pixel AF
  • Flip Out Screen
  • 4K 30fps 480Mbps- with 10bit 4:2:2 HDMI output
  • No longer using MJPEG, now with ALL-I
  • -6 EV Auto Focus capabilities
  • USB-C 3.1
  • Great Viewfinder/LCD Screen
  • Good ergonomics, form factor
  • Mic/Headphone Jack & Micro HDMI

This looks like its the perfect vlogging camera! Well, that’s only on paper. Now, it’s still a good camera. And I think many who will never leave Canon, will be (kinda) happy with this. But there are a few dealbreakers for hardcore prosumers.

credit: Canon

Here’s the Negatives

  • 1.67x Crop on 4k
  • Must adapt EF-S lenses (which results in crop on both 1080p & 4k modes)
  • Bloated Bitrates (Still need to see professional samples)
  • No IBIS
  • 120fps ONLY at 720p, no FullHD Slow-mo
  • ONE SD CARD SLOT!
  • Expensive ($2,299 Body Only)

“For me this camera isn’t a revolution at all. Canon are playing catch up and with these specs they are far behind the competition, as in Sony and even the new Nikons” – Philip Bloom

So here is where you start to see this camera, and its value, fall apart. For one, you’re not getting your 4k output at full-frame. This means, as a vlogging camera, if you’re using a 24mm lens, you’ll be around 48mm, which is not ideal for vlogging. Then you see that Canon STILL hasn’t changed their video codecs, which in my opinion, aren’t that good. Especially at 1080p. If you’re an EF-S user, then you get cropped automatically, but also, you’ll need to purchase a new adapter to even use. Then there’s the slow-mo only at 720p, which is a no go for any action / b-roll shooters. Finally, the kicker, there’s only one SD card slot. This makes it a complete deal breaker for any pro. All at the high price of $2,300 (for now).

So in conclusion. Canon has started something worth looking at. I want to see their next EOS R mkII with Full-Frame 4K 60fps, uncropped, some new, more manageable codecs, 120fps at 1080p, keep that flip out screen, keep those great colors, keep those great ergonomics, and for fucks sake, give us two SD card slots. That’s something that’s competitive. That’s something worth talking about. But right now, this would be a great camera if it was released in 2015, or was literally, half the price.