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Hi! I'm Rudy Winston with Canon
USA. We've spoken about the
optical foundation of Canon's
new full-frame mirrorless camera
system, and its compatibility
with so much of the gear that
many Canon EOS owners work with
every day. Now, it's time to
talk about the first camera in
this system - the EOS R. Two
vital things before going any
further: this full-frame, 30.3
million pixel camera is an
addition to the EOS line, not a
replacement for any camera in
the line-up. If you shoot with
Canon, you can add this camera
to your bag, and incorporate it
into the work you create. And,
this is the first in what will
ultimately be a series of
mirrorless cameras, targeting
different users. The EOS R aims
for the middle ground in terms
of features, pixel resolution,
and performance. It targets the
experienced photo and video
enthusiast, and also
photographers stepping-up to
their first full-frame camera.
Just a few of the areas where
this camera should find success
include landscape shooting,
travel, weddings and events,
portraits, and available-light
imagery. And if a hybrid camera
for stills and video is high on
your wish list, this is one of
the best-equipped EOS cameras to
date for 4K and Full HD video
recording, using Canon EF, EF-S,
and the dedicated RF-series
lenses. Picking the EOS R up and
bringing it to your eye opens
the door to a different EOS
shooting experience. The camera
is smaller than mid-range EOS
digital SLRs, but it's no
featherweight - it has a
substantial feel to it. A
magnesium-alloy chassis, along
with metal external panels and
weather-resistant construction,
immediately convey its solid
design.
And, you'll see a big
electronic viewfinder. This is
an OLED type viewfinder, with
excellent brightness, color, and
detail. 3.69 million dot
resolution isn't just a number:
it means sharp detail you'll see
immediately when you look into
it. Eyeglass wearers rejoice:
the viewfinder has the highest
eyepoint measurement ever in a
Canon EOS camera. Even with
glasses, you'll be able to see
the big image, and the
surrounding camera information.
You can magnify images up to ten
times to check focus, even with
AF active. And, it has several
aids for sharp results with
Manual focus. The viewfinder has
so much potential we'll have a
separate episode to thoroughly
cover it and the camera's Dual
Pixel CMOS autofocus system.
Mirrorless cameras by definition
are smaller than digital SLRs,
there's less room on the EOS R
for conventional buttons and
dials.
An EOS 5D Mark IV, for
example, has a total of 19
buttons, not including its
shutter button, on its back and
top panels, and a dedicated
depth-of-field preview button on
its front. The EOS R has 12.
Accordingly, some operations and
access to controls will be
different than what Canon users
may have experienced before.
Once again, we'll have an entire
episode in this series on
general camera operation, with
the EOS R. For stills or video,
the camera records to a single
SD memory card. It's the first
EOS camera to be compatible with
the faster UHS-II memory cards,
and these are recommended for 4K
video recording, as well as for
RAW file shooters who expect to
shoot continuous bursts of
pictures. This camera opens the
door to some exciting new
possibilities.
There's Eye Detection AF,
for instance. This
can change the way you shoot
portraits or events. With focus
coverage over most of the
picture area, the camera can
immediately detect and focus on
a prominent face, and with the
Eye Detection active, now put
sharpest focus on the eye
nearest to the camera - even
if it's way off-center. This can
really speed up your composition
and shooting with stationary
subjects, and get you better
frame-to-frame sharpness.
In an earlier episode,
we spoke about how
smoothly compatible the EOS R
is with Canon EF and EF-S
lenses, and there's no better
example than its ability to use
Canon EF lenses, with any of
three Lens Mount Adapters. But,
this camera also works with EF
Tele Extenders in ways not
possible with digital SLRs.
Combine a 2x Extender on an F5.6
lens, like the EF 100-400mm, and
attach it with a Canon Mount
Adapter EF-EOS R. You get AF at
an effective maximum aperture as
slow as F11, throughout the
entire area covered by Dual
Pixel CMOS AF. This has never
been possible on a Canon
interchangeable lens camera,
before the EOS R. Low-light
shooting is enhanced, too. The
Dual Pixel CMOS AF system can
read at light levels as low as
EV minus 6, with the Canon RF
50mm F1.2L lens.
Let's put that into
perspective: at ISO 3200,
the camera can focus at a light
level that would require a
4-second exposure, at F1.4. The
electronic viewfinder is a
revelation in extreme low light,
working with the AF system so
you can view and focus at light
levels where your naked eyes
have difficulty seeing. This
will be a tremendous camera for
available-light shooting.
Another option is silent
shooting, selectable in the
camera's Menu. Whether you are a
working pro or a photo
enthusiast, this can change the
way you shoot still, candid
images, indoors and out. Silent
Shutter is so quiet the camera
flashes a white border around
your image as you shoot, so you
know when it's actually recorded
an image. Image quality is never
far from the minds of critical,
experienced digital SLR users.
When you look closely, still
images taken with normal shutter
operation from the EOS R should
be very similar to those from
the EOS 5D Mark IV, but you'll
probably see less noise at high
ISOs, because of the more
powerful DIGIC 8 processor.
Bright highlights have new
levels of correction possible
in-camera, with enhancements to
both Highlight Tone Priority,
and the Auto Lighting Optimizer.
Expect the stabilization in your
IS lenses to be even more
effective, because the EOS R
detects shake not only from the
lens's shake-detection sensors,
but also detects right off of
the camera imaging sensor. With
two different pieces of
information to work with, the
result is added effectiveness to
your lens's built-in IS. For
movies, electronic stabilization
at the image sensor, with 5-axis
correction, can combine with any
IS in the lens for very
effective IS during video
recording. Here's something of
interest to high-end EOS users.
If you use any of the Canon
Tilt-Shift lenses introduced
from 2009 onward, for the first
time you get in-camera
corrections for lens vignetting,
chromatic aberrations, even
linear distortion. Like all
Canon Lens Aberration
Corrections, they're directly
applied to JPEG images. RAW
images are tagged with
correction info, and that
correction is applied if you
process your RAW files in
Canon's Digital Photo
Professional software. And
speaking of RAW images, the EOS
R uses Canon's latest dot-C-R-3
RAW file type. It's a very high
quality RAW file, and it now
gives you the option of shooting
a smaller size RAW, or C-RAW
file. Unlike the previous
Medium- and Small-RAW files in
Canon digital SLRs, a Compact
RAW file is truly full
resolution, with the same
potential processing adjustments
as a conventional Canon RAW
file. But instead of being
roughly 32MB or so in file size,
the C-RAW file is approximately
17MB for each click of the
shutter. I started out by
explaining that the EOS R is an
addition to the Canon EOS line,
and one that any Canon user can
add to his or her current
arsenal. We squarely aim this at
the mid-range of the camera
market, and are confident that
its appeal will extend to many
different types of
photographers.
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