Canon EOS RP

amazon Canon EOS RP reviews

Fun is almost an illusion in the case of the Canon EOS RP. It is a cheap full-frame camera that recycles old tech and diminishes some features without even a logical reason, simply to specify the price difference between it and the higher-end EOS R.

Who cares, anyway, if the RP shares the same 26-megapixel sensor with 2017’s EOS 6D Mark II (which was way behind in its own time) and an inferior EVF with lower resolution, less battery power, and poorer video specs than the EOS R? The RP costs $1,300, just so more shall carry on comparing it with the R’s price.

Simply put, it is cheap and full-frame. That’s all the customers needed to know.

Big sensor does not make a good camera.

And the other thing, exclusive of price, is size-the RP weighs just over 17 oz. and is the world’s lightest full-frame camera. Unless, of course, you feel this sort of thing is important. A full frame is not the way to go, you know. The lenses still have to be big enough to cover that big sensor.

The RP has a kit lens, the RF 24-70mm f/4L IS, that is balanced nicely against the camera. It’s a decent lens with decent zoom range and stabilisation but balance-wise, just what the system absolutely needs. I have tested EF 85mm f/1.4L IS with this camera through an EF-RF adapter. It does very well, with lightning-fast autofocus, but almost feels comical on the small body. That is not an R-system-specific problem, but I think it comes into sharp relief with how the RP has been marketed-very lightweight and very nimble.

This camera does provide lenses that even out the weight of carrying it anywhere.

The second one, Macro RF 35mm f/1.8 IS, suits the RP better. This compact element makes for a perfectly balanced setup that you can take with you wherever you go. This fast aperture mild wide would work great for street photography or just hanging inside with your friends. Optical image stabilization is nice to have, since the RP doesn’t have in-body stabilization. Sadly, there aren’t many RF lenses like it. If your priority is compactness, other options are better.

Fujifilm X-T30. It uses a smaller APS-C sensor, weighs only 13.5 ounces, and it has a bunch of compact lenses. So, smaller, lighter system. This is just the beginning. The X-T30 has a much better video mode with faster continuous shooting speed, has better dynamic range at base ISO, exactly the same number of megapixels, all this for an even lower price-$900 for the body-so I can make most of the same points for the A6400, another APS-C camera at $1000.

What does full frame gain you anyhow? An edge in ISO performance. The RP’s sensor might not be great at base ISO, but it’s good when you crank it up. This means cleaner images at low light. That is a good reason to choose one full-frame camera over another.

Not that easy, however. Different lenses also perform differently in low light, and Canon has few R-system lenses that are cheap and fast i.e. wide apertured lenses that could really let light in. The RF mentioned above, 35mm f/1.8, thus becomes the only option and the only lens available under $1,000 in the system. Fujifilm, on the other hand, has numerous options for fast-length prime lenses available below $1,000.

Hence, it is possible to assemble a cheaper APS-C kit which gives even better low-light performance than the EOS RP. Sure, Canon does have lenses such as the RF 50mm f/1.2L and 28-70mm f/2L that will definitely turn RP into a low-light king-but both of these are priced at $2,099 and $2,999 respectively, so prime price authentication is not going to be an option for RP users.

Canon had announced the development of six new lenses in 2019, and the 24-240mm f/4-6.3 would probably make up the majority of the appeal to RP photographers. The other four are high-end L-series versions: 15-35mm f/2.8L IS, 24-70mm f/2.8L IS, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, and two versions of the 85mm f/1.2 L.

Making full frame affordable

Canon initially based the EOS R system on expensive, high-end products only directed at professional photographers. The RP changes 180 degrees from there; it will be not at $1,000 less than the EOS R. It has a similar gap in most other ways as well. In fact, it uses a smaller battery, borrowed from the Rebel series, rated for just 250 exposures. The electronic viewfinder (EVF) offers 2.36 million pixels while the LCD comes in at 1.04 million, down from 3.69 million and 2.1 million, respectively, on Rs. The multi-function touch bar loves or doesn’t hate it’s gone, and the classic mode dial has replaced the R’s top LCD.

That is lower side camera, but there are some factors which feel chopped down for no reason other than justify the Rs’ $1,000 difference. The biggest one? The silent electronic shutter is only available now in scene mode. Like most scene modes, this forces the camera to expose automatically. There are no other ways to shoot with silent shutter in manual, aperture-priority, or shutter-priority exposure modes. Silent shutter is an important advantage of mirrorless cameras, and this is a brand new model that for shady reasons, locks up tight on auto exposure scene mode.

So, the basic geometry of features also appeared artificially curbed in video. Full HD shoots at 60 or 30 frames per second; there is no 24 frame rate option, and there is only 24 fps available for 4K. That makes it very hard to combine various resolutions-and even as 4K also suffers from a terrible 1.7x crop, it could probably warrant better reasons to do so than non-crop cameras. You’ll be forced to end up going with Full HD for wide-angle work, but then those two resolutions will not have a comparison frame.

You could argue that the camera can’t handle 4K at 30fps-no technical reason, at least not to include a Full HD / 24 fps option. I doubt this. ” all up to tech specs anymore for this one. Same Digic 8 processor as the EOS R, which offers 4K / 30.”

4K is one of the abbreviated shooting modes available only when the mode dial is turned to movie mode. This isn’t the only camera that shoots like this, but it has always struck me as an odd tactic. The first time I got my hands on the camera at a press event, I didn’t even know that the RP shoots in 4K until a Canon rep told me and gave me instructions on how to get into it.

As it is, the camera has the interesting microphone and headphone jacks, a fully articulating display that can switch to selfie mode. Hence, despite the software cutback, these physical characteristics would go a long way toward making the RP a plausible vlogging camera.

You want to stick to the Full HD resolution, even if you don’t care about 4K cropping. This is because Dual Pixel Autofocus (DPAF), thanks to Canon’s on-sensor phase-detection autofocus, has no function in 4K. It works beautifully in Full HD, and in 4K, the camera falls back to agonizingly slow contrast autofocus. I found that to be nearly nonexistent if you need to refocus while shooting.

Fortunately, DPAF remains one of the fastest autofocus systems I have ever used when it comes to shooting stills, focusing in just 0.05 seconds and down to an astoundingly -5 EV (fully operational -6 EV, but only with an f/1.2 lens) under low-light conditions. It caused me no problems in the dining room.

It decreases the overall count of focus points in relation to the R but still offers 143 individually selectable zones (scaled from more than 4,000 individual AF points). But for fast action, it will be a no-show, for RP has a maximum continuous shooting rate of just three frames per second in continuous autofocus (or 5 when doing single-shot AF).

AF can also discern faces and eyes (shooting sub smaller sizes) and also performs reasonable well. In the case of different faces in the same scene, you could easily switch between them by pressing a button, but from what I’ve seen, the camera seems to ignore anyone really farther than four or five feet away using a 35 mm lens. And it doesn’t work if the person wears glasses. Perhaps these details can be provided in a firmware update.

The last thing still available on RP, which is not on the more expensive R, is slightly out of place: the autofocus bracketing-allows shooting up to 999 pictures at different focal planes with the offset control between frames. This can be merged as focus stacking to become a depth of field in macros that most of the time have very shallow depth of field because they are close to the subject. However, RP has no feature to complete the focus stack in camera, thus requiring the user to rely on Adobe Photoshop, Digital Photo Professional, or even other Canon computer software to merge the images.

I would say this feature may not compare with what it could do in inclusion. However, as it’s an advanced feature, it sounds great in the company of the $2,300 EOS R’s better company. I think all RP users would want a silent shutter that could be used in every mode of exposure.

where can you get a Canon EOS RP online

Canon EOS RP Full-frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera + RF24-105mm Lens F4-7.1 IS STM Lens Kit– Compact and Lightweight for Traveling and Vlogging, Black (3380C132): Buy it now

Canon EOS RP Mirrorless Digital Camera w/ 3 Lenses + Commlite Adapter Bundle (EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 is STM Lens, EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III, 420-800mm Zoom Lens) with Pro Accessory Kit: Buy it now

Canon EOS RP Mirrorless Digital Camera (Body Only) (Renewed): Buy it now

Canon EOS RP Mirrorless Full Frame Camera RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 is STM Lens Kit – (Renewed): Buy it now

JPEG-wise, good; RAW-wise, also good.

During the RP’s first forays in the field, I had accidentally set it to JPEG. However, much later, having had a chance to shoot in RAW, I knew I had really missed an awful lot. JPEGs are not in any way bad, and side-by-side with their peers, the Panasonic Lumix S1 ($2,500 for a body), they may actually fare better in post for exposure adjustments. The RP’s JPEGs were, at some point, almost on par with their RAW counterparts, but that is more an indictment of how poor the RAW files are than proof of JPEG prowess.

At low ISO, RP raw files certainly cannot be grouped with those of the A7 III, Z 6, and Lumix S1-all-more-expensive-but-shoot-at-similar-resolutions. In a high-contrast setup, if you were to keep details in the highlights and then try to bring up shadows in post-processing, you might squeeze two stops of workability before noise becomes a problem. Push beyond that point, and you’ll be met with Godzilla-like patterns of doom screeching from the depths. So flexibility and malleability are no longer on the table when talking about RAW files from RP. Even APS-C cameras like Fujifilm X-T30 give fantastic results in comparison.

On a single occasion, I mistakenly set it to shot in JPEG. I soon discovered that I was losing much by not shooting it in RAW, however.

In terms of out-of-shoot regular-quality images, however, the RP is fine. If the only reason to stay full-frame is the shallow depth of field, perfect for Instagram portraits, then there is no need to be in post for long. You will appreciate what it gives you in that case, assuming that you can get a fast RF lens or have a speedy Canon EF lens that you can adapt onto it. Thus you will be able to enjoy most of the subjective advantages of full-frame, if not necessarily all the objective ones.

One thing I would mention in a positive light is that the RP nails the metering. In complicated lighting scenarios with a bright subject against a almost black background, it doesn’t go nuts with the subject. So the camera gives some latitude in terms of shooting-the-more you’re willing to sacrifice versatility in post.

Low-light performance is also commendable-a hair short of what would be expected of other full-frame cameras of similar pixel count. At ISO 12,800, it’s usable. It gives a little more noise at that speed, but even ISO 25,600 is okay. The -5EV focusing combined with such performance in the dark means that I reckon people will be pleased with the RP as a low-light camera-and this could be the number 1 reason for an upgrade for some from that format. The lens situation comes around again, and, quite honestly, there aren’t many affordable, fast ones Canon offers at this point in time.

Start it off on the wrong foot.

Canon does not do version 1.0 products; their first offering includes tweaks that are typically reserved for 2.0 versions in any other brand. This usually also means that this company might have generally lagged behind in the market for such a product or feature type. When they do, however, it usually has a good market advantage against competition. Take for example, the Cinema EOS (Canon’s line of professional film cameras and lenses).

Conversely, the EOS R still remains somewhat of a work in progress since it was launched with just one camera and a lineup of lenses that skewed towards the high-end, high-price category. Presently, the second entry in the camera line is an entry-level, full-frame mirrorless unit, the cheapest the world can offer at the moment.

An incomplete assortment of lenses and sensors means that not all of the full-frame advantages can be realized.

Canon will definitely introduce some lenses in the higher and lower price segments; for now, however, the RP finds itself uncomfortably positioned. If a user has an EF lens that works well with an adapter, switching to mirrorless should be easy and inexpensive. In other cases, one might want to take their time and assess how the lens roadmap unfolds. In particular, I’d like to see a few more compact primes complementing the 35mm f/1.8, but Canon appears to be focused on zooms (and some very high-end primes) for 2019.

However, I believe that any strategy by Canon that focuses on going after the high-end customer will eventually prove to be correct. That is an area that Nikon and Panasonic (and, depending on how you want to look at it, Sony) have so far ignored with their full-frame mirrorless offerings. It might not be the most exciting move, but it could be a very smart move. The technology that we do love best-selling with the US being the Toyota Corolla will go a long way to ensuring that the RP will have its satisfied customers-those who appreciate true ease of use at a relatively attractive price.