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EOS R, Canon strikes back

After all rumors, a week after Nikon, Canon has released the EOS R, that appear to be a 5D MarkIV stuffed into a mirrorless package; some people say it is more like the 6D MarkII. The EOS-R feature the new RF mount, and 4 RF lenses have been announced, as well as 3 EF to RF adapters. At US$ 2,300 body only (CAD 3,000 up North), it is a bit more expensive than its competition.

All of this is based on the specs as I haven’t had the privilege to see one, even less touch one.

30 Megapixels full frame sensor
4K movie mode, not using MJPEG, but crop 1.7x
Canon C-log
New RF mount 20mm flange that allow a much slimmer design
Control ring on the lens
Fast dual pixel autofocus with many focus points

Early reviews say the autofocus works fast, whether in stills or movie mode, as well as with adapted EF lenses. This is good news.

Here is the 4 lenses lineup:

RF 35mm f/1.8 IS STM Macro (CAD 650)
RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM (CAD 1,450)
RF 50mm f/1.2 L USM (CAD 3,000)
RF 28-70mm f/2 L USM (CAD 3,900), it is huge and fast.

Only the two cheapest one have IS.

Now the EF to RF adapters. Plural as there are three. There is the basic one for CAD 130 that just connect the lens, a second one that for CAD 260 provides the control ring that EF lenses are missing, and a third one that provide drop in filters (but no control ring) for much more money depending whether it is a ND filter or a circular polarizer. This is an essential part to convince Canon DSLR users that the don’t lose their heavy investment in lenses.

What is the control ring? It is an extra ring on RF lenses that can be mapped on the camera to perform a specific function. You can use it to change the aperture, the ISO, the shutter speed or other things. And this is the same ring that one of the EF adapter provides so that you have the functionality with EF lenses.

Hit

Flip out screen
Mic and headphone jack
EF adapter
Initial lenses appear to be high quality
Optional control ring EF adapter
The RF 28-70mm L f/2 lens, is that the fastest zoom lens ever?

Miss

4K is x1.7 crop
120 fps is 720p only (they call it HD just to confuse people, while 1080p is FullHD)
Battery life
No in body image stabilisation
Only the 35mm and the kit 24-105mm lenses have IS
Limited slow motion to 1080p60
One card slot
A bit more money than the Nikon or the Sony
Initial lens lineup quite pricey

While far from perfect, Canon seems to have released a compelling and capable package. It really feels that they deliberately crippled some features (like the video capabilities) to protect higher end system. With a steep starting price, there is no guarantee that this will have the success they hope given the fierce competition ; with patience it might just become in a few years, the only interchangeable lens camera system sell.

Rumour: Canon full frame mirrorless

Canon Rumors has something about a rumoured Canon full frame mirrorless:

We have now confirmed from a couple of good sources that a full frame mirrorless camera is well into its development cycle, as the camera is being used by select Canon pro photographers.

Petapixel adds:

One of the biggest unanswered questions about Canon’s upcoming camera is whether it will feature a native EF lens mount. Allowing Canon photographers to seamlessly use their entire existing arsenal of Canon lenses would be a huge boon to the camera’s ability to disrupt the market.

I wrote previously whether a SLR mount on mirrorless would make sense?

The answer is a NO.

What I see, if that camera actually exists, is an EF-M mount for full frame, possibly compatible with the actual EF-M downward (full frame on APS-C) but not the other way due to coverage, similarly to the EF-S mount cameras, that can use EF mount lenses. Like for the EOS-M, I also see an adapter available for EF lenses.

Time will tell if that gets to be beyond a rumour. At this time I have no speculation about its specs.

SLR mount for a mirrorless, does it make sense?

There is a lot of chatter lately about Canon and Nikon tardiness in the mirrorless world. On one side, Canon seeked feedback from their user about what they want in a pro mirrorless camera. On the other side, Nikon is announcing a full frame mirrorless camera with a new lens mount dubbed “Z-mount”. In both sides there is one topic that seems to come back into the discussion: the camera should be directly compatible with the SLR mount (EF for Canon, F for Nikon). While it is clearly understandable why users would want that, let’s explain on why it is not a good idea, and why the mount adapter is the best compromise — compromise that Canon made for the EOS-M.

A lens mount is defined by a certain number of attributes ; flange distance is the one that matters here.

The flange distance or register distance is the distance between the lens mount ring on the camera body and the focal plane (the surface of the sensor or the film). It is a fixed dimension for the lens mount.

On an SLR camera, you have the mirror box between the lens and the sensor, defining a minimum flange distance, while a mirrorless doesn’t have the mirror box. This is why in general a mirrorless camera has a much shorter flange distance even with a similar sensor size.

For example, Sony E-Mount is 18mm while Sony A-Mount (former Minolta SLR) is 44.5mm, as Canon EF-M is 18mm while Canon EF and EF-S are 44mm. In both cases the flange on SLR mount is more than twice as large as on the mirrorless.

What would a DSLR mount do on a mirrorless system? It would increase the thickness of the body in way that the camera wouldn’t be that much more compact. The real example is Pentax mirrorless Pentax K-01. With a flange distance of 45.46mm for the K-Mount, the camera is bulkier than it should with a thickness (depth) of 59mm. In comparison, the Canon EOS-M100 is 35mm thick (deep) as it uses the EF-M mount, designed for mirrorless.

That’s why using a DSLR mount for a mirrorless system, meant to be more compact, isn’t a good design choice. Offering an adapter that support all the features of their DSLR mount is, on the other hand, the best compromise that a camera maker can do, almost equivalent to the practicality of using native mount, but the advantage of the size: the extra bulk only comes if you need it.

Dear Canon, again

Dear Canon, What Happened To Your Innovation? writes Jason Futrill on PetaPixel.

[…] — since the launch of the Canon 5D Mark II way back in March 2008 it has been extremely hard to be genuinely excited about any new cameras you have released. And here is why: the Canon 5D Mark II is, in my opinion, the last truly “innovative” camera you have developed and released.

I had one specific issue with the 6DMkII before the reviews came around to show it was not just the lack of 4K video. Canon is slow to disrupt itself, which mean that competitors are doing it instead. I also love L glass. Still love my 5DMkII for photography. But recently I have gotten more excited about Fujifilm that has been providing its customers new feature through software, high quality lenses, and not afraid to push the limit for video.

Dear Canon

Dear Canon,

You just announced the 6D MkII to update the aging 6D. Nice. Flip screen, dual pixel AF (which mean fast auto-focus in live view mode including video), you got in with the programme. No 4K video, WHAT?

When you released the 5D MkII in 2009, you put the video mode and led the industry and it was so good that it was used to film major TV features. You improved it and spread it through the whole range of EOS DSLR including the entry level Rebels. The 80D is one of YouTube content producers favourite, with a great auto-focus, the flip screen, while still only 1080p.

I know the 6D MkII is a camera for photographers and is definitely not targeted at those that make a living out if it, no doubt about that. But not differently than the 80D. So why not offering 4K for video? I’m sure you are eager to sell one of these EOS Cinema, or more 5D MkIV or 1D that are so much more expensive, but people might actually go with the similarly priced Sony, that has adapters for EF lenses and do 4K. You should disrupt yourself, otherwise you will be disrupted. You could have a very attractive camera for video creators that can’t really or don’t really need an EOS Cinema.

Also let’s talk about the EOS-M or the G series (the G7X MkII in particular), I really hope you next iteration will have 4K. Even Nikon has a 4K compact camera in the same range of the G7X MkII, for less money. Sony has the RX100M5. Even the M4 and its problem did 4K.

And I’ll be honest, had you put 4K on the 6D MkII, you’d have my pre-order right here. Instead maybe I’ll stick to Fuji X series.

DIY waist level shooter

Turn a point and shoot to a waist level camera.

Interesting DIY idea, including the use of the PowerShot N that is currently dirt cheap to do that (~130USD$ on B&H) that seem to have been meant to be used like that.

As for the usefulness, I can tell that the way you hold your camera will change the way you see through it – this is why I have totally different results when using my TLR. This is almost like freestyle shooting. And it might bring in question from people – I have had people asking about my TLR when shooting – kind of a conversation starter.

Canon lens refresh

Canon just announced a refresh of their 24-70 L lens, as well as two new wide angle lenses with IS: the 24mm and 28mm f2.8. The IS in a wide angle lens is new.

12 film cameras to watch

Popphoto has an article about 12 film cameras worth buying right now.

The tragedy in Japan has made the current DSLR market a scary place, making this a perfect opportunity to get (back) into film.

Their list (in alphabetical order):

Bronica SQ/SQ-A
Canon EOS 1N
Canon AE-1
Fujifilm GA645
Hasselblad 500c/500cm
Leica R-series
Mamiya 645 Pro
Nikon FM10
Nikon N80
Pentax 67
Pentax K1000
Ricoh GR-1

It seems to cover all the bases from medium format, compact to reusing lenses from your DSLR. But the most awkward in the list is the FM10 as I think they should have recommended an older model instead, one solidly built. Also notably absent are TLR or 35mm rangefinders like a Bessa.

What is interesting to see is that Ricoh is still in the same line of products with their Ricoh GR-Digital: highly praised compact camera.

Is there a camera renouveau?

The world of digital cameras has been a bit boring lately. Not much innovation seen from the outside. Just a convergence of still and movie, and the mash-up of technologies, ever increasing high ISO and image quality.

But is there a camera renouveau? Something that would reinvent the camera as we know it? Let’s see.

Convergence of still and movie is the added capability to shoot movies with a still camera. This feature has been around for a while on point and shoot cameras. Most of them have been shooting movies, low-res mostly, but increasing every now and then.

But the real break was when, after addressing the technical limitations, Nikon, then Canon, release DLSRs, the Nikon D90 and the Canon 5DMkII able to shoot video in HD. In 720p for the Nikon and 1080p for the Canon.

A lot of professional filmmakers got their hands on the 5DMkII, for good, as it represented an unprecedented image quality for a price point that was lower than dedicated video cameras. Second units, TV series, reporting were main consumers of this technology. Even after Canon released firmware updates to address most of the issues found the movie mode.

Nikon was first, Canon was best. This seem to have opened the gate for a flow of new DLSRs capable of video; now even the low end Canon Digital Rebel shoot at least 720p.

The mash-up of technologies came by way of the micro Four Third standard (m-43 for short). Not to be confused with Four-third. The 4/3 is IMHO doomed: a smaller sensor than the current line of DLSRs, marginally smaller camera size, as the low-end Canon Digital Rebel and Nikon have been getting getting smaller does not seem to make it a good alternative. Also it now seems to get less developments now from Olympus, and Panasonic seems to have stopped ; and this is probably because of its limited success. I’m purely speculating, but I do believe that 4/3 is gonna be phased out. I could be wrong.

On the other hand the m-43 seems to be taking speed. Take a point and shoot camera design, put a interchangeable lens mount, make it a standard, cook it with another manufacturer (or more) that will make lenses and body, and you have the micro Four Third standard. Olympus initiated it, as a spin-off of the 4/3, with the help of Panasonic. It represents a good trade-off between size and image quality: bigger sensor than in (almost every) point and shoot, interchangeable lens like a DSLR, it makes the almost perfect system in-between pocket cameras and DLSRs.

It even inspired Samsung with their own lens mount, and Sony with the NEX (featuring a bigger sensor, APS-C size and a slightly smaller body than Olympus or Panasonic) and the E-mount. Even more, Panasonic and Sony both have video cameras using their respective mounts ; same lenses as the still cameras but dedicated to video.

So what about the renouveau? I think it could be coming from a known player that, sometime, just come with very innovative products. And that would be FujiFilm, with the Fuji FinePix X100.

The Fuji FinePix X100 is a compact camera with a 23mm f/2 prime lens and an APS-C sensor. The photographyblog has a complete review with samples. You can also read Luminous Landscape review.

The originality for the X100 comes in the viewfinder. The trend in the recent years has been to remove the viewfinders, including on micro-4/3 cameras, to replace them with the back LCD. This has been bugging me personally and I still feel uncomfortable when using the back LCD. The alternative is the DSLR, which does not make for a pocket camera. That’s not the case of the X-100 that features a unique hybrid optical-electronic viewfinder. On paper it looks like the best innovation in viewfinders in recent times.

We’ll see if that’s the renouveau, the innovation that will invert the trend.