Update
7/17/20
So when I originally bought this camera last year, it was still newish. As a result there were some issues with the camera. Since then firmware updates have not only drastically improved eye auto focus (it’s usable now and pretty good), but fixed the issues with HSS flash photography. Now I this it’s a good starter camera if you’re thinking of jumping from aps-c to full frame. Still not perfect but much but much better with firmware updates.
So I’ve been using a Canon t3i for over 5 1/2 years now. I was gifted a 80D and loved the advanced options. But after so many years on a crop sensor, I wanted to upgrade to a full frame camera. Since most of the lenses I already own were meant for full frame, I felt I was ready to go. I finally pulled the trigger when they introduced their full frame mirror-less lineup: the Canon R and RP.
Why The Canon RP? I wanted a low cost Canon brand full frame mirror-less camera to use with all the other gear I have. Thought briefly about switching to Sony, tried out the a7ii (great camera with pros and cons like other companies), but in the end stuck with Canon.
First some positives:
-The camera itself is very small t yet fits into my large hands just fine.
-Touch menus are great and I cant go back after using them (something to think about Sony)
-This is a super light full frame camera. Even noticeably lighter than the Canon EOS R. This has spoiled my my experience with other cameras at least in terms of weight.
-Photo quality is great even in low light. You’ll get great images out of it.
-Video quality is great. I get the usual canon quality video that I’m accustomed to.
-The EVF is clear and pretty fast and has no real noticeable slowdown
-The price. You could go cheaper by getting a used Sony a7ii or even lower with a used a7, but this is a pretty low price for a brand new mirror-less full frame.
The images below were taken at Philly Cherry Blossom Festival with the Canon RP + EF-S 55-250 IS STM. Not bad considering the automatic crop and downgraded resolution:
So with that out of the way, what’s the downsides to the canon EOS RP?
-Limited video options *
(* Update 7/17/20 firmware update added 24 frames per second video recording)
If you do a lot of video you may be disappointed with three main things:
1. 4K video is cropped. This wasn’t a big deal to me since I whenever I shoot video it’s in 1080p (most monitors and TVs cant even take advantage of it yet), and the crop isn’t a deal beaker, but……
2. No option for 24 frames per second in 1080p video (only in 4K crop). This one made no sense, even older lower end rebel cameras can do this.
3. No Clog. Pretty important for many Videographers.
-Battery Life
I understand that using a mirror-less camera means more power consumption, however since it uses a smaller battery (smaller LP-E17 vs the larger LP-E6N) it doesn’t last as long as the EOS R or 80D.
-Serious banding issues with HSS flash photography or anything past 180 shutter speed *
(* Update 7/17/20 this issue has been fixed through firmware)
This was a big one for me. I use a lot of hss flash in my photography, and no matter what I used, third party or canon brand speed-lites or triggers, I get a bright or dark bar at the top or bottom of the image depending on the shutter speed going past 180. It’s actually pretty bad and you can see forum discussions about the issue here:
Canon RP with Godox flash and triggers, high speed sync does not work
Basically because the RP only has an Electronic Front-Curtain Shutter, and no Full Mechanical Shutter (and therefore no option to turn Electronic Front-Curtain Shutter off) going past 180 shutter speeds 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵 gives you banding/bars on your images. I’ve seen one person on YouTube use strobe lights set up in a certain way to get around the issue, but most of the time I don’t have access to that kind of equipment. Generally I just want a fast set up with no work around.
And since as far as I can tell the EOS RP only has Electronic Front-Curtain Shutter, I don’t know if this is something that can be fixed in a firmware update.
One can only hope for owners of the camera. Speaking of shutter….
-Silent Shutter is only available in scene mode
You can’t control any settings at all. Everything is in auto, making the mode pretty useless.
I really wanted to like this camera. As far as I can tell it’s one of the smallest and lightest mirror-less full frame at the moment (with the Sony RX1R II being even smaller but with a fixed lens). In the end the downsides outweighed the positives for me so I had to send it back. It’s a solid basic full frame camera, but has too many issues for even slightly advanced users. I ended up buying the EOS R for a little more money instead, and so far I love it. Doesn’t have the issues the EOS RP has except crop 4K video which again, isn’t a big deal to me and still looks great.
I’ll have a review for the Canon EOS R up soon.
