Canon EOS R Review by a Professional Photographer | Is it Worth the Cost? | Canon EOS R vs. Canon 6D vs. Canon 5D Mark IV

June 5, 2024

Is the Canon EOS R Worth the Cost?

Canon EOS R Real World Review by a Professional Photographer

Canon EOS R vs. Canon 6D vs. Canon 5D Mark IV

(This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.)

I’ve been shooting with the Canon EOS R for about 4 years now and I figured it was about time to share my thoughts! When I originally bought the EOS R, I was thinking it would become my #1 camera, replacing my Canon 6D and 5D Mark II. While yes, it is better than both of these cameras and was my number one camera for about a year and a half, I wanted to share why I eventually ended up getting a Canon 5D Mark IV as my main camera and now use the EOS R as my secondary camera. BUT, don’t get me wrong! The Canon EOS R is an incredible camera and has all of the potential to be a major money-maker for your photography business. I originally purchased mine for $1799 for the body only. You can currently buy an amazing EOS R kit with a 24-105mm lens on Amazon for around $2300, which is not a bad deal at all for such a pro camera! At a photo shoot, I’m typically carrying my Canon 5D Mark IV with my 24-70mm f/2.8L lens and then my Canon EOS R with a 50mm f/1.2L lens. That’s my go-to camera set-up these days and it has been working very well for me for the last few years. It’s hard for me to imagine changing it up because it truly is a great set-up and covers every lighting and photography situation I’ve found myself in. I photograph everything from weddings to food to fashion to corporate events to portrait shoots, and this camera set-up has managed it all gracefully.

(Canon EOS R with Canon 50mm f/1.2 L Lens - click to enlarge images)

Canon has a huge line of mirrorless cameras now, but today I’m going to be focusing on the EOS R specifically because that’s what I personally have a LOT of experience with. Plus, it was their very first full-frame mirrorless camera so it set the standard for the brand. I’ll share some sample photos as well so you can get a good idea of the kinds of photos that this camera is capable of. Keep in mind though that the lens you use also plays a HUGE role in the photos you’ll get. I always recommend L series lenses, or the newer line of Canon RF lenses that are supposed to be incredible. The RF lenses are quite pricey though, but I’ve heard they are absolutely amazing. I’m all about a budget though and the L series lenses have served me well over the years.

So, I’ll talk about the pros and cons of the Canon EOS R and then share a comparison between the Canon EOS R, Canon 6D and the Canon 5D Mark IV.

PROS OF THE CANON EOS R

I think my absolute favorite feature of the EOS R is how sharp the photos are. It has a 30.3 megapixel full-frame sensor so your images are large and dynamic. I’ve used a variety of lenses on my EOS R, but I find it to work best with the Canon 50mm 1.2L lens. For a while, I tried it out with my 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom lens, but it never felt quite right. In order to use EF-mount lenses on a Canon RF Mount (which is what the Canon mirrorless cameras use), you have to use a lens adapter. It’s not really that big of a deal, but with zoom lenses, it can be common to experience distortion, even without a lens adapter. I did notice the distortion quite a bit when using the 24-70 lens with the EOS R since the adapter just adds more length to the lens, so I started using my 50mm lens with the EOS R. You’ll see in some of the sample photos that you almost get a sort of fisheye effect when shooting fully wide. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I just don’t find it quite as flattering when doing up-close portraits. With the 50mm f/1.2L lens though, I immediately noticed how beautiful portraits were with this set-up and haven’t been able to go back since! Canon is known for it’s softer and more natural-looking images than some of the other main camera brands. I’ve noticed that the Canon mirrorless cameras tend to produce images that have more of a digital look to them, which I’m not the biggest fan of. This was another reason I didn’t really like the look of the images when using my 24-70mm zoom lens with the EOS R. They looked a bit too sharp and digital and commercial for my taste. BUT. With the dreaminess and softness of the 50mm L lens, I found it to be a perfect combo. The “digital” look disappears and you get that beautiful portrait look, but with just a tad more sharpness than the non-mirrorless DSLRs. I absolutely love using this set-up for food photography as well. And at a wedding, I’ll typically use it for those moments when I’m alone with the couple to get those dreamy wedding portraits.

(Canon EOS R with Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L Lens - click to enlarge images)

Another pro of the EOS R is the ability to personalize the camera to your individual tastes. The EOS R is much more customizable than cameras like the Canon 6D and Canon 5D Mark IV. Because it’s a much more digitized experience, you can set many of the buttons and sliders to your liking. It even has a multi-function bar you can set to pretty much any feature you’d like. Whether you prefer to change the ISO, white balance or exposure compensation consistently when shooting, you can set it up to make those settings more easily accessible for yourself. This enables you to shoot faster and avoid flipping through the setting screens constantly. I personally have ISO set up on the multi-function bar because I end up changing the ISO a lot, especially at weddings because I’m constantly switching lighting conditions.

(Canon EOS R with Canon 50mm f/1.2L Lens - click to enlarge images)

It also has a touch-screen, high quality video features (4K at 30fps and 1080 at 60fps) and fun features like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity options. It also is quite sturdy, though I wasn’t sure if it was going to hold up when I first got it in the mail. It seemed fragile when I first started using it. But when I dropped it hard on a concrete floor with my 50mm L lens and everything seemed to be still functioning perfectly, I changed my mind on that one. :)

CONS OF THE CANON EOS R

As a zoom lens girlie, the EOS R didn’t quite cut it as becoming my main camera, unfortunately, The distortion and “digital” look I was getting when pairing it with my Canon 24-70mm L lens made me start considering other options. A zoom lens will always be my main lens, it’s just who I am! This fact has caused the EOS R to come into second place in my camera set-up.

I also ended up running into a few glitches when it came to the touch-screen and customizable settings. While it’s great that you can set the buttons and multi-function bar to your liking, I also found the camera to be a bit non-intuitive. What I mean by that is that I never felt quite comfortable using it in high-stress situations like a wedding. I found myself fumbling through the buttons and constantly hitting the wrong settings on the touch-screen with my nose because I’m used to looking through viewfinders. The touchscreen is very sensitive, even when I set it to the “less sensitive” mode. And sometimes my fingers will graze the multi-function bar and end up jacking up my ISO to 25600 or something crazy and my photos will be totally overexposed and ruined, which I won’t find out until later because I’m not always checking my images at a fast-paced event like a wedding. It’s caused me a handful of issues that I never ran into with my Canon 6D or 5D Mark II. But if you’re not in fast-paced shooting situations, then I think it could be a great camera because it does have so many customization options. And while the Canon 5D Mark IV also has a touch-screen, I find it to be much less sensitive. I tend to avoid using the touch-screen at all and just use the buttons to click through the setting options.

I find myself shooting through the viewfinder with my 5D Mark IV, but holding my EOS R out in front of me and using the touch-screen to focus and take photos. If you’re not used to shooting through a viewfinder though, then the EOS R might be an easier switch for you than the 5D Mark IV!

I also just might be too old-school for the modern touch-screen and customization of the EOS R. I get frustrated with it because it’s not like the cameras I “grew up” on. It doesn’t feel intuitive and natural to me. My husband thinks maybe I just haven’t spent enough time attempting to customize it to my liking and he might be right. I’m very impatient when it comes to things like that so perhaps I’ll mess with those settings one more time. BUT, the good news about the EOS R is that I haven’t been able to beat the beauty of the images that it takes with my 50mm L lens, so it’s been impossible to justify getting rid of it.

THE CANON EOS R vs. CANON 6D vs. CANON 5D MARK IV

In comparison to my Canon 6D, which I was using for years as my main camera, the EOS R is significantly sharper and does much, much better in low-light situations. After shooting with the EOS R at a wedding, I would never go back to using the Canon 6D. The 6D is very soft, especially with low-light images, and can work quite slowly when it’s having trouble in a lighting situation. I never upgraded to the Canon 6D Mark II though, so I’m not sure how it compares to that one. However, it does seem that the mirrorless line just produces sharper images overall. Even in comparison to my Canon 5D Mark IV, which is my current main camera, I still find the EOS R images to be sharper. They are pretty incredible, if I’m being honest. However, as I’ve mentioned, I missed the way the Canon 5D Mark II and the Canon 6D felt in my hands, so I ended up upgrading to the Canon 5D Mark IV. You can read more about my thoughts on the Canon 5D Mark IV here, if you’d like!

The Canon 6D is significantly cheaper than any of the cameras on this list though and I’ll always recommend the Canon 6D or Canon 6D Mark II to beginners because they still produce amazing images that will impress your friends and family. Even my very first DSLR, the Canon 5D Mark II which I just recently sold, is a great option for beginners. It’s a pro-level camera that you can get at a super affordable price now because it’s a bit on the older side. I also truly believe that you don’t have to have an incredible camera to be an incredible photographer. I think it’s entirely possible to create award-winning photos with cheaper cameras. There’s no shame in that game. In fact, my favorite camera of all time is the Holga, a $50 toy camera that hardly has any features at all!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I personally place the Canon 5D Mark IV above the EOS R due to lens pairing and intuitiveness, which makes sense because it is more expensive and you’ll get more bang for your buck. However, the EOS R places above the Canon 6D and Canon 5D Mark II for me. The EOS R could easily be the number one camera in a photographer’s bag, it really just depends on your personal photography style. If you love super sharp images and tend to lean towards Sony & Nikon images, you might LOVE the EOS R. Canon’s mirrorless cameras are definitely fighting for a spot up there with those other brands. Also, it’s important to share that before I bought the 5D Mark IV, I considered selling ALL of my Canon gear and switching entirely to a new brand. I watched YouTube videos for days, comparing pricing, battery life, camera weight, features, video modes and lens options. I was itching for something new in my life and I truly considered this major life change! But at the end of the day, after making massive pro/con lists and considering every option, Canon kept winning for me. I just LOVE how Canon’s images look and it just feels so ME. Many of the other cameras in my price point were much heavier, or the battery life wasn’t as good, or they didn’t do multiple exposures. Some of those things are deal-breakers for me.

I guess I’m just a zoom lens Canon girlie and there’s not much I can do about it! I’ve supported myself entirely on photography for the last 12 years and I definitely attribute some of that success to Canon. They produce cameras that offer professional-quality images and are actually affordable, and it’s always been that way. Some of these other brands have cameras that just seem overpriced to me. The fact that you can buy a Canon 6D Mark II for $1200 is pretty amazing. Pair that with a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens for only $400, and you’ve got yourself an affordable camera set-up to start a photography business. That’s a much cheaper investment that many other businesses require! And if you’re willing to buy gently used gear from KEH Camera or eBay, you can save quite a bit of money that way too! Just make sure if you’re using eBay that you buy from a reputable sellers with lots of reviews!

So, while the EOS R isn’t my TOP camera, I’d still recommend it to anyone looking for a sharp, modern camera with incredible low-light capabilities, especially if they aren’t willing to shell out the $2300 for the 5D Mark IV body alone. For that same price, you can get a body AND a lens with the EOS R on Amazon. When comparing the EOS R to other Canon cameras within a similar pricepoint like the Canon 6D Mark II, I’d recommend the EOS R. But you will find that the 6D is the cheapest of the bunch. The original 6D was actually my main camera for many years and I photographed dozens of weddings and fashion shoots with it. It’s not a bad camera by any means and is great if you’re working with a tight budget!

I hope that this post has helped you determine which camera to go with! You can also watch my unboxing of the EOS R on my YouTube channel here! You honestly can’t go wrong with any of these cameras and all of them have been majorly helpful for my business over the years.

If you found this post helpful or if you’d like to see more of my work, I’d love it if you considered signing up for my Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you’ll get early access to all of my YouTube videos, plus tons of photos that I don’t post anywhere else. Depending on which tier you choose, you could also receive seasonal prints and/or discounts! I always use all of the proceeds towards cameras, film & processing. Find out more here!

Feel free to leave any questions/comments below. Thanks so much for stopping by! You can also check out my Amazon storefront for more camera/film recommendations. :) Have a lovely day!

KEH Camera (used)

SAMPLE PHOTOS

(click to enlarge images)

(Canon EOS R with Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L Lens)

(Canon EOS R with Canon 17-40mm f/4 Lens)

(Canon EOS R with Canon 50mm f/1.2L Lens)

First roll of film with the Lomography LomoApparat 35 mm camera using Kodak Gold 200 | Review and sample photos from our trip to St. Augustine, Florida

July 16, 2023

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

I was SO excited when I found out I was one of the winners of the “Human Stories” Lomography TEN AND ONE 2021 Photography Competition. But I was even more excited when I discovered that my prize was the LomoApparat 35 mm film camera. It’s Lomography’s newest camera and is an experimental, ultra wide 35 mm film camera with a vintage, retro look and tons of features for creating unique, original photographs.

I received the camera right before my birthday and decided to try it out for the first time on my birthday trip to St. Augustine, Florida. I used a roll of Kodak Gold 200 to really give a golden beach glow to the photos. I LOVE taking Kodak Gold on any tropical or beach trip I go on because it adds such a nice, warm atmosphere. In a typical photo shoot situation, I actually prefer NOT to use Kodak Gold because I tend to favor cooler tones. But for the beach, ALWAYS Kodak Gold.

The camera itself was a lot less sturdy than I was expecting. It’s extremely light, made of plastic and feels more like a disposable point and shoot camera than anything else. But when it comes down to it, I don’t really mind. Mostly because I drop my cameras constantly. I throw them in my bag and drag them all over the world. I’m not the best camera mom, if we’re being honest. So I actually prefer that it’s not super fancy because I would destroy it. I still think the camera has a super cool, unique look to it. But ultimately what makes this camera special is all of the creative control it allows for. The various lens attachments, the colorful flash filters, the multiple exposure function and the wide angle lens. It’s just a fun camera to use, all around. The lens is much sharper than I thought it would be, however I did notice that when I used the kaleidoscope filter, the very center of the image would be out of focus. I was pretty bummed about this because I love using kaleidoscope filters. Though it does seem to be a bit sharper if you use the kaleidoscope filter for close-up portraits, rather than landscapes or distant shots. I love how all of the double exposures turned out and I LOVE the wide angle lens. I’ve always been more about composition than anything else, especially when I’m traveling, and the ultra wide lens allows me to capture everything I want and need in a photo.

The only thing I really had trouble with was loading the film. It took a few tries to figure it out and to be sure the film was grabbing as I was winding the film advance dial. Once it was loading correctly, there was much more tension and the film dial almost wanted to spring backwards. So, you’ll notice when the film is actually caught and is advancing through the camera. I’m planning on doing a more in-depth video about the film loading for this camera very soon, so stay tuned!

I just posted a video on my YouTube channel about the LomoApparat and our trip to St. Augustine, so make sure to check that out! Or you can scroll down to check out all of the photos from my first roll of film with the LomoApparat. Overall, I think the camera is super fun and versatile. I honestly can’t wait to take it on another trip and try out a few of the other features. If you love point and shoot cameras and you love having ultimate creative control, then the LomoApparat won’t let you down. I’ll be sure to share more full film rolls from this camera in the future, but for now, I’ve included all of the photos from my very first roll of film with the LomoApparat below. :)

PURCHASE THE LOMO APPARAT ON KEH CAMERA!

PURCHASE THE LOMO APPARAT ON EBAY!

PURCHASE KODAK GOLD 200 35MM FILM ON AMAZON!

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Feel free to leave any questions/comments/thoughts below! And don’t forget to stop by my Amazon storefront for more camera/film recommendations. :)

Have a lovely day!

<3 Myles Katherine

Fujifilm Instax Mini Review with Sample Photos | 3 Reasons Why the Instax Mini is Making a Comeback in my Camera Bag

June 18, 2023

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

I recently made a post about the Lomography Lomo’Instant Wide. While I love that camera, it is SUPER bulky and difficult to travel with. Sadly, it usually ends up sitting on my shelf and missing out on my photo shoots. I have quite a collection of instant film cameras so it’s always a process deciding which ones to take with me when I travel or have a photo shoot. I mix and match most of the time, but lately I’ve found myself bringing my Fujifilm Instax Mini along for the ride. I have an older version of the camera (the Instax Mini 8, featured in the photo above), but the newest version, the Instax Mini 12, is way more user-friendly and is much more reliable than the one that I have. They are all somewhat similar though, whichever version you end up going with. The Instax Mini takes Instax Mini Film, which you can easily buy in bulk on Amazon. There are a ton of reasons why these little cameras are great, but here are my 3 favorite features of the Instax Mini:

THE FILM IS SUPER AFFORDABLE!

If you’ve ever tried shooting instant film, you’ll quickly learn it’s EXPENSIVE. The good news is, the Instax Mini film is the cheapest out of all of them. Especially if you buy in bulk on Amazon, the photographs can end up being as low as $0.75 each. With other instant film brands, they can cost as much as $3-4 per photograph (or even more depending on the format), which can get pricey REALLY quickly. Because of this, the Instax Mini is one of the most approachable instant film cameras, especially if you’re not a professional photographer and just want to capture everyday moments with your friends and family. But also, if you ARE a professional photographer, you aren’t going to break the bank shooting with the Instax Mini.
THE CAMERA IS FULLY AUTOMATIC & EASY TO USE!

Over the years, Fujifilm has perfected the Instax Mini. It now has a selfie mirror, automatic exposure and flash settings and an integrated app to scan your photos for uploading to social media. It really doesn’t get any easier than that. While I haven’t upgraded my super old Instax Mini 8 yet, I’ve used my sister’s Instax Mini 11 and it is leaps and bounds better than mine in terms of ease of use. The newer Instax Minis (version 11 and 12) have automatic exposure and flash control and prevent you from wasting film if you don’t have it on the right setting. Now, you can just turn the camera on, take a photo and voila! It’s perfectly exposed and adorable. At this point, I’ve gotten used to the wonky settings on my Instax Mini 8, but I do plan on upgrading soon. :)
IT’S SMALL, LIGHTWEIGHT & PERFECT FOR TRAVELING!

If you’ve been following my work, you know that I always bring at least a dozen cameras with me when I travel. The size and weight of a camera is a major factor in whether it will make the cut or not. The Instax Mini is one of the smallest cameras I have, so I can almost ALWAYS find a little spot for it in my bag. For a few years, my Instax Mini 8 was somewhat forgotten because I was focusing on using so many of my other cameras. But lately, I’ve been bringing it to nearly every shoot and loving the photos I’ve been creating with it. It’s making a comeback, that’s for sure!

I’ve included a ton of sample photos below. I hope this helps you decide whether the Instax Mini is right for you. It’s an amazing starter camera if you’re just getting into instant photography. And even for professional photographers, it offers an affordable way to give your clients something unique and tangible.

BUY THE FUJIFILM INSTAX MINI ON Amazon!

BUY INSTAX MINI FILM on Amazon!

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Thanks so much for stopping by! Feel free to leave any questions or comments below. :)

<3 Myles Katherine