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Review: Canon EOS R8

Posted on June 20, 2023June 24, 2023 by Jordan Steele

Contents

  • 1Body and Ergonomics
  • 2Controls
  • 3Viewfinder and Rear Screen
  • 4Autofocus
  • 5Performance
  • 6Key Features
  • 7Special Shooting Features
  • 8Miscellaneous Notes and Observations
  • 9Image Quality
  • 10Conclusion
  • 11Image Samples

Conclusion

Pros

  • Extremely compact and lightweight body
  • Very comfortable grip and excellent ergonomics for a small body
  • Compatible with Canon’s excellent EG-E1 for even better ergonomics
  • Very customizable interface with a bevvy of programmable buttons and modes
  • Clear and bright fully articulated rear screen
  • EVF has good refresh rate and reasonable size.
  • Outstanding autofocus, with exceptional subject tracking and eye-detection for animals and people
  • Excellent performance, especially for a budget body – up to 40 fps with a reasonable buffer
  • RAW Burst mode allows for capturing action before you’ve pressed the shutter button
  • Good Wi-Fi options and feature set
  • Focus bracketing works very well and creates in-camera focus stacked images even hand-held.
  • Full featured set of shooting modes, including exposure bracketing, intervalometer, bulb timer, and so on.
  • Include’s high-frequency anti-flicker to eliminate banding under artificial lighting.
  • Electronic shutter can now shoot at long exposures, including bulb.
  • Excellent dynamic range and color response
  • Low noise, even at high ISO
  • Excellent value given the image quality and feature set

Cons

  • No autofocus joystick or rear dial reduces speed of focus and settings changes from other R series cameras
  • No in-body image stabilization
  • Shutter mechanism lacks full mechanical shutter: only electronic first curtain shutter (EFCS) or full electronic
  • EVF is low resolution for 2023 at just 2.36 million dots.
  • Burst rate with EFCS is limited to 6 frames per second.
  • RAW Burst mode post-processing workflow is convoluted, time consuming and confusing.
  • Battery life is about half that of the R6 Mark II, with the small LP-E17 battery.
  • Can’t save settings to the SD card for backup
  • Single card slot

The Canon EOS R8 enters Canon’s mirrorless lineup in an interesting position. It’s priced slightly higher than some budget full-frame bodies, but a bit less than the typical mid-range body. The $1,499 price point hits an outstanding sweet spot for a lot of people, and in my opinion the R8 punches above its price point for what you get.

The R8 is, in a lot of ways, simply an R6 Mark II put into the body of the old EOS RP. This has some downsides, like the loss of in-body stabilization, a lower resolution EVF and a simpler shutter mechanism. It also is a smaller body, which can be good for portability and comfort, but also forces the removal of a few direct controls and the use of a smaller battery. However, the R8 is not a crippled camera to hit a price point. It includes the same outstanding sensor as the R6 Mark II, the same 40 frames per second burst rate, a smaller, but still quite large buffer, and almost the entire feature set of the R6 Mark II, despite costing 40% less.

The R8 is a little powerhouse, and I absolutely love shooting with this camera. The ergonomics are excellent, and the exceptional feature set and truly outstanding autofocus system make this a camera that can do almost anything and do it well, without breaking the bank. I bought it to be a backup for my R5, but since I replaced my RP with the R8, I’ve reached for the R8 at least as often as I reach for the R5. It’s an eminently capable camera and a truly great value.

Image Samples

Click on an image to enlarge:

Berea Falls – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS @ 16mm, f/9, 4s, ISO 100
Fly – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro @ f/11, f/160s, ISO 400
The Arcade, Cleveland, OH – Canon EOS R8 with Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift @ f/11, 1/500s, ISO 800
House Finch – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 800mm f/11 @ f/11, 1/1000s, ISO 3200
Slingshot – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS @ 31mm, f/8, 1/60s, ISO 400
Cleveland Trust Building Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS @ 14mm, f/8, 1/25s, ISO 400
Flying Mallard – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 800mm f/11 @ f/11, 1/1000s, ISO 2000
Running – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L @ f/1.2, 1/5000s, ISO 100
The Arcade, Cleveland, OH – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS @ 14mm, f/8, 1/40s, ISO 200
Wading by the Waterfall – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS @ 347mm, f/8, 1/50s, ISO 160
Sparrow – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 800mm f/11 @ f/11, 1/1000s, ISO 20,000
Berea Falls – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS @ 70mm, f/10, 1.6s, ISO 100
Garfield Monument Stairs Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS @ 14mm, f/8, 1/20s, ISO 800
Dandelion Seed – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L IS @ f/9, 0.8s, ISO 200 (focus stack of 70 images)
Milliken Falls – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS @ 18mm, f/9, 2s, ISO 100
The Arcade, Cleveland, OH – Canon EOS R8 with Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift @ f/11, 1/100s, ISO 800
Mallard Swimming Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 800mm f/11 @ f/11, 1/1000s, ISO 5000
Veterans Memorial – Canon EOS R8 with TTArtisan 50mm f/1.4 @ f/4, 1/80s, ISO 320
Ohio Statehouse – Canon EOS R8 with Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS @ 14mm, f/7.1, 1/5s, ISO 2000
If you enjoyed this review, please check out my other reviews in the Review Index
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