Today, Canon is announcing the Canon EOS R8: a disappointing follow-up to the original Canon EOS R that’s placed below the Canon EOS R7 yet is a full-frame camera. When the Canon EOS R came out, I was immediately on board with the company’s maiden voyage into serious mirrorless cameras. And a few years later, I still use it as my backup camera body. Truly, the Canon EOS R is still an incredible camera for photographers photographing people. I’ve done tons of great work with it, and I’m sure that the Canon EOS R8 can produce beautiful images. However, the company really let me down.
Editor’s Note: The Phoblographer was offered the chance to attend a press trip around the Canon EOS R8. And like we did with the R6 II, we declined it. We believe that a bunch of journalists and YouTube influencers getting together to shoot doesn’t help spread unique findings when they’re all photographing the same subjects.
The Canon EOS R8 at a Glance
- 24.2MP Full frame sensor. This is below the original Canon EOS R which had a 30.3 MP sensor.
- Digic X
- Canon RF mount
- Self Cleaning Sensor, but also shutter protection
- 6 frames a second shooting in mechanical shutter
- 2.36 million dot EVF
- Diopter adjustment down to -4 or +1
- Dual Pixel CMOS AF
- Focusing down to -6.5 EV in stills mode
- ISO 100-102,400
- Up to 1/4000th shutter in electronic 1st curtain
- Electronic shutter can go to 1/8000th
- 1/200th flash sync speed
- People, Animals, Vehicles, for scene detection. All the ones that the Canon EOS R6 II have.
- The successor to the Canon EOS R
- Canon’s multi-function hot shoe
- 3 inch LCD screen
- 1.62 million dot LCD screen
- No 5GHz wifi transmission but there is 2.4 GHz
- This camera is weather resistant. Canon says that it’s as durable as the original Canon EOS R, which was a very durable camera and had sealing synonymous with the last series of Canon 5D cameras. So it’s below the Canon EOS R6 II and Canon EOS R5 from what we gather. But we’re not exactly sure how.
- $1,499 body only at Adorama or Amazon
No Joystick? Why That’s Still Annoying
The Canon EOS R8 does something that really annoys me: and that’s still not including a joystick. When I first reviewed the Canon EOS R, folks commented, saying that if I’d just use the top area of the touchscreen to act like a joystick instead, I’d be very happy using it as an alternative. But I truly am not. When you need to have a more carefully placed and tactile feeling of moving the autofocus point, a touch-sensitive area doesn’t cut it. So instead, a photographer using the Canon EOS R8 will probably need to use the D-pad the way that they did with the EOS R, and that sucks. If you want higher-end performance, you’ll have to move up to the Canon EOS R6 II.
What I truly wish instead is that Canon made the Canon EOS R8 have a joystick and instead limited some of the AI capabilities. The more and more I shoot, the more I really feel that I don’t ever need things like vehicle detection. And I don’t believe that most photographers will either.
Removing the Top LCD Screen
The Canon EOS R had a nice, very functional top LCD screen. But the Canon EOS R8 removes that screen altogether. Now, it’s a feature that’s only available on the Canon EOS R5 and the Canon EOS R3. That’s annoying; as in many ways, I’ll feel like I’m downgrading from a Canon EOS R to the Canon EOS R8. Sure, the R8 has more cool features. But the top LCD screen is such a nice bit of assistance and power saving. I could easily keep the back LCD closed and choose my settings through the viewfinder or from the top LCD screen.
This brings up yet another great point: Canon’s battery life when shooting long events at night really suffers. I’ve only ever gotten between three and four hours of battery life at a time with the brand’s cameras.
Removing the Magic Touch Bar
I’m going to admit here: removing the magic touch bar is something that everyone wanted. I only ever unlocked it to use it to change the white balance. And beyond that, I only ever used it to easily rate the images I was shooting afterward. This helped me blaze through the editing process. But now I have to set another button to do it instead, like maybe the red record button. That just makes sense anyway because there’s a dedicated switch for the camera to go from photo to video mode.
Pretty Much the Same Camera
Ergonomically speaking, the Canon EOS R8 looks a whole lot like the original Canon EOS R. But it’s lacking the top LCD screen, magic touch bar, and still didn’t replace it with a joystick. Was I expecting a lot more? Well, I was at least expecting a rating button like on the Canon EOS R6 II. And I truly believe that Canon’s cameras need more programmable buttons for sure.
Despite all this, I think that the Canon EOS R8 will still be a great camera that will sell very well, especially when there’s a discount during the holidays. But, like in the mid-2010’s, I’m getting to point where I want Canon to try a bit more.
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