It’s been just over a year since I picked up the Canon EOS R and it has been a great experience. When I first purchased the Canon EOS R, it was on a trip to Tokyo and it proved to a great testing ground. With all of the fuss surrounding the release of the EOS R5 and R6, there hasn’t been too much talk about the EOS R these days. Here are my thoughts after extensively using it for a year.

Build Quality

The EOS R has really stood up with regards to the quality of the materials used for the body and how well they have stood up to constant use. It is one of those cameras that just feels right. You don’t have to be delicate with it or worry that it is going to break.

This same feeling extends to the 24-105mm RF lens. It is built extremely well and does not suffer from “zoom creep” like my old 24-105mm lens did. After a year of use, everything is still smooth and functions as it should be. Nothing is loose or in need of repair.

Design Features

The EOS R came out in late 2018 and boasted a number of interesting and relatively “ground-breaking” new features. Sadly, I have not found much use for the customizable “3rd ring” on the lens or the M-fN Bar on the back of the camera. While I was initially hyped about these design features and I felt that their customizable functions would lend them to make my photographer a little smoother, I have rarely used them. I like the idea and what they are pushing towards, but I have yet to really work them into my workflow with the camera.

When the EOS R first came out, there was a LOT of talk about the singular memory card slot. This was a deal breaker for some. However, after using the camera for many shoots and a few timelapse projects recently, I am not too bothered by it.

A couple of years ago I picked up a 128 gb SD card and that has been working perfectly, especially for this camera. On a side note, when I bought that card a lot of people jumped on my post commenting about how large capacity cards were useless and whatnot. Some mentioned about the quality of Lexar cards as well. I have never had an issue with that particular card to date. Cards of that size are perfect for the EOS R

The only other design feature that I would like to see is the ability to tilt the screen up without having to flip the screen out to the side. As a landscape photographer, I frequently use L-brackets and with the L-bracket in place I can’t flip the screen out. I guess that is perhaps motivation to pick up the Ellie PD from 3 Legged Thing.

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Overall Impression After 1 Year

The bottomline here is that I can safely say that this has been one of the best cameras that I have purchased. I say this not to justify the expenditure but as an honest opinion. Comparing it to my beloved 5D mk iii, it is a million times better.

What impressed me the most was the ease of use and above all, the image quality. Canon may have been late to the game but I feel with the EOS R, it is a step in the right direction.

Also, I am not disappointed at all about the release of the R5 and R6 as it is inevitable. I am happy enough with the EOS R that I am look more into the viewfinder than at newer cameras. That to me says a lot about how satisfied I am with this camera.

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