Thoughts on the Canon R8

JohnN

JohnN

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So, its been a while to say the least - I've been out there taking the occasional snap on the Fuji X-S10, and don't get me wrong its a great camera, but I miss the old full frame days, sadly I'm now old and not up to dragging round a big old camera...

I understand that the new glass is ridiculously expensive, and that Canon are being an utter arse and blocking Sigma, Tamron et al from making FF glass - not content to pick up that gem in passing, but with the adapter to EF there seems to be hope, is that the case, does it work with any EF lens, or is it hobbled with Canon only, or would other brands work?

From what I can tell, IBIS aside and having a thumb stick the G8 should do much of what I'd like and scratch that FF itch again, but what am I missing?
 
[R6 owner] I have an M mount to RF adapter that works just fine, so if there's an RF adapter for your lens of choice, I'd say you're good to go.

I've also used the EF-RF adapter with EF lenses and they work absolutely fine too. My only issue was with balance and the length extension which is easily over-lookable.

The native RF lenses are jolly nice and I also own a Voigtlander 50mm f/1 in RF mount which is one of the few native RF lenses that aren't made by Canon. If you're looking for someone to tell you no, it's not going to be me :)
 
All ef glass is fine. I'm mostly all sigma these days.

It should be reasonably ok for some work, but lack of ibis is very notable

As you said you probably wouldn't want to invest into any RF glass if r8 is the best you can get
 
JohnN said:
... that Canon are being an utter arse and blocking Sigma, Tamron et al from making FF glass -
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Alternative interpretation "Sigma, Tamron et al are declining to license the specification for the mount"
 
I believe that the issue with licensing of the mount is that Canon decided to not allow it, and have since allowed it but only ‘for lenses they don’t plan to release’. Which resulted in a load of crop lenses from 3rd parties, but not yet any FF ones.
It’ll be interesting to see what FF lenses Sigma announce as we know that Canon won’t be making them.
 
As for the question of an R8? If you can find a s/h R8 at a good price then buy it. But I’ve never seen an R8 I’d buy over a s/h R6.
 
Thanks all, did I read that right, that EF sigma lenses work okay through the adapter?
Also, I expect that they're out of my budget anyway, but why are the RF lenses comparatively expensive - for example a lens I loved back in the day, the EF 135L F2, on MPB round 500, but the RF 1700

BTW, "If you're looking for someone to tell you no, it's not going to be me :)" really made me laugh, sounds exactly like something I'd come out with!
 
The R6's do look nice, but size and weight are a consideration.
 
Just to confirm EF lenses do work really well on Canon mirrorless , I have had my R5 for 3 years and still haven’t swapped any of my EF lenses for their RF equivalents
In fact I have just bought the Tamron EF 35mm 1.4 its a superb lens and I got it for £550 second hand
 
The thing is, the new mirrorless bodies are smaller than their DSLR equivalents, but the lenses are still big and heavy, especially if you are using the old DSLR lenses with an adapter. The reason for this is that they still need to produce an image that covers the full frame sensor.
 
JohnN said:
The R6's do look nice, but size and weight are a consideration.
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Genuinely it’s smaller and lighter than the 6d.

The R8 is even smaller, but the R6 is smaller than most of my crop cameras (xxd)
 
Craikeybaby said:
The thing is, the new mirrorless bodies are smaller than their DSLR equivalents, but the lenses are still big and heavy, especially if you are using the old DSLR lenses with an adapter. The reason for this is that they still need to produce an image that covers the full frame sensor.
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Absolutely but lens choice can keep thing small - pairing with the 16/35/50/85mm 1.8/2 primes for Canon. If you don't have old glass the Sony A7C II is even smaller and has even more compact lenses available.
 
Cheers Gold, the thing is I have such nostalgia for the Canon kit, the 135 f2, and the 65 mpe I'd take a strong argument, that said I'll have a look out of curiosity, I've not tried a Sony so don't know them at all, though I never much liked the look of the bodies, but again it's been a while since I looked
 
JohnN said:
Cheers Gold, the thing is I have such nostalgia for the Canon kit, the 135 f2, and the 65 mpe I'd take a strong argument, that said I'll have a look out of curiosity, I've not tried a Sony so don't know them at all, though I never much liked the look of the bodies, but again it's been a while since I looked
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I have bought some RF glass, including obvious replacements for the 50mm and 85mm. (The 24-70 was my retirement gift to me)

But nothing could drag the EF135mm from my grasp. I’d love to replace the 70-200 2.8 (which is now IS thanks to IBIS) and the Sigma Art 35. But I genuinely can’t justify the cost.
 
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Well, I looked at the Sony, sorry not for me, guess I'll just have to go back to the 135 eh ;)

Or I will when I've saved back up again, or flogged the fuji stuff, and a lung...
 
I'm curious - only coming to look at this recently, is it on offer at the moment or is 1299 (or 1240) its normal price, not knowing what it usually goes for I'm not sure
 
Cheers, looks to be everywhere, the (expensive) question is, is this a short lived price that'll go up again
 
JohnN said:
Cheers, looks to be everywhere, the (expensive) question is, is this a short lived price that'll go up again
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At about the price of a nearly new R6, I’d buy the better camera.

But it’s your money b
 
Cheers Phil, but for me I think the R8 is the better camera
 
Craikeybaby said:
The thing is, the new mirrorless bodies are smaller than their DSLR equivalents, but the lenses are still big and heavy, especially if you are using the old DSLR lenses with an adapter. The reason for this is that they still need to produce an image that covers the full frame sensor.
Click to expand...

I think part of the reason is possibly because the image quality has often increased. When I compare lenses I have now to those I had when I had DSLR's the more modern lenses are technically in a different class and unfortunately that sometimes means extra size and weight.
 
Yeah, I started on Canon many many years ago and having done Olympus, Nikon and Fuji,
Full frame and some fond memories of old glass is something of an itch
 
JohnN said:
Cheers, looks to be everywhere, the (expensive) question is, is this a short lived price that'll go up again
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It looks like Canon UK reduced their price for the R8 by £400 very recently so all the others have followed suit. I doubt it will be short lived, but it may be. I expect the price will fall over time, particularly when they announce a replacement model.
 
JohnN said:
Yeah, I started on Canon many many years ago and having done Olympus, Nikon and Fuji,
Full frame and some fond memories of old glass is something of an itch
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OK. It's not a way I'd go for a whole load of reasons but, OK.
 
London camera exchange this is on until the 3rd of July, so that's one mystery solved.

Just seen your post land Alan, out of curiosity what would you suggest?
 
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