Bbjniles - 9 months ago
originally posted on usa.canon.com

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I have been a professional photographer for over 17 years, and I’ve used Canon cameras and lenses for my entire career. That said, I’ve never used a mirrorless camera, so I thought the R10 might be a great way for me to dip my toes in the water. If you’re like me, a long time DSLR user, you’ll have a lot to experience anew with this system, and I have to say I’m impressed. Professionally I use a Canon 5D mkIV, with a battery grip and flash bracket, and my usual glass is the 85mm L 1.2, the 70-200mm L 2.8, and the 24-70 L 2.8, and numerous other specialty lenses and equipment…I say that to let you know that the R10 and kit lens are quite small and light for comparison. And that was part of the reason I was interested in the R10…I found that I was using my phone for much of my personal pics because my pro rig is just too bulky for casual work. Now with the R10 I can bring my camera along for family outings again. Too, my 5d, as it’s currently set up, is too large for a camera strap, but the R10 is light enough that I don’t mind wearing it around my neck during a day hike, or exploring the city. I will say, the R10 is quite small, so it can feel slight in your hand, at least initially, but because it’s intuitively designed, and has enough of the usual classic Canon organization, it didn’t take too long for it to feel natural. The things that take the most to get used to, for me at least, is the lack of a large dial on them back of the camera, and using Live View. I know my 5D has a version of Live View, but I prefer to use the viewfinder, but on the R10, for its size, the Live View seems a better method, and one I need to practice with. Too, I love that the screen can rotate to accommodate any viewing angle. Functionally it handles great, the focus is spot on, and it produces images with plenty of resolution. Personally all my Canon cameras have been able to produce professional images, provided the glass (lens) is quality. I’ve owned or own the following Canon cameras, the Rebel, the 20d, the 30d, and every iteration of the 5d, and every single one produces images I could sell. I think the R10 could probably do the same, if I were to use L glass on it. Still, that’s not what this camera is made for, and I don’t intend to spend much money on lenses for it. The included S18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM Lens gets me most of the way toward a decent walking around lens…(I did purchase the Canon R50mm 1.8 as well, but that’s just because 85mm is my favorite focal length, and with the crop sensor, the 50mm is actually closer to 75mm.) The S18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM Lens Is amazingly small, provided you’re used to DSLR lenses, and gives you a decent focal range to work with. While not exceptionally fast at 4.5, it produces clean images across the frame, with good contrast. Not much bokeh, obviously, unless you are shooting something extremely close to the camera, but typically your images are going to be pretty sharp and in focus deeper than you’d want for portraiture, but for sports or landscapes, this is very usable. Remember as I said before, you have the 1.5 or so crop factor to deal with, so this lens isn’t quite as wide as you might think (at 18mm you’re really closer to 27mm, and at 45mm you’ll be closer to 67mm). There is so much to talk about with this camera, especially as one coming from the DSLR world into mirrorless-land, but I’ll try to condense some of my favorite features, and a few things I don’t love. I really love the ability to shoot with a completely silent shutter. It takes some getting used to, as you don’t have the confirming sound that you did indeed capture an image, but there is much to like about getting real candid pics since your camera’s sound isn’t constantly announcing itself. I love the weight (or lack thereof), and I love the frames per second you came produce. I generally shoot single shot on my 5D, so it’s fun to capture action with the mirrorless R10. I absolutely love the eye detection feature…while not perfect, it something I wish dearly was on my 5D. I love being able to check focus in this way, and it’s particularly useful when shooting video. I should say that I’m not a huge video guy…so I haven’t put the R10 through it’s paces in this regard, but I have played with it, and it certainly is enough for me to make videos of my family…and because the camera is so light, you can do selfie videos which would be impossible with my 5D. One of the main things I was disappointed about was that the flash shoe isn’t standard size. For some reason I don’t know there was anything other than a one-size-fits-all, so when I took the R10 into my studio to use my studio strobes (or with my Canon 600EX II for that matter) I couldn’t test to see how well it and the 18-45mm would look with shaped light and f8, my usual studio aperture. I know there are adapters, but I wanted to use what was included with the kit. I’m not crazy about the battery life, but I’m spoiled by my battery grip of my 5D so that’s not a fair complaint. Too, another thing I miss from my 5D is my dual memory card slots. Still these are pro features, and the R10 is a camera to grow with - and if you begin to love photography - grow out of. I’ve seen so much I love with the mirrorless system due to the R10, and if this was my first big camera (as was the Rebel for me), it would wet my appetite for what a larger format could offer. I used my original Rebel for a few years, casually at first, then getting odd jobs for friends, then for strangers, and finally making the jump to the D’s. I think the R10 will serve the same purpose, to introduce and make people fall in love with photography by giving you creative control that cell phones just can’t match. When I pulled out the R10 at a cookout, my brother asked, sarcastically, if “people are still buying cameras.” The answer is they should be, and the R10 is a great way to start. (What I actually told my brother is, “Let me have a look at the pictures of your son’s football game you took on your cell phone…oh yeah, a nice, blurry mess, huh?” This was all tongue-in-cheek, obviously, but Canon cameras can do things cell phones can only dream about, and if you are going to print your photos, the gap between a dedicated camera and a phone is vast…I’m glad to have the R10, and I’m excited to use a camera for personal work again. Ps, I’ve included a picture of the R10 and my 5D together to give you an idea of the size difference. This isn’t to say one is better than the other, but rather they are both better than the other at different tasks, and I’m glad to have them both.