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| Two lorikeets in the rain Canon EOS RP, 24-105mm f4-7.1 IS STM |
The EOS RP is Canon’s second body to use the new RF mount for mirrorless full frame cameras and lenses.
It was announced in February 2019.
Initial response to the RP was mixed with positive comment about its low price and good build quality but negative comment about the sensor and performance issues.
I bought one last year with the RF 35mm f1.8 lens and used it for a short time. I was not greatly impressed by the RP possibly because my expectations ran ahead of the capability of the product at that time.
Since than several developments have made the RP a more appealing prospect.
So I bought another one and this time round have been much more pleased with it.
So what has changed ?
* The price has come down to a point where it costs less than numerous APSC and MFT cameras.
* Several firmware updates have improved autofocus and overall performance.
* I bought the dedicated Canon EG-E1 extension grip which while not essential does improve handling to the point that I rate the RP with the extension as one of the most comfortable cameras I have ever used.
* Canon introduced some budget lenses to match the budget RP body. These include the RF 24-105mm f4-7.1 IS STM and the RF 24-240mm f4-6.3 IS which are a good match for the RP body.
Canon’s rumored lens roadmap indicates more consumer friendly lenses are on the way which will make the RP even more attractive.
Who’s it for ?
* Someone already into crop sensor or compact camera photography but who wants to move up to full frame without having to spend a huge sum of money.
* Someone wanting to move up from smartphone photography to a real camera with more potential for high quality photos than compacts or crop sensor models.
* Someone wanting to move across from Canon DSLRs to mirrorless bodies.
What’s it for ?
Anything except high speed sport/action and birds in flight.
Measurebators criticise the dynamic range of the sensor, but users who just go forth and take photos have very few complaints. The camera is in fact quite capable of making good pictures in a wide range of conditions including scenes with high subject brightness range.
With the 1.4 firmware the camera’s autofocus and overall performance have been much improved.
Face/eye detect works well.
The camera can follow focus reliably on a moving subject at 4 fps. This won’t impress professional sports photographers but EOS RP users have a camera which can follow many kinds of low to medium speed action without the expense of a pro sports camera.
The RP has become very popular with professional vloggers because of its good video capability, fully articulated screen, autofocus in video, microphone jack and headphone jack.
What’s it like to use ?
In two words, very nice.
Setup is straightforward with plenty of user options.
Switching settings when conditions change is easily accomplished with three Custom Modes on the Mode dial.
The camera is light but solid and a pleasure to hold and operate.
The EVF is very nice as is the fully articulated touch screen monitor.
The camera has enough well designed and well located controls to satisfy an expert user without being overburdened by redundant dials and other gizmos.
What’s next ?
Next week Canon will, after the most drawn out teaser programme in the history of photography, officially re-announce, having pre-announced them about ten times, the EOS R5 and R6 camera bodies together with several RF lenses.
What will this mean for the RP ? My guess is that Canon will be guided by sales figures but initially at least I think they will continue to offer the RP as a budget price entry model to entice as many users as possible into the EOS R mirrorless camera playpen.
In the meantime the RP is arguably the best value full frame mirrorless interchangeable lens camera on the market today and an excellent entry point to the growing Canon EOS-R/RF product family.