Canon EOS R8 camera review

A great new low-budget option from Canon: what are its strengths and limitations?

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[brianludwig]

To increase battery life I've done this - Switch On Flight mode and switch OFF GPS mode - does make a big difference !

[yankiefrankie]

I picked up an R8 to be a backup and compact alternative to my R3. I LOVE it. I got tired of changing lenses all the time on my R3, so the R8 allows me to have a second focal length mounted. I usually use it with an aftermarket RP battery grip (readily available) that makes it hold better and gives me twice the battery life. I don't miss the IBIS, because I always mount lenses on it that have IS anyway (RF 24-105L, RF15-35L). If I need IBIS I just use the R3. Now I don't need to take my R3 when I just want a light camera and lens combo.

If this would be your only camera, and you wish to pair non-stabilized primes (you are moving from EF and want to adapt your prime lenses), I would recommend saving a bit more for the R6II. You will be happier with the IBIS and the camera's form factor. However, I don't think people how awesome this camera is to get a low-cost second camera to avoid lens changes. It is SPECTACULAR for this. I never thought I'd be able to justify a second camera for this purpose. But this extra $1500 has really improved my photography and makes it much easier to shoot my primary subject (my kids sporting events and all other kid related events that they constantly have and take all our time 😛)

[diegoeffio]

About ten years ago your review of the 70D was helping me on the purchase. Now I'm here again, finally about to upgrade. Great videos as always!

[lucasfrazee]

I am going on almost ten years now as a photographer and your videos were some of the first that I learned I could trust. I love that I still get to see your name and immediately know I can trust the review to be thorough and close to ASMR grade relaxing.

[penultimate]

Thank you so much for the detailed review. So many reviews attempt a stylish cinematic approach when I really only want the camera footage and details. Your polite and calm demeanor is also greatly appreciated! I'm definitely upgrading to this camera from my Canon M50. Thank you for helping in my decision making process!

[captainkanji]

I just picked up the R8 with the 24-50 kit lens. I recommend getting a kit lens if offered. Mine was half the cost than when bought separately. My first impression was that it is so tiny. The tip of my index finger completely covers the directional pad. I bought the Vello battery grip to help out and it works great. Took me about an hour of practice to get the right manual focus settings. Using peaking and the arrow aids. I set the top right of the touchscreen so i can use my thumb to move the point. I'm using Zeiss EF classics and Contax Zeiss adapted. Works well so far. The autofocus on the RF lens is crazy good. The smaller batteries and lack of IBIS are the biggest cons. For the price, its phenomenal. This is what the R should have been.

[henrylau]

Need budget third party lens before i would consider any canon RF mount camera as budget cameras

[RichartAsia]

Canon did well with the R8 except for the tiny battery im happy using it daily for wildlife & macro 😊

[TheBEARofHIGHWAY]

Canon R8 is the RP Mark II. Why anyone would question this is beyond me, even looks exactly the same.

[matthewbell]

Excellent, highly professional review - subscribed. I'd take an r8 despite the lack of ibis, poor battery etc as every review I've seen on YouTube raves about the AF.

[adamjenkins]

Been loving the R series reviews - I hope you can get a r6mk2 to review soon!

[franka]

Going from DSLR with all the buttons on the outside was distracting at first. Most controls in the R8 are accessed by a button near the shutter. I'm trying to make peace with it though. Mapped as much as able to existing buttons and trying to get used to it. A really great camera. I found myself using the Focus Bracketing often. Shooting conventional and then with it. Love that.

[GregThurtle]

It's great to see a "value" RF camera but with no third party lenses for RF mount it's a tricky proposition given the cost of RF glass currently.
So the question is who would buy this camera?

[Nextsession]

Great video summary of the R8. You've highlighted some features that I wasn't aware existed on this camera.

[matthieuzglurg]

Nice review ! although only comparing the R8 with other Canon cameras is a bit of a weird take considering all the awesome cameras that are on the market these days.

Ironically, the first camera that I wanna point out is a Canon camera, and that's the R7. It's oddly priced exactly the same as the R8, but has all the features that the R8 doesn't: large(r) battery, IBIS, AF joystick, dual card slots and overall better build quality.

Sure you loose on a bit of image quality, though it's more a matter of trade of. You loose a bit of dynamic range and high ISO noise performance (still decent levels) but you get quite a bump in resolution. You don't get 40fps shooting, but close enough you get 30 (feature that I doubt most buyers would take advantage of at this pricepoint anyway?). The R8 doesn't get a full mechanical shutter though, only electronic front curtain and it's limited at 6fps while the R7 does 15 with a full mechanical one, honestly I'd say this is a much more usable package.

And for video you mostly get the same things, only exception being that the 4K60 mode has a crop.

For 200 bucks less you also have the recently released Fujifilm X-S20 which has quite an impressive array of features and specs, especially in video having 6.2K open gate video, IBIS and a larger battery.

If you absolutely need pro features AND a full frame sensor within that kind of budget, you have either the choice of getting a new Nikon Z5 which has pretty much everything you'd want except for solid video specs and fast burst speeds (even though I'd say that 5fps is acceptable for most things outside of action), or a Sony A7III which is also limited albeit not as much as the Z5 (you still have much better video and twice the framerate with a more dependable autofocus. But it's more expensive than the Z5 even used)

[craigcarlson]

Just to add a bit more user experience- i sold my R6 in order to buy this more compact and lighter R8. I was so sure i’d love it, and have a number of RF lenses that have IS so figured i wouldn’t miss the IBIS. I’m a long time user of Canon cameras, having moved through apsc dslrs, then full frame, then on to mirrorless with the R6 and most recently the R7. Chris, I’d agree with most of your observations. In particular, i too find the raw files do seem sharper, i’m guessing due to Canon tweaking the anti-aliasing filter or sensors bin lenses. I had to return my R8 due to there being a defect with the autofocus on my body (it would freeze up or get stuck occasionally when using any of the non-zone focusing options. But the two issues i’d like to raise for all considering it are first the raw files now seem to have more contrast being baked into them straight out of the camera( as viewed in LR). Second, if you opt to use those small function buttons around where your thumb sits, because they are so close to your thumb and nearly flush to the camera body, it is very easy to accidentally bump them and thereby throw off your settings. Between these issues and the short battery life, i don’t think i will buy another one and not sure what i’ll move to for my full frame needs.

[oceansunsetak]

I bought an R8 because it's compact I do a lot of wildlife photography. I don't see any of its problems emphasized reviews the first thing I noticed was the battery indicator doesn't tell you when the battery is low so the camera just shuts off in the middle of a video or still shot it's a tiny battery not the only issue that I am having I didn't think only having one SD card would be a problem until my pictures were erased while downloading my tablet judging from the comments people like this camera that's exactly what I bought it

[Stop-All-War]

📸 If David Attenborough &
Ken Rockwell merged = Christopher Frost

[PERIKLISTSINTZAS]

I sold sony a7iii and bought r8 .It is a better camera for my needs, but i have also lumix s5 and i can confirm that the image quality and dr from lumix is better than my new r8

[JDproAV]

Been watching your reviews for a long time. Great job. As someone who has consistently shot family videos for about 8 years, and my wife who takes photos as well, the R8 is like a dream camera. Just sold my original R waiting for the R8 in the mail. Anxiously.