The Canon EOS RP

The Canon EOS RP, Canon's smallest and lightest full frame camera

I was lucky enough to get invited by Canon Australia to get an early hands on experience with the brand new Canon EOS RP mirrorless camera. It is Canon's smallest and lightest full frame camera to date and it seems like a pretty sweet deal.

Watch the video or read on below to find out my thoughts about it. Obviously this isn't a full review as I only had about an hour with the EOS RP. That being said I can show you what's in the box and talk about some of the features the camera has as well as my initial likes and dislikes.

Where does the Canon EOS RP fit in the Canon camera line up?

Specifications and performance wise the Canon EOS RP fits right between the EOS R mirrorless camera and the 6DMkII DSLR.

I personally don't have much experience with the EOS R but I own two 6DMkII's and I absolutely love them. It seems like this camera is kind of like a 6DMkII in Canon's new mirrorless body but smaller and lighter, with the benefit of the new R mount.

There aren't a huge amount of Canon R lenses around just yet but if you look at Canon's focus on the R series I'm sure that we'll be seeing a ton of new glass hitting the market sooner rather than later.

Price wise I've been told the EOS RP will fit below the 6DMkII, which is great considering how much value you get out of the 6DMkII already. (I know the 6DMkII has gotten a lot of heat online, especially right around when it launched, but I can tell you from personal experience that you shouldn't always believe what the masses are whinging about.)

What are the Canon EOS RP specifications?

In the below list I list the main specs of the camera. There's more detailed and longer spec sheets available online (here's the Canon Australia page about the EOS RP) but these are the ones I care about:

• 26 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor
• 3 inch Vari Angle touch screen
• Single SD UHS-II card slot
• ISO 50-102400
• Digic 8 processor
• Anti flicker shooting
• Dual sensing image stabilisation (up to 5 stops)
• 4K at 24 and 25fps (with crop)
• Built in interval timer
• Built in 4K timelapse movie mode (with different timelapse scenarios)
• Wifi and Bluetooth connectivity
• Microphone audio input
• Headphone audio output
• 4K HDMI output (limited to 8 bit)
• 20% lighter than the Canon EOS R
• Optional grip extender (available in black, blue and red)

What do I like about the Canon EOS RP?

Here are the things I like about this new Canon mirrorless camera:

• The ergonomics. The way this camera feels when you hold is great. If you have bigger hands you can slap the extender grip on there. All the buttons seem to be in exactly the right places and they all feel like they will last a life time.
• Weather sealing, on par with the 6DMkII. Canon didn't make a big deal out of this weather sealing but neither did they do that with the 6DMkII. I can tell from personal experience (once again referencing my production blog featuring the sideways rain here) that this weather sealing is great.
• Grip extender. This is a new item in the Canon lineup and I dig it. If you want that extra little bit of space to extend your camera's grip or if you have bigger hands then this is for you. It's purely an aesthetic item but I like it.
• Vari-Angle touch screen. I adore this screen. Having a full frame camera with a proper flip out screen that responds really well to touch and that you can move around in so many different angles is just great. I use it so much more than I would have thought on my 6DMkII‘s and I miss it every time I shoot on my 1DXMkII.
• Touch and drag AF. The new flip out screen allows you to touch and drag where your focus point will be. Incredibly useful for shooting video and even stills. It's responsive and intuitive.
• Connectivity. The side of the camera features a lot of ports. From a 2.5mm jack remote input (timelapse anyone?) to a microphone audio input and headphone audio output all the way to a USB-C port that allows you to charge the camera while shooting. There's also a mini HDMI port that pushes out a clean 4K 8 bit video signal.
• HDR video output. Granted I don't know too much about HDR video at this moment but the fact that it's on the spec sheet and that Canon's talking about it as a big feature is exciting.
• Dual sensing image stabilisation. Great for run and gun shooting. It allows you to choose the level of Digital IS which crops in slightly, or a little bit more depending on which mode you choose.
• Timelapse movie modes. Not only does it have the 4K Timelapse movie mode (just like my trusty 6DMkII, it spits out a rendered 4K video file with a MJPEG codec) it also features 3 different presets for timelapse shooting as well as a custom mode and ofcourse the holy grail shooting mode which is ideal for sunset or sunrise. Paired with the built in intervalometer this tells me that Canon is taking timelapse cinematography seriously on their new cameras and that makes me a happy man.
• The price. At the time of writing I haven't been told a final number but I know it will be cheaper than the 6DMkII which is great value. This camera seems to give you great ‘bang for buck' and I'm very excited about it.

What I don't like about the Canon EOS RP.

You can't win everything! As usual this list is quite short because you know, I quite like shooting with Canon cameras. Here's what I don't like about the Canon EOS RP.

• The battery. It is not a LPE16 battery like in the 5D or 6D model cameras, it's the smaller and less juicy / powerful LPE17.
• No top LCD screen. It's hard to imagine how they would fit a screen at the top here with all the other dials and buttons but it would have been nice to have.
• 4K rolling shutter artefacts. I can't fully comment on this as I haven't shot enough with the EOS RP yet but there was rolling shutter visible on the back LCD when I waved the camera around in 4K movie mode. Time will tell how bad this is.

And that's about it. As I mentioned, this isn't a full review. That'd be hard to achieve considering I only had access to the camera for about an hour or so in total. I look forward to doing a proper review soon after shooting with it more.

If you have any specific questions or concerns please leave a comment here or on the Youtube video above. If you want to read more about the Canon EOS RP please visit the Canon Australia website here.

Thanks for reading!

If you'd like to know what gear I use to produce high end timelapse content, check out my full list of timelapse camera gear here.

If you'd like to learn how to plan, shoot and process timelapses like a pro then check out my new e-book. It's a 33 page guide that teaches you everything you need to know.