Canon Unveils the EOS R, Its First Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera

Canon has officially unveiled the new EOS R, the company’s first full-frame mirrorless competitor. The announcement comes just two weeks after Nikon revealed its first full-frame mirrorless system, the Z Series.

The Canon EOS R features Canon’s brand new RF lens mount, which Canon says is “revolutionary.”

The RF mount features a 54mm inner diameter, the same as Canon’s EF mount, but it has a shorter flange focal distance that allows lenses to be simpler and optically superior. The RF mount also uses 12 electrical contacts for the fastest-ever communication between the camera bodies and lenses.

The mount is “an uncompromising balance of optical, mechanical and electronic engineering excellence enabling innovative full-frame lens designs, faster autofocus and high-speed communication between the camera and lens,” Canon says.

Canon is designing a new line of RF lenses specifically for this new mirrorless ecosystem, but the entire lineup of EF lenses and EF-S lenses are compatible with the camera if you use the EF-EOS R Mount Adapter.

At the core of the EOS R is a 30.3-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor with an ISO range of 100-40000 (expandable to 50-102400), backed by a DIGIC 8 image processor. There is a low pass filter in front of the sensor that helps combat moiré patterns at the cost of slightly reduced sharpness. The camera has an 8fps continuous shooting speed (for bursts of up to 100 max-quality JPEGs, 47 RAW, or 78 C-RAW), a shutter lag is as short as 50 milliseconds, and a startup time of 0.9 seconds.

The autofocus system of the camera has a maximum of 5,655 AF points using Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF phase-detection system. It can function well in low light thanks to its working range of EV -6 to 18. There’s also focus peaking for assistance with manual focusing.

The top of the camera features a large info display.

On the back of the camera is an OLED 3.69-million-dot electronic viewfinder with an approximately 100% coverage and a magnification of 0.71x.

Under the EVF is a 3.15-inch, 2.1-million-dot Vari-Angle touchscreen LCD monitor.

For off-camera lighting, the EOS R is compatible with Canon’s EX line of Speedlites and can do E-TTL II metering.

In the area of video, the EOS R can shoot in 4K at 30fps and 1080p at 60fps with Canon Log, 10bit 4:2:2 HDMI output, and a maximum recording time of 29 minutes and 59 seconds.

Like Nikon and its Z6, Canon has decided to put a single memory card slot in the EOS R. Unlike the Z6, which uses XQD cards, the EOS R uses SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards. Nikon has eyes on the future of memory cards (and XQD’s transition to CFexpress) while Canon is allowing its DSLR users to adopt the EOS R with their existing collection of SD cards and readers.

Other features and specs of the EOS R include sensor self cleaning, silent shutter mode, dust deletion data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 3.5mm stereo mini jack, a USB 3.1 terminal, LP-E6N battery compatibility (and up to 560 shots per charge), USB charging, a working temperature range of 32–104°F (0–40°C), a working humidity range of 85% or less, physical dimensions of 5.35×3.87×3.32in (135.8×98.3×84.4mm), and a weight of 1.28 lbs (580g).

Here’s a closer look at the EOS R and its features:

Here’s a comparison of how the EOS R’s features and specs compare to the 5D Mark IV DSLR:

Leading up to today’s announcement, Canon has reportedly been developing two different full-frame mirrorless camera models. And while Nikon launched its high-end and lower-end cameras (the Z7 and Z6, respectively) at the same time, Canon is said to be saving its pro-grade camera for a separate unveiling later on. The EOS R would therefore be a direct competitor to the Nikon Z6 and Sony a7 III.

Four Canon RF Lenses

Canon has announced four initial RF lenses that will be launched with the EOS R: the RF 35mm f/1.8 IS Macro STM, RF 50mm f/1.2L USM, RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, and RF 28-70mm f/2L USM.

Here’s a look at each lens with Canon’s descriptions of them:

RF 35mm f/1.8 IS Macro STM

“A fast-aperture 35mm f/1.8 macro lens, offering a naturally wide-angle perspective and close focusing, this is a great lens for everyday creativity where flexibility is key.”

RF 50mm f/1.2L USM

“Setting new standards of optical quality and speed, this 50mm f/1.2 prime lens offers supreme sharpness, plus remarkable low-light performance.”

RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

“Featuring fast, silent, Nano USM technology, this 24-105mm f/4 offers photographers and filmmakers a small, light general-purpose lens with 5-stops of image stabilisation.”

RF 28-70mm f/2L USM.

“A 28-70mm f/2 lens delivering image quality expected of prime lenses. With a super-fast, bright f/2 aperture right across the zoom range it gives stunning results in low light.”

Here’s a 4-minute introduction to RF lenses:

Note: This is a developing story and this article is still being updated. Please refresh for the latest details.