Is The Canon EOS R Still Good For Videographers in 2021/2022?

In a world where the Canon R5 and the R6 and the Sony A7 Mark IV, the Panasonic cameras, the Blackmagic cameras are all available to us, I still think that the Canon EOS R, the original one, is still a great camera to use for videographers. Now to preface this video, I did start out with the Canon EOS R in 2018 and stuck with it in 2019. And then in 2020, I upgraded to the Canon C200. And then in June 2021, I sold the C200 to get the C70. But I kept using the R very frequently as a B camera to my C70 and my C200. And I want to talk about the EOS R from my experiences of having used it as the main camera for video production for two years over many weddings and commercial projects. So in this video, I want to go over who this camera might be for, and who definitely shouldn't buy it. And let's start off by talking about who this camera isn't for. If you're shooting high-end commercials, films, etc, then it's pretty obvious that this camera is not the one for you. The lack of full-frame 4K high frame rate options, if you're into that kind of stuff, and as well as the limited codec options, is not suitable for those higher-end productions. If you're looking for a high-end cinema camera look, then the limited 10-stop dynamic range, as well as only having C-Log color profile isn't going to cut it. If you need super clean low-light footage because you're shooting at higher ISOs, then you should probably look into Sony's lineup of cameras at the same price point. They're probably much better suited for shooting in those conditions. If you need dual card slots because you're afraid of losing footage, cards corrupting, or you just need a backup, then there are other cameras that have that feature. If you're looking for in-body stabilization or IBIS because you're shooting a lot of handheld footage on run-and-gun shoots, then something like the R5 or the R6 and other Sony cameras have that feature, since the EOS R only has digital stabilization, which is... And finally, if you need 120 frames per second slow motion, this only goes up to 120 frames in 720p, which is pretty trash for modern-day standards. For a lot of veteran creators and filmmakers, any one or all of those issues that I talked about will turn you away from the Canon EOS R. But for those who are looking to get a camera for the first time, or you're trying to upgrade from your phone, or a point-and-shoot camera, or even an APS-C camera looking to get into the full-frame game, here are some reasons why I think the EOS R is still a great camera in 2021. Number one, it's got amazing autofocus. You can fight me in the comments down below, but I think that the dual-pixel autofocus in all Canon cameras is still by far one of the best autofocusing systems out there on the market. The EOS R has face detection and eye autofocus, which is incredibly useful for shooting weddings and live events and other running gun situations. It can keep track of a subject's face and eyes from a pretty good distance so that you know that your shot is gonna look good and everything is gonna stay in focus. On low-budget commercials that I've shot before, autofocus is very useful and almost necessary since I'm just shooting with my wife and I don't have a focus operator with me to help me pull focus. In those situations, I would have to either manually focus, which can be tricky, especially if I'm adding movement to the shots, or I can just use autofocus and let it do its magic. Dual-pixel autofocus is reliable, it's easy to use, it's accurate, and it's one less thing that I have to worry about on set. Especially on shoots where the crew size is very limited, having the camera be that extra person for you is extremely valuable. Number two, I don't really need 4K 60 frames right now for the stuff that I'm shooting. 4K on the EOS R is kind of terrible. You crop in, like, way too much for it to be usable. So I stayed away from using 4K on the EOS R and mainly shot everything in 1080p. The EOS R only goes up to 60 frames per second in 1080p. One thing that Canon cameras are really good at is shooting 1080p footage. The EOS R is really no different and it shoots in a really robust All-I codec, which is a lot better than the IPB codec that you can find also in their cameras. All-I is a lot more robust and handles a lot better in color grading when you're trying to push the colors a little bit. Not too much, you still can't go too crazy because it's only 8-bit footage, but you're able to do a lot more than you can with the All-I footage from the EOS R than if you shot at IPB codec. So while the 4K on the EOS R is, like, kind of terrible, it's kind of trash, it's basically unusable in my opinion, you do get really awesome looking 1080p footage, which for most people is already good enough. I would say if you're not at the stage where you need to have a 4K workflow, especially as a beginner, or if 4K just isn't a high priority for you, then I strongly recommend that you stick with 1080p. Shooting in 4K comes with bigger file sizes, which eats up more storage, which means buying new hard drives much faster, and also usually means that your computer hardware has to be good enough to handle editing in 4K, and all of that adds up to be pretty pricey. Number three, the EOS R is really reliable as the main camera. Ever since I started using the EOS R in 2018, I haven't had any problems with the camera in terms of, like, overheating, or corrupt files, or any of these other problems that you hear about online. With all these stories of filmmakers and creators having to stop recording because of overheating issues, or having anxiety about whether or not their camera is going to shut down at any moment, it's really comforting to know that the EOS R will handle any situation without me having to stop recording because of a limitation of the camera. As a comparison, when I rented out the R6 to try it out, I set the camera down and pressed record to see how long it would take for the camera to overheat, and tell me that it needed time to recover. It lasted about 10 minutes before it had to shut down, and this was me shooting at 4K 60 frames per second the whole time. Maybe it would have given me more time if I shot at 24 frames, but I highly doubt that it would have been a significant amount more. Okay, just want to clarify that I had been using the R6 for a little bit before I did my overheating test. It's non-scientific overheating test, so that's why I probably got a much lower recording time than what it says, like, on the manual, and what other people have been kind of finding out. So yeah, just want to make that clarification before people jump in the So for your main camera that you're going to be using all the time, you probably don't want to have any camera issues where it shuts down and you're not able to shoot anymore, and the EOS R nails it in that category. For the years that I've shot on it, it hasn't shut down on me once, nor has it given me any errors. Now in the past, I haven't done anything that required very long takes. The only scenario that I can think of is if we're shooting a wedding documentary and we needed to shoot for longer periods of time so that we have enough footage to cut to. However, we don't film that many wedding documentaries, so I don't really see that as being a huge issue. But even with that being said, having a main camera that you know will perform in any situation is great for peace of mind and a huge stress reliever. Number four, the design and ergonomics. This might not be super important for everyone, but for me, the EOS R is still one of my favorite cameras to use because of how it feels in my hands. It's got a nice comfortable grip that feels really solid, and I can fit all four fingers on there no problem. The flip LCD screen is just so useful when you're shooting on the go and you're holding the camera up high or down low and being able to swivel the screen so that you can see what you're shooting is awesome. Another reason why I love the flip screen so much is because if I'm shooting on a gimbal, especially for weddings, and I'm leading the couple down a pathway or a hallway, I can flip the screen around and walk forwards instead of backwards so that I can see where I'm going, but still be able to compose my shot and see what I'm shooting at the same time. And speaking of gimbals, the EOS R is pretty light and putting it on a gimbal like the Zhiyun Crane 2S is really easy, and it makes the whole setup much lighter to use versus something like my C70. This lets me operate it for longer periods of time, especially when I'm shooting eight-hour weddings. So if you're also into using lighter setups like I am, then the EOS R might be a really good fit for you. And number five, the last thing to talk about is price. The ultimate deciding factor for many people when it comes to getting new gear is how much is it going to cost. Now you can obviously buy it brand new from Canon or Amazon or any of the other retailers for around $1,800, but I highly suggest going the used route. Yes, you would lose out on things like warranty, but if you're looking to save some money, I'm seeing a lot of great EOS Rs that are going for around $1,300 on eBay, and they're still in great condition. There might be some wear and tear from the previous owner, which is pretty expected, but if you're not too concerned about that and the So those are my reasons why I think the Canon EOS R is still a great camera in 2021, but obviously those are very specific to what I do and they might or might not be what you're looking for in a camera. If it is, I've got links down below for you to check out and see if the camera is really right for you. If not, then there are other really great cameras out there for videography. With that being said, I hope you liked this video. If you did, I'd really appreciate a thumbs up and I'll be making more videos in the future, so make sure to subscribe and turn on the bell to get notified of when those videos drop. Until the next one, my name is Alex Chung and I'll see you later. Bye.