EOS R users please give me your feedback

[st87]

Hi Tony,

Thank you for your detailed review.
Ah so you call it the REAR dial. Gotcha. Not an ideal placement, but it's not that bad either. Before my first dSLR, my camera was a Fuji S9000. The ONLY dial was placed at exactly the same position, and I used it to control both shutter and aperture. Eventually, you'll get the hang of just shooting with your thumb there.

Yes I get that the 5D series is still superior. You're probably going to scream at me for this, but I actually decided on the EOS R mainly for the Eye AF feature. Figured that feature would be greatly useful for me as it's been something I've envied on the Sony users for a long time. When shooting the more intimate portraits on a large aperture, I find that sometimes, focusing using the centre, then panning at half shutter for composition before taking the shot - that travel distance sometimes can slightly alter your focal point by a small fraction. If this Eye AF feature is as accurate as what Canon and some reviewers claim, I feel it is definitely worth a shot.

I've read a review saying that the EOS R is slow because it "only" offered 8fps continuous drive. Call me out of touch, but coming from the 5D2, that is super fast to me lol!

I had hoped Canon would just make a full frame mirrorless without trying to tackle on making a smaller camera. I really don't mind big. What I do mind is the compromised ergonomics coming from a smaller size, exactly as you have raised above. The result is an EOS R - not that much smaller when you consider the lens you put on, but small enough to make it less intuitive to function. In some ways a disaster, and in a twist of events, I've actually been telling people around me to avoid the EOS R. It's their first full frame mirrorless - there's bound to be improvements. But alas, I have my first wedding photo shoot booked in November (pretty much the scenario you mentioned up there, Brian!), I need a second body, I want the Eye AF feature, and I can't see a Mark II coming out anytime soon.

The only drama I'll have is constantly switching between a 5D2 and the R. The controls won't be as identical as it would have been if I bought a 5D4, for instance. But, I should be fine. I hope.

So that probably settles on why I've chosen to take a risk with the EOS R. As for my original question about customising the dials, I didn't quite get the answer I was looking for. I think it's because I didn't clarify one thing. I shoot manual full time. I have tried switching between shutter and aperture priority modes in the earlier stages, but somehow, just keeping it at full manual felt more at home for me. I don't think I'll be changing this habit anytime soon.

So, what I want to do is to set the front dial for shutter, the rear dial for ISO, and the control ring for aperture. Do you think it can be customized this way? Or am I completely misinterpreting the functionality of the rear dial?