Canon EOS RP

Release on March 14, 2019, is the smallest and most compact Full Frame Mirrorless camera from Canon still worth $1000? Here’s what you need to know about the Canon EOS RP before buying on

So, on the Nikon side, I reviewed the Nikon Z6 and said in that video that it was the most affordable full-frame mirrorless camera from Nikon. Shortly after the Nikon Z5 was released and I made an updated review on that camera as well.

Well, this is Canon’s version of an affordable mirrorless full-frame camera. Having the opportunity to shoot with these different cameras, here are my overall opinion of the Canon EOS RP.

Weighing approx. 440g (for the body only), it is by far, the smallest and compact EOS full-frame camera ever.

At first glance, the RP is a bit smaller than I expected. I have smaller hands so it wasn’t too much of an issue to me. If you ever watched my review of the Canon M50, I complained that the smaller body made my fingers hurt a lot after using it for an extended period of time, but with this, although my pinky is still hanging off the grip, it’s much comfortable here.

At the top are 3 dials. One for ON or OFF dial, another for changing MODES, and the last one for changing APERTURES, which you can lock or map to do something else. The shutter button and shutter wheel are neatly directed towards the front. Then on the back are some more buttons, the screen, and the viewfinder.

The screen is fully articulatory, but more on the screen later. There’s also a D-PAD control if you fancy that as well. The buttons on the back are about the most satisfying to press. They kind of sink into the frame when you mash on them. I like that.

Upfront is the lens mount and the Laser LED for focusing. At the bottom are a single ¼ inch mount and the compartment for the battery and SD card. On the subject of the battery and SD card, it supports UHS-II so definitely consider an SD card with at least 90MB/s read and write speeds. The reason for that is in an older video, more on that here or down in the description below. With the battery, the Canon RP uses the 1040mAh LP-E17 Lithium battery.

On the left side, we get a MIC and headphone input, an HDMI and USB type C input and a port for connecting external shutter remote triggers. And on the right, we get nothing, just your grip with this texture.

One problem I have with the placement of the ports and the screen is, that you can’t flip the screen after you’ve connected anything. You would have to unplug, flip the screen over, and then plug in back again. And then, you would have to deal with cables blocking the screen. The Sony and Nikon’s design with the tilt up and down design doesn’t have this slight issue.

The Canon RP is rocking a 35mm 26.2MP Full-Frame Dual Pixel CMOS sensor for the specifications, which shoots 1080p @ 60 frames per second and 4K, 24fps. More on that later. Photos captured on this camera would have size is slightly above 6400 x 4000px. It shoots photos at 4 fps continuous shooting with AF Servo mode and 5fps in single-point mode. What this means is, if you’re shooting a moving subject like a person walking, you’ll get to shoot 4 photos each second, but if you’re shooting a non-moving subject such as an action figure on a desk, then you can get 5 photos without Autofocus turned on.



It comes with pupil detection AF in Servo AF mode and a Digic 8 image processor for faster and cleaner JPEG images. Touch and Drag AF. USB Charge Compatible. Focus Peaking

The EOS RP camera has a standard ISO sensitivity range of 100-40000 for stills and 100-25600 for video

If you enjoy posting photos on social media directly from your camera, then you’re in luck. With the RP’s built-in Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® and Canon’s Camera Connect app, you can easily connect your smartphone to the camera. This allows a number of functions such as transferring photos to your phone, adding GPS information to your photos and videos, and even using your smartphone for remote shooting. This is one feature I use a lot, cos in case you don’t know, I script, shoot and edit photos and videos on my own and sometimes, it’s quite impossible to take an in-focus photo of myself for a YouTube video thumbnail. That’s the reason why I mostly result in top-down shots for thumbnails. But with this feature, I don’t have to, most of the time.

A side-by-side comparison with my Canon 600D DSLR, and you’ll see a noticeable difference in size. Although the 600D is a crop sensor camera, it is much taller, heavier, and bulkier. Well, that’s because, unlike the canon RP, the 600D is a DSLR that has a mirror sitting in front of the sensor. I wouldn’t recommend ever tilting your camera up with the sensor being revealed like so cos, if dirt or dust gets on it, you’re going to have a bad time.

As the name implies, the Canon RP comes with the RF mount system and its lenses, but to use older EF or EFS lenses on it, you would need an adapter. I have used the adapters from Viltrox for the Nikon Z5 and Z6 and even with my Canon M50, so, I’m comfortable recommending them although they’re not sponsoring this video. The one I have here is the Viltrox EF/EFS to RF mount adapter and it works just fine on the Canon RP. There are no issues with autofocus whatsoever.

Kindly note that there are 3 variants of the Canon Adapters, so check on the one that best suits your needs. One cool thing when using EF-S lenses is that the camera crops automatically to reflect the APS-C-sized sensor the lenses are designed for.

Now, let’s talk about the screen on the back. It’s a 3-inch fully articulatory 1.04M touchscreen. Unlike some Sony cameras which only allow you to use the touchscreen for selecting what the camera should focus on, this basically allows you to control virtually everything by just using the touchscreen.

The 0.39-inch OLED Electronic View Finder with approx. 2.36 million dots is also bright, sharp, and colorful, providing 100% view. What you see on the screen or viewfinder, is precisely what you get when you press the shutter button.

I’ll be comparing the RP with mainly the M50 because that’s what I’ve been using and I’m comfortable with. Especially, with the autofocus.



For perspectives, this is how the RP looks right next to the M50. With both cameras being mirrorless, it’s funny how small and compact both of them can be. Note that the M50 is a crop sensor mirrorless camera while the RP is having a full-frame sensor. So naturally, it should be bigger. Even though the RP is a lot bigger and wider, it does not come with an inbuilt flash.

Not that, it is a deal-breaker in any way. I mean, I wouldn’t recommend you ever use that. An inexpensive Speedlight or flash is way better than the onboard flash you get with any camera. If you’re interested in an inexpensive one, I recommend, checking the links in the video description below.

With video quality and autofocus, here’s a look at the RP side by side with the M50. First off, I tried with an outdoor scene, using the exact same settings and a closely related lens.

With the RP, we get Canon’s amazing Dual Pixel Autofocus which comes with eye-tracking as well. The eye-tracking works great in you have your subject close enough to the camera. So, if that’s a feature you would be interested in, definitely get a wide lens.

On that note, would you forgo the M50 and pay $500 extra for the RP all cos of the full-frame sensor.

Although there are so many things to love about the Canon EOS RP, here are some limitations.

First will be the 4K capabilities. Yes, it shoots 4K videos, but there’s a 1.7x crop on the video itself. You also need the ability to use the Dual Pixel Autofocus system. The camera switches to the Contrast Based Autofocus it works, just okay. The ISO range also maxes out at 12800 for 4K video shooting.

Being able to connect the camera to an external power source and record all day is great, but you’ll need to purchase Canon’s own battery converter for that.

The smaller body will not be ideal for people with huge hands and although you can get a grip extension, that’s something extra you now have to purchase as well.

The smaller body also means you can’t expect so much battery life. Definitely, get some extras.



I’ll leave links below with the updated prices of this camera so definitely, check the links in the video description.