Canon’s new R8 Mark II borrows its looks from a film camera. The more useful news for black and white photographers is on the inside.
Canon has announced the EOS R8 Mark II, a small full frame mirrorless camera. It keeps the 24.2MP sensor of the original R8 and finally adds the one thing that camera was most criticized for missing: in body stabilization. It also comes in a completely new body, squared off and angular where the first R8 was smooth, and Canon is being unusually open about where that look came from.
What Canon announced
According to Canon’s announcement on September 15, the R8 Mark II pairs that 24.2MP full frame sensor with five axis in body stabilization, which PetaPixel says is rated at 7.5 stops in the center of the frame. It shoots up to 40 frames per second with the electronic shutter. It also adds a pre continuous mode that keeps up to 20 frames from before the shutter button is fully pressed. There is now a joystick on the back for moving the focus point, something the original R8 lacked.
The body weighs 546 grams with a battery and card, and Canon calls it the lightest EOS camera with in body stabilization so far. It ships in late October for $1,899 body only, or $2,099 with the RF 24-50mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM kit lens. An optional EG-E2 extension grip costs $99.99.
A nod to the film era
Canon says the design is influenced by classic Canon camera heritage, and its own press photograph makes the point plainly. It sets the new camera beside the EOS 650, the film body that started the EOS system in 1987, under the caption “How the Past Influences the Future.” Back in June, our roundup covered rumors of an AE-1 tribute edition. What arrived looks back to a different Canon film camera, and to the moment the EOS line began rather than the classic manual bodies before it.
Why the stabilization matters most for black and white
For anyone shooting black and white, the stabilization is the real story. So much of this work happens in the light color photographers tend to avoid: dim streets, interiors, overcast evenings and the last blue light after sunset. If you can hold a camera steady at much slower shutter speeds, you can keep the ISO lower in those conditions, and cleaner files give you far more room to shape tones in the edit. It also opens the door to deliberate movement, like a quarter second handheld with the crowd blurring past a still figure, without needing a tripod.
The 24.2MP sensor is worth a word too. It’s modest by current standards, but it’s plenty for prints and for the web, and the files stay easy to work with. A lower resolution full frame sensor also generally holds up well when the ISO does have to climb. That suits a medium where grain is often part of the look anyway.
Useful on the street
Street photographers get two helpful additions. The pre continuous mode quietly records the moment just before you press the shutter, which is exactly the fraction of a second that gets missed when a gesture happens faster than you can react. The new joystick makes it quicker to move focus off center, so placing a subject near the edge of the frame no longer means fumbling with the touchscreen. Add a silent electronic shutter and a small, understated body, and it’s a camera that’s easy to carry all day without drawing attention.
What it still leaves out
The R8 Mark II is still an entry level full frame camera, and it shows in a few places. Newsshooter’s specifications list an electronic first curtain and a fully electronic shutter but no mechanical shutter. Shooting fully electronic can show distortion with fast movement and banding under some artificial lights. There’s a single card slot, the viewfinder is a modest 2.36 million dots, and battery life is short, rated at roughly 150 to 340 shots depending on settings. The new Negative Filmtone and Positive Filmtone looks Canon announced are color settings, so they add nothing for monochrome work.
None of that takes away from what matters most here. If you’re a black and white photographer who works in low light and on foot, a small full frame body you can hold steady at slow shutter speeds is a very useful tool. The fact that it looks back to a film camera is a pleasant bonus rather than the point.