Five Hidden Features Canon EOS R Mirrorless Camera

Canon EOS R was launched one year ago. We learned a lot about it so far. However, we have had the opportunity to speak with the experts of the consumer electronics store, Abes of Maine. We find out that there were some features that we didn’t knew about.

In this article, we bring you the five things we have learned from Abes of Maine, about the hidden features on the Canon EOS R.

These features will be especially useful to filmmakers. While in some cases they are useful, some of them still have some drawbacks.

1. True 24p

Canon EOS R shoots 24.00 fps instead of 23.98 fps. In Abes of Maine expert’s opinion, this is not a big deal, because the difference of 0.02 frames per second can’t be spotted visually. The true 24p can usually be found only on higher end cinema cameras (like Canon C200). Nevertheless, the Canon EOS R can be used as an additional camera for a project that is show at true 24p.

2. HDR video

The HDR video shooting is another thing that kinda got dropped under the radar. Nontheless it doesn’t do much for the shadows, it does a pretty good job at retaining highlight detail.

More detail can be retained by shooting at C Log. However, HDR can be useful if you want to avoid shooting at the post-heavy Log profile.

The downside is that the HDR video only works at specific conditions: 30fps, 1080p and with a full frame lens, which is pretty limiting.

3. Focus Peaking

It may not sound like a big deal for a mirrorless camera to have this feature, however, the Canon EOS R is for now the only non-cinema EOS camera to have it.

Nevertheless, this feature does not come without its quirks, though. According to Abes of Maine sales representatives, this feature doesn’t come without its peculiarities, though. We find out that the Low setting is too low and the high setting is too high. Another quirk is that peaking only shows up when the AF/MF switch on your lens set to manual focus. So, you can’t use focus peaking if you adjust the focus on your one of full time manual override USM lenses in the AF mode.

4. Focus guide

Focus guide is the feature that compliments focus peaking. From Abes of Maine describe it kinda like “the AF system trying to teach some human fingers how to AF.”

It is used by positioning the guide box over where you want to focus on. There are three little arrows to guide you until you nail the focus.

It should be borne on mind that focus guide is only reliable as the AF system itself. This means that sometimes, such as in low-light situations, it might bail on you sometimes.

5. Focus by wire

By offering two focus by wire behaviors (only with RF lenses), the Canon EOS R, tries to solve the inconsistent focus. It allows you to choose whether you want the focus ring sensitivity to be linked to rotation degree or to vary with rotation speed.