In the last few weeks, I had the chance to shoot with Canon's latest entry-level mirrorless camera, the Canon EOS R10 in detail thanks to the great people at B&H Photo who loaned me the camera paired with a RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM lens.
The motivation I had to review this camera is that I believe the R10 has the potential to become a best-seller in its category and in overall as well. Canon doesn't show any love to its EF-S and EF-M mounts anymore so need a new RF mount camera to replace its best sellers such as the Rebel T7/T8 DSLR series and the mirrorless EOS M5 Mark II. Can the EOS R10 be what they are looking for? Time will tell...
Here in this review I will share my real life observations, what I like and what I don't with the R10 in a Question & Answer format. Hope you enjoy!
What is the Canon EOS R10?
It is Canon's latest mirrorless camera along with the Canon EOS R7. It has an 24MP APS-C sensor. It is small, lightweight and surprisingly well featured for the price. This is not a traditional entry level camera though. Advanced features like the Dual Pixel AF system that is derived from the Canon EOS R3, 15fps mechanical shutter shooting (23fps with electronic shutter), 4K 60p (with crop) and 4K 30p ( no crop) video shooting, 10-bit 4:2:2 Video are rarely found in entry-level cameras.
Canon EOS R10 Key Specifications
- 24MP APS-C CMOS sensor (1.6x crop)
- Dual Pixel CMOS AF II with 651 Focus Points
- 23fps electronic shutter / 15fps mech shutter
- Oversampled 4K Video up to 30p, 4K/60p with crop
- True HDR video as 10-bit 'PQ' footagef
- 2.36M dot OLED viewfinder (0.95x magnification / 0.59x FF equivalent)
- 1.04M dot fully-articulating rear touchscreen
- Single UHS-II SD slot
- Built-in pop-up flash
- 1/4000 mech and 1/16000 electronic shutter
What did you like the most with the Canon R10?
The R10 managed to satisfy 90% percent of all my stills and video requirements (don't ask how I came up with the percentage) in such a small and lightweight package with a reasonable price tag.
Who is the Canon EOS R10 for?
The EOS R10 can be a main camera for many beginner photographers, as well as a second camera for more advanced shooters, especially if they are already invested in Canon RF system.
What is the one feature you wish the EOS R10 had?
Weather Sealing! This would have made it a better allrounder camera. IBIS is a close 2nd.
Which cameras are the biggest competition to the Canon R10?
These are the cameras tha we think are the toughest competition to the EOS R10: Sony Alpha a6400, Fujifilm X-S10, Nikon Z50, Canon EOS M50 Mark II, Canon EOS Rebel T8i, Canon EOS RP. All these cameras have APS-C sized sensors except for the RP with its full frame sensor and all are currently selling below $1000 price point. Let's look at the spec and feature comparison of these 6 cameras with the R10 (Scroll to the right to see the rest of the table) to get a better idea about the alternatives.
FEATURE and SPECS COMPARISON | | | | | | | | |
Model | Canon EOS R10 | Nikon Z50 | Sony Alpha a6400 | Canon EOS RP | Fujifilm X-S10 | Canon EOS Rebel T8i | Canon EOS M50 Mark II |
Sensor Resolution | 24.0 MP | 21.0 MP | 24.0 MP | 26.0 MP | 26.0 MP | 24.0 MP | 24.0 MP |
Announced Date | 2022-05-24 | 2019-10-10 | 2019-01-15 | 2019-02-14 | 2020-10-15 | 2020-02-12 | 2020-10-14 |
Camera Type | Entry-Level Mirrorless | Entry-Level Mirrorless | Advanced Mirrorless | Advanced Mirrorless | Entry-Level Mirrorless | Entry-Level DSLR | Entry-Level Mirrorless |
Sensor Type | CMOS | BSI-CMOS | CMOS | CMOS | BSI-CMOS | CMOS | CMOS |
Sensor Size | APS-C | APS-C | APS-C | Full frame | APS-C | APS-C | APS-C |
Sensor Sensitivity | ISO 100 - 32000( expands to 100-51200) | ISO 100 - 51200( expands to 204800) | ISO 100 - 32000( expands to 102400) | ISO 100 - 40000( expands to 50 - 102400) | ISO 160 - 12800( expands to 80 - 51200) | ISO 100 - 25600( expands to 51200) | ISO 100 - 25600( expands to 100-51200) |
Lens Mount | Canon RF | Nikon Z | Sony E | Canon RF | Fujifilm X | Canon EF/EF-S | Canon EF-M |
Image Stabil. | Digital only | Digital only | No | Digital only | Sensor-shift ( up to 6.0 stops) | No | Digital only |
Eye Tracking Focus | | | | | | | |
Weight | 426g | 397g | 403g | 485g | 465g | 515g | 387g |
Dimensions | 122.5 x 87.8 x 83.mm | 127 x 94 x 60mm | 120 x 67 x 60mm | 133 x 85 x 70mm | 126 x 85 x 65mm | 131 x 103 x 76mm | 116 x 88 x 59mm |
Weather Sealing | | | | | | | |
Focus Points | 651 | 209 | 425 | 4779 | 425 | 45 | 143 |
Animal Eye Tracking | | | | | | | |
Focus Stacking | | | | | | | |
Focus Bracket | | | | | | | |
Minimum Shutter | 30 sec | 30 sec | 30 sec | 30 sec | 900 sec | 30 sec | 30 sec |
Maximum Shutter | 1/4000sec | 1/4000sec | 1/4000sec | 1/4000sec | 1/4000sec | 1/4000sec | 1/4000sec |
Continuous Drive | 15.0fps | 11.0fps | 11.0fps | 5.0fps | 20.0fps | 7.5fps | 10.0fps |
Built-in Flash | | | | | | | |
Max Video Reso | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 | 4096 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 |
Video fps at Max | 60p,30p,24p | 30p,25p,24p | 30p,24p | 24p | 30p,25p,24p,23.98p | 25p, 24p | 24p |
Video Formats | MPEG-4, H.264, H.265 | MPEG-4, H.264 | MPEG-4, H.264, XAVC-S | MPEG-4, H.264 | MPEG-4, H.264 | MPEG-4, H.264 | MPEG-4, H.264 |
Storage Slot | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
UHS Support | UHS-II | UHS-I | UHS-I | UHS-II | UHS-I | UHS-I | UHS-I |
Battery Life | 450 | 320 | 410 | 250 | 325 | 800 | 305 |
Battery Model | LP-E17 | EN-EL25 | NP-FW50 | LP-E17 | NP-W126 | LP-E17 | LP-E12 |
Webcam | | | | | | | |
Anti Flicker | | | | | | | |
Microphone Port | | | | | | | |
Headphone Port | | | | | | | |
Wifi | | | | | | | |
Weather Sealing | | | | | | | |
Timelapse | | | | | | | |
Screen Type | Fully articulated | Tilting | Tilting | Fully articulated | Fully Articulated | Fully articulated | Fully articulated |
LCD Size | 3.00" | 3.20" | 3.00" | 3.00" | 3.00" | 3.00" | 3.00" |
Screen dots | 1040000 | 1040000 | 921600 | 1040000 | 1040000 | 1040000 | 1040000 |
Touch Screen | | | | | | | |
Viewfinder | | | | | | | |
Viewfinder Type | Electronic | Electronic | Electronic | Electronic | Electronic | Optical (pentamirror) | Electronic |
Viewfinder Coverage | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 95% | 100% |
NFC | | | | | | | |
Selfie Friendly Screen | | | | | | | |
AF Joystick | | | | | | | |
Bluetooth | | | | | | | |
Vehicle Tracking | | | | | | | |
Price | Amazon, B&H Photo | Amazon, B&H Photo | Amazon, B&H Photo | Amazon, B&H Photo | Amazon, B&H Photo | Amazon, B&H Photo | Amazon, B&H Photo |
What feature of the Canon R10 Surprised you the most?
Surprised to see how good the AF system is for the price (although the number of options and settings may be a bit challenging for novie photographers). Few years ago, the only way to access this kind of AF sophistication was to buy a +$5000 Pro camera!
What is the biggest weakness of the R10 from a system perspective?
The lack of native APS-C lenses and 3rd party lenses in general for the RF mount! As of today, there are only 2 (yes, two) RF-S lenses: The Canon RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM and Canon RF-S 18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM. Full frame RF lenses are large and heavy. Canon needs to come up with new RF-S lenses very soon. Using adapters is not a very elegant option in my opinion.
Did you like the handling and ergonomics of the R10?
R10 is a small camera. If you are not used to cameras this size, you will feel like holding a toy first time you have it in your hands. On the other hand, Canon is traditionally known by its excellent ergonomics and you can tell that they tried their best with the R10 despite the physical limitations. Thanks to the relatively deep grip (considering the overall size of the body), the camera is comfortable to hold. But inevitably the buttons are small and close to each other in some cases.
As an advantage, the small size makes the R10 discreet. It doesn't get much attention like the larger full-frame models, especially when paired with a small lens although the Sony A6xxx series cameras are still more compact.
How about the dials, buttons and control layout?
The controls on the R10 consists of two control dials, a mode dial, a joystick, AF ON button, Info button, a four way d-pad, Video record start button, a Lock button, a play button, Zoom/Display button, a Menu button and AF/MF Switch with an programmable button.
Two control dial setup is OK, would love to have a third one for Exposure compensation but it is not fair to ask for more from a camera this size. The Canon EOS R7 features a third wheel around its joystick, is larger and more comfortable in hand thanks to deeper grip and more finger resting area:
Deeper grip of the R7 is an advantage for people with longer fingers:
The four way d-pad with a central button makes it easy to access settings like ISO, continuous shooting modes, flash modes and the quick settings menu.
The dial that you control with your thumb is a bit too small and recessed, I wasn't comfortable turning it counter clock-wise due to the thumb rest area corner blocking my finger movement.
Other control worth mentioning is the AF/MF Switch, comes especially handy for the lenses that don't have this switch built-on. Just remember that if the lens has the switch, it over-rides the one on the camera body.
The 'Lock' button comes handy to avoid accidental change of settings but placed very close to the Movie Record button, need attention. The multi-controller joystick used to be reserved for more 'pro' bodies in the past, good for moving the focus point as well as menu selections.
The button an the AF/MF switch is programmable, it's depth-of-field preview by default.
How is the Still Image quality of the R10?
R10's APS-C sized 24MP sensor is pretty average in 2022, it is not a more fancy BSI or stacked type. Comparing to my Sony A6400 in real life situations, I don't see a significant difference in image quality. But then my A6400 is more than 3 years old so would expect to see more progress. There are already sites such as Dpreview and Imaging Resource which do an excellent job comparing the image quality and noise performance in various ISOs so I won't get too much into the details of image quality other than saying it is perfectly adequate for majority of people save for the very high ISO (I prefer not to go over ISO 6400).
The Digic X processing engine is doing a good job in preserving the details in shadows and highlights and metering is spot on most of the time in tricky scenes like below although noise and max dynamic range not as good as Canon's full frame sensors when pushed to the extremes.
Sensor readout speed is pretty average so you see a strong rolling shutter effect when shooting with electronic shutter. I never liked the electronic shutter anyway but I must be missing something. Well, one advantage is too eliminate the mechanical shutter sound of the R10 because it sounds really really bad. It is definitely not loud but sounds crappy, almost like the mechanical shutter of my 50 years old film SLR camera.
What do you think about the LCD screen and Viewfinder of the Canon EOS R10?
The fully articulated LCD screen's touch sensitivity is very good. Even though the resolution specs are not impressive, the screen quality is adequate in real life, and again better than my Sony A6400, and the touch function works better than on my Sony A7 IV.
Viewfinder with a magnification ratio of 0.6x (35mm equivalent) is relatively small and low resolution (2,360kdots) but it is still sharp and bright. The viewing angle/visibility is good. I liked that the info on the viewfinder rotates with the camera when hold in portrait mode, same doesn't apply to the LCD unfortunately.
At max setting, the brightness of the LCD screen is adequate even under direct sunlight but there is no auto brightness feature.
Is Canon EOS R10 good for video?
R10 can shoot UHD 4K footage (oversampled from 6K) at up to 30p using the full width of its sensor, meaning no crop is applied. It can also shoot 4K 60p albeit with a 1.56x crop. Crop is good if you are shooting wildlife or birds where every bit of extra focal reach helps however it becomes a problem if you want to shoot wide angle. The R10 can also shoot 120p at 1920x1080 HD mode but the final results are soft.
The R10 can capture 4:2:2 10-bit video in the HDR PQ mode, which captures a wider dynamic range for playback on HDR displays and TVs. I wish it had the C-LOG (Canon LOG) like the EOS R7 have.
R10 doesn't have a dedicated video mode switch like the one that the EOS R7 has, you have choose it from the mode dial, but recording starts in any mode when you push the record button.
R10 doesn't have a headphone port for audio monitoring during video shooting but a microphone port is included. I never use headphones for monitoring with any of my cameras but understand more advance videographers may need this feature.
There is no 30min video recording limit with the EOS R10 so you are either limited by the SD card capacity or your battery life. To solve the battery problem, the R10 can be powered continuously via the USB-C port but mind that you have to use a USB-C PD type power adapter.
Another limitation is the overheating risk. Depending on the shooting conditions, selecte
Digital Image Stabilization reduces the vibrations during video shooting but not as effective as the IBIS on the R7. DIgital IS also comes with a crop factor. Fortunately the RF-S lenses both come with optical stabilization, effective up to 4-stops.
Is the AF system really that good?
The AF system is trickled down from R3 but doesn't have the same processing power so don't expect EOS R3 level speed but it is still very effective. Eye, face and animal recognition and tracking works impressively well although the gets slowers under low light and with slow lenses.
Subject Tracking People (Eye, Head, and Face), Animals (Eye, Head, and Body for Cats, Dogs, and Birds, motorsports (car/bike) in all AF area modes.
R10 can shoot upto 15fps with the mechanical shutter and 23fps with the electronic shutter. The buffer is not very deep so you can only shoot around 2 secs before the it gets full.
Since the sensor is not reading out very fast, rolling shutter effect are easily visible with the electronic shutter.
The specs states Autofocus Sensitivity down to -4 EV but in my experience, it gets slow and less accurate under low light situations.
Remote Shooting
Canon's CameraConnect iOS App feature set is quite comprehensive, here is a screenshot from the app:
Canon CameraConnect iOS connects to the camera pretty fast but one downside is that it re-connects the wi-fi network everytime you switch to another app and back which is annoying and time consuming. This may be a limitation with the iOS though instead of Canon.
Another feature I liked is that it you can initiate the firmware udpate via the CameraConnect App which is very convenient.
There are other ways to shoot the R10 remotely both wirelessly and with wire:
Battery Life
The LP-E17 is a small battery that is also used in Rebel series and the EOS RP. The CIPA battery rating is 450 shots, but in real life I got much more than that, probably double. I would still invest in an extra battery or two if you are planning to do long video recordings or all-day shooting trips.
The battery info menu option provides four levels of remaining capacity, would be good to have a percentage information instead like in any other cameras. Battery is rectangular and can go all four ways into the battery department, it is hard to find the correct way epecially in dark environments.
What's in the box?
- EOS R10 body.
- ER-R10 strap.
- ER-SC2 hot shoe cover.
- RF-5 body cap.
- LP-E17 battery and terminal cover.
- LC-E17 folding plug universal charger.
- Basic printed manual in English, Spanish, French, Japanese and Chinese (use this online guide for all the details).
- 1-year warranty paperwork.
Is the R10 good for vlogging?
It is a good vlogging camera with the fully articulated screen, excellent eye/face recognition and video abilities but the lack of compact wideangle lens selection is a big problem. Both kit lenses, 18-45mm and 18-150mm lenses starts at 18mm (29mm FF equivalent) which is not wide enough in most situations. Overall, I can't recommend R10 as a vloggers camera until Canon comes up with wider lenses that are compact enough to match with the R10's compact body.
Flash and Multi-function Shoe
Many advanced photographers will dismiss the built-in flash in general but we won't. It comes hands in many situations like using as fill flash, triggering an external flash or any situations where taking a visible photo although unpleasant looking is more critical then satisfying only the highest artistic and esthetic concerns. At least, there is no disadvantage associated with having a built-in flash in your camera other than your bruised ego.
Flash sync speeds are 1/200s with mechanical shutter and 1/250s with electronic first curtain shutter.
Canon EOS R10 features the multi-function shoe that was first implemented in EOS R7 (R5 and R6 don't have this) which allows the use of these accessories:
- Canon DM-E1D Stereo Microphone
- Canon ST-E10 Speedlite Transmitter
- Canon AD-P1 Smartphone Adapter
Focus Bracketing and Focus Stacking
Focus bracketing and stacking functions are impressively easy to set up and execute with the R10. The stacking process is done in-camera and instantly in contrast to some other models that only brackets in-camera but stacking done in a software. The bracketing in its default setting comes with 100 brackets which is insane in my book, ofcourse more frames the better stacked photo but I wouldn't that high if the application is not very critical.
Below is the result of a simple and quick 10-shots focus stacking, single shot compared to stacked image.
Connectivity
The R10 sports a mini HDMI for connecting to an external monitor or a recorder, a USB-C port for charging and data transfer, a microphone port for sound recording through external microphones and a 2.5mm socket for remote cords on the same side of the camera, covered with two seperate doors which are easy to open and close.
The R10 also has built-in Bluetooth (v4.2, not v5 ) and Wi-Fi connectivity which supports remote control and wireless image transfers to a connected device. There is no NFC.
The Canon R10 is MFi (Made For iPhone) compatible with Apple devices. When used with a certified MFi cable, you can import image and video directly to your iPhone or an iPad, no additional software required..
Storage
R10 has a UHS-II compatible SD card slot. Max capacities are SD up to 2GB, SDHC up to 32GB and SDXC up to 2TB cards. I recommend a fast card if you are planning to utilize 15fps mech/23fps electronic shutter modes. Fast cards helps with minimizing the buffer clear out times.
Conclusion
What we like about the R10?
- Two control dials, AF joystick and AF/MF Switch
- Comfortable grip for the compact body
- Advanced AF system with animal and human eye AF, excellent subject recognition under good light
- Fast max shooting speeds: 15fps mech and 23fps electronic shutter
- Fully Articulating touch screen
- Built-in flash
- 4K 60 (with crop), 4K 30p (no crop) and FHD 120p Video
- 4K 30p oversampled from 6K has good detail
- 4:2:2 10 bit H.265 Recording
- No 30 min recording limit (can record up to 2 hours)
- Useful Focus stacking, Panorama and Panning Modes
- Continuous USB-C PD Powering and charging (won't charge or power if you use a USB-A to USB-C)
- Temperature meter for long videos
- Digital IS (Image stabilization) for movies
- Multi-Function Shoe
- Color Histogram when shooting
- New "Erase Scene Including Image" option erases all images in a series
- fast 1/250s flash sync speed (with electronic first-curtain shutter)
- Real-time buffer depth info on the viewfinder
- C1 and C2 preset shooting memories on the top mode dial
- Viewfinder data display rotate with the camera
- Excellent Touch screen
- UHS-II support
- 1.6x Crop factor handy for wildlife and bird photography
What would be good to have on R10?
These features would be good to have in Canon EOS R10:
- Sensor based Image Stabilization (IBIS)
- Less crippled High Speed Video (no sound recording and no playback speed control)
- Weather sealings
- Headphone socket
- More native APS-C lenses available currently (not the cameras fault though)
- Battery percentage indicator instead of ust three bars
- Nicer Shutter sound
- Automatic brightness control for the rear LCD
- AF performance not degrading under low-light
- Less flimsy Battery/Card door
- Zebra in Stills shooting (only available in video currently )
- Live Histogram during Video shooting
- WB adjustment in Video mode
- C-LOG video recording
Well one may argue that if the R10 had all those 'good to haves', it would become the R7 which is apparently available to purchase albeit with a price tag of $1499 (body only), $520 more than the EOS R10!
Do you recommend the Canon EOS R10?
This is the tricky part. EOS R10 is arguably one of the best camera in the sub-1000$ class but -and this is a big but- the number of available RF-S lenses is very small and the full-frame RF lenses are big and heavy, and not wide enough! To make it easier for me to summarize my thoughts, I will list the conditions where the EOS R10 is a good buy.
- If you already invested in the RF system with lenses, buy the R10.
- If you are OK with using Canon EF lenses with an adapter, buy the R10.
- If you are looking for the smallest package to carry around all day, buy the R10.
- If you don't need the wide angle often, buy the R10
Price and Availability
Canon EOS R10 body only sells for $979, $1099 with the 18-45mm kit lens and $1379 with the RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM kit lens.
- R10 body-only: $979 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.
- R10 & 18-45mm IS kit as shown: $1,099 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.
- R10 & 18-150mm IS kit as recommended: $1,379 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.