Both Nikon and Canon are playing catch-up with Sony, and the Canon EOS RP is the Japanese giant's serious shot in the mirrorless camera segment.
In
May 2017, rumours of Canon
coming out with a full-frame mirrorless camera had sent the world of
photography on the internet into a mini tizzy. Now, it is not that
Canon did not have a mirrorless camera range already. It did and the
M series was a capable series too. But, alas! It was not full-frame.
For the uninitiated, a full-frame camera is one that captures images
on a sensor which is the same size as a traditional 35-mm film
(remember film cameras of the past?) Most DSLR cameras you see today
are APS-C or crop-sensor cameras. These have smaller sensors that
capture much smaller frames (22x15 mm). This basically means a
full-frame sensor has a surface area which is 2.5 times an APS-C
sensor camera. A bigger sensor of course means a much higher price,
too. An APS-C is not a problem for most, except pros and people who
want to move up the ladder in the serious photography business.
Canon
has been a global leader in photography and has had a wonderful
full-frame DSLR range, but here we come to the second big point -- a
mirrorless camera. Mirrorless cameras represent the evolution of
camera species in which Canon had been a slow mover, even as Sony
stole the march. Canon’s M series had a different mount (more on
mount’s later) and did not have a full-frame version. They were
capable cameras but not quite there for the more serious enthusiast.
In
2018, Canon did come out with its first full-frame mirrorless camera,
the Canon EOS R. Being part of the EOS family of Canon cameras, this
one had the RF mount. A mount is the interface (mechanical and
electronic) that allows a lens to fit onto a camera body (where the
sensor lies). Canon has EF, RFF or EF-M mounts, while Nikon has its
own mount. When any serious photographer buys a camera (even if a
beginner-level DSLR) he makes a choice as to which universe he wants
to be part of. A Canon camera owner would purchase lenses that fit
this camera.
So, when he eventually upgrades to another device in a
few years, he would still be able to use the lenses with this new
device. But he might not move to a Nikon or a Sony as the old lenses
would become useless or lose some of their functionality (if they use
an adapter). This is the reason why the launch of the first
full-frame mirrorless Canon camera in 2018 sent its legion of
followers into a tizzy.
This camera had an RF mount (a new one that
allowed old EF lenses to be used as well. An adapter is not supplied
in the box, however). They could now step up to a mirrorless camera
while using their existing lenses. Earlier this year, Canon launched
its second entrant in this field. The Canon
EOS RP, the subject of this review. The EOS RP is a 26.2 MP
full-frame camera. Its launch is being compared to the launch of the
EOS 300D 16 years ago, as that was the first camera to bring
large-frame digital photography to the masses.
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