Canon EOS R10 First Look Review

The Canon EOS R10 reviewed here is an APS-C format mirrorless camera that was announced at the same time as the Canon EOS R7, Canon’s flagship APS-C format camera. That means that the R10 sits below the R7 in Canon’s new APS-C format R-series line-up.

Whereas Canon’s existing APS-C format mirrorless cameras, the EOS M series, feature the EF-M lens mount, the EOS R10 and R7 have the RF mount. This can accept full-frame RF mount lenses directly without the need for an adapter, but the focal length is subject to 1.6x focal length magnification.

Smaller and lighter than the R7, the Canon EOS R10 is aimed at enthusiast photographers who want to invest in their first mirrorless camera and perhaps those who want a camera for travel photography.

Although it sits below the R7 in Canon’s mirrorless camera line-up, the Canon R10 has a lot of features in common with the flagship model. For example, although its sensor has a lower resolution with 24.2MP rather than 32.5MP, it features the same Dual Pixel CMOS AF II technology. This means that the Canon R10 uses phase detection focusing and every pixel is capable of being used by the focusing system. As a result, you can focus anywhere across the image.

However, whereas the R7’s AF system is sensitive down to -5EV, the Canon R10’s is sensitive down to -4EV. Like the R7, the EOS R10 also has Canon’s intelligent subject detection system which can be set to look for and focus on people, animals or vehicles. And if Eye detection is activated via the menu, the camera will prioritise the eyes of any detected subjects. It’s a major bonus for people, pet and wildlife photographers.

While the R10’s basic sensor design may have been around for a while, according to Canon, the micro lenses and wiring have been revised to boost the performance.

Further performance enhancements in comparison with cameras like the Canon EOS 850D (Canon EOS Rebel T8i) and Canon EOS 6D Mark II are enabled by the use of the Digic X processor in the R10. This enables a maximum continuous shooting rate of 23fps (frames per second) with the electronic shutter and 15fps with the mechanical shutter. For comparison, the 850D maxes out at 7.5fps in Live View mode and 7fps when shooting with the viewfinder while the M6 Mark II has a maximum shooting rate of 14fps.

Like the R7, the Canon EOS R10 is capable of shooting 4K video at up to 60p, but this is subject to a 64% crop on the R10. That means that lenses look significantly longer than they do in stills mode. It’s also possible to shoot 4K video at 30P downsampled from 6K footage and Full HD video can be shot at up to 120p. The maximum duration for video-recording on the R10 is 2 hours.

There’s no headphone port, but the R10 has a connection for an external microphone.

Looks-wise the Canon EOS R10 is something of a mash-up of the Canon M50 Mark II and a small SLR like the Canon EOS 250D (AKA Canon EOS Rebel T7) with the addition of a joystick on its back. In fact, at 122.5 x 87.8 x 83.4mm, it’s smaller than the 250D/SL7 – which at launch was the smallest DSLR with a moveable screen and probably still remains so.

Plus, at 429g with memory card and battery, the R10 is lighter than the 250D, making it a highly portable camera that’s attractive for travel.

Despite that low weight and small size, the Canon R10 has a deep grip. That’s partly down to the fact that the lack of a mirror means the camera body doesn’t need to be as deep as an SLR’s. Consequently, the R10 feels a good pairing with the new RF-S 18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM and RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM lenses.

With the exception of the menu button, the controls on the top and rear of the R10 are on the right of the camera, which combined with its low weight, means it’s easy to use one-handed.

According to the specification sheet, the Canon R10 is primarily made of magnesium alloy and plastic, but it’s not listed as weather-sealed.

Canon has given the R10 dual control dials, one embedded in the top-plate just behind the shutter release and the other towards the back of the top-plate above the thumb rest. This means that shutter speed and aperture can be adjusted quickly without the need to press a button while rotating a dial. Both are made from metal and have a knurled edge.

Just to the left of the rear dial, there’s a large exposure mode dial with all of the enthusiast’s options (PASM and Bulb) present, plus two customisable options, Canon flexible priority (Fv mode), Scene Intelligent Auto mode, Scene mode, Creative Filter mode and video mode.

On the back of the camera, there’s the usual navigation pad with four shortcut keys, plus a central Q/Set button. Pressing the Q button opens the Quick menu or confirms settings selections. There’s also an Info button for toggling through the different display options, an AF-on button and the AF point selection and auto exposure lock (AEL) buttons. The latter two buttons are on the top of the ridge that forms the thumb rest, so there’s a nice, clearly defined area for your thumb. The textured joystick sits to the left of the top of the thumb rest so it’s within very easy reach.

As with all of Canon’s recent cameras, the R10 has fully-integrated touch control so its possible to select and adjust parameters from the main and Quick menu with taps on the screen. It’s also possible to set the focus point and zoom into the image with a tap on the screen.

Further good news is that the 3-inch 1.04-million-dot screen is mounted on a vari-angle joint which means it can be moved into a position for easy viewing whoever the camera is held.

This assessment is based upon the performance of a beta sample of the Canon EOS R10 and it’s possible that the camera’s performance will change a little by the time it goes on sale.

My first opportunity to use the Canon EOS R10 came at the UK press briefing at which I was able to photograph some ice-skaters in gloomy conditions. With an RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM mounted, the R10’s subject detection system coped well and the camera was able to detect and focus upon the skaters quickly, targeting their eyes when they were visible. However, the skaters were dressed in black, or black and red, and these colours featured quite heavily in the background. Consequently, there were a few occasions, usually when the skater was spinning, when the focus jumped to the background. This is something that may be addressed by using a different Case study setting in the AF section of the camera’s menu.

I used a Lexar Professional 2000x SDXC UHS-II Gold Series memory card (maximum read/write speed 300/260MB/s) in the Canon R10’s single SD/SDHC/SDXC USH-II card slot and it enabled me to shoot at 15fps with the mechanical shutter in action and 23fps with the electronic shutter.

• Find the Lexar Professional 2000X SDXC UHS-II Gold series cards on Amazon.com and at Wex Photo Video in the UK

The low light conditions of the ice-rink demanded high ISO settings to enable the fast shutter speeds required to freeze the subjects. At the moment the raw file conversion software isn’t available, so I can only look at the Jpegs from the R10 and on the basis of those, I would aim to shoot at ISO 12,800 or lower if possible. ISO 25,600 is fine if you’re only planning to look at images below around A4 (210 x 297mm or 8.25 x11.75 inches), because the finer details of the Jpegs are lost.

Scrutinising images shot with the camera on a tripod (and of a motionless subject) at lower ISO settings reveals that the Canon R10 is able of capturing a very good level of detail. ISO 100 images look natural, and images appear almost completely clean all the way up to ISO 1600. Even ISO 3200 Jpegs only have a little luminance noise in the shadows.

These images were captured using a beta sample of the Canon EOS R10 and the image quality from the final camera may differ. Follow the link to browse and download full-resolution images from the Canon EOS R10. Please respect our copyright.

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This 4K 50P video was shot hand-held on a beta sample of the Canon EOS R10, it includes a section at 50% speed.

While the Canon EOS M-series cameras are attractively small and models like the Canon M50 Mark II have proved popular with some vloggers, they have often felt compromised in some way or other. The Canon M6 Mark II, for example, has a great phase detection AF system and produces superb images but it doesn’t have a viewfinder built-in and the screen is a tilting rather than a vari-angle unit. Meanwhile the Canon M50 II has a viewfinder built-in as well as a vari-angle screen, but if you shoot 4K video at 24 or 25p, there’s a 1.5x crop and the focusing reverts to contrast detection.

The Canon EOS R10, however, seems like the real deal. It’s not quite as small as the M50 Mark II, but it’s still very compact yet has a good grip and both a viewfinder and a vari-angle screen. Yes there’s is a crop if you shoot 4K 60p video, but it can also shoot uncropped 4K video at 30p which is down-sampled from 6K, plus you still get phase detection focusing.

While it’s not weatherproof, the Canon R10 offers quite a lot for the money and it’s seems well-matched to the newly announced RF-S lenses. However, in order for the system to be taken seriously, Canon needs to bring out some faster lenses in the not too distant future.