Images of the Canon EOS Ra appear – UPDATE

Joules

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I have seen other forums that deal with these topics and there seems to be a general lack of ability to explain simply (while it is a complex subject - it can be explained).
Yes, that seems to be an accurate observation from my research as well.

I also get the impression that since all the equipment is so niche and expensive, any recommendations you'll get won't be based on elaborate testing and comparisons, but personal experience with a few pieces of equipment. And that's certainly still worth something, but such a different approach than what we're used to with cameras and lenses where every metric has been tested and debated intensely.

I like to take an approach to such topics that is not trying to go for the end goal in one step but rather tries to add minimal new stuff in each of many steps. I started doing milky way photography with my 600D and Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art. Then I got an 80D and later a Sigma 150-600mm and learned to use these properly for bird photography. Then I put the combo on a tripod and imaged the moon a few times, including a total lunar eclipse, and I tried to take an image of the Orion nebula using short, untracked exposures. Just to get a feel of what can be done with that equipment and where it falls short. Now I got the Fornax tracking mount, and a polar wedge, but no scope. I experimented with using a camera for alignment and have gotten better at that. I also got a light pollution filter, a new geared head and an intervalometer, but these still need to be tried out. Unfortunately the weather isn't cooperating. But with these small steps I can at least judge how much I really need. I try to only make purchases that I can use for regular photography as well. The exception to that are obviously the tracking mount and polar wedge. But compared to how much a lens / telescope would cost, that could gather more light than my current lenses, it is just the obvious choice.

To a degree, reading online has helped with all of that. But to make it really click, experiencing this stuff in your own or viewing videos and pictures seems more beneficial than all that technical talk to me.

If you pose a more specific question I'm sure you'll get a good answer on this forum. It's just that these recommendations I think require experience with at least some variety of gear and the cost of gaining that makes it hard to come by that experience, with the specialized forums being the place with the highest chance of finding it.
 
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Ozarker

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And both of you conveniently forgot the added price of full frame lenses, especially for new adopters who only have crop ones.
Didn't forget anything. Loads of people have FF lenses on their Canon APS-C cameras already. Canon's FF mirrorless will adapt both APS-C lenses and FF lenses.

BTW: "Conveniently forgot", to benefit whom? Just curious. We aren't selling anything here.
 
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If anything, the opposite might be true. Maybe the next generation of mirrorless is not that far away and Canon wants to make good use of their old sensor platform while it lasts.

Something Canon has done in the past. The 1000D used the 400D's sensor after the 450D was released with a new sensor. Then the 1100D was released with the 450D's sensor, after the 500D was released with a new sensor. The 1300D was released with an older 18MP sensor after the 750D was released with a 24MP sensor. IIRC, Canon did the same with the AF sensors - put an older xxxD's chip in a new 1x00D body.

Canon has already invested in design and got the manufacturing facilities running, makes financial sense to squeeze the last dollars of profit in it in another camera targeted at an audience satisfied by it.
 
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Ozarker

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I couldn't wait any longer for Canon to release a new pro body suitable for a fulltime commercial / wedding photographer and had to pick up a 2nd 5D IV body. That means I probably won't be buying any R lenses for a few more years. It was a really bad move for Canon to leave the working pro with no good options to upgrade for so long. good for the astrophotographer but how many of them really needed this?
Probably a bunch. They've got their APS-C 60Da on life support by now (Released 2012, 7 years ago). The 5D Mark IV was released in September 2016 (3 years ago, so not old at all), with a 5D Mark V coming out in 2020. That time frame, in the 5D series, is about standard for Canon. My previous 5D Mark III was released in March of 2012.
 
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Of course, they'd have to want to.

I'm sure there's no technical reason they couldn't do it (and I was sure of this before this news item came out). And they could announce such a thing tomorrow, but my suspicion is that they would rather that crop sensor people who want those RF lenses...move to an R like, full frame camera.
I agree that it is not a technical issue. The main question would seem to be how many aps-c cameras with an RF mount Canon could sell at a price where they could make money. An aps-c camera would provide more reach for a given lens, and an aps-c body might be cheaper than a full frame. On the other hand, at this point, all of Canon's longer lenses still have EF mounts, so an aps-c camera with an RF mount isn't all that appealing.
 
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I'm waiting for everyone to pile on you about how new the RF ecosystem is and how the EOS R is a perfectly good camera, and those people make valid points, but I still feel your pain, wanting a mirrorless pro body that innovates or pushes boundaries.
...

Isn't it apparent from the R's 1.4 firmware released just last month that Canon was simply not ready for a pro mirrorless on the AF and tracking side, in addition to the increased data bandwidth that is just now showing up on the M6II? I suspect that is what many would have and will expect in a pro level mirrorless, meaning Canon was correct in delaying it.
 
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Canon RP bodies are going for under $1000 on eBay now and will definitely be under $1000 retail for Black Friday. With the cost of FF entry this low, there is little reason to do this.

I am willing to bet that there are far more people who have tooled up over the years for crop shooting than do astro photography considering crop shooters have been about 2/3s of Canons business traditionally. Please make the case that owning an RP is is exactly the same as owning a 7D to a 7D owner and see how that flies. The RP is a POS and I would change brands before owning one.
 
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Quirkz

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I am willing to bet that there are far more people who have tooled up over the years for crop shooting than do astro photography considering crop shooters have been about 2/3s of Canons business traditionally. Please make the case that owning an RP is is exactly the same as owning a 7D to a 7D owner and see how that flies. The RP is a POS and I would change brands before owning one.

I currently own a 5d4, a Fuji x-e3, and.... an RP. (Previously a Sony a7s, canon m5, Panasonic m43, and many other canon dslrs)

Based on those to compare with, I can assure you that the RP is most definitely not a POS. It’s a rather fantastic and capable little beast of a camera quite capable of taking magnificent images, and I now prefer it over those other cameras, especially for travel. And that’s before we even look at the price vs performance.
 
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Ozarker

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The RP is a POS and I would change brands before owning one.
People that actually own and use the RP might disagree with you. I've read a few here on this forum saying they like it. Enough that I am thinking seriously about getting one and dumping our Olympus M43. Not a hard call, really.
 
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SteveC

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And both of you conveniently forgot the added price of full frame lenses, especially for new adopters who only have crop ones.

Even if they didn't forget, how could they possibly assess it? They don't know what you have or don't have.

I have two EF-S lenses I'd have to find replacements for, and a fair number of full frame lenses. (I exclude EF-M lenses from this, since I bought them knowing they'd never go on anything but an EF-M camera.) I adopted a policy recently of not buying crop EF lenses, anticipating a move to full frame someday. I still haven't made that move, but the RP at this price is tempting.
 
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I am willing to bet that there are far more people who have tooled up over the years for crop shooting than do astro photography considering crop shooters have been about 2/3s of Canons business traditionally. Please make the case that owning an RP is is exactly the same as owning a 7D to a 7D owner and see how that flies. The RP is a POS and I would change brands before owning one.

Does the M6II not do it for you? Honest question, never had a 7D series so not sure where the M6II lacks (with the exception of battery life and weather sealing I'm guessing). On paper, it seems to be a noticeable upgrade over the 7d2 - more fps, more resolution for cropping, cleaner images, etc.
 
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I wonder about the choice of resolution.

The EOS 60Da has an 18MP resolution. A full frame sensor with the same pixel size would have 18 * 1.6^2 = 46MP, about 5DS resolution. The EOS R has 30MP.

So astro photographers would gain about a stop on light gathering, they would lose in reach. Don't recall who wrote it, but astro is one of those cases where you can't zoom with your legs.
 
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