What do you use the control ring for? Is it worth the extra cost between the two EF adapters?

magarity

CR Pro
Feb 14, 2017
283
193
I just got an R8. The camera has so many dial rings on the body that I'm not sure if the control ring is really worth the extra $70 on the two EF adapters, with vs without ring. I haven't used the one R lens I got with the camera enough to tell which adapter I should get for my EF lenses that I'm keeping. What do you use the control ring for and is it worth the extra on the adapter?
 
Jul 21, 2010
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It really depends on how much control you want. The R8 has only two dials, whereas most higher level bodies have three. Three dials means one each for aperture, shutter speed and ISO giving you full control over the exposure triangle. The control ring provides a 3rd dial, I have mine set to ISO.

However, the original R had the same control limitation as the R8 with only two dials and IMO Canon developed Fv mode (which was first seen on the R) to deal with just that 'problem'. If you're not familiar with Fv, check it out. In a nutshell, you use one dial (thumb by default) to switch between setting aperture, shutter speed and ISO and the other (index finger by default) to change the value of the selected setting. Any or all of the settings can be set to Auto (and you can assign a button to return the selected setting to Auto, or to return all settings to Auto). It sounds more complicated that it is. In practice, it's a great solution and now my most commonly used mode on both the R8 and R3.
 
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Jul 21, 2010
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Thanks for the ideas; still not sure if I want the more expensive adapter with ring.
One other consideration is how many of your EF lenses you may/will upgrade (or cross-grade) to RF versions, and how quickly. When I started with RF, I bought the original EOS R and the RF 24-105/4L, but the 1D X remained my primary camera. I started with the vanilla adapter and later added the drop-in filter adapter. Thus, I never really got used to the control ring for routine use. After I got the R3, that became my primary camera and I swapped most of my EF lenses for the RF versions where available. I find that I use the control ring a lot more now, and I probably would have done so from the beginning if I'd gotten the adapter with it (the vanilla one came bundled with my EOS R).

IMO, it's generally better to have more control options available and not use one, than to have fewer options than you need. But I'd play with Fv mode before making a decision.
 
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Nemorino

EOS R5
Aug 29, 2020
840
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Just depends on the body you own.
And which lenses! I don't like the position of the control ring of the RF 100-500L which is the same of the adapter (close to the body). It's my largest lens and the control ring is not easy to reach.
The most used of my EF lenses are two Laowa full manual lenses. It would be an advantage to use the control ring adapter ( which I don't own) with them as I have to adjust the metering more often.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
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It really depends on how much control you want. The R8 has only two dials, whereas most higher level bodies have three. Three dials means one each for aperture, shutter speed and ISO giving you full control over the exposure triangle. The control ring provides a 3rd dial, I have mine set to ISO.

However, the original R had the same control limitation as the R8 with only two dials and IMO Canon developed Fv mode (which was first seen on the R) to deal with just that 'problem'. If you're not familiar with Fv, check it out. In a nutshell, you use one dial (thumb by default) to switch between setting aperture, shutter speed and ISO and the other (index finger by default) to change the value of the selected setting. Any or all of the settings can be set to Auto (and you can assign a button to return the selected setting to Auto, or to return all settings to Auto). It sounds more complicated that it is. In practice, it's a great solution and now my most commonly used mode on both the R8 and R3.
The waste bin (garbage can) button resets a selected Fv setting to auto.
 
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Jul 21, 2010
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The waste bin (garbage can) button resets a selected Fv setting to auto.
That's the default on both the R3 and R8. Additionally, on the R8 the up and left 'buttons' on the D-pad do that and the down and right D-pad buttons reset all the settings to Auto. On the R3, there's no default button to reset all the settings at once, I have that assigned to the movie start button.
 
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Apr 25, 2011
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What do you use the control ring for and is it worth the extra on the adapter?
I use it with R5 and EF 100-400 II to switch between default focus areas. Would be not useful if you do back button focus with predefined focus areas.

The waste bin (garbage can) button resets a selected Fv setting to auto.
And if you keep it pressed for longer than 3 seconds, it resets aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to auto, and exposure compensation to 0... or at least on R5 and on R6II it does.
 
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Jul 21, 2010
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