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One of the biggest, best surprises of 2018 was Canon’s announcement of its full-frame mirrorless EOS R system. No longer was Sony the only full-frame mirrorless game in town — suddenly photographers who wanted a small, fast camera with a large sensor were spoilt for choice.

Canon have updated the range with two professional full frame camera bodies and four new lenses. Read all about the EOS R5 and EOS R6 bodies here and the new lenses here.

Given how long Canon has been in the game, many photographers have of course built up substantial collections of EF lenses for its EOS system, and it therefore came as something of a surprise for some that the new EOS R system would be debuting with a new lens mount — the RF mount — and a selection of new lenses for it that would be arriving throughout 2018 and 2019. No doubt as a way of mollifying some photographers’ concerns, Canon assured everyone that the EOS R would be released with an option EF-EOS R adapter, allowing old lenses to be used on the new camera.

So, many photographers have got to wondering — why use RF lenses at all? Surely I can take the plunge on the EOS R system and keep using my EF lenses as well, right?

Well, we reckon that would be a mistake. RF lenses have many distinct advantages, and are specifically designed to compliment the EOS R and EOS RP cameras, allowing your images to reach their full potential.

To that end, we’ve assembled a list of the top five reasons to use RF lenses with EOS R cameras…

1. The short, wide lens mount

When designing the RF mount and the way that RF lenses connect to EOS R cameras, Canon managed to reduce the flange-back distance (the distance between the lens mount and the imaging sensor) from 44mm to 20mm, bringing it in line with comparable systems like Sony FE or Nikon Z. The lenses are also physically wide, with a large 54mm inner diameter.

Why is this advantageous? It allows for a large element to be placed at the rear of the lens, which reduces the scope for optical aberrations and means lenses can be designed with fewer overall elements, which means they can be made smaller.

These large lenses can also provide other advantages. Let’s take a look, for example, at the upcoming RF 28-70mm f/2L. Its nearest EF equivalent in focal range terms would be something like the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM, and you’ve probably already spotted the difference between the two — that large constant aperture of f/2 throughout the zoom range. It’s the design specific to RF that makes such things possible, and opens up your options in low light and more.

2. Super-fast lens/camera communication

RF mount lenses employ a 12-pin connection between the camera and lens — for comparison, the EF-mount uses 8 pins. What does this mean? Faster data transfer, which means lightning-fast autofocus, enhanced image stabilisation thanks to better communication between the camera and lens, and also provides general optimisation of image quality.

3. RF mount can provide superior image stabilisation

Let’s expand for a moment on the above point and explore how and why the RF mount provides better image stabilisation. RF lenses with image stabilisation (and it’s worth noting that not all of them have it) use a dual gyro sensor system to detect inadvertent movement, and this information is relayed across the fast connection to the Canon camera’s DIGIC 8 processor. At the same time, the sensor is also on the lookout for blur that is caused by these movements, and it also sends this data to the processor, essentially providing confirmation that the inadvertent movement is occurring, and allowing the camera to correct for it. It’s a well-engineered system, augmented by the super-fast connections of RF mount lenses.

4. The DLO (Digital Lens Optimizer)

While this interesting feature has made it onto some EF-mount lenses, it’s on RF mount lenses as a matter of course. The DLO uses the lens’s built-in memory capacity to allow it to store data on any aberrations that occur, meaning it can instantaneously and automatically correct these aberrations in the future.

5. It makes sense to have a dedicated second system

It’s unlikely that any working professional is planning to jump ship wholesale from the EOS system to EOS R. These mirrorless cameras make sense as a second system, whether that’s for jobs where a bulky DSLR would be a disadvantage or simply when shooting for pleasure. As such, it makes sense that if you’re going to have a dedicated second system, you have a dedicated selection of lenses for it. Laboriously swapping your EF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens from the EOS 5D Mark IV to the EOS RP every time you want to switch systems is going to be a cumbersome process, and you’ll find you get much more use out of the second system if it’s always set up and ready to go.

6. You’re future-proofing yourself

It’s an exciting time to be an EOS R photographer. Canon has mapped out the future of lenses for the system and it looks fantastic. To name just a few, there’s the upcoming RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS, covering the workhorse focal range beloved by many pros, which incorporates Canon’s Nano USM lens motors for the fastest autofocus possible. It’s definitely a sign that the firm is taking this system seriously, and the best part about it? It’s tiny. Remember how fewer elements means that lenses can be made smaller? We’re certainly seeing that with the RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS, which is practically half the size of its EF counterpart. Also upcoming are the RF 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM, a great all-rounder for travel, and the RF 24-70 F2.8L IS USM we’ve already mentioned, a high-performing standard zoom that’s perfect for weddings and documentary.

This is clearly a system that’s going places, offering features and functionality that you simply won’t get anywhere else. That, more than anything, is why we reckon you’re best off pairing EOS R cameras with RF mount lenses.

In a world of full-frame mirrorless cameras and DSLRs with ever-spiralling megapixel counts, do Micro Four Thirds cameras have a legitimate claim on the professional photographic market? The system that was launched by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008, was an evolution of the original Olympus Four Thirds concept and is still going strong today. New cameras and lenses are continually being released for the system, however, it can be difficult for photographers to get a sense of whether this system is right for their needs.

We’ve put together a quick, contemporary guide to highlight the pros and cons of the Micro Four Thirds system in an attempt to make things a little easier for you.

Like every camera system, Micro Four Thirds has its advantages and disadvantages. Use this guide to figure out how these pros and cons would correspond to your needs as a photographer and/or videographer, and whether that means Micro Four Thirds is right for you…. .

Advantages

Smaller and lighter – This is something Micro Four Thirds cameras have been known for since their inception, but it does bear repeating. Most Micro Four Thirds cameras are significantly smaller than their DSLR counterparts and smaller than most full-frame and APS-C mirrorless cameras. This also goes for the lenses, a Micro Four Thirds telephoto tends to be noticeably lighter than a telephoto for DSLRs. If you’re the type of roaming photographer who needs to carry their gear around a location, this reduction in weight can really add up over the years. The smaller form factor of the cameras also provides an advantage in situations where you want to be unobtrusive, such as wedding or street photography.

Longer focal lengths – The sensor size of a Micro Four Thirds camera provides an equivalent focal length of 2.0x that of a full-frame camera, providing the same field of view as a full-frame lens with twice the focal length. A 300mm lens acts like a 600mm focal length on a full-frame camera. For shooting distant vistas or easily spooked wildlife, this is a godsend, allowing you to achieve focal lengths that wouldn’t be possible on full-frame cameras without spending massive amounts of cash.

Mix and match lenses – The co-operative, collaborative nature of the Micro Four Thirds system is something we’d like to see more of as it’s so useful for photographers. Panasonic Lumix users can snap up the latest Olympus lens, stick it on their camera and start shooting, and vice versa. No adapters, no fiddling – it just works. How nice would that have been during the great Canon vs Nikon wars of the 1990s, eh?

Unique technological innovations – All cameras have their individual quirks, flairs and features that make them worth buying. It’s worth taking a detailed look at Micro Four Thirds cameras to see if they suit your photographic preferences. Panasonic Lumix cameras, for instance, come equipped with 4K Photo modes that allow the user to extract 8MP stills from 4K footage and the flagship GH5 even ups this to 6K Photo. Before deciding on your system, it’s worth looking into whether the camera you’re eyeing up has interesting features that might find their way into your workflow.

Comparatively lower cost – Again, it’s all relative. But in general, you’re shelling out significantly more cash for full-frame DSLRs, large-sensor mirrorless cameras and their paraphernalia than you will for a Micro Four Thirds system. If budget is a concern, this is worth considering.

Disadvantages

Small sensors means inferior low-light performance – The nature of the Micro Four Thirds standard means that its models are wedded to a specific size of sensor, across all of the models which use the system. There’s no getting around the fact that it is a smaller sensor than full-frame or APS-C. This confers some advantages, such as the crop factor mentioned above. However, it also means the cameras are unavoidably poorer in low-light, with inferior dynamic range compared to their larger-sensor counterparts. In most lighting situations the cameras will cope just fine, but if you’re regularly going to be shooting in situations that require the use of high ISOs, this could well be a deal-breaker.

No optical viewfinders – Electronic viewfinders are getting better and better, to the point that many photographers will happily say they prefer them. But, they still cannot quite match the ‘in-the-moment’ immediacy of an optical viewfinder and this is something Micro Four Thirds cameras will not provide.

Weaker autofocus (for stills) – This is a gap that is closing, with Micro Four Thirds manufacturers having done a lot of work on their autofocus systems. However, if this is an important feature for you, autofocus on DSLRs will still be reliably superior when it comes to stills shooting faster and more accurate. This situation may change in a few years, but hasn’t got there yet.