Canon EOS R8

The Canon EOS R8 is a compact full-frame mirrorless camera released in 2023. The RF mount gives access to Canon's mirrorless lens range, while the body weighs just 461 grams.

At 133 x 86 x 70 mm it slips into a small bag, and the electronic viewfinder's 2.36 million dots give a detailed eye-level view. That combination suits travel, street and walkaround photography.

The compromises show up below. The body has no built-in stabilisation, and battery life is a modest 370 shots. If a light full-frame kit matters more than those trade-offs, the R8 fits.

A 24 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, handled by Canon's Digic X processor, sits at the core of the stills system. That resolution supports large prints with room to crop, and the full-frame format gives you fine control over depth of field.

Burst shooting reaches up to 40 frames per second for short sequences of action. The ISO range spans 100 to 102400, providing settings from bright scenes to dim ones, while the autofocus system uses up to 1053 automatically selected zones.

There is no in-body stabilisation, so the body offers no shake correction of its own. This matters for handheld work in dim rooms or at slower shutter speeds, where a stabilised lens, steady support or faster exposure can help.

The electronic viewfinder gives an eye-level preview of framing and exposure. Together with the RF lens mount, it makes the R8 a compact way into full-frame mirrorless photography, with lens choice shaping the subjects and working distances that suit your kit.

Video is where the R8 earns its highest specification score, 91. It records 4K footage, which leaves room for cropping and reframing when you deliver at a lower resolution, such as Full HD. You can tighten the composition during editing without needing to frame every clip tightly while filming.

High-frame-rate modes reach 180 frames per second for pronounced slow motion. That lets you linger on movement in sport, water or wildlife that would pass quickly at normal speed, making these modes useful for short details within a larger project.

A built-in timelapse function handles the frame intervals for you. Recordings wrap as MP4 with H.264 or H.265 encoding: H.265 generally stores footage more efficiently, while H.264 is the more widely supported option in editing software.

The features score is 85, rated very good. The 3-inch LCD offers 1.62 million dots and touch input, so settings change quickly and the preview looks sharp. Live view is available too, and the screen flips to remove the guesswork from waist-level and overhead shots.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are both built in, so the camera can make short-range wireless connections to compatible devices. What those links allow depends on the apps and equipment involved.

The body is weather sealed, a reassurance in changeable conditions. Two gaps remain: there is no GPS for geotagging, and no built-in flash, though the camera does support an external flash unit.

Storage and battery is the weakest area, with a score of 35. A single SD slot accepts UHS-I and UHS-II cards, so fast media is supported, but there is no second slot for backup or overflow. You plan capacity yourself.

The LP-E17 battery is listed at 370 shots, a modest figure and one reason this section scores low. Real-world endurance varies with how much you shoot and review, so packing a spare battery is a sensible addition for longer days out.

USB charging is supported, so you can top up the battery over USB between sessions, which is useful when travelling light.