Review: Canon R8 Mirrorless with 28-70 f/2.8 IS STM

After 10 years with my full-frame Canon EOS 5DS DSLR camera with a variety of lenses, I decided to sell the entire system to purchase a lighter, travel-friendly camera and lenses.

I decided to sell the following gear to Adorama. I packed my gear in its original boxes and shipped it out using UPS on July 20, 2025.

• Canon 5DS DSLR Camera
• Canon EOS EF 16-35 f/4L IS Lens
• Canon EOS EF 24-70 f/2.8L II Lens
• Canon EOS EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS Lens

I also sent out the following used cameras for sale a bit later:

• Nikon COOLPIX P900 Digital Camera (ultrazoom) ($320 credit)
• Canon G7x Mark II (quoted $706)

When Adorama received my gear, they tried to contact me, but I was in Iceland and had difficulty getting a hold of anyone in their used gear department. Eventually, after two weeks of back and forth, I was able to resolve the issue. During gear inspection, they found some scratches on my lenses and gave me a much lower price. I was not happy about it.

I was initially quoted around $2,300 for my Canon 5DS camera and 3 EF lenses, but I only got $1857.60 store credit.

I have done a lot of research, with a lot of help from ChatGPT, to identify the best travel-friendly camera that had the following criteria:

• light and compact
• highest image quality (full frame sensor is desirable)
• low noise at high ISO
• in-camera image stabilization
• affordable

The final evaluation came down to different systems:

• Sony a6700 + Sony 18-135mm (or Sigma 24-70 f/2.8)
• Advantages
• IBIS (in-body image stabilization)
• Variety of 3rd party lenses (like Sigma, Tamron)
• weather-sealed
• Disadvantages
• APS sensor (not full frame)
• Canon R8 + Canon 28-70 f/2.8 IS STM
• Advantages
• Full-frame sensor (same as in R6 Mark 2)
• light weather-sealed
• Disadvantages
• No IBIS
• Fuji X-T5 or X-T50 + XF 16–50 mm f/2.8–4.8
• Advantages
• Film mode
• Excellent controls
• 40 megapixel sensor
• Disadvantages
• Mediocre auto-focus
• APS Sensor (not full frame)
• Low availability
• X-T50 does not have weather sealing

Since I had used Canon and Nikon exclusively and was very familiar with Canon, I decided to select the Canon R8, as it would make the most sense in the long term, and I purchased it from  Amazon.

• Canon R8 Mirrorless Camera - $1399
• Canon 28-70 f/2.8 IS STM Lens - $1099

I also purchased the following accessories for the Canon camera system. For high-speed 4L/6K video, an SDXC card with V90 is highly recommended. In addition, I also wanted the lightest & smallest carbon tripod (in case I needed it). I never had the time to use the tripod.

• SanDisk 256GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-II Memory Card - C10, U3, V60, 6K, 4K UHD, SD Card - SDSDXEP-256G-GN4IN - $64.99
• The SDXC card was slowing down on the Canon R8 (needed V90 speed)
• SIRUI 52" Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod, Compact Lightweight Camera Tripod, 360° Ball Head Detachable, Load 10kg/22lbs, Folded Height 13" (Traveler 5CX) - $119
• I never used the SIRUI tripod on my trip

Here are the recommended Canon R8 Settings on YouTube:

Jump to section:

0:00 Intro

0:13 Basics

1:10 Best Canon R8 Photo Settings

12:36 Best Canon R8 Video Settings

16:06 Outro

Canon R8 Camera Review

Advantages

• Full-frame sensor (24 Megapixel)
• Light and compact body (461 grams), the smallest full-frame camera
• Very fast auto-focus
• Connects to iPhone via Bluetooth or Wifi (shared GPS data)
• Can view RAW images on my iPhone using the Canon Connect App
• Can use EF lenses with an adapter
• 40 fps burst shooting
• Huge ISO Range 100–102400 
• Video: 4K60 (oversampled from 6K), 10-bit

Disadvantages

• No IBIS (in-body camera image stabilization)
• Does not feel premium (like 5DS)
• Small battery (good for 300 images)
• Small viewfinder
• One SD card slot