After an indoor morning session and an outdoor one in the afternoon, I got a chance to form a first impression of the R10. It’s mostly good.
Sensing probably some years back that AF in APS-C cameras was generally better per pixel than full frame, it was no surprise to see that AF, particularly eye AF, is roughly as good as with the R5, which is not quite as good as I remember the R6 being. With the subject bigger in the frame than with full frame, foliage didn’t fool it quite as much either.
Controls are so far much to my liking, customizable and configurable in enough ways to make it a pleasure to handle. The EVF looks a notch better than most of the other 2.6mp finders I’ve used, and has a very sensible diopter adjustment on the bottom of the overhang.
But, out in mostly bright sunshine, shooting the RF 100-400mm at f/8, not yet daring to try the 1.4X extender, noise was a bit of a mixed bag. On some high four-digit ISO shots, DPP Express managed to handle it well; but on some like the one below, at ISO 2000, the greenery noise was almost alarming, costing some details just to get it as you see it.
Yes, I did miss the R5 a bit, too, while I was shooting the R10. First impression is that it fills the bill for a backup camera for travel. And on sunny days where reach is needed, perhaps for BIF, it’ll get the call. It’s a great, lighweight body, saturated with pro features. Its one shortcoming so far, though, is only that it’s not the R5.
