DOLLAR MIGHT

There’s a very long list of Canon interchangeable lens cameras that have made high-end features more accessible and turned value expectations upside down. We’re not talking cheap here, but cheaper than had previously been the case, including from Canon itself.

It probably started with the AE-1 in 1976 which rejigged the formula for an enthusiast-level 35mm SLR and since then, just off the top of our heads, there’s been the A-1, AE-1 Program, T90, EOS 620, EOS 5, EOS 3, EOS D30, EOS 300D, EOS 5D, EOS 7D, EOS 6D and now (drum roll), the EOS RP.

The ‘P’ in the model designation, we’re told by Canon, pays homage to the Canon P which was a 35mm M39 screw mount rangefinder camera launched in 1958 when Contax, Leica and Nikon ruled the roost in this category. Canon’s approach was to offer more bang for your buck so the P (which, incidentally, stood for ‘Populaire’ here) offered a few luxuries which generally would have cost you a lot more – such as a set of brightline lens frames in the viewfinder, automatic parallax correction and an integrated rangefinder. It was also built like a much more expensive camera, and Canon ended up selling around 100,000 Ps which helped establish it as a camera maker to be taken seriously. So it was a bit of a turning point in Canon’s history… and there are clearly hopes that the RP might be another one.

As we all know, Canon has arrived late to the party for high-end mirrorless cameras so it has a bit of catching up do; something that’s even more of a challenge because Nikon and Panasonic are also ringing the doorbell, and the latter has brought Leica and Sigma along for support. Already cutting up the dancefloor are Fujifilm and Olympus, flaunting the benefits of a smaller-sized sensor as, of course, is Panasonic’s Lumix G system. Sony is still at the head of the table… for now.

DOWN SIZING

Canon is playing the ‘P’ card again because not only is the RP the lowest-priced full-35mm interchangeable lens digital camera on the market – either reflex or mirrorless – it’s also the smallest and lightest model the company has ever made. For the record, it’s 25 percent lighter than the EOS R and ten percent smaller. Compared to the EOS 6D Mark II – which is its closest competitor in the Canon D-SLR line-up – it’s 35 percent lighter and 25 percent smaller. Canon says it’s all about making the full-35mm sensor format – you all know why we don’t like using the term “full frame” – more accessible which is a completely different approach to either Nikon