Sony to Canon - Why I Made The Switch

After using my Sony A7SII for 3 years, it was time for me to upgrade my camera. The A7SII had served me very well, but there were a few things I didn't like about it. The biggest one was the battery life. I found myself having to switch batteries 4-5 times on each shoot. It was super annoying!! Another issue I had was the A7SII is only 12.2MP. I was beginning to do more photo work and needed something that could keep up. I've broken down the main reasons why I switched from Sony to Canon. My new camera needed to meet the following criteria:

• Mirrorless - Mirrorless cameras are the way to go when it comes to video in my opinion. All brands from Sony to Canon to Fuji, Olympus and more, are small and lightweight are also more durable since there'e no rotating piece of glass inside of it. With the type of video work I do, I didn't want to have to worry about it.
• 24MP or higher - Like I mentioned, I had started to do more photo work, specifically weddings. Being able to take high quality images that I could reframe and crop in post was an absolute must.
• Shoot to SD cards - this seems stupid, but I have a ton of SD cards. I didn't want to have to buy a new recording media
• 4K Video - Video is what the majority of my work is. Having the ability to film in 4K was an absolute must for me.

If you read that list and thought the A7III fit the bill, you would be right. So why didn't I stick to Sony? Why I switched from Sony to Canon EOS R?

The biggest reason? Glass. That's why I switched from Sony to Canon

Canon's EF line of lenses is unbeatable. I was already using that glass on my Sony with a Metabones adapter. Not to mention the fact that EF glass is significantly cheaper than G Master glass. Sony's G Master glass is expensive for absolutely no reason. It's not better than Canon's, its not as sharp and the build quality is meh at best! Then the EOS R came out. At first, the spec sheet made the camera look like a waste of time. I mean, c'mon, 1.75x crop in 4K?! WTF Canon?! Then they released the RF lenses... Canon RF glass is justified in its hefty price tag. The glass is lighter, and sharper than it's EF counter parts. Plus, the integrated control rings are pretty useful as well, especially as a Sony user who is used to having dials programmed to change settings on the fly. Another beautiful thing about the Canon EOS R system is that with a simple $100 adapter, EF glass works flawlessly with the RF mount. They also make adapters that have a control ring and a slot for an ND filter which is nice if you find yourself switching out lenses a lot during a shoot. Keep in mind, ND Filters are a must if you are filming outside during the daylight hours. When switching from Sony to Canon, this was a big plus for me. Everyone always talks about Canon's color science and there's a reason for that. They look damn good! After i shot my first wedding with the EOS R, I found myself saying "Whoa" several times as I scrolled through the RAW files. The colors straight out of camera were absolutely nuts!! Once I get the camera dialed in, I can only imagine how amazing the images will look.

Cons of the Canon EOS R

The EOS R is not all rainbows and unicorns though. One of my most frequent clients is a local real estate marketing firm that requires all of their videos be filmed in 4K. Unless I get the Metabones speedbooster, or another ultra-wide angle lens, I can't use the EOS R for real estate video. My 12-24 f4 lens turns into a 21-42mm and thats not wide enough at all. However, for just about any other situation, the crop isn't that bad. Just take a step back and reframe. With the lack of true full frame at 4K, I’ve found myself using the 1080 settings on the Canon EOS R. This is interesting because 1080 is something I almost never touched on the Sony.  The only time I used 1080 was when I wanted to film in higher frame rates. However, on the Canon EOS R, the 1080 is so sharp, I find myself filming in that for most of my online content, since it gets exported in 1080 anyway.  So now I’m saving on file space too! I don't do a lot of sport photography, but I have noticed when I'm shooting weddings that the burst photos lag quite a bit. Realistically, the EOS R is not made for sports photography. So if that’s something you do, I would think twice about buying this camera. What do you think? Should I have stayed on the Sony ecosystem or was I thinking clearly when I made the switch from Sony to Canon?  Let me know in the comments below! Looking to make a switch yourself? Learn more about how to get your camera gear ready for sale.