Canon EOS RP hands on: first shoot with the full-frame mirrorless revealed

"For me, photography really goes with nature and hiking," says photographer Gergo Kazsimer. "I like to be outside, and once I'm there I like to save the moment and share the experience. It's also a way to express myself, because what I see and what I photograph is somehow about me too. It's about showing people the world through my eyes."

Gergo works as a fraud analyst for an online bank, based in Munich, Germany, but during weekends and holidays he loves getting out into the natural world with his camera. These trips, either solo or with friends, can be as short as a day or as long as a couple of weeks. His resulting pictures of landscapes and nature are popular: he has around 10,000 Instagram followers, has sold images through Getty Images, and one of his shots was used as a pre-installed iPhone wallpaper. His hobby is taking him to amazing places already.

His most recent journey was the trip of a lifetime to photograph the spectacular landscapes of South Africa's Western Cape province. It was his first visit to the country and he says the scenery was unlike anything he had encountered before. "It was amazing," he says. "It's not too much to say that it was one of the best experiences of my life."

He says taking photographs in the environments he most enjoys is a great way to escape from the pressures of his job. "During the week, I’m in front of a computer, looking at a screen all day. Then at weekends and on holidays I'm out in nature. I can just switch off and concentrate on something else. It's somewhere I can relax and be creative at the same time."

Gergo specialises in travel, landscapes and nature photography, and most of his work is shot in Europe and Scandinavia. He says he is constantly learning and aims to keep improving his work. "Most people go out and take a nice picture of the scenery and that's it, but I'm always looking for something extra," he says.

"I like to use a long lens to compress the scene and isolate details, but I also keep a close eye on the foreground, so I can include something that catches the eye and gives depth to the picture.

“I always take the time to make sure everything's perfect when I shoot and process my photos."

South Africa and the Canon EOS RP

On this trip, Gergo travelled to locations in South Africa's Western Cape province. He photographed in countryside near the town of Stellenbosch and explored the lush valleys and mountains of the nearby Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. He also hiked through the Cederberg mountains nature reserve, located around 300km north of Cape Town.

The landscapes were spectacular, but the shoot wasn't without its challenges. "On the first day, there was a great sunset, and I was expecting the same in the following days, but it didn't happen," Gergo says. "The sky was just pure blue, with no clouds or attractive light. When this happens, I remove the sky as much as I can and concentrate more on the landscape itself.

"The landscape in Jonkershoek was really beautiful; everything was green and there weren’t many rocks in the mountains. I shot pictures throughout the day, even in harsh light. Then in Cederberg it was more desert-like and there were extraordinary rock formations in the wilderness, whose colours looked amazing when the sun was going down and the last light of the day was hitting them."

"It was also a great location for shooting starscapes, so I also shot the Milky Way around midnight. Using the EVF [electronic viewfinder] was a great advantage, as I could see everything clearly, even in darkness, and I could check and adjust the exposure."

The Canon EOS RP’s low light features include accurate AF functionality down to -5EV* (a brightness between moonlight and starlight), an ISO range extending up to 40,000 (or 102,4000 in Expanded mode) and an EVF with 2.36 million dots that shows a true simulation of shots even in near-darkness.

Gergo found that the light weight of the Canon EOS RP – at just 485g including the battery and memory card – meant a welcome reduction in the amount he had to carry on a hike. The vari-angle touchscreen was also particularly useful for his work, allowing him to rotate it and see and operate controls through the screen whatever viewpoint he chose. The flexibility offered by the vari-angle screen enabled him to shoot from angles and viewpoints that he hadn't used before.

Even when using the EVF, Gergo could still use the touchscreen with his thumb to select a point of focus, which was fast and accurate using up to 4,799 focus positions.

"You can scroll with your thumb and select the focus point, which is such a useful feature. It's fast and I used it a lot. Even though it was a new feature, I was completely used to using it after a couple of attempts," says Gergo. "You can select your focus wherever you want it to be and this is something new to me. It was extremely accurate."

Adding filters to the Canon EOS RP

The main lens he used on the shoot was the Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM. "It's not a big lens and fits on the camera pretty nicely," Gergo says. "It's really sharp and I loved using it. I also used the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM when I needed a longer lens, especially for photographing wildlife. It's a little heavy, but it's a great quality lens and the range of focal lengths is just awesome."

Gergo also made use of the optional Drop-in Filter Mount Adapter EF-EOS R, which makes it possible to use filters without having to fit them to the front of the lens. He used both a variable ND filter and a circular polariser.

"You use a dial to change the strength of the effect, which was a feature I've never tried before," he explains. "Unlike some front-of-lens filters, it gives a good, even effect across the frame.

"It’s very handy to have something you can just slide into the lens. You can also save money because it's a smaller piece of glass than a front-of-lens filter, and it's easy to use."

Gergo says his first experiences with the Canon EOS RP were extremely positive and he believes the portability of this full-frame mirrorless camera perfectly suits his landscape, travel and nature photography work.

Gergo is optimistic about his future. He plans to continue to enjoy his photography while combining it with his day job for now, but one day aims to make the leap to becoming a professional nature photographer. "The ambition to be a full-time photographer has always been there," he says.

"I like to take on a challenge, and in my career I have always moved from one country to another when a better opportunity has arisen. Maybe this will happen with my photography. I don't know yet. Just to concentrate on photography would be really awesome."