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Vue lecture

Steady progress: shooting with the Canon EOS R8 Mark II

We shot Canon’s latest low-cost full-frame body with everything from kit zooms to ‘L’ series lenses

A gravel bike with top-tube bag leans against a stout wooden post at a public rest area, taken with the Canon EOS R8 Mark IIMitchell Clark

The EOS R8 Mark II is a refreshed and up-specced entry-level full-frame mirrorless camera, adding in-body image stabilization and an AF joystick as part of a complete re-styling.

These changes and a 2026 price tag position it essentially head-to-head with Nikon’s Z5II, our current pick in this part of the market.

We’ve had a chance to shoot the EOS R8 II for an extended period and with an array of lenses, so we’ve used it for the everyday photo taking its designed for. We’ve also got some friends to stand around in a flowerbed, to make sure we got to see how it performed for portraits and people pictures.

Overall we found it to be a very likeable camera: relatively small, usefully light and with a pretty straightforward interface. It’s not overflowing with clever features, but it has a lot of what a lot of photographers might need at a price that’s a fair step below that of the more sophisticated EOS R6 III.

We go into more detail about what we liked and disliked in our review, but this gallery should give a sense for what the R8 II can do. All the shots are unprocessed, out-of-camera images, but all of them taken in the camera’s conventional Picture Style color modes because you can’t capture Raws if you switch across to the more effect-like Color filter modes.

As always, you can download the Raws or JPEGs to inspect or run through your preferred processing workflow, to see how they look.

Sample gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page ). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it.

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About the Author: Richard graduated as a scientist but had a lot more fun writing and shooting for his university magazine. A number of years spent variously as a reporter, writer and editor on science and engineering titles combined his knowledge of science with his interest in images and words. But it was spotting the connections between emission spectra, white balance and all the nonsense he’d taught himself playing around in Photoshop that helped kindle an interest in digital photography. Searching for a camera led to him discovering DPReview and Richard was recruited by Phil Askey in 2007. He’s been combining his love of photography, communication and attention to detail (pedantry?) ever since. He has unusually strong opinions about lenses for the APS-C format.

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Brevite’s Kickstarter hoodie has a built-in mic pocket and microfiber storage for creators

The camera bag brand is moving into apparel with a crowdfunded line that aims to solve common creator frustrations.

Beige fabric being tied on a desk with a t-shirt, black cap, binder clips, stationery items, folded hoodie, thread spools, and fabric swatches arranged on a cutting mat atop a wooden surface.Brevitē

Brevitē, the company behind camera bags meant to blend in, recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for clothing designed for creators. The lineup, called Creator Apparel, includes a hoodie, T-shirt and hat, each designed around the needs of people who shoot and record on the go.

The main feature across the lineup is a dedicated place to put a small microphone so that it stays out of sight. On the T-shirt and hoodie, that takes the form of a hidden pocket inside the neckline, while the hat uses a magnetic mic mount built into the brim. It isn’t clear how the location of the mic on the hoodie and T-shirt will impact sound, as it will be fully encased in fabric in those pockets.

While companies like DJI and Insta360 have worked to make their wireless microphones blend in a bit more or look more aesthetically pleasing, not everyone will want an obvious mic in their shot. That’s especially true since mic packs almost universally have their brand name boldly emblazoned on them, and what creator wants to be giving out that kind of free promo? That said, all three items in the apparel line feature the Brevitē name, so you’ll be swapping one logo for another.

A hoodie in a solid color is shown from multiple angles, highlighting key features: extra neck padding, a concealed pocket for a microphone, a hidden pocket sized for a small camera, and an attached microfiber lens cloth that can be detached for cleaning camera lenses.Brevitē

Both the hoodie and T-shirt also include a snap that holds a removable microfiber cloth for cleaning lenses. The T-shirt stops there, but the hoodie adds padding around the neck for greater comfort when wearing a camera strap all day. It also has a zippered hidden stash pocket inside the main kangaroo pocket that’s large enough to fit something like the DJI Osmo Pocket.

The hat lacks the microfiber cloth but includes a concealed interior pocket designed for memory cards. It uses an adjustable snapback closure, eliminating the need to choose a specific size.

A black hat with a magnetic patch for attaching a microphone is held in a hand. The inside of the hat features a dedicated slot containing an SD card. Text on the image points out the hat’s magnetic brim and integrated SD card holder.Brevitē

The hoodie comes in six colors (black, cream, green, tan, pink and navy) while the T-shirt is available in black or white and the hat is offered only in black. Brevitē positions the three pieces as everyday apparel that can double as a functional kit for run-and-gun shooting.

It’s important to note that this is a crowdfunding campaign rather than a conventional retail launch. Backers pledge toward a reward, and the project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by October 14. As with any Kickstarter project, pledging does not guarantee delivery, and backers should weigh the usual risks associated with crowdfunding.

One bit of good news for anyone interested: Creator Apparel is not Brevitē’s first Kickstarter project. The company previously crowdfunded its original camera backpack and, more recently, the Jumper Max camera bag, which drew 293 backers and reached 355% of its funding goal, according to the new campaign page.

Pledges start at $35 for the hat, $42 for the T-shirt and $62 for the hoodie. Backers can also pledge for all three pieces for $139. All of those prices are only for the first 100 backers, though. Prices will go up 30% across the board by the end of the campaign. Brevitē says that production will be complete and units will begin shipping in October.

About the Author: Abby Ferguson holds an MFA in photography and blends a fine-art background with extensive editorial and commercial experience. She built and led an in-house imaging program for a large vacation rental company and has served as an associate editor at Popular Photography. She also teaches at a local community college and serves on its Photographic Technology Program Advisory Board, sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for the medium.

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