EOS R – 24 hours with Dr Chris Brown

There’s Dr Chris Brown the Bondi Vet and presenter. Then there’s Dr Chris Brown, a passionate and accomplished photographer. Although he travels constantly, Chris always includes a camera in his carry on, a few lenses in his luggage, and shaves a few days off to shoot.

“I guess photography is my secret passion,” Chris says. “I really enjoy getting out into the wild, exploring and seeing what light I can capture and what views I can see. If there happens to be some wildlife thrown in, that's even better.”

Chris has been to Japan many times, both for work and pleasure, and admits that it never fails to present him with something new. “Traveling around, wow, you're just seeing this huge diversity of landscapes,” he says. “You've got mountain ranges, you've got different light coming in at beautiful angles. Capturing haze across a valley, or trees, or mountain tops, or volcanoes that are erupting. It's a really spectacular place to work. It's a spectacular place.”

For Chris’s 24 hours with the EOS R, he got to indulge in the sweetest part of his photography passion, astrophotography.

“Capturing stars, I feel like I'm seeing something that very few people see,” he says.

Northern Hokkaido was the location, known for its abundance of stars and lack of light pollution. Chris found the EOS R to be up to the test, even with his current L series lens (using one of three adapters). “The camera wants to try to work with you, it's almost intuitive. It understands what functions you need to use, and makes sure that they're accessible when you need them.”

“The great thing about the EOS R is it can handle high ISO levels without generating grain or excess noise.”

Combining with the new RF 28-70mm, and being able to shoot at f/2 through the entire zoom range, delivered one of Chris’ favourite images from the trip.

“We’d finally made it to the base of the glacier of Mount Tokachi and, I looked up, turned around and one of the crew was on the hillside behind me. The glow of the setting sun across the valley was picking up the silhouette beautifully, and there’s this incredible gradient sliding down the hillside from the deep blue. It almost looked like outer space. My camera was set at an aperture of four, ISO at 640, with the 28-70mm RF lens, so I was able to get away with one one-hundred-and-sixtieth of a second. I just feel like it's a beautiful shot and a strange composition but it works.”

“My concern with mirrorless cameras was always once you go to a smaller body it’s going to feel fragile, it is going to feel like the whole unit is too front heavy,” admits Chris. “The new 28-70mm, and a lot of my own, are big lenses, but I guess that’s the reassuring thing about the EOS R, it feels really sturdy... it’s handling the weight at the front.”

You can follow Dr. Chris Brown on Instagram @drchrisbrown

Note: All photos taken with the EOS R were shot with a pre-production model.