After a long wait, a development announcement and an extensive teaser campaign, Canon has unveiled its new flagship EOS R System mirrorless camera: the Canon EOS R1.
The EOS 1 series legacy finally makes its mirrorless debut. Described by Canon as “forward-thinking,” the Canon EOS R1 is a 24-megapixel camera aimed squarely at professional photographers in photojournalism, sports and wildlife.
At the heart of the new camera is a Canon-developed back-illuminated stacked 24.2-megapixel sensor and a new DIGIC X and DIGIC Accelerator processing pipeline. The full-frame sensor promises improved readout speed, reduced rolling shutter and enhanced autofocus performance.
Thanks to the more robust processing engine and high-speed sensor, the R1 can read and analyze large amounts of information, which forms the core of the autofocus system. According to Canon, the camera can understand and distinguish between different sports, predict body movements and deliver Canon’s best autofocus performance. The sensor also features a new design with multiple cross-type autofocus pixels, which improves performance when shooting vertically.
Like the R3, the R1 also features Eye Control AF, which allows the photographer to move the autofocus area around the viewfinder by looking where they want to focus. This feature is now even better, thanks to a new, larger electronic viewfinder. Up from 5.76 million dots on the R3, the R1’s OLED EVF has 9.44 million. It’s larger, too, with a magnification increase from 0.76x to 0.9x.
Returning to the processing, this is where Canon hopes to set the R1 apart from the competition. While the R1’s sensor is only 24-megapixels, the camera can upscale images in-camera to 96-megapixels, but only with JPEG files. Deep learning algorithms also power new in-camera noise reduction features. In addition to the AI that aids autofocus performance, there’s quite a bit of new AI tech packed into the R1.
In other respects, the R1 is a little more traditional. It sticks to a typical image sensor, albeit a stacked one — no global shutter sensor here. The R1 is still Canon’s fastest camera, capable of shooting up to 40 frames per second (full-resolution RAW images with full autofocus) using the electronic shutter; the camera can top out at 12 FPS when using the mechanical shutter. The R1 promises a huge buffer (over 1,000 frames), and can shoot up to 20 frames in its half-second pre-capture burst mode.
The R1 has dual CFexpress Type B card slots, both of which use the CFexpress 2.0 standard rather than the new CFexpress 4.0 standard. So far, no cameras use CFexpress 4.0, despite the potential performance gains it offers. The camera has a full-size HDMI port and independent microphone and headphone jacks.
In terms of video, the R1 can record 4K/60p footage. It can also record 6K resolution video, which is coupled with RAW recording, a relatively resource-intensive way of shooting video. As well as a faster sensor readout, which means reduced rolling shutter, the R1 has a clear advantage over the R3 for video: the ability to capture Canon C-Log2.
Prices and availability
The Canon EOS R1, first announced and now fully revealed, won’t hit stores until sometime this fall. When it does release after the lengthy teaser-to-launch period, the Canon R1 will cost $6,299, putting it in the same price bracket as the Sony a9 III ($5,999). The Canon EOS R1 launched for $200 less than the R3 in 2021, though that camera is now down to $4,500 after a permanent price cut and subsequent Canon discount.
Imagery: Canon