Last week, Canon held a secret media reveal at UrbnSurf in Sydney, where a number of journalists, top professional photographers, and the Capture/AP team were able to get their hands on pre-production models of the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II cameras.
And why at a wave pool? This gave us the opportunity to get some nice action shots of three top surfers (Saxon Lee Reber, Cedar Leigh-Jones and Tasman Grainger) with the new cameras and some high-end Canon L telephoto lenses, including the $19,199 Canon RF 600mm f/4L IS USM. This setting demonstrated the remarkable 'stickiness' of the new improved autofocus system that is shared between both these 'flagship' cameras.
Shared technologies
Both cameras share many core technologies and features between them such as:
• DIGIC X processor and a new DIGIC Accelerator, which enables 'next gen' AI tracking and focussing (more on that later)
• Back-illuminated stacked CMOS sensor – which has faster readout and less rolling shutter than previous sensors
• In-camera noise reduction for RAW images
• 2x to 4x image upscaling & cropping in camera (to JPG)
• AF Eye Control
• Pre-burst mode for stills & video
• Very high electronic shutter speeds (R5II 1/32,000 electronic / R1 1/64,000 electronic)
• 8.5 Stops of IBIS at the lens centre (7.7stops at peripheral)
• Action Sports Tracking Priority Modes: Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball
• Ability to 'face register' up to 10 people to AF track
• Multi-function Hot Shoe – camera can power microphones, use new gen speed lights as well as legacy speed lights
• Dual Shooting (HD video & JPG stills)
• Close to cinema range video quality
• 12 bit RAW video recording plus 4-channel audio
• LUTS in camera
• Log3 + Log2 with 16 stops of dynamic range
• 4K 120p + HD 240p
• Proxy RAW footage (to seperate cards) for manageable video editing
Many of these new technologies are made possible by the new 'Accelerated Capture' imaging platform comprised of the new DIGIC Accelerator, the DIGIC X (introduced with the 1DmkIII in early 2020) and the newly developed high-speed sensors.
So while these cameras do share core technologies, the R5 Mark II is classed by Canon as "aspirational, brand-defining and accessible"; while the R1 is classed as "refined, luxury and niche". Canon reps also talked about slightly different markets with the R5 Mark II being for commercial photographers wanting higher mobility and high pixel count; while the R1 is about reliability, speed and high ISO and more specifically aimed at sport, documentary and government use.
Canon also notes that this is the first time since 1989 when a Canon flagship '1' camera has had a change in lens mounts – in this case going from EF to RF lenses.
While most people might consider the R1 the flagship model, Canon representatives referred to both cameras as flagships. This is because the original R5 and its predecessors—the EOS DSLR 5D series—have been industry workhorse cameras that vastly outsell the '1' series by more than 10 to 1.
If the R1 is the jewel in Canon's crown, the crown is mainly made of R5s!
The Canon EOS R5 Mark II
So the R5 Mark II is a very important camera to get right – especially when Sony, Nikon and Fujifilm have also got brilliant competitor models in this niche. Canon also has to tempt current R5 users to upgrade from what is already a great all-round camera. And with the limited time I was able to toy with the R5 Mark II, I think they have probably done enough to warrant this.
Button Layout
If you are familiar with the R5, everything is virtually in the same place as before – except the on/off switch (located on the top left hand side of the camera) now functions as a video/stills switch. The on/off switch now resides on the top right hand side and is jammed in between a number of other switches, buttons and dials. I preferred the original setup, but it's not a deal breaker – just something to get used to.
What are the big updates?
• Focussing speed and accuracy in low light is better. With the addition of the new DIGIC Accelerator, autofocus is faster, more accurate and 'stickier'. AI algorithms help predict where a persons face is by tracking the persons body movements – even if they are partially obscured by other objects, or they face away for a brief moment. Shooting these surfers who were moving fairly quickly, and often obscured by water proved this to a degree. 100% of the images were in focus, even with the subject being at quite a distance on wider lenses.
• Rolling shutter with electronic shutter has been reduced by 40% compared to the original Canon EOS R5.
• In-camera RAW noise reduction. Yes, we have had in-camera noise reduction for a very long time, though that has only been for JPG images. And yes, we do have very powerful noise reduction software, though currently that can take between 10-20 seconds PER IMAGE to fix (even longer on less powerful computers). So it's going to be interesting to see how good shooting in low light at high ISO will be. Currently on the R5, shooting at 128,000 ISO is 'fixable' with noise reduction software. If the in-camera software can match this, it will be awesome.
• Being able to shoot video + stills at the same time. Being a hybrid shooter often means switching between stills and video to essentially get the same shot or take. Now we can just choose a 'frame' from the video and it should look decent (albeit in JPG form).
• Larger viewfinder. Mirrorless viewfinders have been a game changer in regards to reviewing your work to see your photos intricate details. Enlarging the viewfinder is something you may not have thought about, but it will be a huge benefit.
• Pre-continuous shooting where 15 shots are recorded before the shutter is pressed completely (in electronic shutter mode only).
• Eye Focus Control. Will the eye control as previously seen in the EOS R3 be a game changer that will be instinctively used all the time? Or just used for sport and maybe weddings? The enlarged viewfinder should help in this regard.
• Face recognition a.k.a Register People Priority – this will be great for sport in the case of following key players, or at say weddings where you can prioritise the bride, then the groom etc. The way it is implemented is interesting. You can use a pre existing photo that someone sends to you prior to the event. Or you can take an image on the day of someone and register them in the camera. An icon will appear on that particular person as you are tracking them. While shooting solo surfers didn't need this setting, I could imagine this to be a brilliant inclusion for shooting team sports – where subject selection and movement has a lot of completely random situations.
A simple thing they fixed
One thing they have fixed (not quite sure why they haven't fixed this on the original R5) is you can now shoot at different frame rates on electronic shutter (ES). The R5 still only has the option to shoot either Single or 20fps on ES, which is pretty annoying as for most average shooting situations, something around 3-5 fps is ideal.
Missing / wish list for future updates
• Internal ProRes / ProRes Raw video footage format / codecs. Many of the latest cameras such as the Fujifilm X-H2S can record 6K 10-bit 4:2:2 ProRes internally. So can the Nikon Z9/ Z8, while the Lumix GH7 can even shoot ProRes RAW HQ internally.
• Option for 6K video. 4K is usually enough, 8K is overkill, and 6K is seen by many as the perfect compromise.
Specs for the R5 Mark II
• 45MP Back illuminated stacked CMOS sensor with IBIS.
• 12fps mechanical / electronic 1st-curtain. 30fps electronic shutter @ 14 bit RAW.
• 8K 60/50P Light RAW / 4K 120fps video.
• 12 bit RAW recording + 4 channel audio.
• A larger, brighter 5.76M 0.5" viewfinder.
• 3.2" 2.1M vari-angle rear screen.
• Full size HDMI port.
• 179MP inbody image upscaling.
• Max ISO: 102,400 ISO.
• Flash Sync: Mech 1/200 | Elec 1st Curtain 1/250 | Elec 1/160.
• New more powerful LP E6P battery (can still use current R5 charger)
• Three new battery grips.
• Better thermal cooling.
• CFexpress + SD Card slots.
• Magnesium alloy body with rubberised dust and weather sealing.
• Weight: 746g inc battery + card.
• Dimensions: 138.5 x 101.2 x 93.5 mm.
• Shutter rated for 500,000 cycles.
• 5 year warranty.
You can shoot in 8K or 4K High Quality for longer (reportedly 120 minutes for 8K 30p MP4 recording)
R5 Mark II battery grips
Interestingly, Canon is releasing THREE new battery grips. It does make you wonder if they could have crammed everything into just one 'super' grip, but we'll have to see why this wasn't possible when they release them.
1) Normal (BG-R20 Battery Grip. $699 RRP) Better vertical grip + dual batteries.
2) Ethernet (BG-R20EP Battery Grip with Ethernet. $1,049 RRP) For fast & reliable uploading to web or laptop via ethernet cable.
3) Video (CF-R20EP Cooling Fan. $829 RRP) – With a cooling fan to enable longer 8K video shooting. Interestingly, in product pictures it also seems to include an ethernet port.
R5 Mark II first impressions wrap up
The original R5 was announced four years ago in 2020, marking Canon's intention to create a mirrorless successor to the EOS 5D Mark IV workhorse. Many people felt that Canon was dragging its feet with the release of the R5, especially since they had launched the mid-tier full-frame EOS R in late 2018. However, ultimately, the R5 proved to be worth the wait. Canon's unofficial credo may be: if it's worth doing – it's worth doing properly.
And I believe that the new camera has been worth the wait – with its advanced technologies, improved 'sticky' focusing, and enhanced noise reduction, particularly beneficial for full-time photographers in events and sports. For landscape and architectural photographers, it will be interesting to see how well the image upscaling performs.
The camera will also appeal to professional hybrid shooters who can extract photographs from video clips using the 'dual shooting' mode, maintaining the same exposure settings for both video and stills. Thankfully, the JPG size in dual shooting is surprisingly large at a 16:9 HD ratio of 33.2MP and up to 6.2 fps (PAL), all while shooting Full HD 30p movies. Ideally 50p would be better as you can use higher shutter speeds (1/100) which would suit still images better (shooting at 25p means a shutter speed of 1/50 therefore a high proportion of images may have motion blur). Perhaps we will see an update in the future for this?
On the flip side, the original R5 is still one of the market leading cameras, and interestingly, Canon announced that the EOS R5 will be available for retail purchase for the next 12 months (currently around $4,588). So it might be an opportunity to get what is still a professional level camera for a more reasonable price.
The EOS R5 Mark II will be available on 21 August with an RRP of $6,699. While not 'cheap' it pretty much matches the price of the Nikon Z8, while the Sony A1 is $7,950.
So without yet being able to do a full test drive of a final release camera in other situations yet, we could say this camera is a contender for camera of the year.
You can find out more about the EOS R5 Mark II on the Canon Australia website.
The Canon EOS R1
As for the R1, it is a solid beast of a camera and it certainly looks and feels like a highly polished, luxury device which is a design marvel in itself. The weight in hand is nice and the cross-hatched textured rubberised grip loans a perfect ergonomic feel to it. Coupled with large sports lenses such as the RF 600mm f/4L IS USM and the Rf 400mm f/2.8 IS USM it feels well balanced for long shooting sessions. As a bonus, if someone tried to mug you, you could probably swing the camera by the strap to use as a defensive weapon.
No doubt, this hardy camera would be able to survive a lot of punishment in the field, thanks not only to its robust build but also to its intricate dust and rain-proof gasket sealing. Whether it's enduring the heat and rain on sports sidelines, or being bashed around by news reporters, this camera feels like it's built to last.
The button placement would be familiar to anyone using the R3, with a tonne of customisable buttons within fingertip reach at all times.
The big party trick
Apart from the before mentioned technologies shared with the R5 Mark II, what are the big ticket advantages over the R3 and R5 Mark II? Apart from a blistering 40 fps in electronic shutter mode, you have a new 'Cross-type AF' which ensures the best focussing accuracy in probably any camera on the market.
Traditionally with duel-pixel autofocusing, the camera looks for vertical lines (to focus on) in an image when shooting in landscape mode. If you shoot in vertical / portrait mode, many cameras find focus to be more difficult – and I've definitely experienced these focusing issues while shooting portraits at f/1.2 in vertical mode – especially in low light.
Cross-type AF solves this issue and increases accuracy in situations that may have many horizontal lines, or subjects are small in size, or the subject has low contrast in low light.
Another unexpected, but great feature mentioned by Alisha Lovrich (a Canon sports photographer ambassador) is the ability to shoot a burst of images, select one, then use the 'crop and upscale' button on the top of the camera. Then you send that image to press. She considers being able to do this all in-camera a game-changer for speeding up her workflow.
Specs for the R1
• 24.2MP CMOS sensor with IBIS
• 12fps mechanical / electronic 1st-curtain. 40fps electronic shutter
• 8K 60P RAW / 4K 120fps video
• A large bright 9.44M 0.64" viewfinder
• 3.2" 2.1M vari-angle rear screen
• Full size HDMI port
• 96MP inbody image upscaling
• Flash Sync: Mech 1/200 | Elec 1st Curtain 1/250 | Elec 1/400
• Dual CFexpress Card slots
• Weight: 1,115g inc battery+card
• Dimensions: 157.6 x 149.5 x 87.3 mm
• Shutter rated for 500,000 cycles
• 5 year warranty
The big question for the R1 is – is 24.4 MP enough to keep people satisfied, especially when we still have the superb 24.1MP EOS R3? Many people thought that the EOS R1 would be competing with the impressive Nikon Z9 and Sony A1 – both which are respectively 45.7MP and 50.1MP. So we can't help but to think this may be a disappointment to some people, especially when initial rumours were that it was going to be around 50MB (some wild rumours were 100MB).
In any case, this camera will undoubtedly be incredibly popular amongst industry sports and news shooters – but will it's main competitor still be the R3 currently at $6,575 (street price)?
The EOS R1 is priced at $10,999 and will be released at an unspecified date in November.
You can find out more about the EOS R1 on the Canon Australia website.
