Canon announces the EOS R1 - and Adorama leaks specs

A top mirrorless camera from Canon has long been expected. Now the Japanese manufacturer is confirming the speculation: It has announced the development of the EOS R1 - according to the press release, a "mirrorless flagship that keeps you one step ahead of the competition". The camera is set to be launched sometime this year.

Canon claims to have made progress with autofocus in particular. It receives more support from algorithms than before: "The EOS R1 continuously tracks the focus on subjects in sports scenarios, even if they are briefly out of sight - for example, when people cross paths in team sports." A newly developed function called "Priority Action" also recognises the main subject performing a particular action. For example, the footballer in possession of the ball in the middle of a scene with several players.

The R1 is primarily intended for professional sports and press photography. The Olympic Games this summer would therefore be a perfect occasion for the market launch. Canon already has a sports camera in its range with the EOS R3, but has always avoided calling it a "flagship". This designation is reserved for the top model with the 1 in its name. The last representative of this class is the four-year-old EOS-1D X Brand III, a classic SLR camera.

Cameras

Canon EOS 1D X Mark III

21.40 Mpx, Full frame

5

Cameras

Canon EOS 1D X Mark III

21.40 Mpx, Full frame

5

According to Canon, the R1 is based on a new CMOS sensor and a new "Digic Accelerator", which supports the familiar Digic X processor. This should enable improved noise reduction, for example, which previously required the power of computer software.

Massive specifications leaked

Update, 23 May 2024: Adorama has now apologised for the leaked specs. The retailer states that they did not come from Canon. The information is therefore still highly speculative.

Canon has not yet revealed any further details. However, specifications were temporarily visible on the product page of the US photo retailer "Adorama". Whether these are correct is unclear. The leaks:

• 30 megapixel stacked CMOS sensor with dual gain
• No mechanical shutter
• Flash synchronisation time of 1/1250 second
• 60 frames per second (FPS) with compressed RAWs
• 120 FPS with continuous autofocus (probably JPG)
• 240 FPS burst mode, including pre-recording of up to 1 second
• Higher dynamic range than EOS R3 and EOS R5

If this data is correct, Canon is taking a different approach to Sony with the Alpha 9 III. This is the first camera to have a global shutter and can therefore take 120 RAW images per second - completely without the rolling shutter effect. However, the global shutter has disadvantages in terms of image quality. According to tests, image noise and dynamic range are roughly on a par with an APS-C sensor.

This is likely to be different with the Canon EOS R1. Instead, it seems to rely on a classic sensor that is read out line by line - but extremely quickly. The flash synchronisation time of 1/1250 second implies a maximum readout time of 0.8 milliseconds. For comparison: the Nikon Z 9, which was the first to dispense with a mechanical shutter, requires 3.7 milliseconds. This makes it the fastest in the full-frame range to date.

Canon could therefore have developed a camera that does not eliminate rolling shutter effects, but keeps them to an absolute minimum. If the image quality is better than Sony's, this small compromise will be worth it. The resolution of 30 megapixels would fit in between Sony's sports camera (25 megapixels) and Nikon's (45 megapixels). <p