Canon EOS R1 in Development
After months of rumour, Canon has announced that the Canon EOS R1, a flagship mirrorless camera, is in development.
According to Canon, in comparison with the R3, the new Canon R1 will 'dramatically improve the performance of both still images and video' with the needs of professional news and sports photographers and videographers in mind.
The Canon EOS R1 is set to feature a new image processor called DIGIC Accelerator as well as the existing DIGIC X engine and a new CMOS sensor. This combination is said to allow fast data processing and 'never-before-seen advancements' in autofocus (AF) and other features.
Unsurprisingly, deep learning technology is at the heart of the new processing system, and Canon claims this enables much-improved subject recognition with greater accuracy and speed. For instance, the R1 will be able to track individual players in team sports even if other players pass between the subject and the camera.
There's also an AF 'Action Priority' feature capable of recognising subject movement to determine which player is making the decisive play in a game and shifting the focus frame onto them. If a player has the ball in a football match, for instance, it seems the camera will switch to tracking them. That’s significantly different from tracking the ball, and it could be transformative in sports photography and it will be interesting to see which sports it’s capable of analysing.
Canon also claims that the combination of deep learning technology and processing power will result in improved image noise reduction giving results normally produced by computer-based noise reduction software. This should be good news for anyone shooting a low-light venue and needing movement-freezing shutter speeds.
The Canon EOS R3 has an extremely impressive autofocus system with brilliant tracking, and it’s exciting to contemplate how the R1 will improve upon that. Canon’s press release makes no mention of the R1 featuring Eye Control AF, a feature that allows R3 users to select the subject for focusing by looking at it in the viewfinder. It’s going to be an interesting few weeks as Canon releases more information about the upcoming camera.
Canon EOS R1 Price and Availability
Canon hasn’t announced the price for the EOS R1 yet. The Canon EOS R3 currently retails for £5049.99 at the Canon UK store. We can only speculate on the cost of the R1, but it’s very unlikely to be lower.
The Canon EOS R1 is currently in field tests, and no firm date has been given for its arrival in the shops, other than this year. Will it be in time for the Olympic Games, which start in late July?
The games are a traditional target for flagship cameras, but they usually arrive a little earlier to allow photographers time to get to grips with the features and handling. That could mean we will see the Canon R1 in June, or possibly early July.
