If you haven’t already heard the exciting news, Canon has finally officially announced the development of a brand-new flagship camera for their mirrorless (R System) lineup. The Canon EOS R1 will be the cream of the crop when it comes to Cannon mirrorless bodies and will likely be the premiere choice for many professional photographers shooting action sports, wildlife, and more!

The big question everyone is asking is: how will this camera stack up against the competition and how will it compare to other Canon mirrorless bodies? Will the R1 hold its own or is this camera too little too late? After all, Canon has been very quiet about the development of their first-ever mirrorless flagship camera and, at this point, consumers have been waiting for about 5 years…

Finally, the silence has been broken and the announcement has been made. It’s worth noting that this is a “development” announcement and not an official release of a new product. This means that we really don’t have much officially announced information to work with and Canon has left a lot to be desired when it comes to all the juicy details.

That being said, Canon has communicated some information and of course, there has been a ton of gossip bouncing around on the internet including lots of potential specifications and information that has been leaked. Of course, hardly any of this information has been officially confirmed or released by Canon but nonetheless, I think that at this point we have a pretty good idea of what this exciting new camera will look like.

Let’s take a look at what we can expect from the Canon EOS R1.

Specs:

• PRICE: $6,499 USD (Estimated, not confirmed)

• 24mp CMOS BSI Stacked Sensor

• Readout of about 2ms (Claimed)

• Quad Pixel Autofocus

• Intelligent AF Tracking

• 16-bit Mechanical Shutter

• 14-bit Electronic Shutter

• 6K RAW at 120fps

• Dual CFexpress Type B Card Slots

• USB-4 Port

• Full-Size HDMI Port

• Eye Control AF II

  Overview:

To start, I think this will be a very powerful and capable camera that will stack up well against the competition and that certainly deserves the title of Canon’s flagship camera. Based on all of the rumors and specifications I’ve seen, this camera will certainly raise the bar in a few key areas, but at the same time, I suspect it will leave some things to be desired. Let’s break it down and take a look at the features and specs everyone has been talking about.

Resolution and Sensor:
Let’s start out with something that is arguably going to be the biggest disappointment with this camera. Of course, this isn’t 100% confirmed but many reputable sources have said that the camera will feature a 24-megapixel CMOS BSI Stacked Sensor. While it’s great that the camera will finally feature a stacked sensor, resulting in higher quality images, less noise, and of course faster data readout, many people were surprised to hear that it will only contain 24 megapixels. It’s commonplace for Canon’s previous flagship and top-performing cameras, including the 1D series and the R3, to have fewer megapixels than other models in their lineup but many consumers, myself included, were hoping this number would be a bit higher. Especially in today’s market where full-frame mirrorless cameras at this price point can often feature 45, 50, or even 60+ megapixels. This camera should still be quite impressive, and 24 megapixels isn’t awful by any means, but I think we were all hoping for slightly better specs when it comes to the camera’s sensor.

Autofocus:
One place the R1 is expected to excel and potentially crush the competition is with its autofocusing capabilities. Canon’s mirrorless bodies are already known for having exceptional AI-assisted autofocusing and subject tracking, and the R1 is expected to take things up to a whole new level. And this is somewhat officially confirmed by Canon. As they put it in their announcement: “By combining the new image processing system and deep learning technology to an advanced degree, Canon has achieved high-speed and high-accuracy subject recognition. For example, subject tracking accuracy has been improved so that in team sporting events where multiple subjects intersect, the target subject can continually be tracked even if another player passes directly in front of them. In addition, the AF “Action Priority” function recognizes subject movement by rapidly analyzing the subject’s status. In moments during a sports game when it is difficult to predict what will happen next, this function automatically determines the player performing a certain action, such as shooting a ball, as the main subject and instantly shifts the AF frame, thereby helping to capture decisive moments of gameplay.” I think it’s safe to say that we will be entering a new era of intelligent AF with the EOS R1.

Image Processing:
And, part of the reason the autofocusing system will be so powerful is due to the introduction and addition of a new processor. The R1 will now utilize 2 sensors that will work in conjunction with one another for an even faster and more efficient user experience. As Canon puts it: “This camera employs the newly developed image processor DIGIC Accelerator in addition to the pre-existing processor DIGIC X. The new image processing system, composed of these processors and a new CMOS sensor, enables large volume of data to be processed at high speeds and delivers never-before-seen advancements in Auto Focus (AF) and other functions.” So, perhaps the R1 won’t have super high-resolution images but what it lacks in megapixels it will likely make up for in speed and performance, which is exactly what Canon has done with their flagship models in the past.

Shutter:
I think that many people were expecting the EOS R1 to completely get rid of a mechanical shutter and move entirely to an electronic shutter like other high-performance mirrorless cameras currently being offered by competitors. It’s widely speculated that Canon will in fact keep a mechanical shutter in the camera allowing users to choose between the two options. Of course, you’ll be able to achieve faster high-speed bursts while using the electronic shutter but Canon is likely keeping the mechanical shutter so that users can capture 16-bit images as opposed to 14-bit while using the electronic shutter. I think that if Canon had started the development of this camera a bit later they would have removed a mechanical shutter altogether but alas, this is likely what we’ll see. That being said, It is expected that users will be able to achieve maximum burst rates of up to 120 frames per second which is quite impressive and would stack up very well against competing cameras. If you’re planning to use this camera for sports or fast-moving wildlife subjects speed, and processing shouldn’t be an issue, to say the least.

EVF and LCD Screen:
When it comes to displays, we likely won’t see any huge updates here. We can expect a reticulating LCD screen and an advanced electronic viewfinder that will be very similar to what’s currently used on the EOS R3. I have heard rumors that the resolution of the EVF will likely be better than the R3, which certainly seems plausible, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the LCD screen is nicer as well. This camera will also likely feature an updated and improved eye-tracking autofocus system that Canon is famous for. Many users love this and many hate it, but at the end of the day, it’s an impressive technological feat that will likely be improved upon in this new camera.

Other Key Features:
The features and specs we just covered are certainly the main talking points and rumors that I’ve observed bouncing around the web. But of course, they’re just a sliver of what we can expect with this new camera. Here are a few other key talking points that I felt were worth mentioning. The EOS R1 will likely feature dual CFexpress Type B Card Slots only aiding in the camera’s speed and performance. And, when it comes to video, this camera is expected to be a powerhouse. Many rumors have speculated that the R1 will be able to record 6K RAW video at 120 fps. Apart from that, there will certainly be some other impressive features and specs but many of these are simply too speculative to include in this article at this point in time.

Conclusion:

Bottom line, I think this camera will be quite impressive and will certainly embody its title as the first-ever mirrorless flagship camera from Canon. That being said, I think there are certainly a few specs, particularly the resolution, that will fall a bit short of the competition. I believe that Canon has been slowly developing the R1 for quite a long time and I think that due to this, they have likely missed out on some of the newest and most exciting features and specs we have come to expect. Based on rumors, leaks, and what Canon has officially said, I believe that the R1 will be a very capable and impressive camera and I think that many Canon users, especially professionals, will be anxious to get their hands on one as soon as possible. We can’t wait for this exciting new product to be released and it’ll be interesting to see how accurate all of the rumors and speculations have been. Canon has said that the EOS R1 should be released in 2024 but only time will tell. In the meantime, we’ll just have to keep waiting.

NOTE: Canon has yet to officially release detailed specifications and information regarding the EOS R1. A large majority of the information in this article is speculative.