EOS R1 - wow - disappointing!

[AlphaWorld]

Just my quick reactions after watching the Canon announcement video. The announcement video comes across as "we're trying really hard to convince you that this is exciting!", but I didn't find it convincing.

First the R1: 24Mpixel at up to 40fps - that's not impressive up against the A9 III. And the announced pre-order price in my country is the same as the pre-order price of the A9 III (which dropped somewhat before the camera arrived).

Precapture of up to 20 frames.

It has some interesting new AF features:

• cross-point AF for the first time - that's nice, and might make a difference sometimes - I remember it as a feature of DSLR AF
• "intelligent" dual AF that recognises bodies as well as heads (gee, like Sony's new AF on all their new cameras)
• ability to register specific people as priority for AF
• AF based on which sport you are shooting - cute! (3 sports)

Flash sync at up to 1/400 - (just like an A1 using mech shutter )
Image upscale in-camera (can't shoot more detail - just invent the pixels to get to 96Mpixel) - some people will like this more than pixel shift, I think.
"Neural network" noise reduction in camera

Video
6k RAW video + 2k proxy video simultaneously (I think to different cards)
More video features - honestly I didn't catch all it does - don't really care

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They also announced the R5 Mark II. Still a 45Mpixel sensor (but now stacked, capable of 30fps - catching up to A1).

Has precapture of up to 15 frames.

Also has in-camera upscaling and noise reduction.

Has (most of? all of?) the same new AF features as the R1.

Choice of grips with Ethernet (it's not in the body) - one grip with cooling for video.

More video features.

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Seems funny that they are excited at adding full-size HDMI on both cameras - how long ago did Sony offer full-size HDMI? Let's see - according to one site the Sonys with a full size HDMI port include the A9 III, A7RV, A7 IV, A1, A7S III, FX3, FX30, ... the latest model in each of the full-size lines.

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All up, I don't think Sony's going to feel overly threatened by these announcements, but I'm quite looking forward to seeing what Sony puts into the A1 mark II.

 

[iamdlewis]

The R1 does seem very underwhelming and clearly not aligned with the flagship camera from Sony and Nikon. Yes it is true the MP count isn't everything but when everyone else has the same features with twice the MP count it is important.

The in-camera ND and upscaling stuff sounds interesting but I wouldn't use it since it requires too much in-camera reviewing of images.

I disagree with Chris Niccolls with him saying that for wildlife "you don't necessarily want high MP" as I have never heard a wildlife photographer say such a thing.

 

[AlphaWorld]

The R1 does seem very underwhelming and clearly not aligned with the flagship camera from Sony and Nikon. Yes it is true the MP count isn't everything but when everyone else has the same features with twice the MP count it is important.

The in-camera ND and upscaling stuff sounds interesting but I wouldn't use it since it requires too much in-camera reviewing of images.

I disagree with Chris Niccolls with him saying that for wildlife "you don't necessarily want high MP" as I have never heard a wildlife photographer say such a thing.

Well, I would have agreed with you - the resolution of the A1 made me sell the A9 II immediately.

But the A9 III has swung my opinion. For some wildlife I'm enjoying the higher speed, even at the cost of fewer pixels.

That's not to say that I will be ignoring the A1 II announcement

Besides, the R1 isn't being pushed for wildlife, is it? Features like the AF tuning for specific sports sound like the only animals it's aimed at are on the sports field...

 

[Richard A]

Considering the specs, the prices they're asking for these things are pretty outrageous!

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

The R1 is not of any interest at all, and the R5 is still behind the A1. Not impressive really.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Yep a pretty disappointing show from Canon really, certainly not enough improvements to entice me to upgrade my own R5. I run an R3 Facebook Group and there are not too many members there who will be throwing money at the R1, for now at least. Canon did show signs of catching Sony up a few years back but now they are firmly on the back foot again. They really struggle with the availability of their latest lenses as well, it will be interesting to see how long people are waiting for the new cameras.

 

[iamdlewis]

Besides, the R1 isn't being pushed for wildlife, is it? Features like the AF tuning for specific sports sound like the only animals it's aimed at are on the sports field..

Chris lumped in. I lot of reviewers/labelers always put sports and wildlife together because for the most part they do want the same types of features like great and fast AF plus higher frame rates. The difference that they all seem to gloss over is in the subject size, photographing a human 50 yards away is a lot different than photographing a bird or the vast majority of mammals you come across.