Over the past few months, several leaks have surfaced online regarding the upcoming Canon EOS R1 . Recall that Canon’s mirrorless system does not yet have a full replacement for the EOS-1D X Mark III, which is still considered the brand’s flagship. At the same time, the company’s representatives also pointed out that “Canon EOS R3 is not a flagship yet” .
Therefore, it goes without saying that the company will take the time to release a completely new level of mirrorless camera, the resource reports.
The information that we have received about the EOS R1 is conflicting, which is quite normal for a product development stage as sometimes the information comes from prototypes and sometimes it comes from source to source.
What we know so far about the Canon EOS R1:
- The camera body is larger than the Canon EOS R3
- Significantly larger OLED camera screen. One source said that “no one currently has a screen as big as the EOS R1.” The standard size for big cameras is about 3.2 inches, can we get a 4 inch screen?
- The resolution will be “around 45MP”, which Canon says is optimal. In professional genres such as sports, you must consider the bandwidth required to transfer images from the camera to the editor and then to the web or to print. While some people are talking about an 80MP sensor, we think you’ll see one in the EOS R5r.
- The electronic viewfinder will have the “highest resolution” reportedly and it will be an electronic viewfinder. Expect an “extremely high refresh rate” as well as “no dimming”.
- Global shutter? Some say yes, others no. At the moment we have no idea. We think it’s a must, especially with electronic shutters, and it might be possible if they get rid of the rolling shutter issues that the EOS R3 and EOS R5 suffer in certain situations.
- Battery LP-E19.
- EOS R1 will get two CFexpress memory card slots. One source claims that at least one of the slots is probably Type C. But this is not certain. Type C cards are bigger than Type B cards and we think people want the same slots at the moment, not a mix. Canon users have been using Type B cards for quite some time and probably won’t want to start over unless there’s a game-changing reason to do so. If there’s one common complaint we hear about the EOS R3, it’s the SD card slot in instead of the second CFexpress Type B slot. There won’t be an SD card slot anyway.
- Expect a “more ergonomic design in the style of the EOS-1D”. This is ambiguous, but the larger body provides a comfortable grip. We don’t think size matters as much as weight, and Canon seems to spend a lot of time reducing the weight of cameras and lenses.
- The display on top will be in color, not monochrome. It will be “fully customizable in terms of information displayed and appearance.”
- “A completely new autofocus system.” Could this mean QPAF? We think it is quite possible, there have been many patents on QPAF, and this is a logical step.
- Video features? We have no idea and most sources have no such information prior to the actual announcement. One source said the video features/firmware will be developed by the Cinema EOS team.
- The announcement will be a “long undertaking” which we think means first announcing development and then putting the camera in the hands of professionals to make final changes to the firmware before the official presentation. The Paris Olympics will start next July, so we expect the camera to be on the market by then and the event will be used for more than beta testing of the final product.
Sony is probably preparing a version of the α1 II at the same time. What company will present something absolutely breakthrough? We believe the EOS R1 is more important to Canon than the α1 II to Sony, and if the EOS R1 doesn’t improve for at least a couple of years, it will damage the brand’s image.
