The BulbMogul
Well-known member
Looks to be a nice flagship model for Canon
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Canon Flagship R1 is Announced..! (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter The BulbMogul
- Start date
Dave Williams
Well-known member
Good to hear someone thinks so.
The BulbMogul
Well-known member
Yes this is coming from a BUYER and not a TIRE Kicker..!
After reviewing the specs, reading and watching numerous reviews, I pre-ordered the R5 Mark II. The R1 has some impressive features but in 2024 I really don’t want to be limited to 24 MP in a full-frame camera. Canon said this camera was developed specifically with the professional journalist and sports photographer in mind. I can accept that, and wait until other folks post their experiences in using for bird photography. On the other hand the R5 Mark II appears to offer most of what the R1 does for bird photography, but with 45 MPs and at a much lower price. The new autofocus system for each camera looks spectacular. Although AF faces significantly greater challenges in following small birds in field environments in varying light, I’m confident it will be a noticeable improvement over what was available prior to 17 July. Like many folks I’ve been waiting for these camera for quite a while and put off buying an R5 in anticipation of the R5 Mark II. I’d also like to hear from current R5 owners if they plan on upgrading to the R5 Mark II.
@ Bulbmogul, did you pre-order the R1 or are you staying with your R3s for now?
@ Bulbmogul, did you pre-order the R1 or are you staying with your R3s for now?
Thanks Mike. I can see where you are coming from and if I already owned an R5 it may have caused me to wait and see as well. We will just need to wait until the pro reviewers and bird photographers get the R5II in their hands before a consensus develops. I’m also mainly a stills shooter - in addition to the positives you mentioned a few things that intrigue me are:
One interesting point - a few reviews mentioned the R1 has some backlit buttons (this would be great in low light situations). Does anyone know if the R5II has them as well?
- 14-bit raw files in all modes, including electronic
- Improved EVF resolution - always welcome
- Eye-control AF - supposedly better implementation than the R3 (certainly worth trying out since it is included)
- My sense from initial reviews is the AF is much faster and IDs subjects / Locks-on at much greater distance
- No Quad-pixel AF as rumored (for either camera)
- As Mike said, new batteries (but no mention of longer-lasting performance)
- Still a hard-stop buffer that with only slightly improved capacity
- Only 1x CFexpress Slot
One interesting point - a few reviews mentioned the R1 has some backlit buttons (this would be great in low light situations). Does anyone know if the R5II has them as well?
Montereyman
Well-known member
As with Nikon with its DSLR cameras, Canon continues to target sports shooters and news reporters and ignore the rest of the market. When I was using Nikon DSLR cameras my choice was between a 24MP high performance camera like the D5 or a high resolution camera like the D850. When the Nikon Z9 mirrorless camera arrived I was quite happy to note that it provided both high performance and a high resolution image sensor in a single camera. I now own two of them.
Canon lists the R1 as having Dual-Pixel AF - from their website
- New Canon-designed 24.2MP full-frame back-illuminated stacked CMOS sensor (with Dual Pixel AF).
Very true. But it is still fairly limited, and depending on ISO the files get larger and it fills quicker. To me, the biggest drawback is the hard-stop buffer. Unlike Sony that only slows the frame-rate, Canon blocks all until the buffer clears. Even if it’s just a few seconds that’s an eternity when following birds. Difficult to understand why they didn’t address this. Other brands just do this better. But right now, everything considered, I cannot think of another camera I would choose over the R5II for bird photography.
Hopefully, Canon will continue expanding its lens lineup as well.
The BulbMogul
Well-known member
I myself owning 2 R3’s will be also snagging me a R1 to go along with my preferred Nikon Z9’s..
@BulbMogul, I must admit to some serious thirsting after anything like those Nikkor prime lenses with built-in TC in the Canon line. Was recently on a pelagic trip with someone using a Z9 and the 400/2.8 and was very impressed with the images he generated. If you had to choose one or the other as being most useful overall would you choose the 600/4 or the 400/2.8?
Frank van Drogen
Not so important
I have been looking at these, but not sure whether its worth the investment if upgrading from an R5. The R1 will no doubt do better in low light conditions, the R5II seems to have a number of AF improvements. But, I know the biggest improvement in image quality I'd get from purchasing an RF600 f4.... but that is serious money (and weight).
The BulbMogul
Well-known member
I HAVE THE RF600 F/4 and it is incredible…Yes pricey but top shelf prime..
Nice! Something tells me you primary genre is sports. The R1 will be an upgrade, but is it worth the upgrade cost for existing R3 users? I personally don't think so. IMHO, it's a poor effort from Canon.
100% agreed. Considering the R5 and the R5II don't have the battery amperage to power both AF motors on the big RF super tele primes, so you're going to suffer with AF speed and accuracy, it doesn't make sense. The R3/R1 only feature 24mp, which is less than ideal for wildlife and birding photography. Like you said, Canon doesn't seem to really understand the wildlife photography market imho. Ideally, a high resolution, 45mp BSI stacked sensor R5III with the cross type AF from the R1 and an integral body design like the R1/R3, using the same battery, would be a real upgrade. Both the R1 and R5II are, imho., subpar offerings from Canon.
Caveat: I don't shoot video and I don't care about video. I shoot stills only, so others may see more benefits from these new cameras.
Just received my R5 Mark II yesterday. Played with it a bit and based on initial impressions I’m very pleased. With the new stacked sensor rolling shutter is negligible; and the AF is simply spectacular - while not perfect in all lighting and field environments, it easily jumps on the subject and even finds small birds in very busy settings and is a huge jump in focus speed and accurately over my R7. I haven’t had a chance to play with the eye-directed AF so no comment there.
The images as they appear in the camera offer superb sharpness and detail, however processing and noise-reduction software have not yet been updated with profiles for this camera. Since there are now many in use I imagine that will be corrected shortly.
Like many others here my primary focus is photography vs video, but I may dabble and experiment a bit with this new toy.
The images as they appear in the camera offer superb sharpness and detail, however processing and noise-reduction software have not yet been updated with profiles for this camera. Since there are now many in use I imagine that will be corrected shortly.
Like many others here my primary focus is photography vs video, but I may dabble and experiment a bit with this new toy.
I wonder how it compares to the R3? I find my R3 excellent, even with my older mark 1 500f4 prime.
One issue of note - the new LP-E6P battery used in the Canon R5 Mark II is definitely more powerful than the LP-E6NH used in the R5, R6, R7, etc, but the LP-E6P is backward compatible and will work in those older cameras. However, if attempting to use the LP-E6NH battery in the R5 II a warning pops up that the battery grips and some of the video features will not function. So, it appears the lower-powered LP-E6NH batteries will still work in the R5 II for photography - I also read somewhere that pre-capture will also be disabled. So, they will work in the R5 II with some limitations.
However, I tried a few of my 3rd-party LP-E6NH batteries in the R5 II - although they’ve always worked fine in my other Canon Cameras the R5 II greets them with an error message. So, it appears the R5 II is restricted to Canon Batteries. At least for me, I’ll be using the LP-E6P batteries virtually exclusively in my R5 II as that is what it was designed for, and only carry my old LP-E6NH batteries for emergency backup.
However, I tried a few of my 3rd-party LP-E6NH batteries in the R5 II - although they’ve always worked fine in my other Canon Cameras the R5 II greets them with an error message. So, it appears the R5 II is restricted to Canon Batteries. At least for me, I’ll be using the LP-E6P batteries virtually exclusively in my R5 II as that is what it was designed for, and only carry my old LP-E6NH batteries for emergency backup.
The BulbMogul
Well-known member
I use both the Canon R3 as well as the Nikon Z9 so I am fully covered with MP’s between both my pro systems in hand..
That is very disappointing.
I use both the Canon R3 as well as the Nikon Z9 so I am fully covered with MP’s between both my pro systems in hand..
Surprised at the Z9, since most pro sports photographers are using Canon 1 series bodies with much lower resolution.
The BulbMogul
Well-known member
What are you so surprised about may I ask..? I have zero ideas what “PROS” use or do as I am just a grandpa snapping pictures of my bird feeders..
That RF100-300 is typically used by sports pros and sometimes by people on safari, although I personally think that it's too short for the latter. You must get your feeder birds very close to use that 100-300. Canon is rumoured to be releasing a RF200-500 which would be really nice for us birders.
