Canon EOS R1 flagship mirrorless finally announced – 6K raw video, 40fps stills
Jul 17, 2024
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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It’s been a minute since Canon announced a new flagship camera. The Canon EOX 1DX Mark III was released in January 2020 for the then-still-impending Tokyo Olympics, but that was a DSLR. People have been eagerly awaiting its mirrorless update ever since.
We thought we’d got it when Canon announced the Canon EOS R3 ($4,499), but no. There was still a flagship yet to come. In May, we saw a development announcement and today, it’s official. The new flagship Canon EOS R1 ($6,299) has been announced. And it’s a bit of a monster.
Canon EOS R1 – A Mirrorless Canon Flagship
Canon describes the Canon EOS R1 as being “ahead of the game”, continuing the legacy of its EOS 1DX series of DSLRs. It’s a high-performance, reliable and weather-resistant camera targeted towards photojournalists, sports and wildlife photographers.
It contains a 24.2-megapixel full-frame BSI CMOS sensor, along with a new processing engine for improved performance. Canon says that the sensor has a boosted read output to minimise rolling shutter. Yes, that’s right, folks It’s not a global shutter CMOS sensor. That’s still just the Sony A9 III.
The Canon EOS R1 offers full-frame 14-bit raw stills at 24.2 megapixels. It shoots them up to a very impressive 40 frames per second, and it’s no slouch when it comes to video.
No, it doesn’t offer 8K like the newly announced Canon EOS R5 II ($4,299) – or even the original EOS R5 ($2,899) – but it does provide 6K raw video, recorded internally. If you don’t want to shoot raw video, you’re limited to 4K resolution at up to 60fps for MP4 format files.
Interesting new features
Note that I said “interesting”, not necessarily great or amazing. Some of them sound pretty good, but I’m going to reserve judgment until we actually see the camera in the hands of real people. But one feature it has is in-camera upscaling.
The EOS R1 contains a 24.2-megapixel sensor. And while this is more than plenty for 99% of the things 99% of people will ever need, there’s always that 1%. So the EOS R1 also contains in-camera upscaling. But it’s not a high-res pixel-shift wobbly sensor mode. It’s a “deep learning” (AI-generated) upscale.
It upscales to 200%, turning that 24MP image into a 96MP image. Again, I’m going to reserve judgment on how useful this feature might be until I see some real-world results using it.
Despite not using it for high-res pixel-shift mode images, the Canon EOS R1 includes IBIS, of course. The 5-axis in-body stabilisation offers up to 8.5 stops of shake-stopping power when paired with a Canon RF IS lens. Movie Digital IS is also available to help suppress blur in peripheral areas when shooting video.
Of course, it’s got improved AF, improved tracking, improved detection and improved everything else that always improves with each new camera that gets released. Certain features just need to be brought up to a standard.
Canon EOS R1 Specs
| Sensor | 24.2-megapixel full-frame BSI Stacked CMOS |
| Lens Mount | Canon RF |
| Max resolution | 24.2-megapixels |
| File format | RAW, JPG, HEIF |
| Bit-depth | 14-Bit |
| ISO | 100-32000, H: up to 204800 |
| Stabilisation | Yes, up to 8.5-Stops advantage at the center and 7.5-stops peripheral depending on the lens used |
| Continuous shooting | 12fps (mechanical) / 40fps electronic |
| 6K Video | 6K DCI (17:9) 6000 x 3164 (59.94, 50, 29.97, 25, 24, 23.98 fps) RAW, Light RAW |
| 4K Video | 4K DCI (17:9) 4096 x 2160 (59.94, 50, 29.97, 25, 24, 23.98 fps) LGOP / High Quality intra frame / intra frame / light intra frame 4K UHD (16:9) 3840 x 2160 (119.88, 100, 59.94, 50, 29.97, 25, 23.98 fps) LGOP / High Quality intra frame / intra frame / light intra frame13 |
| HD Video | Full HD (16:9) 1920 x 1080 (239.76, 200, 119.88, 100, 59.94, 50, 29.97, 25, 23.98 fps) LGOP / intra frame |
| Focus type | Dual Pixel Intelligent AF with Eye/Face Detection and Tracking AF (people, animals and vehicles) , Movie Servo AF, Manual Focus |
| AF Points | Cross-type AF with area 100% horizontal and 100% vertical possible depending on the lens attached |
| Viewfinder | 9.44m-dot EVF |
| LCD | 3.2″ 2.1m-dot Articulating Touchscreen LCD |
| Card slots | Dual Slot: CFexpress Type B |
| Connectivity | WiFi, Bluetooth, USB 3.2, HDMI, 3.5mm headphone, 3.5mm microphone, RJ45, PC Sync socket |
| Dimensions | 157.6 x 149.5 x 87.3mm |
| Weight | 920 g (1115g with card and battery) |
Price and Availability
The Canon EOS R1 is available to pre-order now for $6,299. Items are expected to ship during Autumn/Fall 2024.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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