Phototrends in France sat down with Canon to discuss the new EOS R1 and the EOS R5 Mark II. It was a pretty wide-ranging interview, so you should check it out here. But I wanted to comment on a few things because I always have an opinion on these sorts of things.
Contrary to popular YouTube belief, Canon developed the R1 as their flagship camera. This should come as no surprise to anyone. Refer to Exploring Canon’s 1 Series Digital Legacy if you are confused. I may add, that was one of my more fun articles to write here so if you haven't read it, now is a good time. This statement also confirms that Canon was already in the planning stages of the R1 when the R3 was announced.
Canon has always been about pushing the boundaries of technology. We're always trying to come up with something new. mirrorless camera that surpasses the EOS-1D X Mark III , the flagship of the EOS lineup.
This has been an ongoing discussion since that date. This is how the EOS R1 was born, which we have just unveiled. When we launched the EOS R3, we already had in mind the idea of creating a flagship camera, a true flagship.
Canon also went into the price of the EOS R1. To be frank, the real competition is the impressive Nikon Z9 professional camera body. I'll get some people mad, but Sony doesn't make a camera in this league, even if the Sony A1 or A9 are in this equivalent price range. Come at me in the forums on this if you want, I'm ready for you. Roger Cicala will be quoted.
But all that aside there has been some pushback to the cost of the EOS R1, especially against comparable other cameras. Canon commented that they felt the price was appropriate for what they put into it.
If you've had a chance to try the EOS R1, I hope you'll agree with me that this camera offers a lot to photographers. We'd love to make it more affordable if possible.
However, we also believe that there is much more to this case than just the price difference between this model and others\
Canon also touched on the reason behind 24MP.
The EOS R1 is the result of thinking about how to balance the advantages of a very sharp sensor. We also wanted to offer a body with very high ISO sensitivity, and we managed to achieve a value of ISO 102,400.
We also wanted the shutter speed to be as high as possible. And, as you know, the camera can capture 40 frames per second. But if you go for a high definition, the available frame rate is usually quite low.
Considering all of this, we felt that 24MP was the right balance between all of these pros and cons.
And to be honest – the requirement isn't just from the photographers, the editors ingest all these photos, cull, parse, and ship them out to the various agencies have a ton of work to do, and the larger the RAW the more time consuming it is – especially when you consider that most of their computer gear is portable.
I also found this quote about a future R6 Mark III – something Canon didn't deny or skirt around discussing – like they always do. We get accused of being fanboys (Yeah I always heap glowing praises on the R100), but this is a great statement from Canon – and I think one in which for the most part they attempt. Marketing demands a segmentation aka .. the Canon Cripple Hammer™ – but you'll be hard-pressed to find a market where the cheaper model is better and more featured than the more expensive model. There are always tradeoffs.
What we want is for each model to compete with the others and always try to surpass the superior model. So we hope that the EOS R6 Mark III will one day surpass the EOS R5 Mark II – and then the EOS R5 Mark III will restore the balance! We don't think it's fair to limit the capability of a model just because it's a 6-series model and not a 5-series model.
This isn't a new statement from Canon, they have always felt their cameras' greatest competition was the other Canon product lines.
This was a pretty good interview, and while Canon will never get into the weeds over design choices, allows us to talk a little more about the Canon EOS R1 and the Canon EOS R5 Mark II and discover a little more into what they were thinking about the intent of the cameras.
Source: Phototrends
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That being said, it does beg the question of what's next for the regular consumer. Most AF's have reached the "good enough" point, as has the MP count, dynamic range, fps, readout speeds, etc. Sure stacked-sensors could go down in price (maybe one day we'll see it breach the $2k price point). But besides that, what's next, especially for photographers?
it's honestly a tough question.
I have my thoughts on the APS-C line which I wish to clean up and post soon that touches a bit on this. Stacked APS-C sensors should be significantly cheaper to fabricate than full frame.
Sensors outside of read speed are well into diminishing returns. Cross type based sensors as well, as technology for major defocus would be the big - they aren't done. Combine Panny's DFD with DPAF. Further predictive deep learning with AF and start to bring that down to the masses - ie: the R7 next.
I personally think what Canon did with the grips needs to be expanded on - and include things like AI accelerators, LTE/5/6G interconnectivity and EASY bridging into social media, etc.
But, I agree, we are well into "good enough" for the vast majority of users - for most, their current smartphone camera is already in the "good enough" which is why even phone sales are slowing down.
So, should we R5 owners give the R5ii a miss and wait for the R5iii? After all, the R5 is well into the more than good enough for some if not most prosumers and it will be annoying to see a cheaper R6iii overtake the R5ii.
It may sound rather dystopian for those of us who like to look through the viewfinder and press the shutter button to take an image, but that would be the likely future of cameras.
Unless you specifically configure your phone for non-internet connected wifi, you can’t download images and post them to instagram, you have to disconnect from the camera to make internet work again.
The special ‘iphone’ mode for USB in the R8 is great, it can do everything wifi can, remote EVF, downloading, time sync, but faster, more reliable and with a much lower latency. But it requires a cable between your iphone and the camera :(
I really hope Canon comes up with something that combines the one-press nature of that wifi button with the speed of the cable. My 8yo always asks me to send a picture when I’m out shooting, I’d like to be able to do that without lifting the camera from my eye for the transfer. Have the camera and phone work something out over bluetooth, then send the picture over wifi.
For the actual message I do want to take the phone out of my pocket.
Move some of that network config tool stuff for the R1/ethernet grips into the consumer apps. I don’t need FTP, but ‘connect wifi automatically, find phone/laptop running app, transfer’ would be nice to have.
I don't think I'm alone here.
So the R6III being ‘better’ than the R5II isn’t
such a stretch. The big question I have, what will the R8II be like? The R6 line doesn’t interest me, it’s too big to act as a travel body next to R5 series body, the R8 is a near perfect blend of size, capability and price. At least for me :)
I must admit that I’m not planning to replace the R8 with an R8II, apart from ES+flash, I’m hard pressed to think of something that the R8 lacks that would make me upgrade to the II instead of the III or IV.
Flash+ES turned out to be something I really wanted, otherwise I would’ve skipped the R5II as well.
So they decided to use 24MP because of easier editing? I've never run into any issues on my "still" M1 MBP when editing images even from Sony R Body with 60MP. And a Sony A1 or A9 III is not even considered a competitor? Why? Because there is no vertical grip in a big body?
I don´t know what Canon is thinking in 2024 but I'm a bit disappointed by both new Cameras and will stick with my R5 until I probably move brands.
Well, if you consider the R62 vs the R5, the R62 brought things like pre-burst, unlimited record limit, the dedicated video switch, lens breathing correction... so I think we'll see more things like that, just new little features implemented at the "lower end" before it moves to the longer product cycle "professional" cameras. It's a good way to do testing and refinement of features.
I hope that these new cameras will be easier to implement features via firmware as I was told they would be. Canon probably already has a list of things that are coming over the next year or two. Where's my external 6K RAW for the R3 that I don't need!?
we are to the point where it's the niggling details and money that determine what camera(s) we use.
I'm probably going to settle on the R8's simply because of size and weight constraints, but my heart wants a R5 Mark II.
I have no idea why Canon made it more difficult to transfer to your mobile. I used to have my M6 Mark II continually sending the JPG's to my phone. it was great. The only drag was that it was easy to lose the connection.
The existing Wifi - I always had issues with. But this isn't all "new tech" you'd think canon could do this - it's not as if they lack the R&D.