Canon EOS R1 Review

The R1 is a working camera for people on a deadline and it should be graded as one. The stacked sensor reads out fast enough that rolling shutter stops being a consideration, the electronic shutter runs at forty frames a second with the viewfinder live throughout, and the tracking system adds an eye control mode that moves the focus point wherever the photographer looks.

Canon also built in subject registration, which learns one particular player and keeps the box on that person through a crowd of identical jerseys, the sort of feature that sounds like marketing until it works on a soccer pitch. Build, weather sealing and the integrated grip are the best the company has made, and the file quality at high sensitivity is exceptional.

The argument is about resolution. Twenty four megapixels is a deliberate choice made for wire transmission and clean low light files, and it is plainly right for the job, but the R5 Mark II offers nearly twice the pixels at a comparable burst rate for a great deal less money. That gap is why the value grade sits two steps under the overall. For agency work it is the tool. For anyone else it is the wrong camera at the wrong price.