We’ve been speculating about the Canon EOS R1 flagship since late 2021, making it possibly one of the worst (or best) kept secrets in camera history, because even now that it’s finally official, we still know very little about it.
Canon has confirmed that its latest flagship is in development today (May 15), but we’re still in the dark about most of the specs and features other than which processor it will use.
According to the announcement, the processing power under the hood of the EOS R1 will come from a ‘system’ that combines a brand new processor called the Digic Accelerator with the existing Digic . .
While the sensor resolution has yet to be confirmed, Canon has said that it has “achieved high speed and highly accurate subject recognition” with this system and some advanced deep-learning technology. The example the company cites is focus retention on a single target in a team sport, but this is nothing new: it is already a Servo AF feature on the Canon EOS R3 and a similar feature is available on the Nikon Z9.
To offer something new, Canon says the new AF system will be able to recognize a subject’s movement and show a team member a specific action. For example, if necessary, the focus is shifted to a function called Action Priority, which will reduce the number of movements. of the missed opportunities that a photographer might regret.
Canon also says that image quality has improved, but doesn’t go into details about how this has been achieved. We can only speculate that it has to do with that new sensor.
It has been confirmed that the new EOS R1 is undergoing real-world testing and will be released in 2024. It must definitely be ready in time for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. That said, it’s highly unlikely it’ll hit shelves before then, but it could be in the hands of Canon professionals for the biggest sporting events of the summer. At this stage it is more realistic that the EOS R1 will be released to the public in late 2024.
That product timeline is based on the Canon EOS R3. Although the development announcement was made in April 2021, it was officially unveiled in September of that year and went on sale in November.
We expect many more leaks and rumors between now and the official reveal, and I’m pretty sure we’ll hear more about the Paris Olympics unofficially. Canon’s official press release can be found below.