Canon EOS R1 Review: Canon's First Mirrorless Flagship Bets on Speed and Smarts Over Megapixels

The Canon EOS R1 is the camera Canon builds for the Olympics, the World Cup and the photo agencies that cover them. Announced in July 2024 at $6,299 for the body, it’s the first mirrorless camera to carry Canon’s “1” badge, a name that has meant Canon’s toughest, fastest professional camera for decades.

It has 24.2 megapixels. That surprised people. Sony’s A1 II has 50 and Nikon’s Z9 has 45.7. Canon’s argument is that pros covering sport care most about speed, reliability and files small enough to send fast.

Behind that choice is a new stacked back-side illuminated sensor and a lot of processing.

Video review: Jared Polin

Autofocus that reads the game

Canon’s Dual Pixel AF now uses cross-type points across the sensor, which helps it lock onto subjects with only horizontal or vertical detail. Eye Control AF lets the camera follow where you look in the viewfinder to choose a subject. Action Priority AF recognizes the movements of basketball, soccer and volleyball and jumps focus to the player with the ball.

The result, by most accounts, is the smartest autofocus system Canon has made.

You get 40 fps electronic bursts, blackout-free and in 14-bit, plus 12 fps mechanical. Stabilization is rated at up to 8 stops.

Built for pros

It has the built-in vertical grip, weather sealing and controls you’d expect from a “1” body. Two CFexpress Type B slots. A big LP-E19 battery rated by CIPA at about 700 shots through the viewfinder and 1,330 on the rear screen. The 9.44-million-dot viewfinder is superb.

Canon also added in-camera neural-network noise reduction and upscaling, which help push those 24MP files further when you need a bigger print or a heavier crop.

Video is strong too: 6K at 60p in internal raw, 4K at up to 120p, 10-bit Canon Log 2.

The questions

24MP at $6,299 is the obvious one. For landscapes, studio work and heavy crops, the Canon R5 Mark II gives you 45MP and much of the same speed for far less.

It weighs about 1.1 kilograms. That’s normal for a pro body with a built-in grip, but it’s not something you carry casually.

Who should buy it

Sports, news and event professionals already working in Canon. Agencies that need speed, reliability and files small enough to send from the stadium in seconds.

For everyone else, the R5 Mark II is the better buy. The R1’s rivals are the Sony A9 III, faster with its global shutter, and the Nikon Z9, which adds much more resolution at a lower price. Canon’s case is autofocus intelligence and handling, and for pros who live in the viewfinder, that’s a strong case.