Canon has revealed a pair of high-end full-frame cameras for professional and serious enthusiast photographers. The new Canon EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II differ significantly in terms of body design and key photo and video specifications, but share a huge amount of their internal technology. Both are built around Canon’s new “Accelerated Capture” technology that employs a new Digic Accelerator co-processor alongside the main Digic X processor. They also share a huge array of features, including the firm’s unique Eye Control Focus technology.

Canon EOS R1 at a glance:

• £7000 body only
• 24MP stacked CMOS sensor
• ISO 100-102,400 (standard), 50-409600 (extended)
• 40 frames per second shooting
• 6K 60fps video
• 9.4m-dot, 0.9x viewfinder
• Dual CFexpress Type B card slots

Firstly, the Canon EOS R1 is designed primarily for sports and action and is the firm’s first mirrorless model to sport the flagship “1-series” designation. It shoots 24MP stills at up to 40 frames per second, records 6K video at 60fps, and has a large body with an integrated vertical grip. It also includes Canon’s largest, brightest and most detailed viewfinder to date, with 9.4m-dots and 0.9x magnification. In many ways, it can be seen as a fully pro-spec update to the current Canon EOS R3.

Canon EOS R5 Mark II at a glance:

• £4500 body only
• 45MP stacked CMOS sensor
• ISO 100-51,200 (standard), 50-102,400 (extended)
• 30 frames per second shooting
• 8K 60fps video
• 5.76m-dot, 0.76x viewfinder
• One each CFexpress Type B and UHS-II SD card slots
• Optional vertical grips and cooling fan

Secondly, the Canon EOS R5 Mark II is a successor to the four-year-old Canon EOS R5. It’s designed to be a highly capable all-rounder that can handle almost any task for either photography or video. It sports a 45MP sensor, can shoot at up to 30fps, and record 8K video at 60fps. With a much more compact body design than the R1, its viewfinder isn’t quite as huge, but still more than respectable, at 5.76m-dots and 0.8x magnification.

Outside of these specs, though, many of the same features are shared across both cameras. This includes the following:

• Accelerated Capture via new Digic Accelerator processor paired with Digic X
• Eye control focus
• Subject detection autofocus for people, animals, and vehicles
• ‘Action Priority’ mode for switching focus between the active players in football, basketball, volleyball
• Registered Face Priority focusing (can prioritise focusing across 10 registered faces at any given time)
• Pre-burst shooting for 0.5 seconds before shutter button is fully depressed
• In-body stabilisation – up to 8.5 stops at centre of frame, 7.5 stops at edge
• Blackout-free viewfinder setting
• Internal raw video recording
• Proxy video recording
• Full-size HDMI ports
• Simultaneous stills and video recording – Full HD video to one card, stills to the other

In terms of design, both cameras are subtle evolutions of existing models. The EOS R1 strongly resembles the EOS R3, but with a subtle rearrangement of some secondary controls on the back.

Meanwhile, the EOS R5 Mark II is much like its predecessor, but with the power switch moved to a more convenient place on the right side of the top plate, with a dedicated video/stills selector on the top left in its place. This is similar to the EOS R6 Mark II.

The Canon EOS R5 Mark II is due to go on sale on 20th August 2024 for £4,500 body-only, or £5,800 with the RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM lens. Meanwhile, the EOS R1 will cost £7,000 body-only, but won’t be available to buy until November 2024.

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Canon EOS R1 full specifications:

Canon EOS R5 Mark II full specifications: