Fans of ThruMyLens know that since the Canon R1 was launched, I’ve maintained that it was a very specialized tool which would only be desirable over the Canon R5 Mark II for a relatively small segment of action and sports photo journalists.  Indeed, I’ve owned the R5 Mark II since the first day it was available for sale, and I’ve never been in a situation where I thought my needs would be better served by the R1.  Yet, the R1 is the Canon mirrorless flagship.  All other Canon camera must bow their heads and bend their knees to the mighty R1.  So knowing that I’d be shooting the IMSA Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the BMW Car Club of America, I had Canon Professional Services (I’ve been a member for over 20 years) send me the R1 for a week so I could shoot the Battle on the Bricks with it.

Firstly, let me address the elephant in the room:  The R1 really isn’t the R1 – it’s the next evolutionary step of the R3.  Canon stubbornly refuses to admit this fact which everyone else seems to know.  The R3 was the R1…or the R1 is the R3 Mark II.  Confused?  Just go with it.

In any event, Canon’s R-system finally has its true, integrated-grip flagship. It’s built for the people who can’t afford to miss:  photojournalists, motorsports shooters, wildlife pros, and anyone who’s ever prayed to the buffer gods from the sideline that they “got the shot.”

Here are the headline features (and why they matter):

• 24.2MP BSI stacked full-frame sensor: Canon’s first R-flagship goes with speed-friendly resolution and a modern backside-illuminated, stacked design. Translation: faster readout, better high-ISO, and far less rolling shutter in e-shutter. Canon claims virtually eliminated rolling shutter compared to mechanicals shutter performance – huge if you live at 40 fps.
• World-first “Cross-type AF” at the imaging sensor: Canon rotates part of its Dual Pixel architecture 90° so the sensor can detect both vertical and horizontal detail—across the whole AF area. In busy, low-contrast scenes or when a subject is partially obscured, this helps the camera stay locked on what you want, not the stripe on the jersey behind it.
• New processing pipeline: DIGIC X + the new DIGIC Accelerator. The Accelerator offloads computational tasks (recognition, metering, prediction) so DIGIC X can… go fast. You feel it everywhere: AF acquisition, tracking, and high-fps sustained shooting.
• Up to 40 fps electronic / 12 fps mechanical, plus pre-continuous capture (buffers up to 0.5 s of frames before you fully press the shutter at 40 fps—i.e., up to twenty “before-you-pressed” shots). For sports and wildlife, that’s not a feature; it’s insurance.
• 6K60 RAW video internally, with deep 4K/2K options (including 4K/120 and FHD/240), Canon Log 2/3, PQ, and HLG. If you also deliver motion, the R1 is a credible A-cam for fast-action jobs.
• IBIS up to 8.5 stops (center) depending on lens.
• 9.44-Mdot, 0.9× EVF, and a fully articulating 3.2″ / 2.1-Mdot LCD. The EVF looks and tracks like a sports viewfinder should; the vari-angle LCD is clutch for low-angle pans and gimbal work.
• Dual CFexpress Type B slots, LP-E19 battery, weather sealing at 1-series levels. Ports are pro: full-size HDMI, 2.5G Ethernet, mic/headphone, PC sync, N3 remote, USB-C (3.2 Gen 2). In other words, yes, it’s a newsroom/sideline native.
• Neural Upscaling to 96MP JPEG in-camera: not for every job, but handy when an editor wants “double-truck” detail from a single frame and you didn’t bring the 100MP body.
• Price:  Launched with a list price around $6,299 (initial Canon announcement), though Canon’s store has since shown the R1 body at $6,799 (tariffs) and routinely indicates in-stock status as of September 2025. Expect typical flagship pricing dynamics.

Beyond the raw specs,  the real story is how the R1 picks and sticks to subjects. Cross-type detection at the sensor level helps the AF system avoid getting fooled by patterns (fences, bleachers, LED boards) and low-contrast uniforms. Canon’s Action Priority mode goes a step further, using motion/body cues to bias AF toward “the moment” (e.g., a shot or a pass in team sports). Eye Control AF returns (refined from R3): look where you want focus, half-press, and the AF area jumps there—especially useful in chaotic play. In practical field tests (soccer/football), reviewers found Action Priority could produce a higher keeper rate than manual subject switching in certain scenarios—great when you’re juggling two players and a ball moving at cross-purposes.

For motorsports, the “Vehicle” profile includes helmet-spot priority for open cockpit, which will sound like a gimmick until it nails the driver’s visor through heat haze and temporary occlusions.  This feature came in particularly helpful during the race that I shot.  The AF low-light rating down to –7.5 EV (with fast glass) is overkill for daytime racing, but a boon for night events and wildlife at dusk.

Speed, buffer, and rolling shutter

Canon quotes 40 fps with e-shutter and 12 fps with mechanical/EFCS, with very deep buffers (hundreds of JPEGs / >200 RAW at full tilt, card-dependent). The stacked BSI sensor’s readout is fast enough that Canon specifically calls out “virtually eliminated” rolling-shutter distortion for stills, enabling real-world flash with electronic shutter—a trick that opens possibilities for news/event shooters mixing ambient and strobe at speed.

The pre-continuous feature is simple but incredibly helpful: half-press to cache the previous half-second, fully press to commit. If you’ve ever missed the decisive moment by the time your brain said “now!”, this is a game-changer. (Pro tip: teach your muscle memory to half-press early when you anticipate action building.).  The downside here of course is that the pre-continuous captures along with the captures are getting in high speed shooting mode will pile up quickly.  I had thousands of photos to cull through after the race I photographed.

Image quality and the 24MP decision

Canon’s choice of 24.2MP is pragmatic. Files are lighter for wire-service speed; SNR at high ISO is friendly; and readout rate stays aggressive. For sports and wildlife, 24MP is a goldilocks zone. If you print wall-sized, you can lean on that in-camera 96MP upscaling for JPEG delivery or simply up-rez from RAW with modern tools. Meanwhile, the R1’s color and tonality feel like Canon: skin tones that make editors happy and highlight roll-off that flatters bright mid-day scenes (like, say, IMSA at noon).  Here are a few examples of what I captured at the 2025 IMSA Battle On The Bricks shooting with the Canon RF 400mm f2.8:

Noise handling is backed by the ISO range of 100–102,400 (expandable to 50–409,600), and Canon’s latest Neural Network Noise Reduction and Digital Lens Optimizer are available in-camera for JPEG/HEIF shooters. That makes the R1 viable for straight-to-desk workflows without a RAW step, which some press jobs still demand.

Video chops (for those hybrid days)

If your brief includes motion, the R1 feels like a condensed Cinema EOS brain in a stills body. 6K/60p RAW internal (CRM/Light RAW), 4K up to 120p, and FHD up to 240p, with Canon Log 2/3, PQ, HLG, and proxy options—plus frame-grab of 8.8MP/8.3MP stills from 4K. Canon states up to 6 hours clip length for non-HFR modes and no 4GB split on exFAT. Real ports (full-size HDMI, mic, headphones) and dual CFexpress Type B slots mean you can record robustly while backing up or splitting proxies.

Is it an R5-class resolution monster for landscapes and product?  No—and it isn’t meant to be. It’s a speed camera first, a news-video/ENG camera second, and an “also does everything else pretty well” third.

Handling, EVF, and durability

The integrated vertical grip is classic 1-series: balanced with long glass, redundant controls, and a battery that laughs at a 12-hour day. Canon rates ~700 shots via EVF or ~1330 via LCD (CIPA), but high-fps bursts skew those metrics, and the LP-E19 keeps the camera lively longer than mirrorless norms. If you’re coming from 1D X bodies, the R1 will feel like home, just quieter, faster, and with a 9.44-Mdot OLED EVF that makes panning at 40 fps feel natural. Weather sealing is “1-series level,” i.e., the body you grab when the forecast says “bring a towel.”

The vari-angle LCD might raise a traditionalist eyebrow, but for low-angle trackside pans, steep touch-AF swipes, and video work, it’s the right call. (Also: no more ground-yoga to frame a curb photo).  Both the LCD and the optical viewfinder are the same on the R1 and R5 Mark II.

Two CFexpress Type B slots (VPG400 support) keep pace with 6K RAW and 40 fps bursts; Ethernet 2.5GBASE-T, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, and USB-C (3.2 Gen 2) cover the spectrum from in-stadium FTP pushes to tethered studio days. If you’re on a wire desk, the R1’s networking is ready for your IT guy’s fussiest checklist.  The Canon R5 Mark II only has a single CF Express Type B card slot, along with an SD card slot – which means if your doing high speed shooting, you’re not going to be able to record to both card slots.  The SD card slot simply can’t keep up.  So I’m jealous of the R1’s duel CF Express Type B card slots.

As an R5 Mark II owner, I’m jealous of the R1’s card slots.

Another “pro-level” feature of the R1 is the larger LP-E19 battery.  The R5 Mark II uses a smaller LP-E6P battery that, while improved, is the same size and form factor that’s been used for several generations going back to the DSLR days.  Additionally the battery charger that comes with the R1 can accommodate TWO LP-E19 batteries at once.  It sure would be nice to, when traveling, only have to bring one battery charger and not two as I currently do when I bring the Canon R5 Mark II

The LP-E19 battery and duel battery charger of the Canon R1

Real-world AF behavior: does it actually help you get “the shot”?

In action testing, DPReview’s shooters found Action Priority could out-perform manual subject management in certain field sports—especially where the camera can learn to bias toward “the moment” (shoot/pass/spike). That squares with what you’ll feel courtside: you’ll still override AF when you want to, but the camera does more of the thinking for you when chaos spikes. For motorsports, Canon’s vehicle/helmet spot mode feels purpose-built for your motorsports shoots – particularly open wheel/open cockpit.  It even grabbed onto helmets through windows during the IMSA race I shot.

The small but meaningful upgrades

• Electronic-shutter flash sync: niche, but fabulously useful for events/news where silence and speed matter.
• High-frequency anti-flicker in M/Tv: fewer banding surprises under LED stadium lights.
• People Priority (register up to 10×10 faces): rec-team portraits or recurring VIPs at events get “priority boarding” in the AF queue.

Where the R1 fits (and where it doesn’t)

Buy the R1 if your work is dominated by moments-you-can’t-miss. Sports, wildlife action, and breaking news are its native habitat. The autofocus is sticky, prediction-savvy, and feels like a genuine step beyond “smart subject detect.” The body is a tank, the EVF is best-in-class, and the buffer/readout mix finally lets Canon shooters live in e-shutter without the rolling-shutter heebie-jeebies.

Look elsewhere (or pair it) if you need huge resolution every day. For commercial studio/product or large-format landscape, 24MP can be a ceiling. Canon’s Neural Upscaling is neat, and modern algorithms are magic, but if you live at 45–60MP, the R1 won’t replace a high-res body. Likewise, if you don’t need integrated-grip ergonomics, the R5 Mark II remains the lighter, cheaper, do-most-things well option. (And yes, it pairs beautifully with the R1 for a two-body kit.).

Verdict

The EOS R1 is the camera Canon’s action shooters have been waiting for: a flagship that’s not just fast, but smart fast. Cross-type AF at the sensor level, Action Priority, and Eye Control add up to a body that anticipates how you actually shoot at speed. The stacked sensor’s readout and deep buffers mean you can confidently live at 40 fps electronic without the rolling-shutter tax that haunted early mirrorless days. Video is no afterthought, the EVF is best-in-brand, and the ergonomics are 1-series through and through.

Honestly?  I liked it better than I thought I would.  There are definitely things the R1 has that I wish the R5 Mark II did as well – the bigger battery, the duel battery charger, and duel CF Express Type B card slots being first and foremost.

It’s not cheap, and it’s not a megapixel monster. But if your job is measured in split-seconds, the R1 delivers those frames with fewer excuses and more keepers. For an IMSA weekend, it’s the body you mount to the long glass, set to 1/125 – 1/60, and trust while you pan through the apex.  Your editor doesn’t care what you shot it on—only that you didn’t miss. The R1 helps you not miss. And that’s the point.  The R1 is better than the R5 For the limited segment of professional photographers, for which was designed.  Which means that for Many if not most shooters who are professional and otherwise, the R5 Mark II Will probably be the better choice.

Here’s a video with my thoughts: