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    Early Reports: The Canon EOS R1 Autofocus is Better than Expected

    By Updated:36 Comments Canon Reviews 3 Mins Read

    Kakakumag.com in Japan took the EOS R1 out for a test drive as it’s now commercially available, and discovered that it’s a pretty swell camera, as it should be. It’s the clear 1 series RF camera no matter what you think about the EOS R3. Craig has been notified that his EOS R1’s are shipping. I’m decidedly jealous and am looking forward to seeing his basketball images.

    This review of the EOS R1 specifically details their experience with the autofocus. Toshiyuki Magar took the R1 out for a day and was thoroughly impressed with its autofocus performance in tracking, recognition and stickiness.

    In a word, “the tracking performance is amazing!” The subject detection and tracking ability is simply high. This time, I tried shooting moving objects such as a dancing person, an erratic wild bird, and a fast-moving airplane, and the AF shooting was a feeling I had never experienced before.

    From my experience with the EOS R1’s AF, I felt that there had been steady improvements in the following areas:

    • AF snappiness during high-speed continuous shooting
    • detection when the subject is very small
    • detection when there is an obstacle in front of the subject
    • tracking when the subject moves quickly back and forth,
    • and tenacity when similar subjects overlap

    According to Toshiyuki Magar the auto focus performance even coming from cameras such as the EOS R3 and R5 is the best that Canon has done.

    I have used Canon’s full-frame mirrorless cameras, such as the EOS R3 and EOS R5, and have always been amazed by their AF performance, but the EOS R1 was even more impressive than those cameras. It’s truly a flagship product. 

    The EVF performance and rolling shutter left him equally as impressed as he noticed improvements in those categories as well. I think when more real reports start coming in with production-level firmware, we are going to see that the EOS R1 is truly a marvel. I’m curious about his comment that according to Canon, that the rolling shutter distortion on the EOS R1 (in electronic shutter mode) is the same level as the mechanical shutter with the 1DX Mark III.

    Also to head off the “yEs, bUT IT’s ONlY 24mp, IT’S noT A FLAgShip”. It could also be that with dual pixel autofocus and the need to read 50 million split pixels that to achieve this high degree of auto focus performance requires a balance against high resolution. It also plays into rolling shutter and a myriad of other things that just need to be balanced out with megapixels.

    What was his final thoughts on the EOS R1?

    I want this camera!

    Yes, I agree.

    I’m looking forward to more real reviews of the EOS R1. You can read Toshiyuki Magar review at kakakumag.com.

    In case you are still on the fence, and have not preordered, we strongly recommed you do if you want the camera before the middle of 2025.

    Preorder the EOS R1

    Source: kakakumag.com via digi-came

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    36 comments

    1. I am not surprised that the AF performance is better than the R3 and R5, but I am interested how much better it is than the R5 Mark II, which has the same new AF chip and a stacked sensor with fast readout as well.

      Getting mine tomorrow so it would be interesting to do my own shoot out.
    2. I am not surprised that the AF performance is better than the R3 and R5, but I am interested how much better it is than the R5 Mark II, which has the same new AF chip and a stacked sensor with fast readout as well.

      Getting mine tomorrow so it would be interesting to do my own shoot out.
    4. Well this is interesting. My R1 arrives tomorrow. I’m curious how it will compare against my current best auto focusing camera… the Sony A9III. I think this is the Sony equivalent to the R1, since it most closely aligns with the stated use case… fast action sports.
    5. I am not surprised that the AF performance is better than the R3 and R5, but I am interested how much better it is than the R5 Mark II, which has the same new AF chip and a stacked sensor with fast readout as well.

      Getting mine tomorrow so it would be interesting to do my own shoot out.
      Marginal differences, that too under extreme circumstances. In a normal situation, nothing different will be noticeable. My thinking/prediction. But people buy the R1 for the marginal differences.
    6. One thing I am curious about is whether the R1's increased sensor readout speed compared to the R3 also means that its low light performance is (slightly) worse/compromised compared to the R3. Just like the R5 Mk2 readout speed was higher than the R5, and its low light performance seems to have been slightly negatively impacted as a result.

      Don't get me wrong, I'm still very excited and mine arrives like, in the next 1 to 3 days. But I am still curious.

      The other thing is what the "last minute changes" will be.
    7. Marginal differences, that too under extreme circumstances. In a normal situation, nothing different will be noticeable. My thinking/prediction. But people buy the R1 for the marginal differences.
      Marginal differences are making the best shots.
      That's given by nature of competition.
    8. My R1 is coming sometime this month. A bit bummed that it\'s arriving right as the Swedish football (soccer) season is ending. From what we saw when the camera was announced it seems to me like the AF and tracking has been especially tuned for sports where there is a ball. I should have it in time to do a few UEFA matches here in Stockholm. Then it will be hockey and maybe a bit of basketball until football gets going again the spring.
    9. This is what I will add for the EOS R1 AF.

      It's ability to ignore what you don't want is remarkable. I shot basketball (Real Madrid) during the weekend I had the camera last month. When I was tracking a specific player and that player went into the mess of bodies in the key, it ignored everyone else remarkably well. I couldn't miss.

      Had a guy drive into the key into the trees and there was only space for a split second as he jumped and did a nice finger roll. The rest of the time the trees were in the way.. but the camera just picked him up perfectly at the right moment.

      I haven't used an R52, so I don't know if it's the same. I do want to put them both through the paces at a game and see if there is any difference in how each camera does that. There's not a lot space in basketball at times and this ability is A+.
    11. And I never will read about a rolling shutter in a "flagship" report ... sorry.

      I am 100% confident in the electronic shutter now. I had no lighting or ball shape anomalies with the R1 that I had with the R3.
    12. I am 100% confident in the electronic shutter now. I had no lighting or ball shape anomalies with the R1 that I had with the R3.
      Providing this feedback is very important. Overall, I am impressed with the R1.

      First immediate mpressions when setting it up:
      • The weight difference between the R1 and R3 is barely noticeable.
      • The grip on the R1 is more sticky than the R3, which is a good thing.
      • The new viewfinder is amazing and very easy on my eyes.
      I will need to do more testing this evening, but need to get ready for work.
    13. Providing this feedback is very important. Overall, I am impressed with the R1.

      First immediate mpressions when setting it up:
      • The weight difference between the R1 and R3 is barely noticeable.
      • The grip on the R1 is more sticky than the R3, which is a good thing.
      • The new viewfinder is amazing and very easy on my eyes.
      I will need to do more testing this evening, but need to get ready for work.

      The EVF has changed everything for me. 0.9x was a brilliant move. I like the larger body, the buttons feel in a more natural position for my hands (YMMV), even the way the power/lock switch works. It's more comfortable moving to lock.

      I'm surprised how much better the gripping is on the camera.
    14. My R1 is arriving this afternoon, but it\'s my first mirrorless body. I skipped all the previous mirrorless bodies, waiting for a 1-series option. I splurged on the R 28-70 f2 lens along with it, and I\'m excited to try that out on the R1. My current bodies are 1DX Mk3 and the original 1DX, so I probably have a lot to learn with the new autofocus menus and options. Should be fun learning about all the new capabilities, and also eye-controlled focus.
    16. I got mine yesterday. Took it out for a quick 15 min test at a nearby lake with some waterfowl and got some BIF shots. My first impression was that I didn't see any difference in AF performance compared to the R3 (or R5 II, for that matter) for the few BIF shots I took. When I first shot with the R5 II I immediately noticed a big improvement from the R5.

      To be fair, I spent very little time with it and only setup I did was a quick dual back button focus arrangement that I have in the R5 II and R3. I'll definitively spend some time with the AF guide. Also, this isn't where I expected improvements anyway. Where I do expect to see significant improvements is for sports. In particular, football (soccer). That was one of my main motivations to get this camera. I'll try to find some youth games to test it out this weekend.

      One thing I thought was odd is that the R1 didn't seem to have the "Auto" option for subject to detect, like the R5 II does.
    18. And banding?
      My experience with theater and dance photography is that with PWM-dimmable LED spotlights at low brightness levels, there will always be banding for any sensor (FSI, BSI, stacked) in any mode (MS, EFCS, ES) short of a global shutter when you have to use a shutter speed fast enough to freeze motion. (edit: The other exception is leaf shutters in the X100, Leica Q, and Hasselblad X cameras).

      I don't expect the R1 to eliminate that, nor will the upcoming A1 II or whatever. The only camera that doesn't exhibit this behavior is the A9III (at the cost of noise and DR etc).
    19. My R1 is arriving this afternoon, but it\'s my first mirrorless body. I skipped all the previous mirrorless bodies, waiting for a 1-series option. I splurged on the R 28-70 f2 lens along with it, and I\'m excited to try that out on the R1. My current bodies are 1DX Mk3 and the original 1DX, so I probably have a lot to learn with the new autofocus menus and options. Should be fun learning about all the new capabilities, and also eye-controlled focus.
      Have fun. You might find the AF modes on the R1 much simpler than the 1Dx series. The AF Cases no longer exists. There are only an Auto mode and a Manual mode where you can adjust the Tracking sensitivity and Accel./decel. tracking.

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