Early Reports: The EOS R1 AF is Better than Expected

Richard CR

Richard CR

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Dec 27, 2017
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#1
Kakakumag.com in Japan took the EOS R1 out for a test drive as it's now commercially shipping, 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 is shipping. I'm decidedly jealous and am looking forward to seeing his basketball images.

www.canonrumors.com

Early Reports: The EOS R1 AF is Better than Expected

Kakakumag.com in Japan took the EOS R1 out for a test drive as it’s now commercially shipping, and discovered that it’s a pretty swell camera. As it should be, it’s the clear 1 series RF camera no…
www.canonrumors.com
 
#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.
 
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#5
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.
 
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#6
frankchn said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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#7
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.
 
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#9
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.
 
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#10
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+.
 
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#13
Canon Rumors Guy said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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#14
john1970 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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#15
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.
 
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#17
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.
 
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#19
fox40phil said:
And banding?
Click to expand...
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).
 
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#20
tim32225 said:
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.
Click to expand...
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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