The Canon EOS R1 is rumored to get announced within this year as the new flagship (=counter-strike to the Sony Alpha 1). The rumors indicate an ultra high resolution (85MP) and a global shutter sensor. True or false?
Canon EOS R1: Counter-trike to the Sony Alpha 1?
According to CanonWatch, the Canon EOS R1 is in the coming, and most rumors foresee an announcement within 2021. The R1 can be defined as the flagship of Canon’s mirrorless EOS R line, just like the Alpha-1 is for Sony’s Alpha models. Anyway, the specs set new standards regarding the sensor’s capabilities.
Here’re the rumored specs:
- Sensor: 85MP global shutter CMOS
- Approx: 85MP at 20fps, 21MP at 40fps unlimited continued shooting
- Full Sensor Large Quad Pixel Auto Focus
- Dynamic Range: 15+ stops
- ISO 160-1638400
- 5-axis IBIS up to 9 stops
- 3.5” 9.33MP 1280nit 10-bit WCG RGB-OLED touch screen with 120Hz AE-AF
- 9.44MP 120Hz SuperSpeed AE-AF electronic viewfinder
- Price: $8,500USD
Is it possible?
At first sight, this list sounds fictional. However, when examining the in-house sensors Canon has developed, there’s a possibility for such powerful specs. For instance, Canon owns sensors that are capable of Ultra-High 250MP Resolution, and a High-Speed Global Shutter sensor with a progressive readout of 120 fps. So the technology is here. It just needs to be utilized correctly.
The 85MP will probably bring an 8K resolution (if not higher). The big challenge is executing the combination between these two factors: global shutter and large real estate of photosites. Thus, these rumors are not impossible.
What’re your thoughts about this? True or false? Comment below.
This is just the pixel wars going insane.. there aren’t even lenses with the optical resolution to properly allow enough points of light to get to the sensor and utilize that many pixels. The current lenses basically smudge the light. The best ones available right now accommodate about a 50mp sensor. I’m sure somebody somewhere will use 40fps but most peoples hard drives will need to be erased a week later after their first use of this camera with such huge file sizes.
Solid definition: Pixel wars. I couldn’t agree more.
People don’t have to “erase their drive(s)” after shooting 100-150mp in studio for 6 months with sensors as large as 54x40mm… so…
40fps? Doing the math, about how many frames do you get in a .25 sec. burst? 0.10 sec burst? Now put that into practice, and hopefully you can conclude how many are very interested in the frames a camera can accomplish in a smaller fraction of time; considerably less than 1 sec bursts, which can be important whether shooting sports, events or location portraits.
The point of a high frame rate burst is to get the shots that you want, not keep the chaff. 150mp medium format Phase doesn’t equate to 8×10 sheet film, but you consider 80mp + a “pixel war”…. though 80mp was available on MF sensors for over a decade ago? 85mp is rather meager to many photographers shooting to eat. There’s no silly “war”, rather companies f-i-n-a-l-l-y and s-l-o-w-l-y getting around to putting a decent amount of quality pixels in a pro “brick” body camera, benefitting many photographers with larger print work and artistic pursuits – where having the pixel prowess of a medium format camera and the speed of a pro body + decent video is a cost effective tool. Perspective: 50mp out of camera is smaller than 20x30in. – not impressive if you’re printing 44 or 60in. on the short side, having to deal with various levels of cropping, and dealing with even more of a deficit if when printing to larger sheets of substrate (Oce’ / Arizona printers, etc.)
Assuming 85mp is true – it’s hardly “insane”. It’s simply more useable/versatile to many.