• Canon South Africa has confirmed the local availability and recommended pricing for two new flagship cameras announced this month.
• Designed for professionals, the new Canon full-frame mirrorless cameras are the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II.
• Both cameras are also powered by a new Accelerated Capture imaging platform and Deep Learning.

Last week Canon announced two professional-grade full-frame mirrorless cameras in the form of the EOS R1 (pictured above) and EOS R5 Mark II.

At the time local photography stores began listing the cameras for pre-order, but now Canon South Africa has confirmed when each will arrive in the country, as well as how much they are recommended to retail for when they do.

To that end, for the bodies only, Canon South Africa has confirmed the following RRPs:

• Canon EOS R1 – R140 000,
• Canon EOS R5 Mark II – R90 000.

In terms of availability, the R1 is expected in local stores in November this year, while the R5 Mark II will land far earlier in late-August. Either way, these cameras will not come cheap, which is why they are graded for photographers, with Canon noting sports, news, and wildlife photographers in particular will get the most of their rich feature sets and high specced components.

“The release of the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II full frame mirrorless cameras marks a monumental moment in Canon’s history – the EOS R1 being the first camera in the EOS R range within the EOS-1 series – known for its legacy of high performance and reliability. The EOS R5 Mark II succeeds the highly acclaimed EOS R5 which combined high resolution, speed and 8K movie performance,” highlighted Canon South Africa in a release sent to Hypertext.

“For the first time, both cameras are introduced with the new ‘Accelerated Capture’ imaging platform comprised of a new processor – the DIGIC Accelerator – along with the well-known high-performance DIGIC X image processor and newly developed high-speed image sensors featured on both new camera models,” it added.

The Japanese camera maker adds that thanks to the new imaging platform present on the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II, both feature the latest version of Dual Pixel CMOS – Dual Pixel Intelligent AF.

This is said to deliver multiple enhancements for sport photographers specifically, including the ability to more accurately track subjects, by identifying the face and upper bodies of players and avoiding obstacles or other players. This is further enhanced by the ability for users to register specific faces, as well as track and prioritise them consistently over other players while snapping away.

Continuing to highlight the performance of the Canon EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II, each feature new high-speed image sensors. This results in faster shooting speeds and faster sensor readout with a 40 percent reduction of rolling shutter in the EOS R1 compared to the EOS R3.

With a similar 60 percent reduction in the EOS R5 Mark II, Canon adds that both models are highly capable in capturing action without any reduction in image quality or dynamic range.

“The cameras newly feature a pre-continuous shooting function offering up to 20 frames (for EOS R1) and 15 frames (for EOS R5 Mark II) to be captured in HEIF/JPEG or RAW format at any frame rate before the shutter is pressed, allowing the key moment to be captured even if it was missed,” said Canon.

“Both feature large, high brightness and resolution blackout-free viewfinders with the EOS R1 featuring the highest resolution at 9.44M dots and the EOS R5 Mark II offering twice the brightness of the EOS R5,” it pointed out.

As you wait for both cameras to land locally, check out a deep dive on their video capabilities from Canon below.

The key specifications and features of the two cameras are as follows: