Everyone is different but I really like my R1 and have owned a couple of R5's and still have one of them. The R5 gets very little use lately as I have really come to appreciate the R1. First the ergonomics are much better for me. I have large hands and fat fingers and the R5 is just too small to be comfortable in my hands. The R1 physically fits me much better and my fingers don't get crunched between the grip and certain lenses. It weighs noticeably less than a gripped R5 with two batteries. I have the R5 not the R5II but the viewfinder is much better. Large and bright with the least eye strain of any camera I've used. Given these things alone the R1 is just more enjoyable for me to shoot with.
Spec wise I think the fast read out speed of the R1 is very underestimated. The high flash sync is huge if you use flash outside. No rolling shutter issues at all including with pre-capture shots that typically have very fast action to freeze. The battery drives super telephoto lenses noticeably faster and has no reduction in performance in the cold or when it isn't fully charged.
I feel the camera gets dismissed due to its lowly 24MP but for my final output (print or agency) I actually prefer the R1 files. They are sharper at the per pixel level, more malleable in photoshop and have far less noise and artifacts to clean up.
Sep 20, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Previous versions of Pete73's message #17109836 « Canon R1 »
