A Wildlife Photographer’s Perspective – Canon Rumors

December 19, 2024

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Words and Images: Joshua Holko www.jholko.com

Backstory: I have been a full-time professional Nature and wildlife photographer for almost thirty years (www.jholko.com). I have specialised in Polar and sub-polar photography and have made over 100 expeditions to both the Arctic and Antarctic.

I have owned and shot nearly every single 1-series Canon Camera since the original EOS 1n and EOS 1n RS. I resisted the shift to digital for many years (I was in love with transparency film then) and only committed to digital cameras when the original EOS 5D was released.

The instant feedback from the histogram made me an immediate convert, and I sold off my film cameras shortly thereafter. After the 5D, I owned and shot the EOS 1D MK3, Mk4, 1DS MKII and MKIII and the 1DX MKI, MKII and MKIII. I still own an EOS R5 and EOS R5 MKII (although I rarely use them) and owned and shot two EOS R3’s from their release until I purchased and took delivery of two of Canon’s new EOS R1 flagship cameras a month or so ago (the first delivered in Australia).

I purchased all of these cameras with my own money. Although Canon has supported me for many years in various ways, they have never gifted me cameras or lenses. Nor have I ever asked them for free equipment. We have a professional business supplier relationship, and I prefer to keep it that way.

This report isn’t a full review of the Canon EOS R1. There are plenty of those online, and the world doesn’t need another. Nor is this meant to be a performance review of everything the R1 is capable of. Rather, this is a field report on my experiences and impressions shooting with the EOS R1 and how it performed for my needs in one of Earth’s most remote and hostile places.

For nature and wildlife photographers, the Canon EOS R1 represents a quantum leap forward in technology. The camera enables the photographer to successfully capture images that were either impossible or extremely difficult beforehand.

This enabling is primarily due to the combination of pre-capture, phenomenal high ISO performance, and the 40 fps RAW shooting offered by the EOS R1. However, the story runs much deeper than just pre-capture, ISO performance, and frame rate, and some context is necessary to better understand this report.

Canon EOS R1 - Joshua Holko www.jholko.com

I recently returned from a two-week (early December 2024) extreme camping expedition on the frozen sea ice of Gould Bay in the Weddell Sea region of Antarctica. To the best of my knowledge, this was the first time anyone had taken Canon’s new flagship EOS R1 to Antarctica, and it was undoubtedly the first time anyone had photographed Emperor Penguins on the frozen sea ice with the camera.

This expedition aimed to photograph Emperor penguins and their young chicks at the world’s most southerly colony before the colony disbanded for the season and went to sea. The timing of the expedition was early December, which proved ideal as the chicks were off their parent’s feet and highly active in the colony. This timing provided plenty of action and the ideal hostile environment to field test Canon’s new flagship camera.

I should preface this article further by stating that my experience and opinions are based on actual real-world usage. For over a week, I camped in a tent on the frozen sea ice at Gould Bay, deep in the Weddell Sea region of Antarctica. To access this location, I flew by private charter plane from Chile to Union Glacier deep in Antarctica. I then took another charter Basler aircraft another three hours out onto the frozen sea ice at Gould Bay. Here, we established a camp on the sea ice from which I would walk the roughly two-kilometre return route across the ice to the main colony daily.

At this time of year, and this far south, the sun remains high, providing 24-hour daylight to photograph. Typically, I chose to photograph at night when the sun was lower, and the light was soft and ethereal. Overcast days were preferred as bright sunny days result in overly strong contrast and an extreme dynamic range that blows out the white feathers on the penguins.

The sea ice of Gould Bay is about as remote and extreme a location as to be found anywhere on Earth. It was the perfect testing ground for the new flagship EOS R1. These are my opinions after a real-world expedition (not a zoo visit or Nature walk). Based on this experience with the EOS R1s on sea ice, I can confidently report that this camera is a game-changer for wildlife photography in extreme environments.

Build Quality, Durability and Ergonomics

The EOS R1 is built like a tank. Like all of Canon’s 1-series cameras, it feels as if you could hammer nails with it. Years ago, with near-frozen fingers, I dropped a 1-series from the open door of a helicopter as I was coming in to land at Fox Glacier in the South Island of New Zealand. The camera bounced across the rock-hard ice before coming to rest in a small melt pool. On landing (and after some swearing), I retrieved the camera, screwed a lens on it and went straight back to photographing the ice formations. Other than a few cosmetic knocks, the camera never missed a beat. While I have not dropped the EOS R1 from a helicopter, I accidentally dropped it on some glacial ice in Antarctica from eye level while fumbling with my phone. Other than some choice words at the time, no damage was done.

While I would never advocate deliberately dropping any camera, the EOS R1 does match up with its ancestors in build quality and durability, and not much more needs to be said. It is quite literally built for a warzone.

The EOS R1 is undoubtedly the toughest tool in Canon’s arsenal and the ideal camera for any unforgiving environment. I would not hesitate to take this camera anywhere for any assignment or project.

On the Antarctic sea ice, where temperatures can plummet well below freezing, the magnesium alloy body and weather-sealing performed flawlessly for the duration of the expedition. Despite heavy snow, strong winds, and exposure to saltwater spray, the cameras never faltered.

Although I have yet to test them, there is no reason to believe that the EOS R1s will not perform equally well in extremely hot and humid environments. I found the new textured rubber on the EOS R1 to be a small improvement over the EOS R3 and 1DXMK3. The difference in the hand is subtle, but the camera feels solid in the hand (even with gloves on). In practical use, I didn’t notice the slight increase in weight over the EOS R3.

I have long maintained that camera ergonomics are significantly more important than megapixels. If a camera’s controls do not fall intuitively under the fingers, then the photographer is going to struggle with making quick, creative changes on the fly. When this happens, the photographer is going to have to stop thinking about the subject in front of them and start thinking about how they are going to make the required changes to the camera’s settings.

In other words, they will have to work as a technician rather than an artist. In my experience, it is vital to free up your brain in the field from the limiting constraints of the camera’s controls so that you can work freely and creatively as an artist. The moment you have to stop in the field and think about what you are doing ‘technically’ with the camera is the moment you are no longer being creative.

Many photographers never reach this point as they upgrade their cameras too often and never learn to master the tools they already own. Learning to work the camera’s controls with muscle memory is a critical skill that will improve your photography without bounds. One of the keys to mastering your camera’s controls and developing muscle memory of your camera’s controls is how you interact with your camera’s ergonomics.

I have large hands and find that the buttons on the EOS R1 fall naturally under my fingers without the need to stretch or reach and without having to think about where my fingers fall on the camera.

Camera ergonomics are highly personal and much depends on your hand size and personal preferences for button location. In my case, the EOS R1 is perfect for my hand size, with the buttons falling naturally under my fingers. If you are considering adding an EOS R1 (or any new camera) to your equipment list, I encourage you to test drive first to see how the ergonomics work for you.

By comparison, I find the buttons on both my R5 cameras to be too close together, and I struggle with these cameras as a result (especially with gloves on). It is also why I dislike Sony cameras. The buttons are too small and placed too closely together for my sized hands. The ergonomics of Sony cameras don’t work for me, making them a non-starter.

Image Quality

The R1’s 24MP full-frame sensor delivers stunning detail, dynamic range, and colour fidelity. Emperor penguins are a challenging subject, with their striking black-and-white contrasting feathers, subtle colour tones and finely detailed feathers.

The R1 rendered these nuances beautifully, capturing the ultra-fine texture of their feathers and the delicate yellow gradations of their upper feathers. High ISO and IBIS performance were another standout feature, allowing me to shoot handheld when I wanted to slow shutter speed without sacrificing image quality.

This expedition was not the best test for high ISO performance with 24-hour daylight and highly reflective ice and snow. It was never necessary to set the camera to anything more than ISO400. If you are interested in the high ISO performance of the R1 I encourage you to read the detailed article I wrote on how this camera performs and how it sets a new standard for high ISO performance.