July 29th 2025: Camera tech

I've used Canon cameras since my very first – a Canon AE-1 that I bought way back in 1993. I loved that camera and its FD lenses and wish I still had the kit. But I had to sell it to fund a Canon Eos 5, a model that had jumped way forward to a whole new era of camera and new EF autofocus lenses. At the time purists were really against autofocus – well-heeled manual focus pundits were suddenly finding their skill redundant. It was a new era for Canon, much the same way their latest R-series cameras and RF lenses have changed the game. 

I have over the years tried a few different brands. Some of them were very good, but they always felt like I was driving someone else's car. I always fell back to the familiarity and dependability of my Canon cameras and lenses. Especially when shooting commercially when the pressure is on and there is no room for error!

Not long before the All Blacks test here in Dunedin, Canon sent me the latest Canon R1. The R1 is the Formula 1 of high-performance sports cameras. It doesn't get any better and it's an absolute workhorse for stills and filming. To give you an idea of how good it is – it can focus track the eye of an All Black running head-on into the try zone without a single bad frame out of the 40 it can take each second. That's impressive. 

I remember chatting with another pro photographer at that game and realising that we no longer had to check the focus on the shots – we just chose the best one compositionally, knowing it would be pin sharp. 

Traditionally the 1-series Canon's have always been workhorses and have paid the price with big batteries and heavy bodies. Somehow the R1 comes in at just over 1kg (1115g). That's a huge boon for professionals who are wielding these things around all day. And that's made even better with the RF lenses all being way lighter, too. 

The tech in these for filming and stills is extraordinary. One of the most amazing pieces of engineering is a focus system that can see where your eye is looking in the viewfinder and attach focus to that point. Randomly, the Eos 5 from way back actually had a similar system that would detect which of five points you were looking at. This new system is exponentially better, but also quite spooky and takes a bit to get used to. I've learnt over the years to trust the tech and the results will follow. 

Most of the photos in today's Box of Light are taken with the Canon R1 ... enjoy. 

See you at the beach, Derek

PS You may recall a few months back we included a few photos from a very cool project – filming a music video for local band, The Beatniks. I'm so stoked to let you know that this past Friday they released the film and their brand new song, Another Day. Here's the link ... enjoy! Thank you to Lily Jane for the superb edit and all the band members for being so great to work with. Add them to your playlist and be sure to catch them live.