2024 Summer Olympics: First assignment and first time using the new Canon R1 and Canon R5 II (for real)

As you know, yesterday was my chance to try and figure out a little bit about the press center, transportation and just getting a feel for these Paris Olympics. I ended up falling asleep at 9:45pm (while in the middle of a phone call no less) and then waking up at 2:30am this morning with my AirPods in my ears and my phone next to me. That is a first. I guess that defines exhaustion!

This morning, since I was up so early, I took the time to tweak all the settings for the two Canon R1 and the one Canon R5 II pre-production cameras. I also went down and had my first breakfast at the hotel, and I have to say, it was not too bad. I guess there really is no bad food in France.

I had to be at the MPC at 10am to photograph the press conference for the women of USA Water Polo. I decided to walk to the train station again, which was faster since I kinda knew where I was going. But I got to the station to find out that train I wanted doesn't start service until 10am. What the heck?? So I ran and found a taxi and made it to the MPC with a half hour to spare. 

For this event I decided to use a Canon R1 with the new Canon 100-300mm lens and for the up-close portraits I brought the Canon R5 II with a Canon RF 24-70mm wide lens. I moved around the room with the R1 to get different angles. This is actually the first time that I have used both cameras for any real photos and I have to tell you, they were both amazing. Super sharp images, almost perfect exposure every time, focus locking in and holding perfectly, and the eye control of the R1 is SO COOL! The Canon R1 was locking in perfectly on whomever I was looking at. I am really looking forward to Saturday when I can put the camera to a test with fast action sports.

I spent most of my time in the 5th row to isolate each of the athletes, but also far enough back to get multiple subjects in the frame. Here is a nice shot of Maggie and Ashley with big smiles on their faces.

Again, because I was using the Canon 100-300mm lens, I could zoom in and out to get tighter portraits if I wanted.

I purposely zoomed out enough to include the "Paris 2024" logo at the bottom of the frame.

And of course, there is no shortage of logos to include.

I usually look for those big smiles, up close...

...and in groups.

The job of a photographer is to tell the story, and the story here is how much these young ladies love each other. The camaraderie of this group is incredible, and this definitely comes through in the images.

This photo was taken when a reporter asked Kaleigh if this was her last Olympics (since she originally said that Tokyo would be her last), in which she answered with a very confident "Yes!"

And then it was time for the others to answer the same question. But they were not as definitive.

I love the smiles...

I took about 180 images during the press conference and kept 101 in total. 

After the press conference was over, I switched from the Canon R1 with the long lens to the Canon R5 II with the wide lens. Now it was my time to say hello to these awesome women who I have not seen since Tokyo, and take some portraits for the team.

Here are the athletes with their coach, Adam Krikorian.

And one last shot with their collegiate banners.

After the press conference I immediately went to the press room to download, rank, retouch, and deliver images to the team. I retouched and delivered the best 37 images in 10 minutes. 

I then grabbed some lunch before heading back to the same conference room to capture some images of the US swimmers, including Katie Ledecky.

Now you might think that I am picky (and I am), but I was not happy with the lighting in the conference room. If you notice in both press conferences, the light is too high (causing darkness in the eyes) and too close to the people on stage (throwing shadows on each other). I mentioned this to my contact at USA Water Polo and he suggested that I talk to the people in charge. I actually talked to the IT people and suggested fixing that for future press conferences. 

Tomorrow morning is the press conference for the USA Water Polo men's team. Let's see if the lighting is better.

__________________________________________________________

• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa Costa Rica and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.

 _________________________________________________________________  

Olympics in Paris - Day One: Trying to figure it all out, and stay awake!

Today has been a REALLY long day! I woke up at 6:45am on Monday and caught my flight to Paris. I barely slept on the plane (since I am not very good at that) and then landed here this Tue morning and hit the ground running. I am going to take you through the day, and you will have to excuse any typos in this blog post since I have been up for the last 29 hours straight.

I landed in Paris around 10:30am and still look pretty awake for this photo. This was taken right after we got off the plane. I always love seeing the Olympic imagery upon landing!

The next step was to get my credentials laminated. They actually embed an RFID tag into the credentials to help speed the security process at each venue.

I was given a Navigo card which lets me use any of the public transportation in the city at no cost.

For the first time in my Olympic experience, there was no transportation provided for us from the airport to our hotels, so after checking out my options, I decided to take a taxi. I figured it would be faster and easier with all my luggage. It was the right call for sure. As we drove by some of the venues I grabbed some shots with my iPhone.

This is one of the swimming venues, which turns out to be the venue where water polo will be played up until the medal rounds.

I then got to my hotel and it was pretty much what I expected. Nothing fancy, that is for sure, but it seems to be clean, comfortable and decent enough for me. I had two twin beds, so I crammed them together to make more room for me and my stuff.

I am staying near La Défense (an area within the city of Paris), and decided to take the long walk to the train station to get the lay of the land.

I was admiring the architecture, and also frustrated that I could not find the train station. 

As I walked closer to the train station, I came across this Olympic venue. I am really happy to say that I am walking distance from the swimming venue. This makes life easier for the times I am photographing swimming at the end of the day, or when water polo gets moved to this venue for the medal rounds.

After an hour of walking and taking the train one stop, I finally made it to the Main Press Center (MPC).

This is the first floor where they have displays and shops.

The second floor is where all the photographer's are set up. I went straight to the Canon CPS booth to meet up with my friends and to get two Canon R1 cameras and a Canon R5II camera to borrow for the length of the Olympics. Woo hoo!

On the second floor is where we have the photographer's working area. It was also on this floor where I picked up my photographer vest. I am the photographer with vest number 2912. See if you can find me on your TV. :)

They even have a post office for us.

This is the transportation desk. I spent a fair amount of time there today trying to figure out how to get around these Olympic Games.

They have a small store for us to purchase Olympic clothing and gifts. 

And as I do every Olympics, I wanted to get a photo of myself in one of the media interview rooms. I saw a couple of photographers talking just outside the room and asked if one of them would take my photo. I was lucky enough to run into Roger Sedres (who turns out to be a blog reader of mine) and we took photos of each other.  My new Facebook banner shot. Thanks Roger! :)

Guess what? The MPC is located on top of a mall, so there are some really good cafes, restaurants, and even a Starbucks on site. Amazing!!!! The only bad part is that we have to go back outside the secure zone to eat and then go back through security to get back into the MPC. But that is not a huge deal. 

After I completed everything I need to get done at the MPC, I then took a press bus (yes, they actually have some of them) to the Main Aquatics Center. This is where water polo is played until the medal rounds, and also diving is located here. I wanted to scout out the pool and meet the photo manager and staff.

Honestly, my first impression of the pool is not great. Look at the harsh light that is coming across the pool. And this photo was taken from one of the 4 approved photo positions. Not good!

I walked to each shooting position and had the same issues. I had a long talk with the photo manager and his assistants about this. We are all hoping that this can be solved in the next couple of days.

Here you can see the 4 approved photo positions on the pool deck and the three high positions. 

I was given a tour by one of the photo staff (who was awesome) and found out that the media room is not in the pool building. It is located about one block away in a temporary tent. You might be thinking "so what - it is only a block", but this means that I have to run back from the pool to try and make my 15 minute deadline of delivering images to the team!

Here is the outside of the media room.

I took this photo of the swimming venue from the half way spot in between the venue and media room. 

This is the first time I have ever seen the diving in the same venue as water polo. I had a good time watching the divers practice.

I even broke out my Canon R5 to grab a couple of photos. All I had was my 24-70mm lens with me, but I was still able to get some fun photos.

Here is one of those photos.

Now I am back in my hotel room, writing this blog and configuring the new cameras. I will be using the preproduction Canon R1 and Canon R5II cameras a lot for the next 3 weeks and will let you know what I think, once I put them through some serious work!

Now that it is after 9pm here in Paris, it is time to get some sleep!!!

Tomorrow I have to be at the MPC fairly early to photograph the media event for the women of USA Water Polo. 

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa Costa Rica and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.

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New NBC Olympic Interview which ran last night

I am now here in Paris and spent my first day getting the lay of the land here, but before I tell you all about that, I wanted to share this interview which ran last night on NBC on the West Coast.

You can see the interview HERE or by clicking on the image below.

And now I am working on the blog post to show you my first day on the Olympic grounds. Coming soon!

__________________________________________________________

• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa Costa Rica and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.

 _________________________________________________________________  

 

Here is the ALL the gear I am taking to Paris for the Summer Olympics!

Here we go!!! The Opening Ceremony for the Summer Olympics in Paris will be happening later this week, and I am packed up and heading out soon.

As you can see, I am taking a good amount of gear with me to Paris. Most of what you see here is the cameras and lenses, but all the supporting accessories are equally important to my success in the coming weeks.

With that said, I will start with the Canon gear. For this image, you can see that I have two of the Canon R3 cameras in the photo, but those are just placeholders since I will be picking up two of the new Canon R1 cameras when I get to Paris. I have one smaller camera (Canon R5) for times when I want to be more nimble and don't need the fast frame rate of the Canon R1. I usually use the smaller camera in the mix zone (where the press interview the athletes after each game), and also when I take photos around the city or the Olympic Park.

Here are the lenses I am taking with me:

* Canon RF 100-300mm (with RF 1.4x and RF 2x tele adaptors)

* Canon RF 100-500mm

* Canon RF 70-200mm 

* Canon RF 24-70mm

* Canon RF 15-35mm

* Canon EF 8-15mm fish eye

This will be my first Olympic Games using the new Canon RF 100-300mm lens. I am super excited about this lens for numerous reasons. For one, it is a perfect focal range for most of the action I plan to capture. Secondly, it is an f/2.8 lens which let's me shoot at lower ISO indoor and get super sharp images. Thirdly, it is smaller and lighter then my Canon EF 200-400mm lens. And lastly, I can add the Canon RF1.4x or Canon RF2x adaptors to extend the reach of the lens and still be at f/4 or f/5.6. I think that this will be my "go-to lens" for most of the Olympics.

I also have a plethora of other lenses I am bringing me with. I have the Canon RF 100-500mm lens for outdoor events where I might be handholding and want and even smaller lighter lens. I never go anywhere with my Canon RF 70-200mm lens, as this is my favorite portrait lens and is usually perfect for sports where I am close to the action (like tennis, gymnastics, fencing...). The wide lenses are generally for interviews and times where I want an environmental shot. Since Canon has the CPS area within the Main Press Center (MPC), I may also borrow some specialty lenses if needed. It is great to know they are there with all their goodies. I plan on sneaking back there and showing you all images of that multi-million dollar storage area. Oh, I even though flashes are not allowed during any Olympic sporting events, I still bring a Canon 600 EX-RT flash in case I need it for portraits or lighting a subject during night shots.

You will see that I have a whole bunch of the new ProGrade Digital CFexpress 4.0 Iridium memory cards and ProGrade Digital SD memory cards and readers with me. I will have two of each of these in each camera, with the larger 1.6TB cards in the second slot of the Canon R1, basically acting a backup. I always shoot redundant images to both cards. These are the brand new USB 4.0 cards that, when combined with the new USB 4.0 readers will transfer all of my photos at blazing fast speeds. This is critical for my workflow since my Olympic deadlines are 15 minutes. Yes - that means that I need to download and go through thousands of photos, pick the best, retouch them, and get them back to the team in that crazy fast timeline. 

Speaking of workflow, I am taking the new Apple MacBook Pro M3 Max laptop with me. This is going to be at my side all day and everyday, either at my shooting location or in the venue press center. This laptop has a really large SSD, 128GB of RAM, an awesome screen and enough USB 4.0 ports to keep me happy. Even though I love the size of my Apple MacBook Air 15 inch for my photo tours and ultra-portable scenarios, for the Olympics I need the extreme power of the MacBook Pro to achieve my goals. 

Before I leave I will be calibrating the monitor with the Datacolor Spyder x2 color calibrator to make sure that the screen is showing me accurate color representation. I will bring a calibrator with me as well, and probably do a second calibration mid way through the Olympics.

Even though the MacBook Pro has a ton of SSD storage (this model has 8TB), I still rely on external SSDs to backup my data. I have been using Crucial SSDs for many years and have taken them to numerous Olympic Games. But this year, I am really happy to take the new Crucial 4TB X10 SSDs which are smaller, lighter and faster than ever. I usually try to backup on at least 3 drives throughout the duration of the Games.

Installed on my MacBooks are a couple of key applications. They are:

* Photo Mechanic (which almost every Olympic photographer uses because it is so darned fast)

* Adobe Photoshop (my main retouching application)

I really like having UV filters in front of my lenses, especially at the Olympics. I tend to be a little harder on my equipment during the frenzy of the Olympics, and I like protecting the front elements of my lenses with the Tiffen HT UV filters since they are the highest quality glass around. But this year is even better, since (after years of me pleading with Tiffen to come out with a magnetic filter system) they answered those wishes! I will be bringing the new Tiffen magnetic UV filters as well as magnetic circular polarizers. Heck, I am even using their new filters for my iPhone.

I am bringing a couple of Black Rapid camera straps with me, because, honestly, I really love them and I don't like the Canon camera straps which go around my neck. 

Everything is being packed into two Thinktank camera bags. I have one larger rolling bag and one smaller bag, which gives me choices depending on which events I will be shooting and how much equipment I might need.  

I have two of my older Gitzo monopods which I rely on to save my back. Hand holding large lenses is fine for short spans of time, but to make it through the 3 week grind of the Games, I need some extra help. Tripods are also not allowed in Olympic venues, but I still bring my Gitzo travel tripod for night shots around the city. It packs up small and is always handy to have around.

I have countless other support items going along for the ride, including battery chargers, spare batteries, noise cancelling headphones, Apple AirPods, power strips, adaptors... Oh, and I am bring some clothes too!

After 2 years of planning, the Games are just about here! I am super excited to photograph the Olympics for my 8th time, and love sharing my journey with all of you. Feel free to share this blog with all your friends. The more people following, the more fun it is for me to create them!

__________________________________________________________

• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa Costa Rica and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.

 _________________________________________________________________  

Summer Olympics in Paris: The first app-based Olympics!

Boy how things have changed in a short amount of time. Even the Tokyo Olympics which were only 3 years ago (delayed a year because of the pandemic) had paper tickets, paper sign-ups for high demand events, and press buses to take us everywhere. Now, as I make all the final preparations for the Summer Olympics in Paris, the impact of all the changes has become very apparent. Sure, we have used the web for a lot of the applications and scheduling, but now most everything is app-based. 

As always, my goal is to share with you all what it is like to be a photographer at the Olympics. As part of that, I wanted to share some of the preparation I have gone through this week. 

Oh - and before I do that, I should share with you one more interesting pre-Olympic story. Two weeks ago, and the night before my trip to Peru, I got a call from my contact at Team USA asking if I could photograph a press conference on the morning of July 24th. The problem was, my flight landed at the same time as the press conference. So I spent the first couple of nights in Peru changing airline tickets, hotel reservations and changing all the info on the Olympic websites to show my new arrival times. It was hectic, but all worked out. Now I am heading to Paris a day earlier than originally planned, which means that I can photograph the presser and get one extra day to get time adjusted before the Opening ceremony. OK, back to the subject matter at hand.

I have a whole slew of Olympic applications on my iPhone, some meant for everyone and many for the media only.  And I am going to have to rely on these apps everyday.

As I mentioned in past blog posts, these Olympics are the first to go paperless for all tickets. All spectators will be using the Paris 2024 app for their ticketing.

I am going to use this app to keep track of the schedules, but nothing more.

For the media, we are all using an application called SEAT (Stakeholder Experience and Access Tool). This is where we will have our tickets to show to enter each venue for high demand events (HDE). These are the events like Opening Ceremony, Swim finals, Closing ceremony and some others that may be over crowded. In the past, we would have to go to the main press center (MPC) to our NOC (in my case the USOPC) 24 hours in advance and physically sign up for these events. And then a day later, if we got the ticket, we would have to go back and get the ticket. If all goes as planned, this means that I can get my HDE tickets electronically without having to make the multiple trips to the MPC. I have already requested my ticket for the Opening ceremony, so now it is a waiting game to see what I get.

Transportation is always a huge challenge at the Olympics! It usually takes me 4 or 5 days to figure out the best routes to each venue. This year there is a transportation app which should help with that. Not having a dedicated fleet of press buses (for the first time), it is going to be essential to figure it out.

I mapped out the best way to get from my press hotel to the MPC. With no traffic it looks like this,but with traffic can take more than an hour. Now I need to figure out how to get to the metro station from the hotel. What you don't see if that the same trip via taxi is only 8 minutes. If this is true, I may be taking taxis more often than not (depending on the availability and cost).

Team USA has their own app for information on the athletes and news updates. I will be using this to keep up-to-date on current stories.

Although there does not appear to be an app for the USOPC media hub, there is a web site where we can keep track of press conferences, request one-on-one interviews, get press releases, and apply for the high demand events.

It will be very interesting to see how everything pans out. This digital way could be amazing or a huge challenge, and only time will tell. But like everything at the Olympics, I have to stay flexible and patient in order to survive the 3 weeks!

I am starting to pack everything now and will share the "Olympic gear shot" soon.

__________________________________________________________

• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa Costa Rica and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.

 _________________________________________________________________   

Now I can talk about the ALL NEW Canon R1 and R5II cameras!!!!!

As many of you have expected, I have had a chance to shoot with the new Canon R1 and R5II cameras, but have not been able to tell you about my experiences with the cameras until now. Today Canon officially announced these new cameras and I am free to share my findings with you all.

I have spent most of my time playing with the Canon R1, since I will be using a couple of these cameras at the Olympics in little over a week and wanted to become as familiar as possible with the camera body before putting it to good use in Paris. For that reason, this blog will focus mostly on that new camera. It is not to say that the Canon R5II is not equally exciting, and I expect that I will use both new cameras in Paris this month. But my primary camera of choice for the Olympics will be the Canon R1.

There are a ton of new features to the Canon R1, but I want to focus on the features that I am most excited about. 

Let's get started!

Two CFexpress card slots

First of all, let me start with the one hardware change that I have wanted for a really long time! The camera has two CFexpress slots. I have really enjoyed using the Canon R3 camera, but even when I first used the pre-production camera at the Tokyo Olympics, I was not happy with the SD card slot. I always shoot to the same images to both cards (for redundancy reasons). Because the SD cards are so much slower than the newer CFexpress cards, it slowed down the buffer clear in the camera, and I did miss some shots because the buffer was full. I had a long talk with the Canon engineers in Tokyo about this. Now, with the Canon R1, I can't imagine I will ever have that issue again. Not only does it have two really fast card slots, it has blazing fast processing speed and a large internal buffer,  

Eye control

The Canon R3 had eye control, but honestly I tried it in Tokyo and turned it off. I was super excited about this feature when I was briefed about it, but it did not live up to my expectations. With the Canon R1, everything has changed. The Canon R1 has a much improved eye control system and it is amazing! I had a chance to use the new camera a couple of weeks ago, with some other photographers at a special meeting with Canon, and we all agreed that this new eye control was light years better than the one on the R3. I expect that I will use the new eye control at all times, regardless of what I am shooting. (One hint - I turn off the on-screen tracking icon as I find it distracting. But even without the indicator, the camera still focuses on whomever I am looking at. It is awesome!!! I really look forward to using this in Paris for the Olympics!

Pre-continuous shooting

I know that some other brands of cameras have had this feature for a little while, but since I am a Canon shooter, I have never tried anything like it. What does it do? This feature allows you to hit the shutter button of the camera (as long as you are holding it half way down) and it will go back half a second and write those images to the memory card. The first night that I had the Canon R1 in my hands, we had a big storm in Arizona. I opened the balcony door to my hotel room to try and capture images of the lightning. After a couple of failed attempts at capturing images with a long shutter time, the rain was getting too hard and I could not rest the camera on the ledge of my deck for the long exposure. Then I realized that this would be the perfect time to try the pre-capture. I stayed mostly in my room (out of the rain) and waited for a strike of lightning. I was holding the button half way down when the strike happened. As soon as I saw the flash I hit the shutter button. The camera wrote the previous half second worth of images to my memory card and voila, I had the photo!

(I can show you the image this way, but can't post the actual image since it was taken with a pre-production camera.)

I can see myself using this feature at the Olympics when photographing the fast action sports. There are times when I miss a shot because I did not anticipate what happened at the moment. It would be really great to be able to go back and get what I missed. This was the case in Arizona when I tested the camera during a basketball and soccer game. I have not used the camera enough to know how much of a battery drain this is, but I suspect that it would degrade the battery life by a fair amount. This is not a major issue, since the benefits far outweigh what might be shorter battery life.

Sticky focus

Back in January of 2021, I wrote a blog post about what I wanted in the next flagship Canon camera. And if you look at that post, you will see that Canon actually delivered on almost everything for the Canon R1. I stated back then that I wanted even better focusing. I can tell you that when I have used the pre-production R1, the focus is extremely fast and very sticky. By that, I mean that the camera will stay focused on my subject even when another person might cross in front of them. This is VERY important to me. 

Variable burst rates

Again, going back to the blog post from 2021, I wanted the ability to change the burst rate for the high-end camera, and now they gave that to us. The new Canon R1 can capture up to 40 frames per second, but I rarely need that speed. I love that I can customize the burst rates to fit my needs. I will likely set the top burst rate to 25 fps (or something like that) for most situations, but I can see cranking that up to the full 40fps for sports like Olympic diving, where I want to capture the diver right at the split second when their hands are breaking the plane of the water.

Noise reduction

While most people are asking for higher resolution in their cameras, I am asking for cleaner images with less noise (grain) at higher ISOs. During my briefing with Canon, they told me that this new camera produces a much cleaner image at high ISO. I had a chance to test that a little and found this to be true. I want to do more testing in the future.

Prioritizing people

I was expecting many of the new features of the Canon R1, but one feature that surprised me more than all the others was the people prioritization.  With this feature, you can take a photo of someone and register that person (and up to 9 others in order of priority) in the camera. Once the image(s) are registered, the camera will look for those people and lock in on them like never before. This is really interesting and could be very useful at the Olympics when I want to isolate one athlete in particular. I also found a way to quickly turn that on and off with a single button press, so that I can determine when the camera should highlight that subject and the times that I prefer not to to highlight that subject (even though that person might be in the frame).

No rolling shutter

In all the previous mirrorless cameras from Canon, there has been an issue with rolling shutter (distortion with high speed objects). The Canon R1 does not have a global shutter, but is so fast at capturing images on the new sensor, that rolling shutter should no longer be an issue. I can tell you that in all then images I have captured with the pre-production camera, I have seen no distortion. 

No blackout

I have had times when I have shooting images and had to deal with the blackout in the viewfinder in between frames. When taking photos at really fast shutter speeds, this is not an issue, but when shooting with a slow shutter, it is very distracting. The new Canon R1 now has no blackout in between frames, which should make my motion panning a lot easier.

Video and Stills at the same time

I don't shoot a lot of video with my cameras, but I know that a lot of you might. In the past, when I did shoot video clips from an event, I would refrain from taking any still photos (which is a problem because I am hired to shoot stills for my clients). The reason I would not shoot stills is that it would interrupt the video to capture the still, basically rendering the video useless in my opinion. With the Canon R1, you can now capture video and stills without interrupting each other. This is a great feature for those like my son and daughter-in-law who capture stills and video for clients.

Two stage AF-ON button

Canon has basically turned the AF-ON button into two buttons, allowing us to program one function for a half press and another function while pressing all the way down on the button. I have not really played with this much, but will give it a try soon. I am intrigued by this, but afraid that I will have a hard time half pressing this button since I have years of muscle memory cramming it down all the way for every shot.

There are still some things that I wish were improved even more on the R1. Here is that list:

Resolution

The resolution of the Canon R1 is 24.2 megapixels. Although this is adequate for most everything I photograph, I do wish that they had increased the resolution to 30MP or 35MP and then given me a choice to turn that down if I wanted.

Flash Synch Speed

In the past, we have been limited to a flash synch speed of 1/250 sec. This is fine, but I would really love to have a flash synch speed that is much faster. They have improved the flash synch speed to 1/320 sec in the R1, but I wish that had been even more of an improvement.  

Camera weight

Having used the flagship products for many years, and knowing how much wear and tear it takes on my body, I wish that new Canon R1 was lighter than previous models, but that is not the case. I know that this might be asking a little too much, but hey, I guy can ask. 

The Canon R5 II

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, I decided to focus most of my attention on the Canon R1, but that is not to discount my excitement about the new Canon R5II. This new camera shares some of the high-end features of the Canon R1. Notably, the excellent focus system, pre-continuous shooting and even the eye control. During my offsite with Canon, we were told that the new Canon R5II has 95% of the focus system as the R1. That is amazing!

This camera will not achieve the burst rate of the R1, but honestly, it is not designed to be the ultimate sports camera, and the burst rate is plenty for fast action and wildlife. Combining the new focus system with the 45 megapixels makes for an awesome camera in my opinion. I see myself upgrading to this camera as soon as they are available. 

It still has a combination of CFexpress and SD slots, which makes for slower buffer clear. But I have dealt with that for many years in the existing Canon R5 and will have to stick it out at least one more revision, to see what Canon does after this. 

Conclusion

At $6299 (R1) and $4299 (R5II), these are not inexpensive cameras, but having used both of them, I see them as really solid additions to my camera bags to help me get even better images. 

I have to tell you that I am SUPER excited about both cameras and can not wait to put the Canon R1 to use in Paris. Even though we all know that the camera does not make the photographer, with these latest improvements I expect to capture even better photos than I did in the past. I guess only time will tell. 

Now as we approach the Summer Olympics, my big question is...will Adobe have the RAW support for these cameras in the next week or so?

You can all look forward to seeing my Canon R1 images from Paris in a week or so, as I plan to be shooting with at least two of these cameras, and maybe an Canon R5II as well!

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa Costa Rica and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.

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The Summer Olympics in Paris - Credentials are here!

Let me start this blog post by saying this: It is a great day! And why is it a great day? Because I just received my Olympic photo credentials for the Summer Olympics in Paris. 

The Olympic planning process is one that takes almost two years, that involves the following steps:

* Submitting the credential application

* A six month wait for the application approval

* Submission of photo, passport, security information, and more

* Gaining access to the official press intranet site

* Research and application for housing 

* Contract negotiations and approvals

* And much more...

And all of this work becomes reality when I get my official press credentials delivered. It is always a great day when the credentials arrive, and yesterday was that day!

I get a lot of emails from people telling me that they like following the blog, but they especially like following along during the Olympics. People often ask me if it is OK to share the blog with others, and of course this is great. Feel free to spread the word to your friends and family. The more people following along on the blog, the better. 

I am really excited to be going to Paris to cover these Games for Team USA, and I am really looking forward to sharing the experience with all of you. I will be sharing what it is like to be there and the "behind-the-scenes" of the Games. I will be talking about the new equipment I am using, the crazy stories that happen, the challenges, the good and the bad. All of which makes the Olympic roller coaster that us photographers ride every two years.   Well folks, buckle up because we are less than a month away from the Opening Ceremony!

The credentials are here, and my 8th Olympics is about to happen! (And no....I never take any of this for granted.)

__________________________________________________________

• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• You can now purchase Jeff Cable Photography images from my new fine art site at: https://fineart.jeffcable.com/

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa Costa Rica and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.

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