EOS R Firmware 1.9?

[Janglean]

Hey there Canon faithful, has anyone heard if Canon will be giving any firmware updates to the EOS R?  I would love to see Animal Eye Tracking added.  Since Canon obviously has the AI in other cameras I am hoping us R shooters could get that too!

[Peter]

Not heard, but there are two versions of 1.8.0. One from 2020 (sha256 checksum dedd2f56234974da718d9a504671d62afb67dd93da78e8e9f9cf6b439574802e) and one from 2021 (sha256 checksum 6d30073a59e58b4a8a500904f0609c7313b12763ceb0bb4cf145d40d4a300ad1)

[Janglean]

Hey Peter thanks for responding, I connected my R to the EOS software and it said I am up do date so I looks like I'm good there.  Hopefully we can get the Animal Eye AF into the R at some point.

[sceneit]

There's not really a point to putting such features in the EOS R. It is a super nice camera but the old, slow sensor really holds it back. With the new AF in Canon camera's its not *just* a software solution, it's also strongly related to the sensor design. While the R does have a DPAF sensor, it is an older model thought to be based on the 5D IV's sensor from 2016. Of course the 5D IV is primarily a DSLR that also has some live view capability. I doubt the R's sensor has the ability to readout fast enough for all the high end features like animal eye AF, just because the situations where that is really helpful are so demanding, ie, lots of movement in the scene.

[Lotus7]

Although hope springs eternal  among us "Canon Faithful", I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Animal Eye Tracking on the EOS R.  I owned a EOS R since the first week they were available, and had hoped that Canon would add automatic focus stacking (a relatively simple bit of code that simply adds a small offset to the focus setting for each of a specified number of frames), since it was included in the RP, R5 and R6.  That code is dramatically less sophisticated than the AI-based animal eye tracking, but it was never added to the R programming. 

Like all manufacturers who must continue to provide an ongoing, continuous profit to their owners or shareholders, Canon will typically reserve such "major" functional improvements or new features for the latest model.  It's a standard business model and it does generally work.  Case in point: I did buy a R5 and having a specific feature I "needed" certainly was one factor in that purchase decision.  Of course the sharp, low noise sensor and the amazingly responsive focus capability were certainly the main reasons for the upgrade.  I still love the R, but it's never used for macro work.  I'd strongly expect that future firmware releases for the EOS R, if any, will be limited to minor "bug" fixes, and/or lens correction tables for new RF lenses.  However, if Animal Eye Tracking ever appears in a future EOS R firmware update, I would be eternally grateful to the Canon Gods.

[Waddizzle]

As noted above, there is more to adding the feature than a firmware change.  The cameras with Eye AF have both faster sensors and faster processors.  A firmware update cannot fix that shortcoming.

[Janglean]

The R does have eye AF, just for the people part of the equation.  That is why I am hopeful to see the feature for animals as well.

[thevatical]

Yes. I don't buy the faster sensor ++ improvements argument when the R does have eye AF for humans.  It is just a market-tested,  abandoned camera left in the pasture to die, and you have to buy the latest upgraded body to get animal eye AF.  I'll keep using it for portraits and landscapes.

[sceneit]

It's true that the R has human eye AF but in my experience it's almost useless. The R has almost always been really bad about servo AF on moving subjects but with eye AF it really is the worst RF camera. The RP is better for servo AF which is weird but true. I have both and I have top end RF L lenses like the 70-200 f/2.8. Those lenses focus better on the RP. In fact, the RP is shockingly accurate for being the supposed bottom of the barrel full frame camera. I think that if Canon could improve the R they would. It doesn't really make sense to think Canon would intentionally leave the R to be gimped when they have piled updates into all their other cameras and made the RP better at half the price. Honestly, if you want a better focusing R, just sell it and buy the RP or get a used R6. Having downed the R I'll say that a lot of pro's still use the R for product photography because it does take nice pictures. Pro's don't care about eye AF and they never have. It's a feature for commoners not real photography. Sorry.

[Venkman]

You must only have experience in a very narrow field of photography because plenty of professional photographers use eye AF. A portrait/editorial/fashion photographer, probably not. However, event photographers, often use it. Also plenty of people who you refer to as "commoners" also do "real photography." Just because someone isn't paying you doesn't mean it isn't "real photography." 😉

Any body interested in the real reason animal eye AF won't come to the R see Lotus' post. Just like with a lot of tech, the hold back is for market reasons not technical specs.