Canon cameras released during Olympics

 

Canon has a decades-long tradition of timing its flagship camera releases and development announcements around the Olympic Games. The Olympics serve as the ultimate proving ground for high-speed autofocus, rugged build quality, high frame rates, and sports-press agency support through Canon Professional Services (CPS).

 

The Evolution of Canon Olympic Flagships

Canon F-1 High Speed Motor Drive

1972 Munich Olympics

Created specifically for the Munich Games, this custom 35mm film SLR used a fixed semi-transparent pellicle mirror to achieve a groundbreaking 9 frames per second (fps), eliminating viewfinder blackout so sports photographers could track fast action.

Canon New F-1 High Speed Motor Drive

1984 Los Angeles Olympics

As the official sponsor of the 1984 L.A. Games, Canon unveiled a modified New F-1 capable of a blistering 14 fps burst rate—the fastest manual-focus film camera of its era.

Canon EOS-1

1988–1992 (Seoul & Barcelona)

Introduced in 1989 following the 1988 Seoul Games, the original EOS-1 debuted the modern EF lens mount, electronic autofocus, and ergonomic thumb dial, forming the blueprint for professional action cameras.

Canon EOS-1V

2000 Sydney Olympics

The final flagship 35mm film SLR built by Canon. Featuring a 45-point autofocus system and up to 10 fps continuous shooting, it was the dominant camera on the sidelines at the Sydney Games before digital took over.

Canon EOS-1D / 1Ds Series

2002–2008 (Salt Lake City, Athens, Beijing)

• EOS-1D (2001/2002): Canon’s first in-house pro digital SLR, built for sports action ahead of the Salt Lake City Winter Games.

• EOS-1D Mark II (2004): Upgraded speed and resolution for the 2004 Athens Summer Games.

• EOS-1D Mark III (2007/2008): Pushed burst speeds to 10 fps on an 8.2/10.1 MP APS-H sensor for the 2008 Beijing Games.

Canon EOS-1D X Series

2012–2020 (London, Rio, Tokyo)

• EOS-1D X (2012): Unified the high-speed (1D) and high-resolution (1Ds) lines into a single full-frame 14 fps flagship for the London Olympics.

• EOS-1D X Mark II (2016): Introduced Dual Pixel CMOS AF, 4K video recording, and CFast storage ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Games.

• EOS-1D X Mark III (2020): The pinnacle of Canon's DSLR lineup, released right before the 2020 Tokyo Games, featuring Smart Controller optical tracking, deep-learning AF, and 20 fps electronic burst.

Canon EOS R3 & EOS R1

2021–2024 (Tokyo & Paris)

• EOS R3 (2020/2021): Field-tested by select photographers during the delayed Tokyo Games, introducing Eye Control AF and high-speed stacked CMOS tech to full-frame mirrorless.

• EOS R1 (2024): Formally announced and field-tested by agency pros at the 2024 Paris Olympics, serving as Canon's definitive RF-mount flagship for high-speed sports and photojournalism.

Waiting for a Canon 1D X Mark II

Thanks to the donation and support of the Karate Parents who responded to my request to donate old gear that was no longer being used, I'm trading my Canon 5D Mark III for a Canon 1D X Mark II (around $1000 Used Market).

The Canon 5D Mark III (around $400 Used market) was my backup camera and the one I used for all the wide-angle shots during the 2026 season. It's a camera that was released in 2012, but it is considered a legend among photographers. The colors coming out of this camera are really nice, and for portrait photography, it is hard to find anything better. This is a DSLR; it does not have all the features that you will find in more modern mirrorless cameras, but in the hands of someone who knows that and knows how to work around its limitations, it's a formidable tool.

 

Then, why to change to the Canon 1D X Mark II?

The Canon 1D X Mark II is a camera that was released for the 2016 Olympics and is designed for sports and wildlife photography. It is fast, and its low-light performance is about the same as my main camera, the Canon R6. See above chart. I need a camera that could perform about the same as the R6 to cover the wide-angle shots. Not just for portraits, but capable of getting good action shots with a shutter speed of 1/1000 and in low-light conditions. The 5D Mark III was too "noisy" and too slow for these types of shots.

Keep in mind that Canon is not making any more DSLRs, pushing new users to buy their mirrorless cameras, which are more capable and include features such as eye tracking that make the life of photographers a lot easier. However, the price tag of the Canon R1—which is the replacement for the Canon 1D X series—is $6,000, a price that I can't afford just to have a camera that tracks the eye of the subject, something that with a little bit of effort on my end, I can do with the 1D X.

I'm using MPB for this exchange. This is a place that I have used in the past many times. They offer 6 months of warranty on any used camera that you buy from them.

So here I'm, waiting for the Canon 1D X Mark II. Getting ready for Season 2027.

 

Copyright Penalties

 

Penalties for copyright infringement can be civil, statutory, or criminal, depending on the severity and intent of the violation.

Civil and Statutory Penalties

• Actual Damages: The infringer must pay the actual profits lost by the owner or the profits made from the infringement.
• Statutory Damages: A court can award $750 to $30000 per work infringed, even if no actual financial loss is proven.
• Willful Infringement: If the owner proves the infringement was intentional, court awards can jump up to $150000 per work.
• Innocent Infringement: If the infringer proves they did not know they were breaking the law, courts can lower penalties to $200 per work.
• Legal Fees: The losing party can be ordered to pay the winning party's attorney fees and court costs.
• Injunctions: Courts can issue an order to stop the distribution and destroy all illegal copies.

Criminal Penalties

• Misdemeanor Charges: First-time offenses for small-scale distribution can bring up to one year in prison.
• Felony Charges: Large-scale commercial reproduction of copyrighted works can lead to five years in prison.
• Repeat Offenses: Second or subsequent criminal convictions can increase jail time up to 10 years.
• Fines: Criminal fines can reach up to $250000 for individuals and $500000 for organizations.

Do not be afraid of cropping

Cropping. Since early in my photography journey, I learned that cropping is an essential part of what later became my photography style.

Cropping allows you to correct the composition of any photo, but at the same time, it is a tool to emphasize the focal point in an image, highlighting what is important.

The above montage is a good example of cropping used to highlight what is important: the subject’s face. Who cares if you left out an arm or legs? Your audience will be focusing on his facial expression without paying any attention to the rest. Cropping can define your photography style. In this example, you could have chosen a composition where you show both arms, and nothing is wrong with that, but then you would have to zoom out, losing the details in his face.

Cropping is an artistic tool in the toolbox of photographers.  

The best pictures from last weekend’s event

I still have around 600 pictures to edit. While I am trying to publish them as fast as I can, I have the luxury of editing them to correct the composition and bring art to a sport that many associate with violence. I love all the pictures that I have published so far. From more than 2,300 pictures at the end of the event, these pictures made it into the final cut, and less than 50% of the pictures go that far. The rest are not that bad, but I do not believe they are at the level that the athletes and their relatives deserve.

So here are the two pictures that I have selected like the best from this event. 

 

 

In the first image, you can see a father encouraging his son to keep going and do his best to win. Technically, it may not be the best picture, but the message in that picture is so powerful! Teach your kids not to lose their humanity, no matter what sport they are practicing. I have seen kids going into a fight with the goal of harming the opponent, and that is unacceptable.

The second picture is eye-catching! Her performance was good, but everything about her seems designed to be visually perfect. I don’t like that the background of this picture is so busy, but after all, you are in a competition and you can’t choose the background. I may take the picture later on when I’m done editing the rest of the pictures and replace the background with a more suitable one. Stay tuned.

During the competition our grandson Liam decided to give me a private (in public) Bo demonstration. I loved it! Thanks Liam!

Overall, I ended up tired, but satisfied! Thanks USA Sport Karate and Jeremy Roque for letting me roam on the floor capturing these moments.

 

 

Traveling the world by replacing the background

Without any discussion, there is not a cheaper way to go around the world than replacing the background of your pictures. 

I know, you may think that I'm cheating, but I'm clearly explaining every time I post one of these altered pictures, that the background has been replaced to avoid any confusion. 

I'm getting old, and the odds of me taking our grandsons to all these places are getting lower with each passing day. So I decided to dream a little bit and pretend that we are doing that.

 I have experimented with two different ways to do it. One is very simple: taking the picture I want to modify, uploading it to Google Gemini or ChatGPT, and asking them to replace the background. The results using this method are good, but from time to time, these AI tools change the faces to match the lighting from the background, and I'm not that pleased with that.

The second method is to create the background using these two AI tools or to use a picture you have taken of a place to replace the background. In this second method, I have been using Luminar Neo, a tool that is very simple to use and allows you to remove the background of any picture. Then you use a new layer behind the subject layer to introduce the new background. The most difficult part in this second method is that you need to match the light and mood of the layer that contains the subject with the one in the background layer. I'm not that good at that part, but I feel that I'm getting better with every new picture that I edit.

Another difficult part of this second method is creating shadows under the subject. This is the main reason why, in some of these edited pictures, you’ll notice that I cropped out the subjects’ feet. Here’s a little bonus trick.

Besides having a lot of fun doing this, altering these pictures allows me to improve my editing skills. Replacing the background is a skill often used by photographers in newborn photos and weddings.

 

 If you have any ideas for a new place where I can take our grandsons, please let me know, and I'll do my best to create this new scenario.

Battery Grip for the Canon R6/R5

I recently bought a battery grip for my Canon R6. While I was taking wildlife pictures, I was never shooting more than a few hundred pictures in a session, so I never felt the need to have more battery power in my camera. Now shooting sports, I end up with 1000 to 2000 pictures by the end of the day and have to change the battery in the middle of the session. A battery grip extends the battery life to cover a full day of shooting. Another reason I got the grip is that I have been shooting more in portrait orientation, and the grip helps in this case by providing a better hold and a set of buttons in that position that feel more comfortable.

One important point is that I bought a 3rd party made grip, Canon price for these grips is from 400 to 500 dollars while the 3rd party is from $70 to $100! Years ago, a Chinese product lacked the quality that you see nowadays. I have tested the grip in my last wildlife photoshoot, and I'm pleased. Here is a picture of the one I got.

This is the replacement for the BG-R20 which is the latest version of the grip compatible with all versions of R6/R5 and the one adding support to the new batteries LP-E6P. This same company sells the old version BG-R10. Something to consider if you decide to buy their grip, go for the R20 instead of the R10. 

Here is a video review of the BG-R10 that may help you in your decision taken process.