Canon Unveils New Robotic Camera System for Sports Photographers

In one final bit of Canon news out of CES 2020, the camera maker unveiled something for photographers who will be capturing the action at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics: The CR-S700R Robotic Camera System.

Built to be used with either the Canon 1D X Mark II or the new 1D X Mark III and one of just six compatible L lenses, the CR-S700R is definitely not a “mass market” product. It’s built around a remote pan head that’s mounted on a central axis so it can zoom, pan, tilt, and roll the camera “in a small footprint” and with “minimal shifting of weight and balance.”

The CR-S700R comes with the IP camera controller CR-G100, which connects with Canon’s creatively named “CR-A100 Camera Remote Application” to allow for the operation and control of multiple units from a single PC.

Canon says the system is “ideal to follow high-speed subjects,” and while the press release mentions its “compact and lightweight” design, as you can see from the image above, that designation should come with a big fat asterisk.

Since the CR-S700R is built specifically for still image shooting, it’s compact and lightweight *compared to other systems that are meant to capture both stills and video.

Both the CR-S700R Robotic Camera System and the accompanying software will be available to purchase starting mid-February 2020 for the price of “please contact your local Canon pro market representative or regional sales manager” (translation: a lot), so expect to see at least a few of these on the track in Tokyo.

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