Built for adventure: the Canon EOS R System

Extreme sports photographer and filmmaker Teddy Morellec is always on the move. Even when he's not taking artistic pictures or shooting breathtaking video for clients, such as Red Bull, Nike and Lacoste, he's travelling. One day he'll be journeying around the Alps in his campervan, the next he could be learning to paraglide.

"I shoot so much different stuff throughout the year, it's crazy," says Teddy. "It can be sports or music festivals one minute, then fashion, portraits or corporate work the next."

In his challenging line of work, getting the right access, knowing the sport and the capabilities of the competitors involved, and being able to anticipate the moment, all help to solve problems. But having a high-performance camera that you can rely on to never miss a beat gives him the edge.

Teddy's day-to-day kit includes a Canon EOS R5, an EOS R3 and a handful of RF and EF lenses. He was also one of the first photographers to use the Canon EOS R6 Mark II – a high-speed camera that's perfectly suited to his high-intensity work.

Here, Teddy shares four times when the features of the EOS R System have saved the day or helped him get a killer shot in tough situations.

Canon EOS R System cameras have set a new benchmark for performance. Having the option to shoot at 40fps with the Canon EOS R6 Mark II and up to 195fps using the EOS R3's customisable frame rate function opens up new opportunities for action and sports photographers.

"Sometimes the riders won't be able to repeat a trick multiple times and you have only one chance to get it. So having a full sequence of shots to choose from means that you don't miss the best moment."

One aspect of the EOS R System that has made Teddy's life easier, he says, is the design of the RF lenses. "I'm switching everything to RF now. The Nano USM motors in many of the lenses are really convenient because they're super-silent and super-fast, and something that I need for my video work."

Teddy, who uses the high-speed Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R, is especially fond of the Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM. "I didn't own the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM and I was basically a 70-200mm guy until this amazing lens came along," he explains.

"It's really helped with other genres as well as sports. With the Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM lens I've been able to pick out the summit on a mountain, for example, which is something I couldn't do with a 200mm maximum reach. When it's combined with the 45MP sensor of my Canon EOS R5, I've been able to crop in like crazy and still pick out all the details."

While shooting the Enduropale du Touquet – a gruelling three-hour motorcycle beach race held annually on the coast of northern France – Teddy relied on the EOS R System's autofocus technology. The Eye Control AF of his Canon EOS R3 saved the day.

"The Enduropale du Touquet was the first opportunity that I got to use my EOS R3 at a sport event," Teddy explains. "Before that, I had been using the camera to shoot landscapes in the mountains. The race takes place on a 13km track, which features long full-speed areas and tight turns, and there's a lot of sand flying everywhere. My main mission was to follow and photograph one rider among 1,000 entrants!"

Teddy had a rough idea when the rider would pass him, as he knew how long it would take his subject to complete a lap. He was also using a stopwatch to time him. "I was ready and waiting with my Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM lens at the side of track," he says. "But there were so many people going by, and so many colours of bikes and helmets and everything, it was a really difficult job just to see where my rider was, let alone focus on him. Thankfully he had some signs I could recognise, like the Red Bull helmet and his number on the bike.

"If I was using a larger AF area, I couldn't have been sure the camera would have focused on him, as there were other riders at different points within the frame. I could maybe have got some pictures if I'd set a smaller AF area, but I would have had to move my camera to reframe the shot – and if I'd instead kept my framing and moved my AF area with the touchscreen or the controller, I'm sure I would have missed my rider."

It was at that point that Teddy realised how "mind-blowing" the EOS R3's Eye AF is. "I was looking for my rider, and the yellow target was following my eye movements. Then when I finally spotted him, I just held the shutter button down and I knew that I had sharp pictures of him. The moment I used it, it just worked," he enthuses.

Although Teddy's main focus is action sports where fast shutter speeds and flash are often required, he also shoots creative shots in low light. His Canon EOS R5 and EOS R3 are each equipped with In-Body Image Stabilisation (IBIS) that works in tandem with a lens' IS unit to enable handheld shooting in situations where he couldn't have shot without a tripod before.