It isn’t every day a Canon ambassador reaches out to you and offers you a chance to try out their gear for free in San Diego at their Canon Summer Games. But that is what happened to me and I would be a fool to pass up a trip to San Diego to play with the latest and best Canon had to offer. As a Nikon shooter for over 20 years, I was always curious about Canon and Sony gear, but I’ve had some negative feelings towards Nikon recently and perhaps seeing what Canon had to offer would make me either be thankful for Nikon or want to switch.
So when Canon reached out to me, they said they would pay for my flights, hotel and food; I mean how could I say no? I’ve never been to California before and someone is saying come out for free and try our gear. Sign me up.
The cool thing about the Canon Summer Games was that they flew maybe 25 photographers and videographers total from around the country that don’t normally shoot Canon gear to try out everything Canon. I did feel special being one of the 25 who got chosen.
So I fly out to California, get picked up at the airport and taken to our hotel, the InterContinental San Diego by IHG. Beautiful hotel right by the water. I mean this has to be life right? After check-in I had some time before I had to go to orientation; so I relaxed a bit. Flying across the country does take a toll on you.
As I head to orientation I run into an old friend, Joe Guzy, former Miami Marlins team photographer and current Cincinnati FC photographer. Small world right?
I get to orientation and they take us to another conference room to get our gear for the next few days. I walk in and it’s just tables and I mean tables of every lens and camera body from Canon. The latest and greatest.
So I grab the R1 mirrorless camera, their flagship, and pick up the 24-105 and the 100-300. I won’t lie, I had my eye on the 100-300 since it came out. It’s a perfect lens for sports photography; versatile in focal length and super sharp.
We go through orientation and we learn about the cameras, the menus etc. I was a little taken back at the amount of menu items the R1 has and how many customizations you can achieve with it.
After orientation, we change and head out to the balcony for dinner. Canon spared no expense. Lobster bisque, lobster tails, NY strip steaks, open bar; you name it they had it. It was a great way to meet the Canon reps that were there to help with the Canon Summer Games as well as introduce ourselves to the other photographers that were there.
The conversations at dinner was interesting. We all had gripes and complaints about our current gear and the Canon reps were listening, taking notes and really picking our brains. They were genuinely interested in what we had to say.
For me, the biggest issue I’ve had with Nikon is customer support. I don’t feel like we’re supported either out in the field or when we ship our gear in to get fixed, we have to wait an absorbent amount of time to get it back and rarely do we get loaners unless we sign up for their higher tier of support which costs upwards of a couple of hundred dollars a year.
Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center
For the first day out with the gear we headed over to the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center where Olympic hopefuls are trained. We separated into two groups, but we all would be shooting the same “events” if you will. My group headed over to the BMX bike park where we would be shooting two BMX riders performing an assortment of jumps and tricks for us.
I attached the 100-300 to the R1 first and took it out for a spin. Right away I noticed how fast the AF tracking was on the R1. And once I put on eye detection, it was even faster. The riders did an array of jumps and twists while we changed our viewpoint to get different angles.
One of the Canon reps suggested we lay down on the course and have the bikers jump over us. Some were a little hesitant at first, but I was already laying down, ready. Let me say that I did not miss a shot with the R1 and the 24-105. I was like there is no way all these pictures were in focus, but they were. I was in disbelief to be honest.
Afterwards we headed down to the track portion of our morning where we would photograph a sprinter and a discus thrower. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t really interested in these events. It wasn’t as exciting or thrilling as the BMX bikers. Plus I was more fascinated by the California mountains that surrounded us. I was mesmerized honestly. I was also trying to see if there were and condors or eagles flying around.
After lunch we headed back out to a new BMX course where it was three guys just doing freestyle biking. These guys were great. Jumping in the hair doing Superman poses and letting their hands go free. Again, the R1 with the 100-300 was hard to beat.
The final event was a like an ironman type of course where two guys were climbing and jumping over obstacles. That was interesting but the only problem was that for each event or obstacle there were too many photographers around and I couldn’t really get the shots I was trying for.
Once back at the hotel, we changed and headed down to the harbor where we were treated to this beautiful restaurant on the water. Again, open bar and open discussions about the gear and our thoughts. We eventually made it back to the hotel where we went to the hotel bar to continue the drinks and conversation.
Travel Headaches
I had to leave the Canon Summer Games a day earlier because of prior commitments. The Canon reps were understanding and I thanked them for their generosity and hospitality. I didn’t want to return the gear though. I loved it.
My flight out of San Diego was delayed by almost an hour for whatever reason. I had to get a connecting flight in Dallas on my way back to Ft. Lauderdale. I’m watching my watch seeing how it’s going to be a close call. We land in Dallas with 40 minutes before my connecting flight departed.
The fun part was now we were told to hold on the runway because there was a plane at our gate. We waited 35 minutes before we could move. The flight attendants announced over the intercom to raise your hand if you had a connecting flight and for other passengers to let us go first so we could make our connecting flights because it would be tight. As soon as the plane doors opened, everyone got up and headed to the aisle, thus preventing us from making our flight.
Needless to say I miss my connecting flight. I watched it take off from my seat as the main aisleway was full of people waiting to get off.
I head to the customer service desk trying to get a rebook elsewhere. There were no other flights to Ft. Lauderdale for another 2 days. The customer service rep said there was a flight to Miami leaving in 40 minutes and she can get me on it. I was like yes please.
So we get on the plane for Miami only to sit there for like 30 minutes and then have to deboard. They found a missing panel in the pre-flight check and we had to get another plane. We waited and got another plane. The time we reached Miami it was 3:30 in the morning. My car was in the Ft. Lauderdale airport. I had to Uber from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale to get my car.
I got home, slept like 20 minutes and had to get on the road for my next adventure. I was a zombie most of the day, but I survived.
Final Thoughts About Canon
I love everything about the Canon Summer Games. I was so impressed by the Canon team as well as the Canon gear. I really loved the combination of the R1 with the 100-300. The lens was light and I could hand hold it if I wanted to and not need a monopod. It was amazingly sharp and the colors from the R1 were amazing.
I had used the Nikon Z9 for the 2025 Liv Golf event here in Miami and I can honestly say the R1 was light years better. I didn’t think once about my Nikons when I was using the R1. I was just so enamored with it.
If I was able to offload all my Nikon gear and switch to Canon, I would. I wouldn’t even think twice about it. I was that convinced about Canon.
Ironically enough at the first match of the FIFA Club World Cup, one of the Canon reps was there and we were talking. He asked if I was going to switch and I said I definitely wanted to, but right now it was a little hard to switch gears with all the events I had lined up. And at a match in Orlando, both the Canon and Sony reps were there giving free cleanings and renting out gear. Nikon as always, was no where to be found.
Hopefully I will get the chance to switch because I think, honestly, the Canon will take my photography up another level.
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