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mimbu · Apr 23, 2026

Michael Clark said:
There are more than a few Canon users who have been around long enough to remember what happened to their focus-by-wire EF 200mm f/1.8 L USM lenses when Canon started running out of repair parts for the USM motor shortly after discontinuing the lens. They became impossible to focus and nothing more than paperweights if the AF motor ever broke. The EF 300mm f/2.8 L, EF 50mm f/1.0, and EF 85mm f/1.2 also used focus-by-wire manual focus, but there wasn't the same kind of parts shortage until years after they were discontinued.

Sure, I'm one of those people. The 50/1L, 85/1.2L (and the second version of that lens), 200/1.8L, 300/2.8L, 400/2.8L, 500/4.5L, and 600/4L all used focus by wire. And they all had the same problems when they went out of service and eventually the AF motor supply dried up some years later. There were a few third party services that converted them to MF or rebuilt the AF motors, I'm not sure if anyone is still doing it now.

But, fun fact: Every native mirrorless AF lens has become focus by wire, including all Canon RF lenses. Yes even the RF 100-300/2.8L. It is likely that all the upcoming big white RF super teles will be too, just like the Sony 400/2.8 & 600/4 and all the Nikon super teles. And the Sigma 300-600/4, 500/5.6, and all their other mirrorless native lenses. Tamron too, and Viltrox. Everyone.

So yes, some years from now we are going to face the same problem as what came up with the original Canon focus-by-wire lenses. Modern magnetic drive systems should be more resilient than Canon's first-gen USM motors were, but they will eventually fail. Personally I am more concerned about lenses with STM AF as that is a much more mechanical system driven by gears, and IMO more likely to fail than a system driven by magnets.

Zadak · Apr 23, 2026

Rumors are rumors

Michael Clark · Apr 23, 2026

mimbu said:
I think that depends a lot on how the PZ functionality is implemented. I'm not familiar with Canon's RF PZ systems to date, but I would hope a Canon L lens with PZ would work similarly to Sony's 16-35/4G PZ.

Sony put six of their fastest XD Linear motors into the 16-35G. Four for focusing (2 motors x 2 groups), and 2 for zooming. The result is that the zoom ring has the same feeling and performance as the focus-by-wire system. You can twist the zoom ring really quickly and get really fast zooming, or you can twist it slowly and get slow zooming. The ring is also not a rocker, you turn it the same as you would a mechanically coupled zoom ring, though there are no hard stops AFAIK. Basically, the zoom ring works like the focus by wire MF ring does.

You can also use the zoom rocker on the lens or camera to get smooth constant zooming for video. You can actually set up the lens' zoom responsiveness from within your camera's menu, too. Zooming and AF are both silent, as usual from an XD Linear system.

Another benefit is that the zoom and AF work in concert to maintain perfect focus when zooming, with no delay. It makes the lens appear to be completely parfocal.

As far as zoom lag goes, it's also about the same as what you would experience with a very high end focus by wire system. I suppose if you want to rack the zoom SUPER fast it woujld probably be faster to crank a a mechanically coupled zoom really hard, but the PZ is not slow or laggy.

If Canon implements something similar to this, I think most photographers who are likely to buy an f4L lens would find it very useable. Certainly anyone who wants it for hybrid use will appreciate it.

There are more than a few Canon users who have been around long enough to remember what happened to their focus-by-wire EF 200mm f/1.8 L USM lenses when Canon started running out of repair parts for the USM motor shortly after discontinuing the lens. They became impossible to focus and nothing more than paperweights if the AF motor ever broke. The EF 300mm f/2.8 L, EF 50mm f/1.0, and EF 85mm f/1.2 also used focus-by-wire manual focus, but there wasn't the same kind of parts shortage until years after they were discontinued.

scyrene · Apr 23, 2026

Michael Clark said:
I hate to break the news to you, but none of the boomers are middle aged any longer. Those born in 1964 are turning 62 years old this year. All of the boomers will officially be "seniors" by the end of this year. In most places, they've been considered "seniors" since they turned 60 in 2024.

I nearly said something similar but they may well mean it colloquially (as in "old and out of touch").

Michael Clark · Apr 23, 2026

neuroanatomist said:
Have a look at the only other PZ lens, the RF-S 14-30mm F4-6.3 IS STM PZ. PZ means the zoom motor is inside the lens, not in a separate accessory. The zoom ring has no manual function. Turning it one way or the other just activates the built-in zoom motor (in a force-sensitive way so the zoom can be driven at different speeds). Personally, I would not want a zoom lens with only a motorized zoom function for photography. YMMV.

In other words, it's a focus-by-wire lens.

Michael Clark · Apr 23, 2026

riker said:
The third time I'm happy for basically the same post.
Having IBIS might be a sign of Canon making this one more photo-focused and less vlogger crap. This will make many middle aged oldschool boomers like me happy.
And it will make it a reasonable secondary/backup camera for those who haven't seriously considered purchasing one. Until now.

I hate to break the news to you, but none of the boomers are middle aged any longer. Those born in 1964 are turning 62 years old this year. All of the boomers will officially be "seniors" by the end of this year. In most places, they've been considered "seniors" since they turned 60 in 2024.

Michael Clark · Apr 23, 2026

Canon Rumors said:
There are probably some situations that it could be useful with tethered control.

Especially remotely controlled tethering.

Michael Clark · Apr 23, 2026

This is looking like 2017 all over again. Canon's product development division created a camera, field tested it, and then the business department decided it wasn't a good economic move to release it. With the instability regards tariffs into the U.S., and the soaring price globally of memory chips of all kinds due to the international "data center arms race", only higher end products make sense right now, where the margins are higher to be able to absorb the more expensive components that they all need.

Even spinning hard disc drives, almost on the endangered species list a couple of years ago, are now selling for 2X per TB what they were selling for a couple of years ago. And don't even think of building a new computer right now with the price of RAM! 32GB of DDR5 6000 was a little over $100 in the U.S. in 2024. Now you're lucky to find it for less than $400.

Exploreshootshare · Apr 23, 2026

Juan El Buzo said:
From reading this: “I can now say with 99% confidence that the EOS R7 Mark II will be announced in Q2 of this year” a few days ago, to these rumors today.
Credibility is built on consistency—and nothing erodes trust faster than confidently contradicting yourself days apart. Even rumor platforms carry a responsibility to distinguish speculation from reliability, because once confidence is lost, reputation follows quickly behind. In an age of instant information, accountability isn’t optional—it’s the currency of trust.

First of, as a reader of rumor site you should never assume that all predictions actually come to fruition. Furthermore, the nature of rumors has they are contradictive at some times. Secondly, throughout a decade or two CR has been incredibly accurate, so if CR guys needs to spend some "currency of trust", he can easily do so because he has earned lots and lots of currency to pay for "mistakes". If you don't "trust" this site anymore, farewell and goodbye. Get your "trustworthy" information somewhere else.

CR Guy stated over and over again that these are rumors and one shouldn't count on it anymore. He has also stated that predictions have become increasingly difficult, therefore he eliminated the CR 0/1/2 rating. Look at the world, everything is unpredictable.

Lastly, companies nowadays place rumors on purpose to get attention or to disrupt predictions on purpose. Having the R7ii surely being next month would massively hurt current R7 sales. What to do? Kill the rumor, stop the hype, sell more R7 and announce it later. Maybe in August 2026, maybe in November or in March 2027. They don't tell anybody when they're announcing it. They are just protecting current sales.

Manchester United even employs/ employed a "director of transfer news", a guy who purposely talks about players and potential new club. They're aiming at misdirecting the market to make potential transfers for them cheaper and more expensive for the competition. Corporate business engage in such behavior as well at the moment.

I could easily see Canon creating rumors about the R7 (or letting them slip), then get some market research done and finally decided to delay it, announce it accordingly to their schedule or pulling the trigger asap. Last month I visited my wife grandparents in middle Germany. I went to two cameras stores (Foto Erhard/ Calumet) along the trip: in both stores I was told they don't expect/ don't believe the R7ii is coming because the R7 is "still selling like hot buns". Sure, only small stores in grand scale, but still a hint of whats going on.

MkSprintz · Apr 23, 2026

dwkdnvr said:
My guess is that we’ll either see BOTH the uber-R7II and the Z90 or we’ll see neither.

The R7ii has far better odds even if it's likely late 2027.

Michael Clark · Apr 23, 2026

AlanF said:
The sunny 16 rule is that at iso 100 you need 1/100s at f/16. So, at f/11 you need 1/200s. f/8 1/400s etc etc to 1/3200s at f/2.8. (Not 1/6400s).

To quote Roger Cicala, "I ~~was,~~ er, might have been ~~wrong~~, ahem... less correct than I originally wrote."

I was underexposing by a stop to protect the highlights with plans to boost the mids and shadows in post while holding back the highlights.

Yeah, that's it! That's the ticket. I was protecting the highlights!

Michael Clark · Apr 23, 2026

justaCanonuser said:
The 7D I and II needed a lot of light, then their AF perfomances improved, in particular the Mk II started to perform substantially more accurately. So their AF sensors were quite noisy.

The baseline for an APS-C DSLR camera is narrower due to the narrower semi-silvered portion of the narrower reflex mirror.

Michael Clark · Apr 23, 2026

justaCanonuser said:
The 7D I and II needed a lot of light, then their AF perfomances improved, in particular the Mk II started to perform substantially more accurately. So their AF sensors were quite noisy.

Even in dimmer light (night/indoor sports) I found the 7D Mark II was much more consistent from shot to shot than the 7D. A 10 shot AI Servo burst with the 7D Mark II would be dead on for around 8-9 of them and just a tad off for 1-2 frames, usually when an athlete changed direction. The 7D would be on for 2-3 frames (in any random positions within the 10 shot burst), slightly off for 2-3 frames, more than slightly off for 3-4 frames, and the rest would be really out of focus flyers.

Michael Clark · Apr 23, 2026

justaCanonuser said:
In fact, with DSLRs it was basically the same procedure, despite they had a separate AF sensor (for shooting with OVF). The camera needs a reliable info about the AF drive's exact position to able to focus fast and accurate. The difference is that ML cameras, using their image sensor, can reside to simple contrast AF if other information is lacking, but that requires AF pumping and slows down the whole focusing process so much that you can forget about shooting action.

With our Nikon Z system it turned out that the camera received a wrong information about the real AF drive position, so the lens was mechanically not adjusted to the camera. I don't know how Canon's AF system works exactly (surely details are protected), but seemingly it delivers more information about the AF drive's exact position so the camera can adjust its AF system to a particular lens. This explains also why some older EF lenses don't work very well with the new R cameras. I recently sold my old EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM, which still was in good condition, because it pumped too much on my R7 and R52, it wasn't really useable anymore with AF switched on. So, this old lens is obviously not able to send enough data to the camera for any AF adjustments.

Yes, DSLRs did this by necessity so that the mirror could begin swinging up while the lens was still moving and reporting its position to the camera. But some folks seem to think that with MILCs they constantly refocus until the shutter is activated (either mechanically or electronically).

As for why your EF 300mm f/4 L IS with a 1991 design isn't as good with newer MILCs, please see Roger Cicala's old blog entry Autofocus Reality: Part 3B from back in 2012. He explains that Canon upped the game around 2010 as to how accurately the lens reports the focus position to the camera.

josephandrews222 · Apr 23, 2026

R5MkII and 200-800 @ 800

Two chicks (in focus) at the same time

K41A7080 picsaa fix ps fix-topaz2-denoise - Copy.JPG

Michael Clark · Apr 23, 2026

AlanF said:
Where did you get those figures from? I would like to understand them.

Just a guess, but I'd think from comparing blur circle size at specific MFTs with the sensor's sensel pitch?

dwkdnvr · Apr 23, 2026

MkSprintz said:
The odds of that ever coming to market are well under 10%.

My guess is that we’ll either see BOTH the uber-R7II and the Z90 or we’ll see neither.

josephandrews222 · Apr 23, 2026

R5Mkii and 200-800 @ 800

female brown-headed cowbird (with tongue!)

K41A8626 picasa crop-topaz2-denoise-sharpen - Copy.JPG

K41A8575 picasa crop-topaz2-denoise-sharpen - Copy.JPG

=====

female Northern Cardinal

K41A8742-topaz2-denoise-sharpen - Copy.JPG

K41A8730-topaz2-denoise-sharpen - Copy.JPG

MkSprintz · Apr 23, 2026

JRetz said:
Looks like Canon just opened the door for the Nikon Z90.

The odds of that ever coming to market are well under 10%.

mimbu · Apr 23, 2026

Canon Rumors said:
Redheads are my favourite.

Just keep in mind that natural red hair is generally more a shade of orange than red.

Fun fact: English lacked a word for the color "orange" until the early 1500s. Until then, orange was just a shade of red. Hence "red" hair.

P-visie · Apr 23, 2026

Petapixel have updated their original review “streaking stars in the corners”. That issue was caused by a misaligned camera sensor.

Quote: “We retested a new lens with a newly-certified R5 II and lens and confirmed that the sensor issue was no longer a factor. It’s important to be clear that we did still see the same issues with vignetting, and the field curvature of the lens does cause stars at the periphery to streak. However, the lens does a good job at handling astrophotography situations with a little bit of care”.

See: https://petapixel.com/2026/04/23/update-and-correction-regarding-the-canon-14mm-f-1-4l-vcm-review/

ISO64 · Apr 23, 2026

josephandrews222 said:
R5MkII and 200-800 @ 800

Many years ago (and for decades), I admired the photography within the US-based magazine Sports Illustrated.

Their cover photographs, in particular, were often stunningly beautiful.

I remember wondering why photos taken at NFL (American football) games in which there was snow on the ground looked...so wonderful!

Now I surmise that reflected light from the snow-covered turf enables the facial details that you often don't get to see in football games.

I think the same thing happens in our birdbath (if the sky is right, reflections from the water (EDIT: and the white color of the bottom of the bath) are enabled, at least for the undersides of the birds).

Northern Mockingbird

View attachment 229045

View attachment 229046

White helps so much, either as sand or as snow. Especially snow in winter for raptors in flight overhead, breast band of red-tailed hawk can be clearly seen.

danfaz · Apr 23, 2026

Del Paso said:
And colors are colours.

gmon750 · Apr 23, 2026

I do a lot of underwater photography. This is an issue for me as well as there are a lot of particulates in the water which tends to grab the focus instead of the subject.

I have all the fancy AF turned off. Just a spot-focus, along with back-button focus and I can easily nail the subject each and every time. I basically have my camera (R5) configured to behave like my old dSLR.

The AF tech is amazing... when it works. I suppose AF will improve even more down the road so that it's smart enough to know what the subject is, but at the same time people will depend too much on this technology instead of learning alternate methods to capture the focus of the subject.

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