Canon EOS 80D, PowerShot G7 X II, SX720 HS & EF-S 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Coming Shortly

[Tugela]

Maybe you have some inside info. I'd find it strange there would be a 7D3 already in the works.
...

How long do you think it takes Canon to design, engineer, test and tool up a new camera?
6 months?

More like 12-18 months, for the high end models, since those required high tolerances. The cheap plastic ones turn around faster.

Double your estimates. Q/A testing is at least 6 months alone for higher end models.

I'm talking about manufacturing lock. Actual development goes deeper than that.

 

[Tugela]

IMO the 7D2 was supposed to be released in 2013, but the imminent arrival of the GH4 with its 4K video threw Canon into a panic. So they delayed the 7D2 while they tried to get a 4K solution into it.

LOL. : The idea that the GH4 sent Canon into any sort of panic is simply ludicrous.

Canon would not have known specifically what the GH4 was capable of, but they would have known that it featured a processor far in advance of anything they had, so there was a risk. Also, when the GH4 release was imminent, it had become clear that 4K video was about to hit mainstream, and that the GH4 was probably going to have it. That would have been a big unknown for Canon, a potential deal breaker that they would have locked one of their flagships out of.

That is what stalled them. The uncertainty of what to do. They were caught flatfooted by 4K, so they floundered (and still are).

Any evidence to support that, outside your imagination? What was Panasonic's share of the ILC market at the time? What is it now (hint: Canon just surpassed them for MILC market share, where Canon really isn't even trying hard). Maybe your evidence is all the 4K video-driven MILC sales increases we've seen over the past couple of years. :

The most likely reason Canon didn't release the 7DII sooner was a total lack of competition in that space from Nikon.

But hey, it's a free world...you can concoct any sort or ridiculous fantasy you want.

Canon are #3 in Japan, not necessarily #3 elsewhere.

You are in any case missing the point, it is what those cameras REPRESENT. The thin edge of the wedge that will only widen with time.

I consider things like the EOS-M to be toy cameras. Sales of them are low margin, bargain basement stuff that might make up numbers but do not generate a lot of profit. Even Canon thinks so, as evidenced by the amount of development effort they put into those cameras. The low end (because it is driven by factors that have nothing to do with technical capability) hide what is really going on in the industry.

The cameras manufacturers really care about are their mid to high end consumer models, that is where they get their profits.

Canon were caught unprepared in 2012/3. You can see that in a lot of their product releases for 2013, both in the lack of a 7D2, as well as the way their camcorders were released. The G30 came 3 months after the G20 for example, and simultaneously with the pro versions - the G30 was clearly being dumped on the market ahead of schedule because Canon knew that other manufacturers had more advanced products imminent. They were definitely in panic mode, and still have not got their game together.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Canon were caught unprepared in 2012/3. You can see that in a lot of their product releases for 2013, both in the lack of a 7D2, as well as the way their camcorders were released. The G30 came 3 months after the G20 for example, and simultaneously with the pro versions - the G30 was clearly being dumped on the market ahead of schedule because Canon knew that other manufacturers had more advanced products imminent. They were definitely in panic mode, and still have not got their game together.

Ahhh, so that's why they subsequently gained market share.

How's the weather in your personal fantasyland?