Canon Interview: EOS R Pro Must Surpass Past Performance


Recently, Japanese website Newswitch has just interviewed Canon Managing Executive Officer, Takeshi Tokura. Below are some highlights of this interview:

  • Camera market will shrink due to the spread of smartphones, but Canon will look at consumers and create products that make them feel attractive.
  • EOS M50 is very popular in Japan for women. Canon is also confirmed to announced EOS M200 soon to replace both EOS M50 & M100.
  • Canon will introduce cameras for Women and Children and so on.
  • EOS R system is still not very popular, expansion of the system is the most important issue (performance, price, etc.)
  • EOS R Pro/High-end must be a product that surpasses past performance. Feature like “rapid, comfortable, high image quality, high video performance”.
  • Expansion of mirrorless lenses is also important. Canon want to create a unique mirrorless lens that could not be prepared with DSLR.
  • Devices inside the camera will need to be different when the 5G environment is ready.
  • Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games is an opportunity for many people to recognize the greatness of interchangeable lens systems and the value of images.
 

unfocused

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I don't think the translation is very good. It would be helpful if someone who actually knows Japanese could translate. Mostly, the brief interview seems to confirm some things that most on this forum would understand as just common sense.

Reading between the lines and filling in some gaps, it sounds more like these takeaways:
  • Camera market is shrinking due to smartphone competition. Canon is looking to develop products that will be attractive to consumers (not make them feel attractive).
  • Canon wants to expand sales to women and youth and is looking at products where they have had success, like the M50, to see what areas they should concentrate on.
  • The EOS R has a limited market and Canon is expanding the system to increase the appeal.
  • A flagship EOS mirrorless must surpass previous models (Well, duh!)
  • To save money and improve quality control, they are working to improve automation of lens manufacturing, which is apparently more difficult than cameras.
  • The interviewer raised the issue of 5G. The Canon exec basically said it has a lot of potential that will need to be developed once a 5G networks are in place.
  • It sounds like Canon is working on mirrorless lenses that will provide an improved feedback loop with the cameras.
  • Big events like the Olympics are good marketing opportunities (duh, again.)
Hoping someone with Japanese reading skills can clarify further, but it doesn't sound all that revealing to me.
 
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SecureGSM

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The line

EOS R system is still not very popular, expansion of the system is the most important issue (performance, price, etc.)

is a very telling statement and runs against a lot of sentiment on CR. I wonder what the sales are?
Not extremely strong with a limited and very expensive line of lenses available.
I would imagine that enthusiasts and early adopters are the target audience at this stage.
They off to a good start though. I am not an early adopter and after a rugged camera body with a proper level of weather protection. I see myself stepping up to a mirrorless 5D level body in about 6 months from when it was released. I would like to ensure I am not investing in a lemon. That’s $20K to spend.
 
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unfocused

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The line

EOS R system is still not very popular, expansion of the system is the most important issue (performance, price, etc.)

is a very telling statement and runs against a lot of sentiment on CR. I wonder what the sales are?
LOL! The only thing "telling" about that statement is that you shouldn't rely on a machine translation as interpreted by a website that appears to be based in Colombia (.co).

My machine translation (Google) of the original interview reads: “The EOS R system equipped with a 35mm full-size image sensor still has a limited number of people to enjoy. Expansion of the system is the most important issue. (Expanding performance, price, etc.) Expand to areas above and below the current model."

Which is more like: "We haven't yet realized the full potential of the market" not "it is not popular."
 
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AlanF

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LOL! The only thing "telling" about that statement is that you shouldn't rely on a machine translation as interpreted by a website that appears to be based in Colombia (.co).

My machine translation (Google) of the original interview reads: “The EOS R system equipped with a 35mm full-size image sensor still has a limited number of people to enjoy. Expansion of the system is the most important issue. (Expanding performance, price, etc.) Expand to areas above and below the current model."

Which is more like: "We haven't yet realized the full potential of the market" not "it is not popular."

It's ridiculous to try to parse translated language under any circumstance, it's even more ridiculous to do so when the translation has been clearly done by a machine. Let's at least wait until we have a Japanese speaker read and translate the interview.
Your interpretation may well be correct. Here is another translation:
What kind of strategy will mirrorless work on in the future? "The EOS R system, equipped with a 35mm full-size image sensor, still has a limited number of layers to enjoy. Expansion of the system is the most important thing. We will expand to the upper and lower areas of the current model, such as performance and price."
This engine translates to layers whereas the Google does to people.
Good on you for checking the original.
 
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Quirkz

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Your interpretation may well be correct. Here is another translation:
What kind of strategy will mirrorless work on in the future? "The EOS R system, equipped with a 35mm full-size image sensor, still has a limited number of layers to enjoy. Expansion of the system is the most important thing. We will expand to the upper and lower areas of the current model, such as performance and price."
This engine translates to layers whereas the Google does to people.
Good on you for checking the original.

Also, given that canon is the largest ILC manufacturer, their idea of ‘limited’ might be different from someone who doesn’t sell so many m50’s and rebels.
 
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LOL! The only thing "telling" about that statement is that you shouldn't rely on a machine translation as interpreted by a website that appears to be based in Colombia (.co).

My machine translation (Google) of the original interview reads: “The EOS R system equipped with a 35mm full-size image sensor still has a limited number of people to enjoy. Expansion of the system is the most important issue. (Expanding performance, price, etc.) Expand to areas above and below the current model."

Which is more like: "We haven't yet realized the full potential of the market" not "it is not popular."
Thanks for clarification.
The actual Japanese sentence "まだ楽しめる層が限られている" should be translated to "it is enjoyed by a limited category of users" not "a limited number of people". Which is true and reflects that there are still EOS-R models to come to be enjoyed/used by pros, enthusiasts, etc., and as you mentioned it indicates that the full potential of the market is yet to be realized.
 
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