Thoughts on the Canon EOS R roadmap

Sep 26, 2018
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If you mean that Canon will not release an APS-C R camera because they don't have a APS-C lens like a RF-S... I think that if Canon decided that they need to be in that market, they could easily convert one or two of the existing EF-S designs into a kit lens.

I think especially if the 7d successor is APS-C we could well see RF-S lenses. I'm betting Canon already has designs for "RF-S" kit lenses. They wouldn't have the same backfocus advantage that EF-S has over EF (since the max backfocus should be fixed by the sensor position), but the smaller image circle still gives an entirely different set of design constraints.
 
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"one sub $1500 USD full frame mirrorless camera from Canon" - That would be great to replace my 5D i and reuse my old FD lenses on a FF camera.
Only essentials for me are: very good sensor IQ @ ~30MPix, DPAF, a body only option/body with control ring adapter, LP-E6 battery.
At this price a 2nd body is a not too expensive option (usually to avoid changing lenses which I hate).
 
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I see the logic of consumer grade FF introductions to capture the market but the thing that doesn't make sense is the opening salvo of big heavy pro glass without a body for pros. No informed amateur is going to dive on a camera body that is supported with 2-3K lenses. The whole concept of mirrorless for me is size and weight and that's why I got a M5. I think Canon should have launched the R system with something on the order of the 5D Mark IV with continuous silent shutter, dual card slots, and a reasonable frame rate. A lesser equipped R body may make cents but doesn't make sense IMO.
 
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Could someone please explain, how EOS R could be even more lower level? What could be left off? Lower megapixel sensor does not necessarily mean less advanced sensor, right? Or are we talking APS-C EOS R machine here? I thought, that what is coming is lower specced FF body ....

6DII sensor, lower resolution EVF, no touch bar, lower fps & AF Points

I'd love to see a £2000 option that competes with the Nikon Z6 & Sony A7III.

24mp BSI sensor, IBIS, full frame 4K, 11+ FPS.

Pick 1 or two features. I doubt they give it all for that price and that soon.

They are likely to release a lower mode Canon EOS R first.

I'm already entertaining Sony and Panasonic next generation mirrorless camera if the next EOS R is an entry-level camera.
 
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The Fat Fish

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6DII sensor, lower resolution EVF, no touch bar, lower fps & AF Points



Pick 1 or two features. I doubt they give it all for that price and that soon.

They are likely to release a lower mode Canon EOS R first.

I'm already entertaining Sony and Panasonic next generation mirrorless camera if the next EOS R is an entry-level camera.

Sadly I am too. Panasonic, Sony and Nikon are all competing to produce excellent value for money cameras. They have their £2000 ish range with the previously mentioned specs and a £3000 range with the same specs and a high resolution sensor. I really can't work out why Canon fail to offer the same value for money. Trouble is die hard Canon fans look down on me for even suggesting it. The DPReview 1D/5D/6D forum is a prime example of dinosaurs who are content with mediocrity.
 
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The Fat Fish

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No card slots, in-body destabilization, no controls other than the touch bar, m43 sensor, max 480p 1fps with 8x crop.
The worrying thing is Canon would happily do that if they could. It seems every release is an attempt at releasing the absolute minimum they can. Such a shame, their outstanding lenses deserve better.
 
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Sadly I am too. Panasonic, Sony and Nikon are all competing to produce excellent value for money cameras. They have their £2000 ish range with the previously mentioned specs and a £3000 range with the same specs and a high resolution sensor. I really can't work out why Canon fail to offer the same value for money. Trouble is die hard Canon fans look down on me for even suggesting it. The DPReview 1D/5D/6D forum is a prime example of dinosaurs who are content with mediocrity.

I am not sure why I have loyalty for Canon camera for so long. It was I first started out but I keep disappointed with each release hoping Canon will offer something more to my need - 6DII, 5DIV, EOS R. They are all fine camera and capable of taking great pictures but just poorly value camera.

As my skills grow, I have different needs and Canon isn't providing it.

I have already switch my lighting kit to Godox and some of my lens to Sigma Art. It's the best value for my money and best investment I've made. I think RF lens are too expensive and the difference is neglible to clients and to me.

I'm seriously waiting for Panasonic since they have the usability of Canon (ergonomic, menu, weather sealing, highest EVF) and tech of Sony (dual IS, eyeAF, 4K, pixel shift, etc).

I'll also give Canon EOS R a consideration too, but I won't be afraid to leave Canon for another company that can provide me with the tool I need. I am willing to pay the price for such camera too.

I also get criticize for pointing out by die hard Canon users. No camera is perfect including Sony but they shouldn't be free of criticism. I'll keep an open mind when I decided to finally jump into FF mirrorless.
 
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Sep 11, 2018
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The last release was full of surprises that no-one knew about.
Anything can happen.
I for one wont be jumping anywhere for negligible improvements, no ergonomics etc etc
I see far too many Sony shooters looking down fiddling around missing all the shots. Fair enough if you have time.
I prefer to crack away and bring home the goods, get paid and start over.
 
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unfocused

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I don't think an eos r aps-c body is likely.

there are no aps-c lenses for the eos r, only full frame lenses. i don't believe canon will force us to use full frame lenses (which are more expensive). what are the thoughts of the community on this?

I also find this doubtful. In effect, they would be splitting the APS-C mirrorless market in two -- EOS-M and EOS-R/crop. I suppose you could have a consumer grade "M" and an enthusiast grade R-Crop, but I'm not seeing the market for the enthusiast grade R-Crop until mirrorless matures to the point where it is actually better than DSLRs for sports and action. By the time that arrives, I think it would be far more likely to have full-frame models with sufficient pixel count and an EVF that magnifies the image and makes crop sensors unnecessary for these use cases.
 
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unfocused

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...do not expect any sort of “niche” or “professional” mirrorless cameras prior to the release of more “entry level” products. A $4000+ camera simply doesn’t move anywhere near the volume that a sub $1500 camera would and at the end of the day, Canon needs more RF lens mount equipped cameras out there. So yes, we expect to see a model under the EOS R before we see any sort of high megapixel or “professional” full frame mirrorless camera from Canon.

While this comes as no surprise, I am not sure how much volume even a sub-$1,500 full frame camera will generate, especially given that adding a kit lens to that camera is going to set the consumer back another $1,000 for a 24-105 f4. While existing customers can use their EOS lenses with an adapter, most will eventually want to add a native mount lens and anyone new to the system will find the price of entry pretty steep. (We forum dwellers often become immune to the practical limits that most consumers live with.)

Not saying I disagree with Craig or his sources, but rather I am becoming increasingly convinced that the rapid conversion to mirrorless and imagined obsolescence of DSLRs that many on this forum foresee will occur at a much slower pace than most expect, if it occurs at all.
 
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I'd like to see an entry-level EOS R take the form of a larger EOS M6. Save some money by dropping the EVF and just use a decent resolution touchscreen LCD; an EVF can always be added as a hot shoe attachment if desired. I think the smaller rangefinder style body and grip will sit quite well with a lot of folks hoping to use a compact full-frame mirrorless system. Provided of course, that Canon rolls out several compact RF primes and moderate aperture zooms in the near future to complement it. If they're daring, I think they could sell a so-called EOS R6 for $1299-$1399 and still make a decent profit.
 
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SereneSpeed

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Just give me the ability to backup RAW files using Bluetooth, while still writing to the card on my EOS R. That’s all I ask.

I’m not here to argue about the EOS R being a pro camera - I Pay my bills with it. My 5Div collects dust now and is ‘just’ a backup body. I’ll happily wait a year or so for the ‘Pro R’, if I get RAW file redundancy.

Please Canon, give me wireless RAW backup!

(I can wish, right?)

:)
 
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Personally I expect a mirrorless rebel in the next few months to fulfill that very important price level as mentioned in the article and a full frame mirrorless more akin to the 5DmkIV with IBS and a higher frame rate/servo by Summer. I don't know how many mkIVs they sell now but I am guessing that is is a fairly high volume high profit area. Add IBS, a faster frame rate, mkIV buttons and a second slot and voila. My opinion is that its an area of growing competition from Sony, Nikon, etc. The super high megapixel camera is just not that large of a market comparatively. Personally, I'm quite happy to keep the megapixels at 30.
The Servo frame rate is pathetic on the EOS R which tends me to believe that a 1DX mkII mirrorless is not going to happen soon since we would expect it to exceed the specs of what we have now obviously and I think the tech is just not there with Canon.
 
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Oct 26, 2013
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... I really can't work out why Canon fail to offer the same value for money. Trouble is die hard Canon fans look down on me for even suggesting it.

The point is - what do you value? The reason some folks criticize your comments is that you make sweeping generalizations that presume that everyone values what you value. Saying "Canon fail to offer the same value for money" is NOT A FACT, it is your opinion. When people state opinions as fact, they are going to get some backlash. It's that simple.

For me, Canon offers more for the money, and obviously other feel the same. Canon color and ergonomics are worth far more to me that anything Sony offers. I will soon begin dong some how-to videos, so an articulating screen is now a must have. So that is more value than the others offer. The touch screen AF point select is also a spec that I really like - that's why I traded my Olympus EM-1 for a Mark II. So that is more value from the Canon than it's competitors.

Now, for many folks like you, those specs may not be things they value - it may be IBIS, 2 card slots or better video specs. That's a perfectly valid opinion. If you state it that way, few will mind.
 
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Oct 26, 2013
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Just give me the ability to backup RAW files using Bluetooth, while still writing to the card on my EOS R. That’s all I ask.

I’m not here to argue about the EOS R being a pro camera - I Pay my bills with it. My 5Div collects dust now and is ‘just’ a backup body. I’ll happily wait a year or so for the ‘Pro R’, if I get RAW file redundancy.

Please Canon, give me wireless RAW backup!

(I can wish, right?)

:)

You can wish, but it might be a good idea to contact Canon directly and give them your feedback, if you haven't already.
 
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One factor that hasn't been mentioned is the need for a "halo" product. Quite often, a manufacturer releases a product to get lots of press attention and create an overall positive impression of the brand, even if it is unattainable for most buyers. An example of that in the car industry would be the Corvette or the Honda NSX. Sony has done this in the camera industry with the A9. It was an attempt to gain credibility from getting pros to adopt the body and it has been moderately successful. I think you'll see Canon release at least one entry-level (i.e. 24 megapixel sub-$2,000 consumer mirrorless camera) and one halo model to try to get some buzz in the coverage. So far, the press has been pretty negative about the EOS-R camera and Canon needs a model that will get rave reviews and create some excitement around Canon as a mirrorless brand.
 
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The last release was full of surprises that no-one knew about.
Anything can happen.
I for one wont be jumping anywhere for negligible improvements, no ergonomics etc etc
I see far too many Sony shooters looking down fiddling around missing all the shots. Fair enough if you have time.
I prefer to crack away and bring home the goods, get paid and start over.

Me too. I won't be jumping into any mirrorless with horrible ergonomic, EVF and incremental improvement. It has to be significant if I want to invest into a FF mirrorless lens system and lock myself into a camera ecosystem.

I work with a couple Sony shooters before and I don't see them stumpling. If anything it's less. You must deal with inexperience with the system.

I shot on Sony A9 a brief period of time for a wedding and it's quiet easy. No more chimping for exposure and eyeAF was really helpful when I used it. The camera have 3 custom button that I can quickly map to and their GM lens also have a custom button. If I switch to Sony, it won't be too hard even for a fast pace wedding.
 
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riker

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Why is everybody so into APS-C R body?!?! It makes no sense and I very much hope Canon is not going to do that.
It should be
FF - R
APS-C - M
That's it. Just like Sony does it.
APS-C was a good thing 15 years ago when technology was kinda new and making FF sensors was complicated and expensive. We should really start leaving it behind or at least leave it to the compact size cameras.

1Dx R? I think that was a joke. Nobody wishes for that and nobody has ever expected it.
Most of us I guess is wishing for a 5Ds R with a better 50MP sensor (DR and sensitivity), 6 FPS with a switch to 25MP/10FPS and the video capabilities of the 5d4 but FF 4K. This should be no sci-fi, no magic, no unrealistic expectations.
...OK and maybe some innovation like perfectly working builtin panorama or RAW HDR.
Even 4K/60 and 1080/120 should not be that much of a rocketscience 3 years after 1Dx has it but I know at this point I'm close to just a wet dream.
 
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