Expect more delays from Canon for both cameras and lenses

[Del Paso]

No issue for me! Currently spending my 2024 vacation in the beautiful Dolomiti!
My next vacation will be next fall, in Japan. Till then, I'll have my two R5 II bodies and some new lenses (24-70 F2?).
For thr next few months, I'll just keep using my current cameras, including one with, oh my God, so horrible unusable 24 MP!

 

[DhlcadR6]

Hello everyone. I have been following this forum for a while and I would like to write a message. I don't think Canon will launch a new camera this year. However, I want to open an issue for discussion. For someone considering switching to a Canon RF system, does Canon offer a suitable lens for birding/wildlife photography? It cannot offer alternatives, especially when it comes to prime lenses, and we should discuss this. For example, there are no 600mm prime or 500mm prime lens alternatives. You must either buy the $13,000 f4 or the cheap f11 lens. There is no lens in between.
My native language is not English. I used translation. Sorry for any mistakes.
Sinan from Turkey.

Canon definitely will launch R5ii and R1. If you have EF lenses already, just get R8/R6/R6ii. And even adapting "old" EF 400L 500L primes on them will perform much better than DSLRs.

 

[frankchn]

As long as Canon is satisfied with their market share and financials, we may continue to see the delays. Me, I can wait, and am content to buy refurbished, which are often a great value.

I am not sure they are. They were questioned over the YoY declines in terms of both revenue and profit of their Imaging group in their last quarterly earnings call.

They also promised to accelerate the shift into high value models during the Q&A with analysts, and obviously these delays are not helping.

Q7. Considering your first quarter Imaging results, would you say achieving your full year projection is a high hurdle?

A7. [...] Additionally, for Cameras, we will accelerate the shift to high-value-added models by enhancing our lineup of mirrorless cameras.

The refurb sales and promotions on new cameras are great for consumers, but I can't imagine them being great for Canon's financials. I bet they would rather sell R5IIs for full MSRP instead of R5s at a large discount.

 

[P-visie]

The cameras are only "delayed" because we've believed the rumors, legends, lies, and made up stuff. Canon hasn't told us they were doing anything by any certain date.

Another 24MP camera? Canon is rapidly becoming the "24MP camera company." So long as you do it well . . . it's a niche! Somebody's got to do it with high-quality sensors! There's a substantial slice of the photography market that will be well served by 24MP cameras.

And . . . 24MP won't expose how poorly those $3,000+ lenses actually resolve.

Has anyone else seen the more recent reviews of the original RF lenses with the R5 and R7? Those lenses that everyone thought were AMAZING when originally reviewed using 20MP and 30MP are suddenly not quite resolving up to the level of the R5 and (especially) R7 sensors. That's a problem for Canon. I don't see Canon producing many more bodies in the 45+MP range until they've upgraded a few of the original RF lenses to mk.ii.

Read this post by @YuengLinger
Post in thread 'Opinion: The R5 Mark II sounds cool – but where’s my Canon R5s?'
https://www.canonrumors.com/forum/threads/opinion-the-r5-mark-ii-sounds-cool-–-but-where’s-my-canon-r5s.43541/post-995373

 

[Richard CN]

The cameras are only "delayed" because we've believed the rumors, legends, lies, and made up stuff. Canon hasn't told us they were doing anything by any certain date.

Another 24MP camera? Canon is rapidly becoming the "24MP camera company." So long as you do it well . . . it's a niche! Somebody's got to do it with high-quality sensors! There's a substantial slice of the photography market that will be well served by 24MP cameras.

There was a time that 24MP was considered "too many pixels" by most of the experts.

 

[FaolainWolf]

I haven't seen any of that - do you mind sharing? I'd be curious to see an assessment to that effect if it exists. I was under the impression that the lenses which were seen as amazing at release have continued to perform with higher resolution sensors, so if there's some evidence to the contrary, I'd genuinely like to see it as I'm planning my own RF lens purchase plan.

See, the Christopher Frost videos on YouTube. I've seen the RF28-70 and RF24-70 videos, but haven't looked for more. The outcome is not all that surprising for either lens. There were hints at resolution questions at the long end even three or four years ago. But they're still both great lenses.

 

[jdavis37]

I've shot Canon gear since 1980, and am not a fanboy as such. Through the years I have had many criticisms for what Canon has and has not done. There was a brief time around the EOS10 and 20D timeframe where Canon seemed to be well ahead. When Sony bought Minolta and entered the game, at first it seemed they might do what Sony does.. buy in then soonafter exit out. They didn't. They have become a major player, and done some nicely innovative things. The one constant in all of this, for me anyway, has been how easy it has been to criticize Canon, sometimes getting frustrated with Canon (as in where is my lighter weight RF 500F4L lens?, or an equivalen tto Nikon's very lightweight 500mm F5.6 lens), and fail to see they have overall stayed strong financially and even with their "shortcomings" have made good products that in general have never limited me in any true sense. When the 5D3 came out along with Nikon D800, I read the hyperbole. How MUCH better the Nikon was at most everything, especially the sensor. I rented both, convinced it was time to change to Nikon after all the reports.. I bought the 5d3. It is easy to get caught up in online reviews, comments, reports and so forth. Most of us cannot afford to change systems everytime there is a new body (like one pair of online reviewers who go between Canon and Sony like changing clothes). I currently own two Eos R5s, and while some aspects are not as grand as the 1D MkII I owned, overall they have been the most enjoyable cameras I have ever used. Most missed shots are my fault (I do wildlife.. critters, birds, ). I see features in other cameras I would enjoy having and Canon seems resolute in its ability to irk me at times, especially how they deliberately withold simple functions and features from the 5 series Sony and Nikon offer in their $800 bodies. I would love to have a 500mm F5.6 lens that is as sharp as my 500F4 Mk II lens at 3 pounds.. hand holding the 500f4 at 7 pounds gets tiring. I would even welcome a 5 pound RF 500f4 that seems never due to arrive. The Canon frustration is very real, but the real truth is I am what holds me back, not the Canon gear I now own. Selling and buying into Nikon or Sony would result in their unique frustrations. Don't get me wrong, Canon does often irk me, but then just as I just did 25 seconds ago, I snap a wonderful photo of a juvenile Pileated woodpecker and smile!

 

[mpmark]

More and more validation for my decision not to continue waiting and instead buy a used R5 for my trips this summer. Thanks Canon!

You can still buy a new R5, and what exactly is wrong with it that you have to be so negative.

 

[mpmark]

Good catch. The original R5 is an amazing camera. I needed a new camera and bought a new R5 about a month ago. There is no camera from any brand that's better for what I need a camera for. (And we could be waiting a very long time for a camera that's better.)

it serves me so well, I own two of them, and even if a new R5ii comes out, this one just nails my shots every single time so I don't care to upgrade.

 

[roby17269]

There was a time that 24MP was considered "too many pixels" by most of the experts.

That time has gone.
24mp may be ok / adequate now depending on someone's needs and wants, but who'd say it is too much in this day and age?

 

[roby17269]

So the newer rumor says tomorrow a lens will be announced... which is it?

 

[meywd]

Maybe they are waiting for the R5 stock to go down

 

[Canon Rumors]

Sometimes these sorts of posts pull some teeth. It's not a new phenomenon... stop taking this stuff so serious. (to those that do)

 

[neuroanatomist]

Hello everyone. I have been following this forum for a while and I would like to write a message.

Welcome, Sinan.

I don't think Canon will launch a new camera this year.

Considering they've already made a development announcement for the R1 indicating a 2024 release, that seems both patently false and it's highly unlikely the R1 will be the only camera launched.

For someone considering switching to a Canon RF system, does Canon offer a suitable lens for birding/wildlife photography? It cannot offer alternatives, especially when it comes to prime lenses, and we should discuss this. For example, there are no 600mm prime or 500mm prime lens alternatives. You must either buy the $13,000 f4 or the cheap f11 lens. There is no lens in between.

Both are suitable lenses for bird/wildlife photography, and you've listed two alternatives already. What you're really asking for is something suitable for you. If you're looking for something in between the Canon f/4 and f/11 options in terms of both aperture and price, I'd suggest looking at Nikon.

 

[clearwaterphotog]

You can still buy a new R5, and what exactly is wrong with it that you have to be so negative.

I don't know why you would, when you can save a nice chunk of money buying a used one in great condition, as I did. It was a second body for me. Just save as much as you can; these cameras don't fail that often so warranty isn't much of a concern. Why would you buy a new one when the next gen is right around the corner? Except, that corner keeps getting further and further away... lol.

I'm not being negative, I'm actually quite pleased because I am a habitual waiter when it comes to tech and I decided to stop waiting. I don't upgrade devices every year, or even every other year, but I either want the latest and greatest which is often right around the corner, or I want to save on the current gen so I want the next gen to come out to cause price drops on the current (soon to be last) gen. And boy, when the R5II drops, used ones are gonna be under 2 grand, an absolute steal for anyone looking for an extremely capable FF body with a high quality lens ecosystem (which is where your money's gonna go anyway). For me, I'm just happy that I can run a dual-body setup for my trips this year, and don't need to keep holding my breath.

 

[rbielefeld]

Hello everyone. I have been following this forum for a while and I would like to write a message. I don't think Canon will launch a new camera this year. However, I want to open an issue for discussion. For someone considering switching to a Canon RF system, does Canon offer a suitable lens for birding/wildlife photography? It cannot offer alternatives, especially when it comes to prime lenses, and we should discuss this. For example, there are no 600mm prime or 500mm prime lens alternatives. You must either buy the $13,000 f4 or the cheap f11 lens. There is no lens in between.
My native language is not English. I used translation. Sorry for any mistakes.
Sinan from Turkey.

I am a professional bird photographer and I use the Canon 200-800mm RF. I love the focal length range for birds. I don't buy into the "the lens is too slow" talk and just go out and shoot. f/9 at 800mm works for me given the ISO performance of the R3 and the post procession options available these days. With the R5II and R1 I believe things will only get better.

 

[ShowMeTheEagles]

It's absolutely no shocker that any new popular Canon product will be backlogged. It's the game Canon plays. "Normal" established companies ramp up production well before any product announcement so even if the "overwhelming" product demand "surprises" executives it's only's weeks, not months before it's in any buyer's hands. Canon's product ramp up model is to pretend it's a cash-starved startup on Kickstarter. I buy a lot of electronics and I can't think of any other brand that has production constraints on just about every single new product like Canon. The only Canon products that are easy to get are the lowest-end consumer bodies and lenses -- probably because Canon known that demographic will just buy another brand if Canon isn't available because they are not locked into the eco-system yet.

 

[m4ndr4ke]

I’ve been somewhat expecting a R6 Mark III to be released this year, but I’m quite skeptical that it will come this soon. I’ve been praying for a R6 Mark III with the stacked sensor of the R3.

Can I keep praying for this one?

 

[Jethro]

Can I keep praying for this one?

Please do! While it seems very early for an R6 III, one with the R3 sensor would be welcome indeed - what a camera! If it's true that the R3 will fade away after the R1 release, Canon will almost certainly re-use it's sensor in another body - and the R6 series would generally seem more likely than the R8s. On timing, I would have thought 2025 was more likely though.

 

[David - Sydney]

I am not sure they are. They were questioned over the YoY declines in terms of both revenue and profit of their Imaging group in their last quarterly earnings call.

They also promised to accelerate the shift into high value models during the Q&A with analysts, and obviously these delays are not helping.

Canon marketing/sales/finance departments must be pulling their hair out with the delays. Nothing worse than not announcing/selling something new and shiny. The current discounting works well for a month or two in the leadup to a new model but delays mean that the profitability hit will impact overall finance numbers.
Either the sourcing department is being hammered for 3rd party supply and/or the manufacturing sites quality/production lines.
Either way there would be a lot of tension internally and I am surprised that employees aren't talking about it.