Has Canon developed a new 21mp sensor for the Canon EOS R system? [CR1]

[David - Sydney]

As a photographer and not a tech guy, I couldn't agree more. Considering that I could take my 6 MP pics taken with my original digital rebel, and crop them to about 2/3rds size, and make an 8 x 10 print that is tack sharp, I do laugh at the notion that the majority of camera owners would need even 20 MP. What it shows more than anything is how gullible consumers are.

Not sure if all consumers are gullible really but when looking at a spec sheet it is a clear item of distinction that they somewhat understand compared to other items eg ISO. Those aren't the customers for 1D/R5 series cameras but could be an issue for cameras like the R6.
There are definitely use cases for higher MP stills even if they aren't what your workflow needs. Yes, there is less need for prints compared to online resolution. Yes, you can take a shot with lower res that provides a great/sharp 8x10 print. Yes, we had no choice in the past about number of mp so made the most of what we had at the time.

The ability to crop heavily is very useful in situations where you cannot avoid getting closer or having an appropriate lens (can't afford it, didn't have it with you, can't change it to the better lens, etc) eg for birding or where I am shooting underwater with a 16-35mm lens and find something small to shoot but certainly doesn't fill the frame and clearly can't change to my 100mm macro setup

8k video is clearly not for everyone but offers a lot of post-production options that aren't available in any other format. Getting 33mp jpeg stills at 30fps is something that wasn't possible before. The res of 4k frame grabs probably wouldn't be as useful.

If you had a choice of 20mp or 45mp when printing large then you would clearly prefer the latter if possible

 

[tigers media]

Surely its the new M50 sensor !

 

[SteveC]

Surely its the new M50 sensor !

All joking aside, I would hope not as the current M50 sensor has 24MP.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Oh this will definitely be the new R1 sensor, fits' in perfectly with them being locked in that 20MP range for their sports camera.

 

[slclick]

Maybe it's for the R7. (Can we get the 7 thing rolling again?)

 

[KenLLL]

How many dBs of DR does the R5's sensor have?

 

[amfoto1]

Continue reading...

This would be a perfect sensor for an R1 top-of-the-line sports camera. 21MP is very close to the same resolution as 1DX II and 1DX III, not to mention D5 and D6. And a global shutter would be ideal for fast action. Could be virtually silent shooting too. 120 fps is insane, way more than necessary... But what the heck, as long as someone else does the editing! 20 stops of DR? What's the best out there now? 15 stops? Summer Olympics would be good time to roll out a camera like this. It would be a game changer!

 

[CanonGrunt]

Sounds like a sensor for an RF mount c700 update....

 

[ethanz]

Sorry if already answered, but why so much doubt around the global shutter?

 

[masterpix]

21MP global sensor, that is going to be eye-sore! No more blurring of motion, reduce dramatically the shaking effect on the image, IS/IBIS will be (without any features) much better. The only fallback I see with it, is.. my bank account...

 

[Pape]

I guess they wait this sensor before they release real macro lenses for R

 

[Chris.Chapterten]

This definitely sounds fake. A global shutter negatively impacts dynamic range, so it's not really possible to have 20 stops of dynamic range and global shutter at the same time. Unless the global shutter can be deactivated?

 

[Juangrande]

for video maybe.. but doesn't makes sense for stills.

I’m a stills only portrait photographer and I’m dying for a global shutter sensor for mixing daytime ambient and flash on location with out the need for ND filters, HSS, or HS. you could get away with very portable small lighting equipment or get maximum power from a 250-500w light. And 20 stops of dynamic range . But I would want FF and 45mp. 30mp minimum.

 

[masterpix]

21mp is a strange number, because it's too low for stills in 2020 and beyond, but it doesn't match any normal video resolution. Still, if this is true, I assume this is going to be a hybrid camera that is really marketed more for video. An A7S III competitor that can one-up it with stills quality.

Well, action photographers (which this sensor is targeting) and news photographers don't need more than 20MP. They need two thigns, fast capture and the baility to capture as many pictues in one long continous shooting. Most of their work goes to web sights and online news, there is no need for 45MP pictures here even if the computer screen is 8K. The rush to higher MP is based not on the actuall need of the photographer, rather than the will of the company to "be more" than others. for most people, there is no real differnce between 20 to 45MP. They see the picture on teh computer screen or TV, not creatine posters of them to hang over huge signboards.

 

[Bennymiata]

Sensors are very interesting.
Glad I can't see any Sonys on the list.

 

[GMCPhotographics]

21mp is a strange number, because it's too low for stills in 2020 and beyond, but it doesn't match any normal video resolution.

??? 21MP is still a lot more than many sports photographers actually want. Wifi upload times at venue sports arenas is a big challenge and a lot of those photographers need small and easily managable files with minimal edits to get to press ASAP. In the wedding photography industry, it commonly accepted that more than 12mp is more than adequate. Most albums will have a max double page spread size of A3, or the album becomes too unmanagble. Most canvas purchase are in the A2 / A1 size and again it doesn't need high resolution to fill that frame size. If you are selling matted framed prints, then the print size is even smaller in the frame. Sure there's a strong argument for cropping space. But generally anything over the 20mp is still way more than adequate for the majority of professionals.
Naturally there are those who need (or desire) the biggest sensor resolution that is currently available. But those photographers are not the norm. At some point we are all going to get to the point with sensor resolution where we all say...I think that is now way more than I need and I'm struggling to process that many images at that file size for the same output size that I have before!

 

[Antono Refa]

120fps? How long does it take to fill up a 2TB CFexpress card?

( 2 * 1024 * 1024 ) / ( 120 * 21 ) = ~832 seconds, or nearly 14 minutes, assuming the whole sensor is used and no compression.

Is there a usage scenario for such a long slow motion video?

 

[Hector1970]

Just a personal opinion but I own a 5DIV and 5DSR. I acquired a 1DX III earlier this year. 20mp feels quite old fashioned. To me the 1DXIII processors and buffer are designed for a larger sensor. It could easily have been a 30mp sensor and it would have handled it. It may have been more for the video element they went for 20MP. I find it good for large objects but no good for small objects like birds. It would have been a much better all round camera at 30MP.

 

[StandardLumen]

I don't understand all of the opinions that 21mp is as much or more than you'd ever want. I'm not saying that action photographers necessarily need 45mp+ this instant (there's a big gap between 21 and 45), but "the current standard is good enough, it doesn't need to improve" is not how technology works. I can't help but think of the old "640K ought to be enough for anybody" quote.

I'm sure there are some photographers out there that take huge numbers of images and are constantly filling their storage medium, or rely on real-time WiFi transfer of a large number of images and that are really being bottlenecked by file size, but as we move into the future, all of our technology should continue to improve, and that includes image quality. (And yes, I realize that higher resolution is not all there is to better image quality, but it's definitely part of it. And yes, I reject the idea that lower resolution means inherently better low light performance). Even for those photographers, scaling down to ~20mpx is likely to produce equally good if not better results than using a 20mpx sensor, similar to the R5's high quality 4K video, which scales down from 8K and produces exceptional image quality.

I'm welcome to being wrong about this, I'm aware that different photographers have different needs. If Canon believes that there are enough photographers out there that will still buy a new, high-end, stills-focused camera with a 21mp sensor for it to be profitable to make, I'm sure they'll have you covered. It just seems to me that if someone really doesn't want more than 20mp, no one is taking the 1DX Mark III away.


I'm not pretending to be an expert on camera design, nor do I know what Canon's plans are, but I'm still guessing that, if real, this sensor is intended for a hybrid camera that has good quality stills and can film 6K, rather something like an R1.

 

[GMCPhotographics]

I’m a stills only portrait photographer and I’m dying for a global shutter sensor for mixing daytime ambient and flash on location with out the need for ND filters, HSS, or HS. you could get away with very portable small lighting equipment or get maximum power from a 250-500w light. And 20 stops of dynamic range . But I would want FF and 45mp. 30mp minimum.

....lol...you don't want much then do you!