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

Andy Westwood

EOS R6
CR Pro
Dec 10, 2016
181
316
UK
Honestly there really isn’t anything wrong with 20PM cameras. Most of my work is for web-based clients, I’m sure this also applies to many photographers.

Yes, 45mp is nice for cropping it etc and I get this! Also, if you need to print big, but if not we all know there are advantages of a lower MP sensor.

I guess not everyone will agree with me, and I’m not a massive tech guy but I thought I’d give my humble opinion.
 
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TAF

CR Pro
Feb 26, 2012
491
158
Still waiting (hoping) for a Foveon style layered sensor.

Would that design (three separate vertical layers) make it possible to have three separate readout circuits located in separate quadrants around the periphery (with the fourth quadrant for AF)? If so, that would permit much faster readout speed.

Maybe hopefully?
 
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Jan 29, 2011
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This is the kind of advancement that is a logical extension for an R1. Global shutter, low resolution, and high DR. It will have unbelievable fps for stills and excellent 5.5/6k video and will finally allow a workflow Canon have been pushing for years of frame grab from 'video'* at 120fps minimum. The DR will mean strobes don't have to keep up with recycle times.

I was wondering where the R1 was going to go as the rumors for the 'pro' Sony MILC and the Nikon 'pro' Z9 both have much higher mp than current 'pro' models, Sony's A9II, Nikon's D6, and the 1DX III all have close to 20/21mp. Canon have been pretty adamant that they see that 'pro' market body as being optimized at the 20mp mark for generations.

* I use the term 'video' as it would be in a video mode but shot with stills centric exposure settings to get sharp subject detail when they are moving quickly.
 
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Apr 25, 2011
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Global shutter would negate the need for a physical shutter, eliminate the effect of shutter-shake, and would offer new photography opportunities compared to a 1DxIII. This would also mean less moving parts needed for maintenance.
Global shutter as it is technically implemented requires base ISO increase (pixel's electron well depth decrease) by a stop.

Who said it will be for a stills camera?
The combination of pixel pitch and pixel count.
 
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slclick

EOS 3
Dec 17, 2013
4,634
3,040
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.
I would have no qualms about shooting with 21 mp. When people say it's low for photography, this translates to low for marketing imho.
 
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bbasiaga

Canon Shooter
Nov 15, 2011
721
971
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I would have no qualms about shooting with 21 mp. When people say it's low for photography, this translates to low for marketing imho.
This supposition stumped me as well (that 20mp isn't enough). Makes you wonder about all the media, print and digital, produced by the thousands upon thousands of 1D series cameras - all of which have hovered around the 20mp mark for a long time now.

Certainly some advantage to be had with more, but to say it isn't enough is off the mark by a wide margin.

-Brian
 
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Jan 27, 2020
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Honestly there really isn’t anything wrong with 20PM cameras. Most of my work is for web-based clients, I’m sure this also applies to many photographers.

Yes, 45mp is nice for cropping it etc and I get this! Also, if you need to print big, but if not we all know there are advantages of a lower MP sensor.

I guess not everyone will agree with me, and I’m not a massive tech guy but I thought I’d give my humble opinion.
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.

But all that aside, this rumor seems totally fake. I admit that I haven't looked up global shutter articles in the last couple years, but up until that time they were nowhere near making anything close to global shutter for a sensor even close to 21 MP. And the one drawback of a global sensor that was always mentioned was how it had less DR, not more. But, as I said, not a tech guy, so who knows.
 
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magarity

CR Pro
Feb 14, 2017
283
193
Camera MP are a lot like CPU Ghz used to be in the late 90's. Intel and AMD used to chase each other to the next 0.1 Ghz speed increase and brag loudly each increment. If your computer was more than 0.5 Ghz behind you felt like you had a clunker. But they hit 4Ghz around 2005 and since then haven't gone anywhere. Current models are all in the 3 to 4 Ghz range 15 years later.
20.x MP is the 3.5Ghz of camera tech.
 
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SecureGSM

2 x 5D IV
Feb 26, 2017
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Camera MP are a lot like CPU Ghz used to be in the late 90's. Intel and AMD used to chase each other to the next 0.1 Ghz speed increase and brag loudly each increment. If your computer was more than 0.5 Ghz behind you felt like you had a clunker. But they hit 4Ghz around 2005 and since then haven't gone anywhere. Current models are all in the 3 to 4 Ghz range 15 years later.
20.x MP is the 3.5Ghz of camera tech.
That’s due to a well known technology limitation rather than a market decision.
20Mp in cameras is not a technology limitation.

www.maketecheasier.com/why-cpu-clock-speed-isnt-increasing/
 
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magarity

CR Pro
Feb 14, 2017
283
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That’s due to a well known technology limitation rather than a market decision.
20Mp in cameras is not a technology limitation.
CPUs could still go faster but the focus has been on adding more cores. Cooling solutions exist to get around the complaints in that article but they're not really worth it compared to adding cores. The trade off for cameras is that frame rates are now what is being ramped up, not MP. A 100MP camera would have to make to with a 2 frame per second limit or somesuch. Instead, the 20.x MP cameras are going 12, 16, 20, and up.
 
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