May 13: It’s Canon vs Sony

[Canon Rumors]

I don't think it happens very often, but Sony and Canon are both going to have major announcements on May 13, 2026. Each company has a major camera launch and what will likely be considered major lens announcements. As you know, Canon is going to be announcing the EOS R6 V and the RF 20-50mm […]

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[Rceres]

Personally, I have zero interest in any of the V-series Canon stuff. My R5 ii is good enough. But if Canon came out with an R4 high megapixel competitor to the A-7 series in an R5 form factor I would preorder today. While I can appreciate the business decision to sell video focused gear, this does seem to come at the expense of appealing to the more aspirational aspects of photography. Where is a more modern RF 50 mm 1.2 L or 85 1.2 L? Or a portrait focused RF 100 f1.4 L modeled on the wonderful RF 135 1.8 L? There is real risk that Canon loses flagship performance bragging rights to Sony. Camera buying decisions are rarely based on need, they are based on emotion. (Just my two cents for my first post on CR.)

 

[JensR]

I would very much like a high MP FF camera and a 100-400 f/4.5 for around 10K from CANON.

Let Sony have that dreaded videocamera thing without a viewfinder and that 20-50 powerzoom and give us the CANON verson of that high MP camera + telezoom!

I feel so wrong envying Sony users for this opportunity but the 7th videocentric hybrid camera thingy really does absolutely nothing for me....
Plus the emotional baggage of learning that this R6V is coming instead of the promised R7 MII could make a grown man weep.....

 

[Canon Rumors]

I would very much like a high MP FF camera and a 100-400 f/4.5 for around 10K from CANON.

Let Sony have that dreaded videocamera thing without a viewfinder and that 20-50 powerzoom and give us the CANON verson of that high MP camera + telezoom!

I feel so wrong envying Sony users for this opportunity but the 7th videocentric hybrid camera thingy really does absolutely nothing for me....
Plus the emotional baggage of learning that this R6V is coming instead of the promised R7 MII could make a grown man weep.....

I don't need a high megapixel count. I simply enjoy clicking the image in Lightroom to 100% with the Leica (Sony) 60mp files. "Enhance"

 

[ScreensMatter]

I would very much like a high MP FF camera and a 100-400 f/4.5 for around 10K from CANON.

Let Sony have that dreaded videocamera thing without a viewfinder and that 20-50 powerzoom and give us the CANON verson of that high MP camera + telezoom!

The 20-50mm could be a very good lens for photography if the price is right. The focal length is useful. Power zoom is an annoyance.

It is hard to feel envious of Sony users, every camera except the A9 III and A1 II is less ergonomically then a clay brick.

 

[amorse]

Personally, I have zero interest in any of the V-series Canon stuff. My R5 ii is good enough. But if Canon came out with an R4 high megapixel competitor to the A-7 series in an R5 form factor I would preorder today. While I can appreciate the business decision to sell video focused gear, this does seem to come at the expense of appealing to the more aspirational aspects of photography. Where is a more modern RF 50 mm 1.2 L or 85 1.2 L? Or a portrait focused RF 100 f1.4 L modeled on the wonderful RF 135 1.8 L? There is real risk that Canon loses flagship performance bragging rights to Sony. Camera buying decisions are rarely based on need, they are based on emotion. (Just my two cents for my first post on CR.)

While I agree with the sentiment that Canon has a gap in terms of higher-resolution offerings (which I'd also pre-order), Canon doesn't seem worried about that since they've had that gap for a while now and it hasn't impacted their bottom line yet. While I definitely want such a camera from Canon, it definitely appears to be niche enough that Canon doesn't feel inclined to offer something with comparable resolution. Only Canon knows their own philosophy behind that decision, but I wouldn't be shocked if Canon chose not to focus on an image-quality and resolution-first camera when their competitive advantage over other cameras has been more linked to high-resolution burst rate, auto focus, and high-resolution video - things that may matter less to someone who wants resolution and image quality above all else. Why play in the sandbox if there's not a ton of money to be made and your inherent advantages don't matter as much to potential buyers for that product line? It may make more sense to Canon to just let the R5 ii be the offering in that space and accept that it will have less resolution and be less attractive for niche high-resolution uses rather than making something that won't move a ton of units, and may not compare favourably against the competition for that use case. Sucks for those of us who want something like that, but Canon has not been in a rush to play in that space for over a decade now when the 5Ds 5DsR were released, and I don't know why they'd change direction now.

 

[mb66energy]

20-50 f/4 would be a welcomed lens for my R50 V where it mutates to a 32-80 ... hopefully it has a good optical correction. IS and PZ are very welcome!

 

[mimbu]

A7R VI​

Sony is going to announce the a7R VI, the high resolution model in their line-up. The current A7R V has Sony's 61MP sensor. It's a highly regarded sensor, but it's probably time for a new high-resolution offering.

The last rumor I saw about the sensor said it was going to be 67MP and partially stacked.

FE 100-400mm f/4.5 GM OSS​

Sony will also be bringing what looks like a very cool lens in the FE 100-400 f/4.5 GM OSS, there are some leaked images out there, but nothing that really shows us the size, it won't be “small”, but Sony does a good job of size and weight shaving as things go along

They won't be cheap​

The A7R VI is going to come in at about €5099, and the FE 100-400mm f/4.5 GM OSS will retail for €4999.

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The A7R VI is likely to get the 67mp fully stacked sensor that was shown on the leaked sensor roadmap last year. It promises to be a very impressive camera, but we'll have to wait and see. From the leaked slide:



Pricewise, leaks say the 100-400/4.5GM will be around the same price as the 50-150/2GM. I don't know what that is in EUR terms but in USD terms that's around $4000. We'll see. Would expect the lens to weigh less than the Olympus 150-400/4.5 which is around 1.8kg.

I would expect the A7R VI price to come in a bit above the A7R V, but not massively so. The V is $4200, would expect the VI to be $4400 or so. This is Sony's competitor to cameras like the R5 II and the Z8. I would be shocked at a price as high as the one you mentioned in EUR.

We might also get the 16-28/2.0GM lens on May 13 but this is unconfirmed.

Also coming soon (but not May 13) is the FX3 replacement. Likely to get a 16mp or 18mp fully stacked sensor, a version of which was also shown on the same leaked roadmap last year:



And lest anyone wonder if "stacked" just isn't being clear between partially stacked and fully stacked, the IMX820 was also listed on that roadmap. That is the partially stacked sensor in the Z6III and S1II, it was listed as "CoW Stacked". CoW is the new Chip-on-Wafer tech that Sony is using for the partially stacked sensors.

Sony also has an APS-C Global Shutter sensor coming to market soon, capable of 120fps. No idea where that might end up, but could be interesting.

 

[mimbu]

While I agree with the sentiment that Canon has a gap in terms of higher-resolution offerings (which I'd also pre-order), Canon doesn't seem worried about that since they've had that gap for a while now and it hasn't impacted their bottom line yet. While I definitely want such a camera from Canon, it definitely appears to be niche enough that Canon doesn't feel inclined to offer something with comparable resolution. Only Canon knows their own philosophy behind that decision, but I wouldn't be shocked if Canon chose not to focus on an image-quality and resolution-first camera when their competitive advantage over other cameras has been more linked to high-resolution burst rate, auto focus, and high-resolution video - things that may matter less to someone who wants resolution and image quality above all else. Why play in the sandbox if there's not a ton of money to be made and your inherent advantages don't matter as much to potential buyers for that product line? It may make more sense to Canon to just let the R5 ii be the offering in that space and accept that it will have less resolution and be less attractive for niche high-resolution uses rather than making something that won't move a ton of units, and may not compare favourably against the competition for that use case. Sucks for those of us who want something like that, but Canon has not been in a rush to play in that space for over a decade now when the 5Ds 5DsR were released, and I don't know why they'd change direction now.

The gap from 45mp to 61mp was only about a 16% increase in linear resolution. It's not nothing, but it's not huge. But from 45mp to 67mp is now a 22% linear difference, which starts to become quite a thing. With a fast enough sensor, being able to shoot 29.8mp photos in crop mode would also be quite a benefit.

We'll have to wait and see what Sony actually brings to market, and at what price point.

 

[Baywoof]

The gap from 45mp to 61mp was only about a 16% increase in linear resolution. It's not nothing, but it's not huge. But from 45mp to 67mp is now a 22% linear difference, which starts to become quite a thing. With a fast enough sensor, being able to shoot 29.8mp photos in crop mode would also be quite a benefit.

We'll have to wait and see what Sony actually brings to market, and at what price point.

 

[Baywoof]

67 MP full frame seems to be the threshold resolution that truly is a change from the 45 MP offerings fom both Canon and Nikon. As mentioned, shooting in crop mode could be equal or better than many ASP-C cameras with similar or less resolution. Canon has decided for now to remain in the realm of hybrid video cameras that btw also shoots stills. It is nice to see Sony (and maybe Nikon someday) feature a camera body that are geared to photographers 1st and not part time or full time videographers. Being a "forever" Canon user, I don't have much hope that Canon will change their imaging strategy anytime soon. The May announcement from Sony might change my choice of cameras as well.

 

[ashmadux]

The 20-50mm could be a very good lens for photography if the price is right. The focal length is useful. Power zoom is an annoyance.

It is hard to feel envious of Sony users, every camera except the A9 III and A1 II is less ergonomically then a clay brick.

20-50mm +f4 = nah. I just cant see the value here.

 

[riker]

Even as a Canon owner I was always looking forward to the A7R VI, being the resolution freak I am.

I already put money aside for the rumored 300-600, I'm hoping it will kick ass.

The R6V has to be MUCH cheaper than the R6m3!

 

[David - Sydney]

High mp is a niche and would directly impact processing/ storage bandwidth. Stacking seems to be a solution for rolling shutter but at a significant sensor cost increase.
Of course the dreaded dynamic range of smaller pixels would raise its head for reviewers.
No free lunch. 45mp is sufficient for most applications with reasonably powerful PCs

My AUD0.02
Sony users have been happy to higher mp sensors and pay higher prices for the bodies. In a sense, that is their business model as profitability in lenses is constrained by competition so their bodies need to compensate.
We will never know how profitable Sony’s milc body/lenses are but it must be enough otherwise there would look to offload it

 

[mimbu]

Of course the dreaded dynamic range of smaller pixels would raise its head for reviewers.
No free lunch. 45mp is sufficient for most applications with reasonably powerful PCs

More pixels are mostly about flexibility. In good light, you keep the extra detail and cropping room. In lower light, you can downsample, which averages out random noise and improves SNR, giving a cleaner final image, especially in the shadows. So smaller pixels do not automatically mean worse real-world DR. Even if sensor DR does not increase, cleaner shadows can make the final image look like it has more usable dynamic range.

 

[John D P]

I'm Ok with the 45mp of the R5m2, but I would like that 45mp in a pro body.

Any news about updating the Canon 400mm 2.8 & 600mm f4?

 

[Uneternal]

Even if they both announce on the same day, both cameras don't really compete. Sony aims for high-end photography professionals, and Canon targets the advanced video maker crowd (Gen Z TikTok kiddies).

Personally, I think Sony pushing for more and more megapixels is as silly as Fujifilm's 40MP.
At 67MP, the diffraction limit already sets in at f/5.6.

 

[mimbu]

Personally, I think Sony pushing for more and more megapixels is as silly as Fujifilm's 40MP.
At 67MP, the diffraction limit already sets in at f/5.6.

At 45mp it's around f6.5, at 61mp it's around f5.6, and at 67mp it's around f5.4.

Yet we already know that on 45mp and 61mp cameras, image sharpness often increases until around f8.0, depending on the lens. So I think this gets a bit tricky because there are two different things being mixed together.

Diffraction can be measurable at the pixel level before it becomes the dominant thing limiting the image. A lens can still improve when stopped down because aberrations, field curvature, and corner performance may improve more than diffraction hurts. That is why f8 can still be the sharpest aperture overall, even if diffraction technically started to matter before then.

So saying diffraction "sets in" at f5.6 is true in a narrow pixel-level sense, but it does not mean f5.6 is the sharpness limit, or that higher resolution is pointless past that. It just means the returns might get smaller.

 

[EOS 4 Life]

The A7R VI is likely to get the 67mp fully stacked sensor

I am not convinced that it is likely.
I will believe it when I see it.

 

[EOS 4 Life]

The gap from 45mp to 61mp was only about a 16% increase in linear resolution. It's not nothing, but it's not huge.

I want Canon to make a camera with 80+ MP