It may have been lost during the announcement excitement, but Canon will be adding some functionality to the Canon EOS R camera with a firmware update. Expect to see the firmware update released within a couple of months after shipping begins in October.
What's coming in the firmware?
- Eye detect AF in continuous shooting. The EOS R launches with the ability to do this in one shot.
- Additional touch bar functionality added.
- Continuous shooting in silent shutter mode. The EOS R only allows this feature in single shot at launch.
- A “few tweaks” to video functionality. The 4K crop will not be changed, nor will the maximum frame rate in 4K.
- Bug fixes
As we learn more about the coming firmware update(s), we'll let you know. We expect to see a lot of functionality added to the camera over the next year as we have new ergonomics at play with the control ring and the touch bar.
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The real reason was mass production. Unlike Nikon, which will struggle to fulfill orders for its Z-series cameras, especially at only 20k/month, Canon built a huge backlog of EOS Rs so it could meet demand.
That meant the firmware team had plenty of time to write new code while crates of cameras were stockpiled in warehouses.
Pupil/Eye AF on video recording? I think it would only make sense to have it enabled in video as well
AF is where the battle lines are drawn. Sony has done tremendous stuff with AF and it's to our advantage as Canon will have to compete.
That makes exactly zero sense if you know anything about engineering OR business. This is why it’s difficult to take seriously people crying about Canon crippling things.
Apparently you can now do this with the XT-3, according to EOSHD. This is huge for video makers.
No offence, but what a bunch of BS. Just another troll that can't think of anything more original to say than "crippled". If you don't lke the specs go buy your Sony. I think it is rather obvious that they did not want to wait any longer with the release of the camera with Nikon announcing their FF mirrorless. So, yes, it may not have been quite ready. Nothing crippled at all about this camera. It may not have all the features you want, but that is YOUR problem, not Canon's.
I am wondering if the rumours of 2 FF mirrorless cameras were true and the second one is being held because they don't want reviews of it with unfinished firmware. I have heard exactly 0 reviewers mention that the firmware updates are coming quickly following launch, so impressions are already being released, some of which targeting issues this firmware update will resolve.
My only point here is that this seems out of character for Canon - typically everything is intended to work 100% out of the box, and this is a step away from that. Unsure what that means in the grander scheme of things.
Canon is probably having problems with the readout speed of the sensor or processing all that information for fast enough AF.
It would be great if Canon were to follow Fuji's lead by adding or improving functionality after a product ships. But that is rare for Canon.
Exactly. Just like when you buy a new computer model off the shelf, there is often already a software update needed because time has elapsed since it shipped, and software has advanced. Canon had the hardware ready to ship in volume and was continuing to work on the firmware including some new features that weren’t quite fully baked. No need to hold up on delivering the hardware.