Canon Promises Professional Mirrorless Camera Is Coming, While DSLR Development Will Continue

Canon Promises Professional Mirrorless Camera Is Coming, While DSLR Development Will Continue

If you've been wondering what the future of Canon's various camera lines will be, the company has gone on the record in several recent interviews, clarifying just how future development will continue.

In a recent interview with DPReview, Canon clarified that a professional EOS R mirrorless camera is on the way, though they have not said exactly when that will be. Though such a camera is essentially inevitable, many are more interested in what Canon's DSLR line's future will be. Canon has clarified that they will be continuing development of multiple such models in tandem with the mirrorless R line. Surely, one such model will be the update to the 1D X Mark II, which will likely be seen at the 2020 Olympics. In addition, and perhaps more surprisingly, Canon also confirmed continued development of the M mirrorless line.

In addition, in speaking to Imaging Resource, Canon noted that they have quite a lot of products being prepared for this year. The company wasn't more specific about what they're planning for 2019 and when to expect those products, but it should be interesting to see what the company has in store, particularly as they're now taking professional-level mirrorless cameras quite seriously. 

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Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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4 Comments

I'd be really curious to see what they put into a "professional" mirrorless camera. I hope they don't blow a lot of smoke.

given that the R is essentially a mirrorless copy of a 3 year old camera (the 5d mk iv) and one that, with the RF 28-70 f2.0, already costs 5500 euros, I wonder what they regard as a "professional" camera these days, and (more importantly) what they regard as a "professional" price point.

Ryan Davis: The R is the new version of the EOS 6D MkII. That's why it has a 3 year old sensor, just as the A7III had a refreshed sensor from the A7II. It isn't the replacement for the 5DMkIV. That is what is coming with the new mirrorless camera.

Also, this is the test bed for the new technologies. As you know, early adopters have to put up with the shit. I just bought one, and I'm learning about it's little idiosyncrasies, such as when you have auto-review on, it reviews in both the VF and on the screen, and you can't turn one off independently of the other. There are quite a few things that I'm trying to work out still. One thing I discovered today is that a setting, and I know not what yet, when engaged, brings up a busy message after every shot in Tv, Av, P and other modes. I managed to fix it by resetting all camera settings. I believe it comes from the MkIV, but I don't know what setting that is yet. What is does have is amazingly aggressive focussing, so I'm happy with that, and the colour is very good. Is it the best camera on the planet? No, but it's certainly not the worst either. Is it worth the gold I paid for it? The jury is still out on that one! :) One thing, from my point of view is that I've got a number of very good lenses, and I don't have to replace those as well. That is a big bonus for me, as I'm basically an amateur and it's just a hobby for me. If I was a professional photographer, then the game would be different. So, for those bagging it, I say, yep, but if you owned an older camera, say a 450D to 700D or even some more recent offerings and you had a camera bag full of lenses, you would think differently. I'm quite impressed and I have tried a couple of Sony machines, which I didn't like at all. There are some of us who just want to take photos and aren't interested in things such as the video capabilities (nice, but I rarely use video on a stills camera).