What Is Canon Planning for 2019?

What Is Canon Planning for 2019?

Following an entry into the world of mirrorless that was generally regarded as somewhat underwhelming, rumors suggest that Canon has some exciting developments in the pipeline for the coming year.

With its single card slot and brutal 4K crop, the Canon EOS R was a step in the right direction for some and an inept scramble to catch up with Sony for many others. The Japanese manufacturer might have been testing the water, getting a lackluster product to market early rather than risk losing more of its market share by continuing to drag its feet.

By contrast, the rumors of the last few months seem full of promise for 2019. In November, it was suggested that two EOS R models will be announced in the coming year, and now it seems possible that one of them might feature a sensor that boasts more than 75 megapixels. Hopefully, this is a more realistic prospect than the 120 megapixels that rumors were suggesting back in 2015.

According to Canon Rumors, two mirrorless bodies will be announced: the first will be more of a consumer camera with specifications that place it below the EOS R, the second will be a higher-specced version arriving later in the year. Some will no doubt be asking just how Canon can produce a camera with lower specifications than the EOS R, and personally, I would expect the more professional body to be released sooner. However, if Canon wants to continue carving into Sony’s dominance of Japan’s mirrorless camera market, perhaps a consumer body is the smarter option.

More recently we discovered that Canon is working on 5-axis in-body image stabilization (IBIS). Stabilization is something that Canon has long said would remain in its lenses and not its bodies, but according to the recent rumors, this seems set to change. Speaking to a member of Canon’s development team, The New Camera reports that IBIS was missing from the recently released EOS R due to compromises on size and heat. As the website also notes, patents can take a year or more to make an appearance, so whether this becomes a reality in 2019 will remain to be seen.

With the Olympics coming to Tokyo in 2020, to me, there’s the strong possibility that Canon’s new products will be skewed towards a focus on sports photography, and for this reason, multiple card slots and a fast burst rate seem like a much higher priority than an incredibly high resolution sensor. Furthermore, I don’t see resolution as Canon’s big concern right now; if I were them, I would be much more worried about the processors, low light performance, and dynamic range.

As well as questions around its mirrorless models, there’s speculation as to when Canon will release the EOS 6D Mark III. The Mark II did not get a great reception (poor dynamic range and a dated autofocus system), but its successor is not expected to hit the shelves until early 2020. Will it have the same sensor as the 5D Mark IV? Will Canon fix the woefully slow burst speed? Or will the mirrorless distractions mean that Canon will be pushing its development resources — and thus customers — towards the new EOS R series of cameras instead?

If we can take one thing from the rumors, it's that next year promises to be an interesting year for the firm, building on its entry into the mirrorless market and developing products that excite its customers. What do you expect to see from Canon?

Andy Day's picture

Andy Day is a British photographer and writer living in France. He began photographing parkour in 2003 and has been doing weird things in the city and elsewhere ever since. He's addicted to climbing and owns a fairly useless dog. He has an MA in Sociology & Photography which often makes him ponder what all of this really means.

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20 Comments

I need a new 5ds...something like d850. Nothing else. Mirrorless in 5-6 years maybe

That is an echo of what I was saying 2-3 years ago, I think that time is quickly approaching. I have began to contemplate my switch to mirror-less.

Y'know what'd be a great feature on ANY canon camera? Backlit buttons. The d850 has it, and boy, more than anything else, that give me gear envy.

Backlit buttons are cool, definitely. After a while you know your buttons off by heart anyway, and then it's not as important.

I use 3 different, enthusiast+ Nikon bodies, and the ISO button is in a totally different location on each body. I consider this a deficiency and minor irritation.

I'm pretty committed to that mirrorless life but if there's any DSLR that makes me tempted it's the D850. So many cool things they nailed like that.

Doesn't matter much. I'm not waiting 2-3 years for them to get something to market along with new lens coverage. Life is too short.

I just shot all week with my 5D2. Clients love the photos and I keep getting booked. I dont need a new camera. I hope my comment inspired someone to go charge the battery in the camera they do have, or load film into another and go create great work, because cameras do not get in the way of you making amazing work, you do.

What I have works for me too. If you posted that comment on DPR you would be mercilessly trolled and banned! LOL!! Gear is everything to some whether they need it's capabilities or not and of course some do but you know what I mean.

Yep, still making clients happy with an original 5D. Never had a client ask if my camera has IBIS.

Still working with the 5D2 myself. Great camera. I am about to test a 5DsR over the weekend which is a free loaner camera so I figured why the hell not. It needs to bring more than just pure resolution to make my upgrade to it though.

Yes we are hoping Canon to sell a body in a 2019 with unseen useful photo features on mirrorless Fullframe systems.. let's imagine we will have :
-100% articulated touch screen really usable in portrait mode on the field (for down or up arms shooting).
-a real automatic sensor protection while changing lenses on the field
-an old available function like an aperture ring even on EF lenses
-just the best largest autofocus on the field as possible even at F1.2 (with no pumping or missed).
-100% EF compatible, to say the largest lenses range with no lags or AF errors
-sharpest, with brand new design at ultra large aperture lenses (F1.2 or more)
-solid sensor with a very good S/N ratio from iso 100 to iso 12800 8K 36/24 size (and of course a suitable dynamic range for 99% of the situations)

We never know ..Canon may sell this body in 2019 too.... other manufacturers.. probably won't !

If Sony release a 100 megapixel camera you will know something big is coming from Canon. So knew what was coming well in advance from Nikon and Canon which is why they released the a7iii.

Canon is selling for years 50MP DSLR .. not sony
Canon is using a real FF mount with lenses sharp from corner to corner from F1.2 ... not often soft like FF lenses used with a too narrow APSC mount
We don't speak about stable "colors" from iso 100 to 25600
I am not sure you could guess :
Canon would sell a bodies 100% articulated touchscren usable for portrait modes.
Canon would already sell the most technically advanced F1.2 lens
Canon would be able to protect the sensor while changing lenses and doesn't become so easily full of visible dust.
Canon would give by far the largest and most accurate AF surface even terrific with F1.2 lenses
I don't think you would guess Canon would produce a -6EV for 100iso sensitive AF.
Let's say .. you would guess that Canon was working for years on the most technically advanced body in 2018. It was time to sell what
If you have some doubt read those links =>
https://fstoppers.com/gear/surprising-comparison-results-between-canon-r...
and of course Roger destructing the RF 50L1.2
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2018/12/disassembly-of-the-canon-rf-50m...
Maybe you will understand which company is years in advanced to sell the most complete bodies available for photographers ..

Just cuz Sony hasn't built a camera that is 50 mp doesn't mean they haven't built sensors for other manufacturers that are bigger than that.
The mount is fine.
Having the shutter down makes no difference since the dust just gets on the shutter and will still get on the sensor the first time you open the shutter.
Who cares about f1.2. that is a very niche product.
Does Canons auto focus really even work in continuous mode?
Does Canons full frame camera turn into a crop sensor while shooting video?
Does canon have ibis?
You are making it sound like canon is holding back but their own CEO has admitted they are falling behind. Even if they weren't holding back they are holding back tech from their consumers to protect other lines.
Also lol @ saying Sony lenses are too soft. I'm a Sony shooter and can tell you right now the lenses I own are not soft at all.

Simply stated, I would never pay more that a grand for anything made in Thailand or China. All Canon EOS bodies that I know of are still made in Japan. They will catch up, just wait and see.........

Whatever it is, I'm buying it!

I would just like a updated 5dsr. I don't care if it's EF or RF and wouldn't mind if it stayed at 50mp. I would like two Cfast cards and 7-8 fps and a little better low light performance.

So, the 7DMkIII isn't even on the radar at this point. Damn. Well, as stated in another article, I am still using my 60D and am pretty happy with it. Sure, faster auto focus and more AF modes would be nice but it still has a lot to teach me.

What? No mention of the 90D?