With Sony unveiling a new flagship a9 III model featuring a global shutter sensor, speculation instantly swirled whether Canon would follow suit for its next generation of mirrorless cameras.
But based on insider information received by Canon Rumors, Canon will forego global shutter technology in its upcoming EOS R5 Mark II and professional EOS R1 bodies.
Global shutter sensors capture the entire scene at once, eliminating distortions from rolling shutters that read each line of the frame sequentially, which is what has made Sony's a9 III one of the most groundbreaking cameras ever, as it features the world's first consumer full frame global shutter sensor.
Many wondered if Canon would replicate this advantage in future cameras to match Sony's technology. Canon is not new to global shutters, with the Super 35 sensor in EOS C700 GS cinema camera having one, along with industrial full frame global shutters appearing late last year.
However, sources indicate neither the EOS R5 successor nor the flagship EOS R1 arriving in 2024 will incorporate global shutters. Canon will instead focus on maximizing performance based on traditional rolling shutter sensors, with the rumor being that readout speed will be sufficiently fast to handle most situations.
Canon's commitment to the rolling shutter is likely based on strategic calculation of global shutter's costs versus benefits for its target users. While eliminating distortion, global shutters lose light during transfer, reducing dynamic range and low-light performance, something that is particularly valued in 1 Series cameras, where high-ISO performance is often more valued than resolution and other factors. This trade-off may not align with expectations from Canon's core stills shooter customer base, especially after Sony's announcement, however. Sony's market may differ, with more videography-first buyers willing to accept smaller sacrifices in still image quality for distortion-free video.
Nonetheless, it suggests Canon's readout speeds on the next cameras will impress compared to predecessors. The EOS R5 Mark II and EOS R1 will likely remain optimized for elite image quality, but faster sensor scanning will slash rolling shutter, likely closing the gap with global shutters, though not equaling them. Global shutters will hold the advantage in flash sync speeds and extreme action shots.
The news, while perhaps disappointing, isn't particularly surprising, as Canon tends to be rather conservative a lot of the time, opting for refining tried and tested technology as long as possible before rewriting paradigms. No doubt, global shutters will eventually make their way to consumer Canon cameras, but it might take a bit longer than some may have hoped.
It would be interesting to see a poll that asks what the majority of photographer shoots; sports, landscape/cityscape, portraits, wildlife, etc. For fast action sports, the global shutter certainly gains an advantage. However, until we see production models tested in conditions other than staged shoots, we won't know what, if any, sacrifices will be made to get distortion free baseball bats and golf clubs.
For someone like me that has sports near the bottom of my priority list, the global shutter isn't needed. Besides, I shoot my R5 in mechanical mode anyway, so I only get 13fps, but I'm not shooting a basketball game either.
I think it's a discussion like analog photography or digital photography.
In R5 you get 13fps, but in Sony a9 III you will get 120fps (thanks to electronical shutter), all in focus. You can sync flash with any speed. You will not have problems with luminous panels. No rolling shutter in video or photos...
Whether you like it or not, Sony has proven that it is the current leader in photography. Their current GM II lenses are also of superb quality.
And Canon sill only allows other manufacturer RF lens with manual focus. Oh my God...
I don't think he was fighting or diminishing Sony in any way. What you are talking about is on paper vs him talking about reasonable and practical use.
I see your a Sony fanboy, Toni, but no need to get defensive. If I made any false claims, please enlighten me. I only stated what most people know and that is we will know more of how the A9III performs once it's out in the real world. All we have now is more questions than answers.
And as for what Canon does, why do you care? You have Sony equipment. What Canon does has no influence on your buying decisions. I certainly don't give a hoot what Sony does. My stuff performs just fine for my needs. Besides, if a photographer can't get good results with any of today's top line cameras, it ain't the camera's fault.
I think global shutter is a big improvement. Even if I didn't use it, I wouldn't say otherwise. So, I said "I think it's a discussion like analog photography or digital photography."
And about Sony... I think they are doing things good, like global shutter or their new GM II lens.
But I'm not a Sony fanboy, in fact, I'm a Canon user.
Understood. You have to understand that when something is posted here or any other site where context and intent aren't readily visible or noted by facial/voice expression, we can only assume what is posted is what is meant.
Your post had several hallmarks of a Sony fanboy. And the fact that I had nothing negative to say about the upcoming A9III other than we have to wait for production models to be run through the ringer, you seemed upset by it.
The global shutter is a huge leap forward. But, at present time, it's not needed because of what it does by most photographers. Yes, eventually, many future cameras in the upper tier will have global shutters and since that's bound to happen, prices will reflect that. But right now, for someone like me to put down $6,000,probably closer to $8500 CDN, for a camera that will be amazing for action stuff, but not offer any significantly improved results for what I shoot compared to what we have now isn't a good choice.
Now, if one's photo piggy bank is flush with cash, then why not? I'm a gizmo oriented guy, and if I had said piggy bank, I'd have several camera brands to play with.
Anyway, it's going to be fun to watch how the near term camera tech evolves.
Time ago I saw a lot of Canon rebel cameras in the street. Nowadays I see a lot of Sony A7 series cameras outside.
Sony has good tech, very good lens, it's playing hard, and Canon is playing with fire closing it's RF mount and reacting so slow to new improvements. Sony is expanding and Canon is decreasing.
And I think that lost customers will be very difficult to recover. Maybe I'm pessimistic, but that's how I see it.
If Canon comes with the much faster reading rate than their current models, it might actually be of more use to a broader range of photographers keeping noise to same or possibly improved levels. No one has commented on my suggestion that Canon could improve flash sync if the reading is that much faster, so I guess no one knows. I would stand still for the next 6-8 month before coming to any conclusion.
I think that best way to improve flash sync is with global shutter. And obviously it's useful if you use flash.
Anyway, global shutter is useful for not rolling shutter in photo or video, and to be able to shoot totally electronic (thus 120 fps or alike).
The only bad thing is denying that it is an improvement.
Fast but very poor DR and ISO performance. I don’t hear any complaints about the Z9, Z8 or R3 having rolling shutter problems. And flash synch for consumer flashes they are fast enough.
As we all know Canon doesn't put out half baked ideas like Sony has a tendency to do. This is Sony's equivalent to clik bait . When Canon or perhaps even Nikon go global it will be right unless Nikon just takes the Sony sensor as usual and rebrands it in a Nikon camera.
I can see it be true. I also think that the "unlimited" flash sync is too often way over rated and brings confusion. Flash sync above 1/400 imposes compromises (possibly extreme) with aperture or ISO most likely with both or the background with ambient light will disappear and basically you'll have a studio set up. Of course it depends on the situation, type of sports... I also think that by and large, a much greater number of portraiture photographers when shooting against sun will benefit from the global shutter sync capability compared to the number sports photographers.
Every camera will have global shutter eventually. It's just a question of when.
If the reading is much faster, I am wondering if this could translate into faster sync. Even 1/800s would be a great gain.
In my own view Canon doesn't care much about Sony just like before. Sony is doing great but Canon seems to have its own game or strategy which may doesn't make sense for everyone, but who does really know what goes on behind the closed door of camera production... Sony coming out with great news for cameras, canon coming out with interesting lenses. I am thrilled to see the real reviews of a9 iii.. Now is just previews. Well done sony! 👌
I don't believe the technology is there for a global shutter on a 45 megapixel or greater sensor, and that's is where the target for this technology should be. I would like to see Canon produce a stacked/backlit sensor for the R5 M2 coming out next year. Any improvement in dynamic range is what is important to me.
What you are saying is that Canon will let Sony continue to take the lead like they have done few years before they joined in. . I think I remember quite a few Canon shooters complaining about lack of progress with Canon, and I expect a good number jumped ship to Sony.
If they can they probably should put global shutter in a camera, why not? Canon do make expensive cameras and high end stuff and such a camera will be expensive.
Nikon use Sony sensors so z9m2 could be expected to have a global shutter.
It’s not something that’s required or worth paying thousands of dollar for. For most of us, but some portion of pros will want this.
Still it quite a big deal and some day we all will have cameras with global shutter, and some small light flash for outside photography. Hopefully :)
You are not comparing pixel count in your global shutter observation. In fact, Canon has made nothing official. But if they take a different approach, may be then they are both leader in their own field. Personally I have no use for video, so global shutter has limited use and there are options to shoot faster than camera sync for many years. This said, competition with technology is good for all end users.
Sony isn't cheap either. The older models are cheap, but the latest ones are on par with Canon. Same thing talking about Sony lenses.
I think A7m4 is a good option. Not that expensive. New lenses might be expensive but you can get a GM lens down to almost half price used and there are a lot of third party lenses.
Canon is letting Sony just as much as they were letting Nikon around 2015... Its a game and it was said numerous of times that being the top producer is a hell of a game... You paying a lot of more money for your research and development. Sony is doing it for a reason... Canon has still the biggest bite of the sales. Sony is trying to get more ppl from Canon and trust me that most of the Nikon users in 2015 which came from Canon have changed to Sony in 2020 and they will change again.. But that's very limited number of professionals. As a professional it is better for you to stick to one brand as you have a lot of lenses and all the other stuff.. So unless you are really sure you'll get the money back through better price and better performance you'll stick to brand you have. We talking about ppl who has 50K in gear... Not a fanboy with 10K gear it is the same like that thing with Apple and Windows all the time.. BMW and Audi... They know what they do and why 😉
Sony isn't Nikon. And I think that now Sony is clearly winning. So much that people with a lot of Canon gear is going to Sony, selling their canon gear before it drops too much in price.
Canon's strategy of waiting (and keep customers waiting) is failing miserably.
Are you professional yourself Toni? How many lenses and cameras do you own? I am not saying that Sony isn't leading the game.. I am saying that as a professional you don't change your gear when it does the job for you.. Also as a professional you going to write off your gear after some time just like when you pay for your company car and after 5 years it is on €0 in the books. Drop to much in price for hobbiest you meant?
Each one has to decide by himself.
Thanks for you quick response. So you don't actually have any reasonable facts.. You just think that because everyone is saying something on Fstoppers, that it actually makes sense to professional photographers or the camera makers. It actually doesn't.. It only makes sense to fanboys and hobbiest who like to think they are some kind of business gurus... I am not planing to go with Sony because it will be like changing my wife for younger good looking girl... My wife is great.. I dont need "anything" else just because ppl saying good things about "it" 😉
I have understood. It will be very expensive to change. It's very clear.
But for most people that will have not so many gear and wants to change it's DSLR body and must go for mirrorless... ("Each one has to decide by himself.") It's not so clear that they choose Canon over Sony.
You can still use DSLR lenses on mirrorless. In fact all of the lenses on photo are EF canon some of them 20 years old, but working well on mirrorless. I have EF to R adapter with variable nd filter inside and there is another adaptor just out for Canon with tilt and shift... Imagine how much money you save when using one filter for all lenses and how good it is when it sits between the lens and camera body. The only difference is when you use high mechanical body and print large... Then you need to think about it more
Yes Canon is failing miserably……
Yes, Canon is failling.
These are global digital camera numbers, not full-frame mirrorless cameras.
So show me the data
https://www.sonyalpharumors.com/global-digital-camera-market-share-2022-...
"Sony still leads in the Full Frame mirrorless segment but Canon is doing much better when it comes to fixed lens cameras and APS-C"
I don't see the numbers, but there is also a copy of your digital camera market share.
So where does it say Canon is failing miserably? Or is this just your subjective opinion, everybody is entitled to those
I said, read above: "Canon's strategy of waiting (and keep customers waiting) is failing miserably."
Among other things, they have to open the RF mount to other brands, otherwise, when they do, there will no longer be other brands that are interested in taking lenses with that mount.
The bleeding of users from Canon to Sony is already huge.
And like Nick Page, they leave Sony again to return to Canon . In the beginning of the Mirrorless , a lot of people jumped ship and went to Sony because they were the first ff mirrorless camera, now Sony is one of the choices and I don’t think the move from Canon (and Nikon) to Sony is that massive anymore. And Nikon is now a serious alternative. If I were to leave Canon (I have no reason to, but if) I would go for Nikon or if money allowed to Fujifilm medium format.
This is what you think. Numbers (sales, and number of cameras and lens available) show another reality.
But you don’t show me the numbers. And number of cameras and lenses available doesn’t say a thing about sales.
Hahaha. You haven't showed me the numbers of full-frame mirrorless cameras either.
No , but I haven’t sad that a company is failing miserably, I did produce numbers that Canon isn’t failing as a camera company but you sad I mean ff mirrorless , so where are the numbers for that
The best proof is that Canon does not get the numbers for full-frame mirrorless, and hides behind digital cameras overall.
That’s no proof.
Let’s just leave it at this, you think Canon is failing miserably, and I don’t think so. Let’s agree to disagree
Other than for flash photography, the A9III won't make much of a splash. And it remains to be seen if it can keep all of its promises in real world conditions.