Canon Sues Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Wants $250000 Back

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Canon, a long running sponsor of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has a legal dispute with the event organizers.

Canon asks a $250,000 reimbursement and claims the event organizers violated the terms of a three-year sponsorship agreement. Once more, it’s the Covid pandemic to cause issues. As Yahoo News reports:

The dispute appears to center on whether the 2020 event was “canceled,” as Canon alleges, or “postponed” — the term fiesta organizers have used to describe last year’s shutdown.

In June 2020, fiesta officials announced that last year’s event had been “postponed” until Oct. 2-10, 2021, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its lawsuit, Canon alleges that “the 2021 Fiesta is not being advertised as the postponed or rescheduled 2020 Fiesta. The 2020 Fiesta was canceled, and the 2021 Fiesta is in fact its own separately-scheduled event.”

To support its allegation, Canon cited a variety of media reports that described the 2020 balloon rally as having been canceled.

So far the event organizers have just answered that the 2021 balloon fiesta will be held beginning October 2, 2021, and that 600 hot-air balloon have been registered.

The 2017 agreement between Canon and the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta organizers obliges Canon to sponsor the event with $720,000, of which $250,000 would have been for the 2020 event.

In July 2020, fiesta organizers sent Canon a proposed amendment that would have extended the terms of the 2017 sponsorship agreement for an additional year, according to the lawsuit.

The amendment also would have applied Canon’s $250,000 sponsorship fee to the 2021 Balloon Fiesta. Fiesta leaders offered Canon the proposed amendment a second time in September.

Canon USA rejected the proposal to extend the sponsorship agreement for a year and now it is a lawsuit.. The full story is at Yahoo News.

Full Frame Outperforms Medium Format: Canon EOS R5 & 85mm f/1.2L vs Hasselblad 80mm f/1.9

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Once more the Canon EOS R5 shows how innovative Canon’s latest imaging sensors are. The R5 full frame sensor paired with some of Canon’s best RF mount glass outperforms a medium format system.

The folks at Sonder Creative compares the Canon EOS R5 with the RF 85mm f/1.2L lens to the Hasselblad X1D II with the XCD 80mm f/1.9. Well, it seems the full frame EOS R5 outperforms the medium format Hasselblad X1D II.

More Canon EOS R5 review stuff is listed here, for EOS R6 review stuff see here. The EOS R5 is highly regarded as a stills camera. In particular, the EOS R5 autofocus system seems to be huge leap forwards. User manual are available for download for the EOS R5 and the EOS R6.

Canon EOS R5: [shoplist 62744]

[via Fstoppers]

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Interview: EOS R3 Not Flagship, Sensor Developed By Canon (and made by Sony?)

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Some interesting bits about the Canon EOS R3 in an interview with a Canon Russia exec. Who makes the EOS R3 sensor?

We wonder who makes the Canon EOS R3 sensor, after a change in wording on Canon UK’s site: from “designed and manufactured by Canon“ to “developed by Canon”. Does it mean something?

Russian site PhotoWebExpo interviewed Mr. Andrey Tishchenko, Canon Russia’ Head of Product and Consumer Expertise. The question about who makes the EOS R3 sensor came up. The answer leaves us a bit puzzled. So, let’s start with the excerpts about the imaging sensor (emphasis mine, text is machine translated):

Q: Will the Canon EOS R3 get a new sensor? Or will it be similar to the one in the Canon EOS R5?

The sensor is new because we have already stated that this is the first backlit Stacked Sensor BSI we have developed ourselves. […]

Q: Is this Canon’s first stacked sensor? 

Full-frame format yes, but in fact, one of the most popular compact models in the PowerShot series, the Canon G7x Mark III has a 1-inch Stacked CMOS sensor. That is, such technologies have already been applied in our cameras, but it is the Canon EOS R3 that will receive the first full-frame sensor of this technology. 

Yes, the PowerShot G7 X Mark III has a stacked sensor, and it’s made by Sony! Does this fact suggest the EOS R3 sensor was developed by Canon and manufactured by Sony? Remember that Canon UK changed the text of the EOS R3 presentation in a significant way.

There is more in the interview. The interviewer also asks about the flagship in the EOS R lineup:

Q: Why R3 and not R1? And should we expect a mirrorless replacement for the 1D X mark III, which was recently introduced?

The Canon EOS R3 will be a brand new camera lineup that will sit below the 1D X Mark III and above the Canon EOS R5.

The Canon EOS R3 does not exactly replace the 1D X, nor is it a flagship. And I think the 1D-X Mark III will be the most popular camera at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, which I hope will take place. There you will see who is shooting what and the “one” will definitely become camera # 1.

Unfortunately, we cannot comment on the company’s plans for the release of new cameras.

When asked about the rumors claiming that Canon will retire the EOS M lineup:

I cannot talk about the prospects for the development of the Canon EOS M system. At the moment, the system is well equipped.

You can see the full interview at PhotoWebExpo.

[via Canon Rumors]

Did Canon Make The EOS R3 Sensor, Or Did They Not?

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Some questions arose after Canon UK made a small change to the wording for the EOS R3 sensor presentation on their homepage.

Spotted by DC Life, the small change seems to mean something. As you can see in the image on top, Canon UK stated that the EOS R3 sensor was “designed and manufactured by Canon“. Canon USA and Canon Japan just stated the sensor was “developed by Canon“. A small but indeed significant difference. The best part: Canon UK changed their wording shortly after the presentation, and now it’s on line with the other Canon sites. According to DC Life the change was made on April 24. See image below.

eos r3
Canon UK’s wording after the change

So, without starting wild conspiracies: what’s the reason for the change in wording? What immediately comes to mind is that it might be a sensor developed by Canon and manufactures by Sony, as for instance Nikon does. Or it means Canon makes just a part of the sensor which is then assembled with parts manufactured by others. Or it might just mean nothing, a glitch in the text that has been corrected to align it with other Canon sites.

I am pretty skeptical that Canon did not made the EOS R3 sensor in house, i.e. on their own. They have the skills and capabilities. As far as I know, only certain PowerShot cameras have imaging sensors not made by Canon.

What are your ideas on this? Just a glitch, or did Canon not make the EOS R3 sensor and doesn’t want to make too much noise around it? Let us know.

P.S.: you can get notified when the Canon EOS R3 will be available for preorder.

canon eos r3 specifications
The upcoming Canon EOS R3

Canon USA Does Culture, Sponsors The Virtual Japan Center Essay Competition Awards

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Not photography related, not imaging technology related. Nevertheless an interesting cultural initiative by Canon for American students.

Canon press release:

Canon U.S.A. Sponsored and Participated In the Virtual 16th Annual Japan Center Essay Competition Awards Program

Organized by Japan Center at Stony Brook University, the Essay Competition Awarded Five Students Who Showcased Different Aspects of the Japanese Culture Connected to Their Personal Experiences

MELVILLE, NY, April 26, 2021– As part of its continued commitment to empowering young leaders and education, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, proudly sponsored and participated in the virtual 16th Annual Japan Center Essay Competition Awards Program on April 24, 2021. The goal of the competition is to provide young American students with the opportunity to think creatively and critically about their lives by relating to some aspect of Japan and Japanese culture in an effort to help broaden their horizons and encourage global citizenship. Embodying that goal, five students were recognized for their eloquent essays with prizes including Canon products.

Canon U.S.A., Inc. and the Japan Center at Stony Brook University have a longstanding collaboration that was launched in 2005 by the late Kinya Uchida, the Canon U.S.A. President and Chief Executive Officer at the time. The Essay Competition, now in its 16th year, is an example of this collaboration. Tatsuro “Tony” Kano, executive vice president and general manager of the Imaging Technologies & Communications Group at Canon U.S.A., Inc., spoke at the virtual awards ceremony and congratulated the winners.

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Does The Canon EOS R5 Have An IBIS Bug (sensor twist when IBIS always on)?

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Not sure if this is a general issue, i.e. a bug, or not. Some users experience a weird phenomenon, a sensor twist, on their EOS R5 (and it seems also for some R6s) when IBIS is set to “always on”.

User juanmaasecas documented the phenomenon in the video below. He writes about his observation (emphasis mine):

Some weeks ago I found what I think is an annoying bug with the IBIS in the Canon R5 (some users also experience it with the R6).

When the ibis is set to “always ON”, the sensor twists after the first picture is taken, producing a blurred picture. If you keep pressing the shutter half (while in continuous autofocus or just In single) and then take more pictures, the rest are just fine.

I went to Canon repair center/showcase here in Hong Kong, and the cameras there show the issue as well (that is why I didn’t leave my camera for repair), and yet canon has not yet repaired the issue (I discovered it first in firmware 1.2.0 that I bought the camera with, but still happens in 1.3.0 and 1.3.1).

Here is the observed phenomenon:

Someone here having seen this sensor twist on his or her EOS R5 or EOS R6? Please let me know in the comments section.

[via Canon Rumors]