One of my known sources, when asked about Canon’s plans for the near future, told me that Canon will not embrace the retro design for their DSLRs and mirrorless cameras any time soon. Stuff like the Nikon DF or a nostalgic looking mirrorless camera are not part of the company’s strategic plans. Moreover, it appears that Canon does not have a full-frame mirrorless camera on the horizon, at least not for the next year(s).

Canon’s focus for the immediate future seems to be on lenses, and not (or at least much less) on projects involving cameras having a retro look (and unfortunately, if true, neither on a FF mirrorless cam). There have been rumors suggesting an increased effort in lens design and production.

Canon is making solid performing cameras. While other, like Sony, push hard on innovation without being really able to deliver a base for a consistent system (read: lenses), Canon appears to follow a more conservative approach. Their DSLRs are reliable gear (a friend of mine said “unimpressive but reliable” :-) ), and as a Canon photographer you have access to over 100 lenses, among them there is some really awesome glass. Not jumping on the retro-style bandwagon seems to be in line with this philosophy. As for the mirrorless segment, Canon never made a big mystery about the fact they do not consider MILCs as strategic factor (marketing-wise). Making an outstanding full-frame mirrorless camera (or an APS-C MILC) would probably erode the DSLR sales figure, and we know that Canon is big in DSLR sales.

As usual with rumors like this one, take anything with a grain of salt. While I have no problems figuring out that Canon won’t embrace the retro design, I am a bit more sceptical about the full-frame mirrorless camera. Everything in the EOS M system could work with a FF sensor, and if  Canon decides to make an outstanding FF MILC it would be a bestseller.

Have a great day!

Canon’s Dual Pixel AF was introduced with the awesome Canon EOS 70D. It was clear since the beginning that this innovative technology would be featured on various, future Canon DSLRs.

Now, a new rumor suggests that Canon’s Dual Pixel AF technology needs a new, more powerful processor to be fully exploited – maybe a Digic 6. This is especially true if the Dual Pixel AF is set to work with larger sensors and/or high end video production. That means we will see Dual Pixel AF unleash all of its magic with the next generations of Canon’s Cine EOS Cxxx series, and in the next high end DSLRs (which should be announced next year).

The rumor sounds plausible. Moreover, that Canon is looking to the EOS Cine line-up for their Dual Pixel AF technology appears to be granted: Canon just announced a hardware upgrade for the EOS C100 that brings Dual Pixel AF (see here too for an interview about the Cine line-up and Dual Pixel AF)

[via NL]

 

New Canon Powershots could be announced at CES in 2014. One being almost sure the replacement for the superzoom PowerShot SX50 HS (hence, an SX60). This Powershot is said to take a “new direction”.

The more interesting part of the rumour: Canon could announce a successor of the PowerShot G1 X, but this time featuring a bigger APS-C sensor instead.

Finally, there is a small possibility that Canon may also announce the EOS M2 at CES, but this is really just speculation.

[via CR]

According to NL, Canon will announce a new EOS-1 series body in 2014. The announcement should happen at the same time when Nikon announces the (also rumored) D4x.

The camera is defined as a “high end” DSLR, and it will come with “lenses to match”. it appears that prototypes will be tested at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. No word if this will be the high megapixel DSLR Canon is supposed to announce sooner or later. Finally, the rumor states that Canon will not repeat the mistake made when they announced the EOS-1 X: the EOS -1 X was announced before the Nikon D4 but shipped much later.

Another rumor suggesting that Canon will announce plenty of new lenses in 2014 surfaced on the web. Quoting Canon Rumors, there will be:

[…] a new worlds widest full frame zoom lens […], a wide angle zoom with IS (17-50 f/4L IS?), a new fast wide angle successor with “new technology” (35 f/1.4?). We can also expect two new tilt-shift lenses, a telephoto zoom successor (100-400?) as well as “budget high quality lenses”.

The rumor originates for the same place as the last one suggesting there will be 8 new Canon lenses in 2014. For the time being it is hard to say how reliable the rumor is. That Canon will announce new lenses next year can be taken for granted, we’ve yet too see how many.