Weird Rumor: No Canon EOS 7D Mark II To Come?

Update: More about the issue here.

This is a pretty weird rumor, but since it comes from a good source I decided to post it anyway. The source stated that Canon will not replace the EOS 7D with a new model, i.e. with the long rumored EOS 7D Mark II. This rumor goes against what we and others have posted in the past months about the 7D Mark II (all 7D2 rumors here).

Not replacing the 7D, according to the source, appears to be part of a general revamping of Canon’s DSLR line-up, the source stated it is “the biggest change in Canon’s history“. To me this rumor comes as a surprise and I can’t yet say if it is plausible or not. I do also not have any cue what the revamping of the line-up may imply. The only thing that comes to my mind is that the Canon EOS 70D is so feature-packed that it could be hard to beat it as Canon’s APS-C flagship. The 20MP sensor featured on the 70D is Canon’s most advanced APS-C sensor so far and it could be difficult for a 7D Mark II to offer something that is or has much more than the 70D’s sensor. I doubt that the rumored 4MP more resolution (24MP) would be enough to make a 7D2 attractive compared to the 70D.

As for the revamping, that’s what puzzles me most. It is true that Canon introduced the 7D as the APS-C flagship while moving the xxD line-up from the semi-pro segment to a more Rebel-like marketing segment (when they introduced the EOS 60D, which lacked the build quality and advanced feature set of the predecessors). With the 70D Canon moved the xxD line-up back to the semi-pro level. That could mean there is no place/no need for a 7D2. Another thing: the entry-level, full-frame EOS 6D saw a price drop in the last weeks and appears now to be stable at $1499 at all major retailers (final price after having added to cart: Amazon  | B&H | Adorama). For the time being the price difference between the 70D and the 6D is around $500 (the 70D also saw a price drop to $950). If the price difference between the 70D and the 6D gets even more reduced then I wonder where and how the 7D2 will find its own place between the other two. Just my 2 cents.

What do you think, isn’t that a weird rumour…?