This Is Why The Canon EOS R Doesn’t Have IBIS (and why it may have it in future)

October 2, 2018
Canon News
0 Comments

Canon EOS R at a glance:

30.3MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
DIGIC 8 Image Processor
UHD 4K30 Video; C-Log & 10-Bit HDMI Out
Dual Pixel CMOS AF, 5655 AF Points
3.69m-Dot OLED Electronic Viewfinder
3.15″ 2.1m-Dot Swivel Touchscreen LCD
Expanded ISO 50-102400, 8 fps Shooting
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, SD UHS-II Card Slot
Multi-Function Bar, Dual Pixel RAW

As soon as the Canon EOS R was official, the Internet started to do what it likes most: complaining. Besides the ominous “2 card slot” polemics, there was another, maybe more interesting point to debate: why does the Canon EOS R not have In Camera Image Stabilisation (IBIS)?

The Nikon Z6/Z7 has it, Sony’s MILCs have it, the new medium format Fuji MILCs have it. So why not the Canon EOS R?

The people at Digital Camera World went straight to Canon UK’s product intelligence consultant, David Parry, to ask it. Here are some excerpts:

We [i.e. Canon, editor’s note] feel that in-lens IS is the optimum system for image stabilisation […]
With an in-body IS system you are creating something that needs to work over lots of different types of lenses and different lens groups, so you don’t get a dedicated system for that particular lens.

All lenses move in different ways, and you get different types of shake depending on what kind of lens you’re using, so dedicating the IS system to the particular lens is, for us, the optimum way of doing it – but that’s not to say that we aren’t looking at in-body IS.

Makes sense to me. Furthermore, Canon is very conservative when it comes to new features. My interpretation of what Mr. Parry said is that Canon might testing IBIS and that it may find its way in a future mirrorless camera.

All the new Canon gear announced ahead of Photokina 2018 can now be pre-ordered:

Pre-order the Canon EOS R in the USA: B&H Photo | Adorama | Canon USA | Amazon

Pre-order the Canon RF mount lenses in the USA: B&H Photo | Adorama | Canon USA | Amazon