A new EOS KISS model to be released in August?

When I first looked at this rumor, the first thing that came to my mind, is "I wonder if they read what we wrote yesterday..."

CanonRumors reports that a new rumor suggests an EOS "Joey", which could have been an autocorrected word from "Kiss".

We noted yesterday that;

PC2367

Digital camera

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2 loading

Battery: LP-E12 (7.2 V 875 mAh)

This is most likely either a future lower end rebel or low-end EOS-M.

Since the EOS-M50 got renamed as a KISS branded camera in Japan, it would stand to reason that other EOS-M cameras would be so named, especially with the overwhelming success of the EOS-M50. However, we're left wondering if this is a circular rumor.

The one problem with this being a DSLR rebel is that not many Rebel cameras use the LP-E12 battery. Perhaps the ultra cheap Rebel, the T7 which uses the LP-E10 would be a candidate, all other rebels use the LP-E17 battery. From what I can gather, the T7 was never called "kiss" but simply called a "Rebel". So the only real home for the LP-E12 is in the lower end EOS-M cameras. One thing to keep in mind is that the EOS-M50 is also pretty long in the tooth (in terms of mirrorless), announced 1.5 years ago. If Canon wishes to maintain it's momentum with the EOS-M line, they may release both the M5 and the M50 updates at the same time. That would certainly fit with the "Kiss" name since the M50 is called the KISS-M in Japan. The M50 is currently facing extreme pressure from Sony's new A6400.

Usually, Canon announces it's low-end cameras to come out earlier in the year to correspond with CP+, and three cameras coming out in August would be a rarity for Canon, especially with both of the rumored models to be released are high profile and high volume cameras (or at least Canon will hope they are). However, Canon facing a lower volume of sales and tumbling camera division profits may certainly pull out all the stops to regain some momentum.

Time will tell.