Canon's Upcoming Exciting Announcements on March 26th!

Quite a bit of chatter is going around the internet about what is coming up. There seems to be a bit of confusion, as Canon can change release schedules pretty much at a whim these days.

I believe that this is all inventory management. Canon seems to be attempting to manage just in time inventory. So they'll push it back in the schedule if they feel they can't produce enough new items because of the supply of materials, parts or simply factory production schedules.

Of course, this is just a theory, but has there been a modern release where the item didn't go on backorder and an apology was sent out?

We know that the EOS RV, EOS R50 V, and a new VCM lens will be released, and the global release of the PowerShot V1.

"Eventually"

The current theories are that the EOS R50 V, new VCM lens, and V1 will be announced on March 26th, a week from now.

New VCM Lens

According to the latest rumors, a new VCM L lens is coming out on March 26. Canon has published a patent application with various fast VCM primes, and I suspect that one of them would be the selected VCM prime. If I had to guess, it would be the 20 mm because, for some reason, Canon doesn't like making a traditional 21mm lens, even though just about everyone else does. Canon has a fast 28mm prime before (non-L) but I personally think that's too close to the 34mm for Canon to make a VCM 1.4L lens out of it - for now.

Canon EOS R50 V

I personally have no clue what this camera will be. The current theory is that it's the budget version of the "V" series of cameras, but then, if that's true, then an EOS RV doesn't make a whole lot of sense given Canon's penchant for numerology.

The current R50 is a decent little camera, but I personally struggled with it because the back controls are close to the grip surface. I accidentally changed settings all the time simply by holding the camera firmly.

The EOS R50 already has a very decent set of video controls, which brings me to the question: If this is the beginner "V" model, what is different about it from the normal R50?

For that, we have to look at the Z50 II, the Canon R50's natural competitor. The Z50 II shoots 4k60p, has a headphone port, waveforms, faster continuous shooting with pre-capture, longer recording limits, and a larger screen - though a much more expensive camera. But the Z50 II is selling quite well in Japan, and that's always something that Canon considers.

I could see Canon moving the EOS R50 V more in line with the Z50 II and bringing the price up closer to the Nikon Z50 II.

Other than that, the R50 V wouldn't really be able to offer anything more than the R50 currently does as it already has decent video chops.

Of all the rumors, this one is the most puzzling and also at the same time, most intriguing. Canon captured magic in a bottle with the EOS-M M50 camera which sold everywhere and sold at great numbers for Canon, and I expect they are still trying to find that magic again on the RF mount.

PowerShot V1

Most likely, the worst-kept secret is that it's going to be officially announced globally, as it's already been released in Japan and other Asian countries. This will be the global announcement, but with the current backorder problems that the camera is having for the smaller markets, not including China - I wouldn't expect deliveries to start any time soon. Unless Canon was limiting Japan and Asia market camera volumes to be ready for the global release. But since the compact craze is hitting Asian countries more right now, that would seem a bit odd.

Canon EOS RV

This camera has already been leaked out, so it actually exists. The current rumors have this camera as being delayed to sometime later. It will have active cooling and be video first positioned. The lack of a viewfinder makes this a smaller camera than one like the R50V would be, so it will be interesting to see if it's as compact as the M6 Mark II which was Canon's last camera without a viewfinder.

These are only Rumors

Craig from CanonRumors does a great job at parsing incoming rumours and ensuring they are as accurate as possible, but they still are based upon leaks and at times anonymous leaks. They can be wrong. However, we'll find all out in a week.

Time will tell!