CanonNews / Wednesday, May 11, 2022

New Rumor: Two new cameras and two APS-C lenses coming May 24th

The newest rumor about Canon's releases this August suggests at two new cameras and two lenses are coming this May 24th.

According to sources from CanonRumors; the following is expected to be released

Canon R7
Canon R10
RF-S 18-45mm f/3.5-5.6
RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3

Also, another post from CanonRumors suggests that the R10 will have the following specifications. However, the posts suggest this is a replacement for the M6 Mark II - it's not. This would be a downgrade from the M6 Mark II with the exception of FPS, as the M6 Mark II supports Canon's latest generation 32.5MP sensor. The R10 is certainly sounding like an M50 replacement which may be why we saw an half-hearted replacement (M50 Mark II) a few years ago. You would think from a marketing perspective that an R50 would have made more sense though.

24.2mp
15-23fps (Mechanical/Electronic)
1x UHS-II (supported)
HDR PQ

CanonRumors has stated that they have seen images of the cameras but are unable to share them. So we're going to assume these two cameras are coming. I suspect Canon now that we have some basic ideas on the two is going to reuse the 32.5 and 24.3MP DPAF sensors. I hope not, but it's certainly sounding that way. It also appears as if these two cameras are much bigger than the related EOS-M cameras. Some will find that a good thing, others, that require perhaps more portability will not. Approximately we'll see a size difference of around this, as shown below. The R10 is looking a bit more compact than the R6, but not significantly.

I suspect Canon is doing the 7D / xxD series approach and if so, we expect the R10 to be the cheaper cousin to the R7 - with ergonomics of the R7 and R10 following the R5 and R6 respectively.

Historically double-digit cameras in Canon's lineup have been decidedly prosumer - but we'll see where Canon is taking this. But it certainly appears as if Canon wants to create the XXD and 7D lineup under the RF mount.The lenses? The 18-45 is a horrible idea .. I mean it's a 29 to 75mm kit zoom. 18mm never really worked for Canon's APS-C and I thought with the creation of the 15-45mm Canon finally got the range right. So unless it's microscopic it would have the worst range of any Canon APS-C kit lens. It will especially look worse for those looking to move from EOS-M to RF-S which certainly makes this an odd decision.

If anything in this rumor gives me pause it's this. Also, Canon usually doesn't release APS-C lenses like this. If anything Canon atypically releases an 18-55 (or something similar) and a 55-200 (or something similar). So these two lenses coming from the start are intriguing. Especially with one of these lenses going to have to be on a fairly serious Camera, the R7.

Also no mention of the biggest problem with APS-C lenses, and that's ultra-wide. It would have made sense for Canon to come quickly with the 11-22mm lens for this camera.

Someone commented somewhere that Canon couldn't convert the EOS-M lenses to RF-S easily, and I disagree with this as the focal plane distance difference for the two mounts is only around 2mm, and none of the EOS-M lenses sat behind the shroud that all EOS-M cameras had (which is around a 4-5mm inset). For instance, the 15-45mm has around a 4mm ingress into the mount. On an RF-S that would translate to 6mm. Something that mount can easily accomplish.

As far as EOS-M to RF-S transition? It's looking rough.

It appears as if

the RF-S cameras will be significantly larger and possibly heavier.
The lenses because of the mount will be larger as well, and slightly heavier
The 18-45 is a poor alternative to 15-45 in terms of focal range
No ultra-wide exists
No 32mm F1.4 exists

I would have expected more of a shock and awe release if Canon was moving wholesale to the RF mount. The only reason it seems to get the RF-S at this time is if you want an APS-C backup to your RF system, or are looking to use RF full-frame lenses.

CanonRumors has this listed as a CR3 which usually means it's a solid "nearly guaranteed" rumor and has seen real images of the camera bodies.

We'll see soon!