Canon RF Cameras expected in 2021

A new rumor from CanonRumors confirms basically what we know about what's coming up for Canon in 2021.

First and foremost the camera that will have me screaming "take my money!" is the Canon EOS R5s, at least that is what I'm calling it.  It's expected to be around double the resolution of the R5, and I would imagine shares many of the same features as the R5, with the exception of video.  Don't expect this camera to shoot anything over 4k30 and I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't even shoot that.  I'm sure some will make it an issue that a camera that is completely geared to the stills photographer should still somehow be a video camera too.  The rumor states that Canon will put "new technology" in this camera.  My thoughts are perhaps high-speed cropping which would be a first for EOS (but not a first overall for Canon as the M6 Mark II featured this with a high speed 30 fps crop with AE and AF).  It could also be a new EVF raising it up from the 5.76M dots that the current R5 has.  Also, perhaps some better shutter technology to prevent shutter shock that plagues most mirrorless cameras with a mechanical shutter at slow shutter speeds.

The R1 has been forecasted to come out in 2021 since September 2019.  I expect this to be an ergonomic cousin to the 1DX Mark III and not the R5.  Canon wants and needs this camera to provide a seamless transition for all the for the 1 series professionals.  To do so requires 1 series ergonomics.  Expect it to be the same size or slightly smaller than the 1DX Mark III, and feature the same characteristic build quality that everyone expects from Canon and the 1 series.  I don't know what new technology Canon could do here, I think it depends if Canon still feels that dynamic range is necessary on this camera versus raw performance.  If raw performance wins out, we may see Canon's global shutter implementation and around 1EV less pure sensor dynamic range than the 1DX Mark III.  However, Canon may do some "tricks" to do an "expanded range" mode on the camera, but it may be limited to what subjects can shoot with that.

The next camera should surprise no one as it's an APS-C RF Camera that has been rumored for a while now.  As discussed in the past, this seems to be a "one-off" for sports and wildlife. Prior rumors have this puzzlingly with the R6 styled camera body and not what I would expect, which would be a robust R5 styled camera making it similar to the 7D and the 5D series cameras.

Also mentioned is a pair of new entry-level full frame cameras.  I have long thought that Canon is basically "done" with APS-C, and the rumor that the RF APS-C camera will come with no APS-C lenses confirms this.  To have a wide targetted audience, Canon needs to have more entry level cameras - similar to the Rebel series if you look at either the digital or even further back, the film based Rebels.  There will be an RF Rebel lineup, and most likely even called "Rebels" since that is a universally recognized camera name from Canon, but it will be full frame.