Canon to announce mirrorless flagship in 2021

In the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun electronic version an article has appeared that discusses Canon announcing a mirrorless flagship in 2021.  You can read the full version here behind a paywall (free with registration)

While this is a rumor it seems, it's from a highly respected organization that has been reporting news and information on Japan science and technology for over 100 years.

Canon will introduce the highest model of mirrorless camera using a 35mm full-size image sensor in 2021. The communication function between the camera body and the interchangeable lens will be higher than the high-priced “EOS R” released in October 2018.

They make note that the speed of communication between the camera body and the lens is an important feature.  Part of me wonders if this camera body will debut IBIS.  If you've read any of the patents that we have discovered most of the IBIS + IS patents deal with a high level of communication speed between lens and camera body. It would make sense that the mirrorless flagship is the first camera from Canon with this technology.

The article then also mentions;

Prototypes have already been completed and are expected to be classified into the same “professional model” as the EOS-1D X Mark II, the top model of the company's single-lens reflex camera.
The launch time is not particularly conscious of the 20th Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. 

This also makes sense, if the camera release is in 2021, then we won't see any of it in the Olympics.  There may be some photographers there testing out prototypes but that will be all. We also get confirmation that the camera body will be in the same class as the 1 series 1DX Mark II.

They also mention something else rather intriguing;

We are also developing a converter that can join a mirrorless camera to an interchangeable lens for a single lens reflex camera. 

We first discovered this patent application back in January 2018, which may give us a clue to what Canon is thinking about.

Could this what Canon is thinking about here? A mirrorless adapter with an optical viewfinder attached?  As I mentioned in the patent application, I have zero ideas on how this would work in the real world.  But it may give us a clue to what Canon is thinking, some form of mirrorless sports camera that with an attached adapter, becomes an SLR. It could also be simply a mirrored adapter with a translucent mirror, similar to what Sony has developed.

While a mirrorless flagship camera was always in the making for Canon, we now have a good indication on when we will see it.

Since it's 2 years out still, it's unlikely that we'll get a development announcement soon.  However, with Sony looking like it's announcing the A9 II, maybe that will put pressure on Canon to release a forward-looking development announcement but with no timeline on when the camera will be released.