Canon Confirms 8K EOS R Camera in Development

Rumors have been circulating all week that Canon will be announcing a 45MP full-frame mirrorless camera capable of recording 8K 30fps. Canon Rumors has been on top of the story since it broke, including a report from Canon laying out its future plans for EOS R. Canon Rumors also made light of an interview on Imaging Resource where Canon confirms that 8K is in the EOS R pipeline. We now have two different Canon sources saying that it will develop an 8K mirrorless camera, but will it come as early as next month as online sources suggest?

Here's what we know so far. 

On page 13 of a report Canon says, "Although we have launched two full-frame mirrorless cameras as well as ten dedicated lenses, our lineup is still insufficient. In order to recover from our late entry into the mirrorless camera market, we have plans to launch a model that incorporates a newly developed image sensor and image-processing engine that offer even more advanced features." 

So what does this mean? 

The current Canon EOS R and EOS RP models shoot 4K at around 1.8x crop. Canon could simply be developing a new full-frame mirrorless that does not crop 4K which would compete among the Nikon Z6, Panasonic DC-S1H, and Sony alpha series. Or Canon could take the next leap forward. According to Canon Rumors, an 8K camera could be announced mid-February called the EOS R5. 

Canon EOS R

Possible EOS R5 Features

• 45MP full-frame CMOS sensor
• IBIS
  • 5 stops with IBIS alone
  • 7-8 stops of correction when used with in-lens stabilization
• 12fps mechanical, 20fps electronic
• Dual Card Slots
• Scroll Wheel on the Rear 
• No Touch Bar
• Liveview/Movie toggle like previous EOS DSLRs
• 8K @ 30fps
• 4K @ 120fps
• 4K @ 60fps
• Built-in 5GHz WiFi
• Larger battery capacity 

If true, those specs are fantastic. However, it seems more logical Canon will lean towards a sensor capable of recording 4K images without crop and any 8K recording would be reserved for timelapse.

The EOS C700FF oversamples 5.9K to produce its 4K UHD images. The same for its EOS C500 Mark II. It would be hard to see Canon jumping to 8K in the EOS R line before its flagship EOS Cinema cameras. But then again, if Canon wants to position itself better than the Panasonic DC-S1H, which was approved by Netflix for productions, they might go ahead and take that leap. We reached out to Canon for comment but they have yet to reply. If they do, we will update this post.

So what do you think Canon will deliver? Let us know in the comments below.