Canon Announcement Synopsis : February 2018

Hey folks,

Canon has been pretty busy with some new announcements since the New Year, and while Canon Canada doesn't do anything to keep me in the loop, many of my clients and subscribers to The Photo Video Guy are Canon users and want to know what's happening and what it means to them.

Canon M50

EOS-M50

The M50 is the newest release in Canon's lineup of mirrorless cameras.  it is similar to the existing M5, albeit with a bit tougher construction and a change so the LCD flips out to the side instead of down, where it would be obscured by tripods, or rendered unusable while sitting on a table.  This alone, makes the M50 preferable to the M5.  The camera has Canon's Dual Pixel AF for quick AF in video, uses a 24,1MP APS-C sensor and can mount all the existing EF-M lenses or EF lenses when using the EF-EF-M Adapter.  It has the newest Canon Digic 8 CPU and can shoot up to 120fps in HD video.  It can also shoot in 4K video at 24fps, and unlike the brain dead Motion JPEG format used in the top end 1Dx Mark II, this iteration uses an H.264 codec although which codec is used is not specified.  It outperforms the existing M6 in almost every way and will sell with the 15-45 kit lens for $1099 CAD when released in April.  The existing Sony a6300 sells for about $150 more and out-specs the not yet released M50 at every level.

Canon Rebel T7

EOS Rebel T7

Canon's Rebel family are top selling consumer units.  The T7i has been out for a while and is a great performer.  The T7 is coming to replace the existing Rebel T6 and will be priced around $700 CAD when released in April.  There's really nothing new here.  It uses the long in market Digic 4+ CPU, only does Full HD videos and uses the proven Canon 24.1MP sensor.  This is a bump in resolution from the T6 which was 18MP, but be assured that there is nothing new here.  As the Talking Heads used to sing "same as it ever was".  The new camera will be able to stream JPEGs directly to your smartphone over WiFi.  If this sounds similar to what you will find in the already a year in service and less expensive Nikon D3400, you'd be correct.  Feature for feature, the Nikon out delivers and out performs the Rebel T7 even before it ships.

Canon Rebel T100

Called the 4000D elsewhere in the world, this is the Rebel T100

I have to confess, that this announcement confused me since the recently announced SL-2 was designed to fit the low cost of entry, small frame DSLR market, and does a very good job in that role.  Thus the reason for the T100 is to hit a price point, which looks like $529.99 CAD with the kit lens.  Initial analysis says that this is a Rebel T6 in a slightly smaller body, with a lot less metal and a lot more plastic including the lens mount itself!  This product will answer the call for the person who wants a DSLR, but doesn't care if it is a good one, or has current tech.  The tech in this critter is at least four years old.  Yes the SL-2 or even the Rebel T7 will cost more, but from an investment perspective, both will be a much smarter buy.

Canon 470EX-AI Speedlight

470 EX-AI

Canon is bringing AI to on camera flash.  The 470 EX-AI is a medium powered TTL speed light that via it's new and innovative Auto Intelligent Bounce function, can use a preflash capability to tilt or swivel the flash head to bounce the flash off a ceiling whether you are in landscape (horizontal) or portrait (vertical) hold position.  This will definitely improve the look of on camera flash photos, but given the price premium of about $200 over a comparable third party flash, where all you get is a motorized head, makes me curious about what adoption will look like.  The flash is estimated to be selling around $500 CAD upon release in April 2018.  There is also a semi AI capability if you want to bounce off a wall.  The unit is expected to be about the size and weight of the existing top line 600 EX-RT II.  Serious photographers are not likely to be the customer, but perhaps the automation will get more casual users engaged with using a flash for better photos.  This is the first real innovation seen out of Canon in years, and as it will be actually useful for a particular buying audience, I'm quite excited to see it.

Summary

A rather cool new flash, one bland mirrorless and two way behind the times DSLRs.  Canon's CEO was quoted as saying that Canon was behind their competition in innovation.  I cannot argue with the man when he is on the money.  Other than the flash, there's really nothing particularly exciting here.

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I'm Ross Chevalier, thanks for reading, watching and listening and until next time, peace.