A sleeping giant awakens? Canon’s 8K-shooting, 45MP R5 and 20MP EOS R6 make their debut

Click here to read our Canon R5 & R6 Previews:
Canon EOS R5 Preview • Canon EOS R6 Preview

 

 

Full-frame mirrorless cameras have undoubtedly taken the photo and video worlds by storm over the past few years, and now Canon aims to take things up a notch. The colossus that is Sony took the reins as the full-frame mirrorless king for a number of years, with multiple models and iterations, each with impressive specs and new technological advancements. Meanwhile, traditional players such as Canon seemed to fall behind. And while they finally made their debut into the full-frame mirrorless market with the EOS R in 2018 -- a fine camera in and of itself -- it lacked a number of the technical innovations and competitive features to truly stand up to the modern rivals.

However, with today's full debut of not only the previously-teased Canon EOS R5 but also a sibling camera, the EOS R6, the Japanese camera giant appears to have pulled out all the stops to create two thoroughly impressive-sounding full-frame mirrorless cameras. Not only do both of these cameras seemingly aim to address many of the shortcomings of the previous EOS R-series cameras, such as the lack of in-body image stabilization (!) and dual memory card slots, they also serve as major leaps forward in features and performance, sporting capabilities not currently available elsewhere in the market -- especially not in this form-factor or at these price points. Canon may be a giant in the camera industry, but they certainly don't appear to be sleeping now!

 

 

Canon teased the R5 earlier this year, unveiling a handful of tantalizing specs and features, including its capability of recording 8K RAW internal video, feature IBIS for the first time in a Canon EOS camera, and the ability to shoot at up to 20fps. What we now know is that the EOS R5 is powered by the same DIGIC X image processor as the 1D X Mark III and centers around an all-new Canon-designed 45MP full-frame sensor. The upgraded Dual Pixel CMOS AF system now spans the entire image frame and offers not only face and eye-tracking for people but also animal detection, including birds!

 

 

Meanwhile, the sibling model Canon EOS R6, feature an altogether similar exterior design, though with a few notable button and control changes. The camera is powered by the same DIGIC X processor but is instead paired to a new 20MP full-frame sensor, likely a very similar sensor to the one inside the 1DX III. Burst shooting specs and AF performance are essentially identical to its "big brother" model, but the camera isn't as extensively spec'ed in the video department, lacking 8K video but still offering impressive 4K video at 60fps - a feature that's still fairly uncommon among full-frame mirrorless cameras.

There's quite a bit of information to unpack about these two new Canon R-series cameras. For all the details on both the R5 and the R6, head on over to our in-depth previews at the links below:

Canon EOS R5 Preview • Canon EOS R6 Preview

Interested in more Canon news? Today's R5 and R6 announcements weren't the only new products that Canon unveiled. Canon announced four all-new RF-mount mirrorless lenses, including a 100-500mm L-series zoom and a pair of ultra-compact super-telephoto f/11 primes. additionally, Canon also debuted a new advanced imagePROGRAF series printer, the Canon PRO-300.