The CP+ show which was cancelled last year due to the pandemic returns this year as an online event. All of the major companies will be participating in the show, including Canon.

The CP+ show is held in Yokohama, Japan and tends to be a major product announcement show, but this year could obviously be different. For the moment I haven’t heard any major products being announced from Canon, though I’m sure there is going to be something beyond just the Canon PowerShot AI.

Pre-registration begins tomorrow here.

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Canon will soon announce the PowerShot AI, which is not the confirmed name. Canon first showed off this idea back in 2018 at The Photography Show in the UK, and once again last year at CES 2020.

It appears that Canon has decided to bring the camera to market and it will be announced quite soon, though I don’t have an official date of the announcement.

Canon PowerShot AI Specifications (Based on the concept and could change)

• 12mp 1/2.3″ CMOS Sensor
• 19-57mm 35mm equivalent zoom lens (4x zoom)
• Pans 170°
• Tilt of 110°
• Electronic Image Stabilization
• Dust and Waterproofing
• Battery life of about 2.5 hours
• Records data to microSD
• USB-C Port
• Both Wifi and Bluetooth connectivity

The camera is targetted at many uses, including as a webcam, a baby monitor, a pet monitor or even as a security camera. The concept camera had the ability to respond to voice commands. Canon will also likely launch special software for this camera to really show off the “AI” part of the product.

BCN Awards has released their camera and lens market share report for 2020 in Japan. This is not a representation of worldwide sales, so please keep that in mind.

I will say that I’m surprised that Canon didn’t hit the top 3 in video cameras, which is likely not too influenced by Cinema EOS, but even the more affordable offerings don’t see to make much noise in Japan.

The pandemic may have affected these numbers in some way, but we won’t get a picture of how they were affected for another year or two. Canon obviously sold less EOS M cameras than in 2019 and lost market share to Sony in mirrorless cameras, but the EOS R6 and EOS R5 are selling extremely well in Japan and globally, considering they’re still hard to come by is good news for Canon.

Mirrorless cameras

1. Sony: 27.4% share (2019: 22.7%)
2. Canon: 23.8% share (2019: 31.6%)
3. Olympus: 23.4% share (2019: 23.5%)

DSLR cameras

1. Canon: 51.9% share (2019: 57.4%)
2. Nikon: 44.8% share (2019: 39.3%)
3. Ricoh: 3.0% share (2019: 3.1%)

Interchangeable Lenses

1. Canon 18.3% (2019: 19.9%)
2. Sony 15.9% (2019: 16.9%)
3. SIGMA 14.9% (2019: NA)

Fixed lens digital cameras (point & shoot)

1. Canon: 39.1% share (2019: 29.8%)
2. Sony: 19.7% share (2019: 11.9%)
3. Fuji: 11.4% share (2019: NA)

Video cameras

1. Sony: 37.3% share (2019: 35.1%)
2. Panasonic: 32.2% share (2019: 45.8%)
3. JVC Kenwood: 11.1% share (2019: 13.1%)

Action cameras

1. GoPro: 7% share (2019: 74.3%)
2. Sony: 7.5% share (2019: 8.5%)
3. SAC: 6.5% share (2019: 7.2%)

According to Sony Addict, 7Artisans will be releasing an RF 10mm f/2.8 fisheye for full-frame. They will also be launching three new APS-C lenses for various crop sensor mounts.

7Artisans RF 10mm f/2.8 Fisheye Specifications:

I have updated the third party RF list to include this upcoming lens, you can see all of the third party lenses available for the RF mount here.

Are Quad-Pixel AF and a global shutter coming in 2021 to the new flagship EOS R camera? It’s a strong possibility according to a good source.

Canon continues to develop their flagship EOS R system camera, a camera most of us have dubbed the EOS R1. The camera is reported to be shown to the world ahead of the Tokyo Summer Games which begin in July of this year.

One feature that will be coming to the camera according to a very solid source is a Quad-Pixel AF system. QPAF would improve autofocus accuracy no matter what orientation the subject or the camera is in.

The same source claims that there is a possibility that a global shutter will appear in the EOS R1. For those that don’t know, this would effectively remove rolling shutter when shooting video or stills in the electronic shutter mode. There are challenges to making this happen, but it is still on the table for the camera.

There has been no mention of sensor resolution or whether or not the camera will be able to shoot 8K. If we want the direct sensor readout 8K RAW, then it’s going to have to be at least the same resolution as the EOS R5.

It looks like the Canon EOS R1 is going to be more than just simply sticking the EOS-1D X Mark III into a mirrorless body, and that will bode well for consumers as Canon will continue to push the envelope.

Both Nikon and Sony are expected to announce new flagship mirrorless cameras sometime in 2021 as well. Let the games begin.

I know a bit more about the camera and will be updating you once I’m able to.

Be sure to check out the updated list of available third party lenses for the RF mount here.

Which printer is right for you? The Canon PIXMA Pro-200 which was announced this past September, vs the Canon ImagePROGRAF Pro-300, which was announced this past July.

Keith at Northlight Images has done two exhaustive reviews of the Canon PIXMA Pro-200 and the Canon ImagePROGRAF Pro-300. Two extremely capable printers, but at different price points.

You can read Keith’s reviews of each printer over at Northlight Images.

Canon PIXMA Pro-200 Review \\ Canon ImagePROGRAF Pro-300 Review

It looks like both of these printers is a winner, which is always great for consumers. The Canon ImagePROGRAF Pro-300 has me thinking of getting back into printing myself.

Canon News has uncovered more patents relating to the vlogging style ILC that follows the release of patents last month about the same product.

This patent goes into some detail and both DPReview and Canon News thinks we may be looking at an EF to EF-M adapter on this device. Which would make some sense considering the size and weight of EF-M lenses, keep in mind that drawings aren’t always an accurate depiction of certain things.

We also get a pretty detailed photo of a shotgun microphone attached to this new camera type.

Whatever is going on here, we’re up to almost 10 detailed patents about this product. Be sure to check out Canon News for a further breakdown of these patents.

It looks like there is some good news coming out of the camera industry during the pandemic. Canon has exceeded their sales projections for the 2020 fiscal year on the backs of the Canon EOS R6 and Canon EOS R5. Sales for both cameras have exceeded expectations, especially in China.

According to a Nikkei article, Canon is raising their consolidated net income because of the success of both the EOS R6 and EOS R5

In the manufacturing industry, earnings forecasts have been revised upward one after another. Canon announced on the 14th that it will raise its consolidated net income for the fiscal year ending December 2020 due to strong sales of digital cameras in China. The background is the economic recovery in China, and there is a difference between the non-manufacturing industry, whose business performance is declining due to the re-expansion of the new coronavirus infection, and the recovery.

Canon’s consolidated net income for the fiscal year ending December 2008 will decrease 36% from the previous fiscal year to 80 billion yen, which is 28 billion yen higher than the previous forecast. New full-frame mirrorless cameras are performing well in the Chinese market. Ink sales for home printers also increased due to the expansion of telecommuting. Read the full article

Canon also saw a good increase in ink sales due to more people working from home.

Canon’s full fiscal 2020 financials should be presented before we hit February.

Canon has launched a new site which allows you to shoot photographs with Canon’s $9mil CE-SAT 1 microsatellite, which was launched in 2017 in India.

The CE-SAT 1 satellite is equipped with a modified Canon EOS 5D Mark III and a PowerShot camera for wide-angle lenses. The CE SAT-1 isn’t the smallest microsatellite the Canon has built, there is also the CE SAT-3 which can fit in the palm of your hand.

Canon is spending a lot of R&D on space imaging, and it looks like they’re in it for the long run.

About the Canon CE-SAT-1

CE-SAT-IB is a 67 kilogram microsatellite which can resolve 90 centimeter objects on the ground from space. Additionally, Spaceflight is coordinating the launch of another Canon satellite, CE-SAT-IIB, which is slated to lift off after the CE-SAT-IB mission later in 2020, also aboard an Electron. It will carry three cameras with different resolutions and sensitivities.

Canon has launched a new site that lets you emulate operating the satellite overlooking various parts of the planet.

Check out the Canon REDEFINE LIMITS site here.

It looks like Canon USA has restocked their refurbished inventory, and it includes a few RF lenses as well as popular EF lenses.

RF Lenses

• Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM $879
• Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro STM $399
• Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM $2429

EF Lenses

• Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM $1709
• Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM $2159

EOS M

• Canon EOS M50 Body $459
• Canon EOS M50 w/15-45 $519

You can check out all of the available refurbished gear at the Canon USA store here.