What ever happened to the high MP R5s?

Lots of rumors more than a year ago of a pending announcement this year for a high MP R5s variant that have gone quiet for a little more than a year now. I realize that the R5c was a much more important development effort to put the overheating issues to bed. And the need to develop an R3 as well as an R1 also took priority. But will we see an ~90-100MP R5s this year?

Bigger wrote:

Lots of rumors more than a year ago of a pending announcement this year for a high MP R5s variant that have gone quiet for a little more than a year now. I realize that the R5c was a much more important development effort to put the overheating issues to bed. And the need to develop an R3 as well as an R1 also took priority. But will we see an ~90-100MP R5s this year?

I've no idea, but as far as I'm concerned 45MP is already high MP. I'm sure that Canon will bring out an even higher MP model sometime. This year? Who knows? From what I can tell, other models (not just the R1) are more important. The R was released almost 4 years ago. An update in that rough price point/market position seems more important to me than something with 90-100MP. But everyone has their own preferences, so there's always someone to be disappointed by what Canon (or any other camera company) chooses to do.

Rumors can only persist for so long without any information to support them. Everyone hyped up the rumors, speculated what little "information" existed to death, and now have nothing. There hasnt been any information, leaked or speculative, as of late on a high MP R body, so obviously the rumors slowed down alot.

As for seeing one this year? Hard to say for sure (obviously), I would hazard a guess and say no. The R5 hit a sweet spot in resolution for most users, and Canon is more likely to respond to the Z9 before a high MP body. I would also expect an APS-C RF mount body before a high MP body, but thats just my guess, like everyone else.

I never found the R5s rumors credible. I think someone saw a patent and just made some assumptions. Some others assumed that Canon was going to bring something out based on competition. I have been shooting Canon since 1981 and in that time I have never seen Canon react to competition by rushing a camera to market. My main guess is someone heard about an R5x and put 2+2 together and decided Canon was coming out with an R5s and instead Canon released an R5c.

Main reason I feel this way is Canon has so many needs in RF bodies and lenses I don't see them coming out with an R5s. I could be wrong. Rumors say 3 R bodies this year. One is probably an RP replacement, I would be shocked if we did not see an R7 and I doubt strongly we will see an R1 this year so who knows what the 3rd body will be.

Kokopelli_Rocks wrote:

I never found the R5s rumors credible. I think someone saw a patent and just made some assumptions. Some others assumed that Canon was going to bring something out based on competition. I have been shooting Canon since 1981 and in that time I have never seen Canon react to competition by rushing a camera to market. My main guess is someone heard about an R5x and put 2+2 together and decided Canon was coming out with an R5s and instead Canon released an R5c.

Main reason I feel this way is Canon has so many needs in RF bodies and lenses I don't see them coming out with an R5s. I could be wrong. Rumors say 3 R bodies this year. One is probably an RP replacement, I would be shocked if we did not see an R7 and I doubt strongly we will see an R1 this year so who knows what the 3rd body will be.

Wouldn't the R5c be one of said three bodies for the year, since it launched in Feb? That would leave an entry level body (RP replacement) and R7, in terms of rumors.

Alastair Norcross wrote:

Bigger wrote:

Lots of rumors more than a year ago of a pending announcement this year for a high MP R5s variant that have gone quiet for a little more than a year now. I realize that the R5c was a much more important development effort to put the overheating issues to bed. And the need to develop an R3 as well as an R1 also took priority. But will we see an ~90-100MP R5s this year?

I've no idea, but as far as I'm concerned 45MP is already high MP. I'm sure that Canon will bring out an even higher MP model sometime. This year? Who knows? From what I can tell, other models (not just the R1) are more important. The R was released almost 4 years ago. An update in that rough price point/market position seems more important to me than something with 90-100MP. But everyone has their own preferences, so there's always someone to be disappointed by what Canon (or any other camera company) chooses to do.

I work a lot with TC, so a higher resolution body would be useful to me. I'd rather have more MP than more glass behind the base lens. I took the 10% hit going from the 5DsR to the R5, and I would like to get that back with compound interest.

Realistically, I could also use a 90D type crop sensor with smaller pixels to get the added detail, because I don't need that much detail across the full frame. But I would rather shoot with just one high-resolution FF body in crop mode when I don't need FF.

Gam3r01 wrote:

Kokopelli_Rocks wrote:

I never found the R5s rumors credible. I think someone saw a patent and just made some assumptions. Some others assumed that Canon was going to bring something out based on competition. I have been shooting Canon since 1981 and in that time I have never seen Canon react to competition by rushing a camera to market. My main guess is someone heard about an R5x and put 2+2 together and decided Canon was coming out with an R5s and instead Canon released an R5c.

Main reason I feel this way is Canon has so many needs in RF bodies and lenses I don't see them coming out with an R5s. I could be wrong. Rumors say 3 R bodies this year. One is probably an RP replacement, I would be shocked if we did not see an R7 and I doubt strongly we will see an R1 this year so who knows what the 3rd body will be.

Wouldn't the R5c be one of said three bodies for the year, since it launched in Feb? That would leave an entry level body (RP replacement) and R7, in terms of rumors.

Yes, your are correct. Time flies by too fast, plus my math skills are not what they once were, not I can't even count to three!

Gam3r01 wrote:

Rumors can only persist for so long without any information to support them. Everyone hyped up the rumors, speculated what little "information" existed to death, and now have nothing. There hasnt been any information, leaked or speculative, as of late on a high MP R body, so obviously the rumors slowed down alot.

As for seeing one this year? Hard to say for sure (obviously), I would hazard a guess and say no. The R5 hit a sweet spot in resolution for most users, and Canon is more likely to respond to the Z9 before a high MP body. I would also expect an APS-C RF mount body before a high MP body, but thats just my guess, like everyone else.

I think you are probably correct. I'm sure the chip shortage is having a negative impact on new body development. An R5s would need an image processor twice as fast to get the same frame rate as the R5. R1 image processor development is probably taking priority.

There's no reason to believe Canon was ever planning to bring two high resolution bodies. Prior, it was not clear that there would be an R1, so rumors of a high res body was assumed to be talking about the R5s, but with the clear distinction of the need of an R1, it makes no sense to bring out an R5s before an R1. IMO, it makes no sense to bring an R5s if an R1 materializes, at least in the near future.

So my guess says will get an $8,000 R1 with 70-90MPs later this year and if there is still a market for it, and potentially an R5s 2 years down the line using a similar sensor to the R1 if it is not the crazy unicorn rumored previously (global shutter, with high res).

... a software upgrade to my RP that would unlock "silent shooting" in Av, Tv, P and M mode.  Wonder why camera companies don't do this already?  Just upgrade the firmware/software to enable additional features, then charge extra for it.  Seems like a sure-fire way to do a "product refresh" in between new model releases.

SteveinLouisville wrote:

... a software upgrade to my RP that would unlock "silent shooting" in Av, Tv, P and M mode. Wonder why camera companies don't do this already? Just upgrade the firmware/software to enable additional features, then charge extra for it. Seems like a sure-fire way to do a "product refresh" in between new model releases.

This one was of my driving factors for upgrading to an R6.

That limitation infuriated me, I shoot "silent" ES almost 50% of the time, I get much more genuine shots in candid moments from friends and family, most of whom know the sound of camera shutters and react with over-animated fake smiles instead.

Most of my ES shots were ruined because of the auto shutter speed decisions the camera made, and no focus tracking or burst shooting.

Bigger wrote:

Lots of rumors more than a year ago of a pending announcement this year for a high MP R5s variant that have gone quiet for a little more than a year now. I realize that the R5c was a much more important development effort to put the overheating issues to bed. And the need to develop an R3 as well as an R1 also took priority. But will we see an ~90-100MP R5s this year?

Canon has several directions in which the need to move over time, not to mention the obvious issues of the pandemic and the generally declining camera market due to smartphones.

Right now Canon seems focused on backside illumination (BSI) ala the R3 to support better sensitivity (lower noise) and less rolling shutter.  Then need to get to a global shutter and eliminate the mechanical shutter ala Nikon Z9.  The rolling shutter on the R5 (no a personal problem for most of what I shoot) is a serious problem for the R5 for sports and action shooters that pay the big bucks for cameras and lenses that want both high frame rates and no rolling shutter.

Then you have the frame rate and buffer issues with more pixels which are probably tied to perfecting BSI.

Canon is clearly expecting the RF family to get to the 100mp range eventually, but it looks like they will be shoring up the product line first.  The question will be whether they introduce an 80-100mp camera that may have a lower frame rate and/or rolling shutter or will they wait until they can solve everything simultaneously.

SteveinLouisville wrote:

... a software upgrade to my RP that would unlock "silent shooting" in Av, Tv, P and M mode. Wonder why camera companies don't do this already? Just upgrade the firmware/software to enable additional features, then charge extra for it. Seems like a sure-fire way to do a "product refresh" in between new model releases.

I think the answer is... they do want you to pay for the update, in the form of a EOS R, R6 or R5.

I have always thought it was odd the RP didn't have a silent shutter in all modes, but then I saw the slow sensor readout speed and then... I wondered why its even in the camera at all. 1/15 or so readout would be difficult to use for anything other than still life with a purely electronic shutter.

The bottom-line, there is no update that will make the sensor readout faster, so I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to be extended to other modes.

Tazz93 wrote:

SteveinLouisville wrote:

... a software upgrade to my RP that would unlock "silent shooting" in Av, Tv, P and M mode. Wonder why camera companies don't do this already? Just upgrade the firmware/software to enable additional features, then charge extra for it. Seems like a sure-fire way to do a "product refresh" in between new model releases.

I think the answer is... they do want you to pay for the update, in the form of a EOS R, R6 or R5.

I have always thought it was odd the RP didn't have a silent shutter in all modes, but then I saw the slow sensor readout speed and then... I wondered why its even in the camera at all. 1/15 or so readout would be difficult to use for anything other than still life with a purely electronic shutter.

The bottom-line, there is no update that will make the sensor readout faster, so I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to be extended to other modes.

I use silent shutter only when I need to make no noise at all, like at a play or a solemn ceremony like a funeral service.  The last time I used it was at a High School production of Mary Poppins, where I didn't want to disturb other audience members.  It did surprisingly well, since there were bright stage lights on the actors.  It "works" for my limited application, but it seems silly to to have it restricted to only one, fully automatic, mode.  FWIW, here is an example of the typical results I get with it.

It didn't seem ridiculously laggy in practice, but maybe in a manual mode it would be less desirable as an option.

High school production of Mary Poppins.

Well, the R5s rumor has new life:

Canon is gearing up to finally release a high megapixel camera with 100+ megapixels [CR3] | Canon Rumors - Your best source for Canon rumors, leaks and gossip