Subsequent 12 months may very well be even larger than the final twelve months for brand spanking new Canon cameras, with new rumors predicting 5 new launches in 2023. However as thrilling as these new arrivals are, there is a notable absentee within the checklist – an affordable full-frame digicam.

Canon Rumors’ checklist of anticipated Canon cameras for subsequent 12 months comprises three APS-C cameras and two full-frame fashions. On the extra inexpensive finish are the Canon EOS R50 (a price range mannequin that may apparently sit beneath the Canon EOS R10) and one other APS-C digicam that may (one way or the other) slot in between the latter and the Canon EOS R7. A video-focused Canon EOS R7 C might also be en route, however that is much less sure.

Much less complete, although, are the anticipated full-frame choices. Anybody who’s been hoping for a successor to the Canon EOS RP – a digicam that arrived again in 2019 with the tagline ‘full-frame for the plenty’ – could also be notably disenchanted. The 2 fashions on Canon Rumors’ checklist are the Canon EOS R5 S (more likely to be a high-megapixel beast) and the Canon EOS R5 Mark II, which shall be one of the anticipated cameras of the 12 months.

But that pleasure will primarily be felt by well-heeled execs or amateurs with huge budgets. The present Canon EOS R5 arrived with a $3,899 / £4,199 / AU$6,899 price ticket. And if the rumors about its successor are to be believed – a brand new 61MP BSI sensor, 9.44M-dot EVF and 8K/60p video are within the predicted specs – then the Mark II may very well be even pricier than that.

A Canon EOS RP successor may very well be vastly widespread within the present monetary local weather, so the place is it? There are a couple of potential solutions. The primary, and hopefully almost definitely, is that’s en route, however merely hasn’t been leaked but. Canon Rumors hasn’t claimed that its checklist of cameras for 2023 is exhaustive or full. But the location’s historic reliability means that, on the very least, a brand new Canon EOS RP is manner down on Canon’s pecking order. Which leaves a few much less interesting explanations.

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The primary rationalization is that Canon merely needs to maximise the potential of its new line of APS-C cameras – and an affordable full-frame physique would compromise that plan.

In equity to Canon, our important grievance about its mirrorless digicam lineup at first of 2022 was the dearth of inexpensive fashions. It is answered that very properly this 12 months with the Canon EOS R7 and Canon EOS R10, which we at the moment price as the perfect digicam for inexperienced persons.

What it hasn’t but executed is deal with these new cameras to a variety of native APS-C lenses. Proper now, there are nonetheless solely two RF-S lenses for these cameras, an 18-45mm package lens and an 18-150mm zoom. The rumored launch of three additional APS-C cameras in 2023 suggests Canon is planning to deal with that state of affairs subsequent 12 months. However all of that might take time and useful resource away from a possible Canon EOS RP successor.

The previous few years have been an ideal storm of dwindling demand, provide chain points and a cost-of-living disaster for digicam manufacturers, and Canon does not have infinite sources for product improvement. Because the rumors recommend, subsequent 12 months it could properly focus these sources on the intense edges of its lineup – with the useful knock-on impact of avoiding cannibalization within the center.

However the different chance is just that the rumored Canon EOS R8 can have a full-frame sensor slightly than an APS-C one. Canon Rumors’ most up-to-date submit acknowledged that the EOS R8 (or EOS R9) “will doubtless be APS-C”, however its earlier rumors have steered in any other case – and that is what these dreaming of a Canon EOS RP successor shall be hoping.

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Solely final month a separate Canon Rumors submit (opens in new tab), primarily based on a sketchy submit on Chinese language social community Weibo, steered that there would quickly be “a full-frame digicam beneath the Canon EOS R6”. And that this mannequin would doubtless be the Canon EOS R8.

The leaked specs – which included a 30.3MP full-frame sensor, Digic X processor and twin card slots – truly hinted at a digicam that was extra like a Canon EOS R successor, than a brand new Canon EOS RP. And it is potential they had been merely an incorrect prediction of what finally grew to become the Canon EOS R6 Mark II, which arrived final month.

Both manner, vital doubts stay about precisely what sort of digicam the Canon EOS R8 (or EOS R9) shall be. Anybody on the lookout for a full-frame discount can nonetheless purchase the Canon EOS RP for £989 / $999 / AU$1,299, however given it is approaching its fourth birthday, there are actually higher choices.

The Nikon Z5, for instance, just lately dropped to solely $997 / £999 / AU$1,696 within the Black Friday gross sales. Even the Sony A7 III, which continues to be a implausible full-frame digicam, is quickly heading in the direction of that value level, just lately dropping to £1,276 (round $1,580 / AU$2,275) within the UK, with the assistance of a promotional Amazon voucher.

Will Canon give its followers a full-frame discount to rival these choices in 2023? Proper now, the rumors recommend not, however we’re hoping it nonetheless has some surprises up its sleeve for subsequent 12 months.