Canon is well reputed of making amateur and professional cameras. In fact, it can be said that it’s one of the best in business, along with its main rivals; Nikon and Sony. Now imagine the excitement all aspiring videographers felt when Canon announced that they were planning on launching a camera that could record in 8K.
To make sure we’re on the same page, 8K(4320p) is a resolution that is four times more detailed than 4K(2160p). If you’ve been keeping up then you’d know that the world is slowly moving to 4K from FHD(1080p). Every year more and more devices come with 4K support and it’s becoming a norm. 8K meanwhile is still considered as something of the next generation.
Canon and Nikon go head-to-head in the Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera market. It can be said both are almost equal with Nikon having the beginner and Canon having professional segments of the DSLR market. Sony, on the other hand, does also make DSLR cameras but they are nowhere near as popular as its Mirrorless cameras. A Mirrorless camera lacks the mirror viewfinder mechanism found in DSLRs, hence the name.
Other than having complete dominance over the Mirrorless camera market, Sony was also reputed of having cameras with amazing video recording capabilities. Their cameras could record 4K videos at 120fps. Pair that with the small size of the Mirrorless body, they were sought after by every videographer. Canon, however, wasn’t going to let Sony have all the fun. It started a new line of cameras called the EOS M in 2012. This was Canon’s Mirrorless range that was released to take on Sony.
Canon had a long way to go if it wanted to beat Sony. Not only did the EOS M lineup had a 1.6x crop sensor as opposed to the full frame sensor in Sony lineup, but it also had only one camera, the EOS M50, that could record 4K videos. Canon, however, did not give up and came out with the EOS R in October 2018. It had a full frame sensor and could record 4K videos. The EOS R wasn’t going to put Sony out of business, however, it showed that Canon wanted a piece of Mirrorless camera market and wasn’t going to let go.
And now, it seems Canon is ready to take its Mirrorless up a notch. In an interview at CES 2019, Canon executive, Yoshiyuki Mizoguchi said, “an 8K video capable camera is already in our EOS R-series roadmap”. He also added, “And we are not just looking at video from a camera perspective, we are also working on how to make RF lenses better for video capture as well. For example, the RF 24-105mm f/4L was the first L-series lens with Nano USM technology, which contributes to silent and smooth autofocus while shooting video”.
Yes, you heard that right, folks. Canon cameras will soon be recording videos in 8K. I mean who would’ve thought that a company who took so long to offer 4K video recording would be the first to offer 8K. If that does happen, there’s no question that Canon will trump both Sony and Nikon to become the king of the camera world. It has one of the best DSLRs and the widest variety of lenses. Pair that with the first 8K capable camera and you’ve got yourself a brand that has it all.