Patent from Canon shows that they're working on shrinking their Canon mirrorless cameras, but is it worth the effort?
(Image credit: Canon)
Whether it's laptops, hard drives, or camera bodies, it seems as if everyone assumes that smaller is automatically better. The rise of Canon mirrorless cameras, and CSC bodies from other manufacturers as well, has certainly supported this, as heavy and clunky DSLRs are replaced with lighter and more compact mirrorless bodies.
With the launch of the Canon EOS R and Canon EOS RP, Canon mirrorless cameras were taken to a whole new level of small and light camera bodies. However, it now appears that Canon is looking to shrink their full-frame mirrorless cameras even further.
Rumor website Canon News has uncovered a patent application that appears to show a design for a smaller mirrorless camera for the RF mount.
Canon News says, "Given the size of the grip, I'm going to assume that Canon's intention is an RF camera for this patent application, especially when looking at how much the mount dominates the camera on the front camera view. Looking at the tear-downs of the EOS RP, this is not an RP, as the shutter motor is located next to the battery compartment on the EOS RP, while in this patent application, Canon is tucking it under the shutter assembly (number 405 on the diagram)."
New patent shows designs for a smaller Canon mirrorless camera (Image credit: Canon News)
With Canon having already stated that they'll eventually be adding models above and below the EOS R and EOS RP, we assume that this new compact mirrorless camera will fall in somewhere below the RP.
However, as with many camera patents that we see, we can't help but think that just because a camera manufacturer can do something, it doesn't necessarily mean that they should. With the Canon EOS R and Canon EOS RP, Canon has created two ergonomically designed bodies that counterbalance the weight of the RF lenses.
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However, despite Canon redesigning the RF lens line to be generally smaller and lighter than their EF mount lenses, there are still some beastly pieces of glass that can pretty much constitute a workout when you shoot with them. The Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L USM weighs a whopping 1,430g, which is a frankly ridiculous weight for a fairly standard zoom lens that's popular with most photographers.
By producing an even smaller Canon mirrorless camera, Canon is going to create a super unbalanced piece of kit that's just simply frustrating to work with. Yes, there are smaller and lighter RF lenses, such as the RF 35mm f/1.8 IS Macro STM that weighs only 305g, that would work perfectly well with a smaller camera body.
However, how many light and compact RF lenses do Canon realistically have that would work with a smaller body? In our humble opinions, Canon should be focusing their time and energy on producing more small and light lenses rather than needlessly shrinking their mirrorless cameras.
With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.
