The boss of Canon announced that the manufacturer was going to abandon the production of reflex cameras in the next few years to move completely towards hybrids.
The Canon EOS R3 // Source: Canon
In recent years, the high-end photo segment has shifted from reflex cameras to hybrid, mirrorless models. It must be said that manufacturers are now able to offer equally powerful boxes, with photo sensors. full frame, but lighter. The Japanese manufacturer Canon has thus confirmed that it will stop the production of reflex cameras.
It is in the columns of the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun that the boss of the firm, Fujio Mitarai, announced this strategic choice by announcing the only production of hybrid cameras within a few years. This choice can be explained in particular by the acceleration in sales of mirrorless hybrid cameras to users. Above all, professional photographers can now use hybrid models without any particular constraints and with some advantages, particularly in terms of size or weight of the cameras. The elimination of the mirror also represents an advantage for the hybrids which are thus endowed with a mechanical part – and therefore a source of fragility – less.
A decision constrained by the evolution of the market
This choice on the part of Canon was predictable. It must be said that the Japanese photo giant is increasingly diluting its launches of SLR cameras. The latest, the Canon EOS 1DX Mark III was launched at the beginning of the year when the previous one, the Canon EOS 850D, dates from February 2020. In the meantime, Canon has multiplied the references of mirrorless cameras, no only with its range of bodies with APSC sensors, the Canon EOS M, but also with its cameras full frame. The manufacturer has launched with less than 3 hybrid cameras full frame in just a few years, the Canon EOS R6, EOS R5 and the professional Canon EOS R3.
Canon is not the only manufacturer to focus more and more on hybrid cameras. Its historic competitor, Nikon, seems to have made the same choice. Last January, the TechRadar website reported that Nikon had ceased production of two SLR cameras due to “market trends“. Above all, the manufacturer has not replaced them in the entry-level reflex segment, around 500 euros.
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