Canon DSLR lines beyond EOS 5D and Rebel?

[Relmotion]

I currently use a 77D and on occasion my RP. I selected the latter as it uses the same battery. Although, the RP is a power hog.  I noticed that the only lines in the DSLRs are the 5D and Rebel. Has Canon bowed out of other DSLR lines?  

[normadel]

They can be showing 5D and T7 because they still have factory inventory., maybe because if they say they are discontinued they'd be expected to discount them. We just don't know.

[SignifDigits]

Good point.  I expect they will be making that decision based upon profit and loss.  Getting down to just a couple models, like it appears they have done, makes business sense as long as there is a profitable market. 

If they aren't putting a lot of R&D money into non-recurring engineering into those products which could be a cash cow for them.   They may apply some firmware features that they develop for the mirrorless line, but that should be about it.  I wouldn't expect them to invest in new DSLR Digic processors, products, etc. 

The same could be true for EF lenses.  EF lenses might actually be more profitable per unit than RF lenses.  I'm sure at some point they will no longer continue the EF and DSLR line, but as long as it's profitable for them and doesn't put a strain on their mirrorless RF and RF-S lines why not continue?

I suspect these decisions are made in the C-suite and are close-hold proprietary.  And since market conditions can turn on a dime - if a niche supplier of critical EF parts were to suddenly cease to exist, for instance - they might then need to drop products on short notice.  So it can be a bit frustrating for consumers, but it's in our best interests for Canon to not tell us too much and run their business profitably enough to continue R&D, support, etc. that keeps us satisfied with their new product development.

[LeeP]

Ricoh--the people who glue the "Pentax" name onto Ricoh cameras--don't want to waste money on a mirrorless EVF camera nor do they want to move beyond the antiquated K mount because they are lazy and cheap.

Instead, they act like their DSLRs are somehow better than mirrorless EVF. The viewfinders on my mirrorless Canons are brighter and clearer than ANY SLR viewfinder on ANY D/SLR camera. Ricoh had to kill a couple of Pentax DSLRs because suppliers moved on from making old, outdated components.

One benefit of Pentax going EVF/mirrorless would be that their mirror failures would be a thing of the past. Since the mid-80s Pentax cameras have been notorious for mirror actuation mechanism failures. For a while it was rampant. It is less so now, but the demons still plague them.

I've said in Pentax forums that Pentax needs to do two mirrorless bodies: one that looks like an ME and one that looks like a Spotmatic i.e. retro styling. Then instead of the K mount or a new mount, just license RF and have Canon put "Pentax" on a couple of lenses like the 28mm RF pancake lens. An ME2 and a Spotmatic M with an RF mount would sell.

I would LOVE it if when Canon does their mirrorless AE1 homage that they DO NOT call it RE1, but literally resurrect the historical name with a nod: AE-2.

[deebatman316]

I always thought about Pentax joining the L Mount. I never thought of Pentax using the RF Mount. Also some of their newer lenses. Have a hybrid AF system that’s known to fail frequently. Pentax for compatibility with older cameras jammed both screw drive AF and in lens motors in 1 lens. These in lens AF motors Pentax used were Micro Motor. What is supposed to happen is that on older camera bodies the lens falls back to screw drive. Then on new camera bodies the in lens AF motor is used. When these in lens AF motors fail they will not AF on a newer camera body. But they’ll AF fine on an older body that only supports screw drive AF. Pentax has a history of being behind everyone else. Pentax joined AF in 1991 with screw drive AF. In 2007 they started using in lens AF motors. In 2016 they finally adopted electronic aperture control like Canon. They also added support for PLM lenses (Canon’s equivalent of STM lenses). These new lenses broke compatibility with the K Mount. They won’t AF or MF on older bodies nor can you control the lens aperture. Since it’s controlled digitally. Even Nikon adopted these technologies far faster than Pentax. Nikon started using in lens AF motors in 1992. Then adopted electronic aperture control in 2007. In 2014 they began supporting AF-P lenses. This is Nikon’s equivalent to STM. Now Sony/ Minolta A Mount in lens motors in 1998. But older cameras can’t focus these lenses at all. They also never added electronic aperture control. Or any type of focus by wire system. Sony began to make in lens AF motors standard. When Minolta added support for in lens AF motors they added 3 more additional pins to control this. Thus made older cameras incompatible with these lenses. There are online procedures to force in lens AF motor lenses for Pentax use screw drive AF only. Many of Pentax’s lenses aren’t made by Pentax anymore and are made by Tamron now.

[LeeP]

The reason I suggested that the ideal solution for Pentax would be the RF mount is that if Pentax were to do something like that, they would need to make themselves as mainstream as they can. Let's face it, Canon is the mainstream. But to be honest, I'm surprised that Ricoh hasn't shut Pentax down given the lack of perceptible sales. They are currently limping along with only the K3 III monochrome in production.