Canon EOS R7 Rumors
New rumors are running through the internet, and to be honest, part of me feels reporting on them is simply clickbait since we know so little at this time. The latest rumors seem to indicate that the sensor for the new EOS R7 Mark II will be stacked. This is both a blessing and a curse if true.
One of the only issues with the R7's sensor was its readout speed, so it's not exactly a state secret that Canon would be looking at improving the speed of the sensor. Canon has quite a few tricks to do so, as we have seen with the R6 Mark III, without going to stacking.
Could it actually be stacked? Certainly, but there's a cost associated with that. I don't think Canon does the logic substrates themselves, as the design rules for the logic substrate are far smaller (usually under 50nm) than Canon has in-house for sensor fabrication. So this adds cost and complexity.
The sensor is also rumored to be around 39-40 megapixels, which makes sense when you consider that Fuji's flagship is running 40MP now, and Canon usually likes to stay abreast of such things.
Back Side Illumination comes naturally to a stacked sensor because that's how they expose the underside electronics to the second substrate, so that in itself isn't such a big deal.
What are the Downsides?
The only consideration I have is that Canon hasn't really managed to keep the speed and image quality up with its stacked or speedy sensors, so it remains to be seen if Canon is going for speed or image quality with the R7.
A good example of this phenomenon is the EOS R5 Mark II as compared to the EOS R5, where the R5 Mark II lost around a half stop of dynamic range to make it all run quicker. The reason for this is that to keep the sensor running quicker usually means that the sensor has to run faster timings, which increases heat and thus noise. This will detrimentally affect dynamic range. There is no such thing as a free lunch, as we can see from photonstophotos excellent comparison between the R5 and the R5 Mark II.
As far as layout, the rumors have suggested that the EOS R7 Mark II will have the same control layout as the R6 Mark III. This actually starts to make a lot of sense when Canon seems to have standardized its control layout for mirrorless. While I wish it were more like the R5 Mark II layout, I'll certainly settle for the R6 Mark III's.
The camera body is expected to be announced sometime this year, with latest suggestions being around the May - June timeframe.
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