The Canon EOS R8 Mark II reportedly lands September 15 with IBIS appearing at this level for the first time and a retro-leaning redesign.
The Canon EOS R8 Mark II has been one of the most talked about new cameras set to debut before the end of the year, and the excellent CanonRumors is now reporting that the new camera will be announced just after IBC on September 15.
The original EOS R8 launched at $1699 in February 2023, so don’t expect a similar price this time round. Our guess would be somewhere north of $1800, which seems to be around the new sweet spot for midrange mirrorless cameras at the moment.
Visually, it’s going to be quite striking. The only images circulating at the moment are AI-generated ones, so they have to be taken with a pinch of salt, but they do reflect the long-standing gossip that points to a retro-leaning design. Think angles rather than organic curves, though whether that’s also going to feed into the plethora of knobs and dials is currently uncertain.
The sensor is likely to be the 24.2 MP full-frame CMOS, carried over from the EOS R8 and EOS R6 Mark II. Initial rumors had pointed to a new 32.5 MP sensor, but in the past month these hopes have faded. Perhaps this falls into the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ category.
One thing possibly migrating downwards from the high-end though is in-body image stabilization. This will be IBIS’s first appearance on the R8 line, and a notable upgrade over the previous generation. It has taken up more room in what looks to be a camera body the same size as before, so previous rumors of dual SD slots have been jettisoned in favor of a single SD card slot. This might be moving to its own door though rather than being housed by the battery.
That will be unchanged, and the same LP-E17 as before.
No word yet on video capabilities, but there do seem to be two accessories launching in tandem. A small ergonomic grip adds vertical height for shooters with larger hands (Canon seems to be at pains to point out this is not a battery grip), and there’s a definite groundswell of interest in a new flash, the Speedlite EL-5 Mark II.
Canon’s historical release pattern after a new camera announcement is anything from three to ten weeks, so a September 15 announcement definitely places a ship date the right side of the holiday season. We’ll update you as soon as we know more.