Canon and Sony both announce new cameras on May 13, but a wave of CMIIT filings and credible leaks reveals a packed pipeline of kit from Fujifilm, Nikon, Panasonic, Ricoh, OM System, and Leica through the rest of 2026. Here's everything coming.
2026 has so far been a very slow year for new cameras outside of the action camera/gimbal space. The most interesting camera to emerge at CP+ was the Canon waist-level prototype that might never be made. And NAB delivered very little, with the big guns choosing to concentrate on system cameras for live broadcast while the likes of GoPro made merry with the new Mission Series.
That all changes next week. May 13 is shaping up to be one of the more significant days in camera news for some time, with both Canon and Sony set to make major announcements on the same day. The photography corners of the internet lit up earlier this week with comprehensive leaks and rumors about the two cameras, and that is all we can say about that due to NDAs.
It is public knowledge though that the two cameras being released next Wednesday will be a new Canon camera and the Sony A7R VI. Both companies have released teasers now that serve as placeholders for the forthcoming announcements rather than revealing anything new.
Canon confirms its announcement will drop May 13 at 13.00 CEST / 14.00 BST / 09.00 EDT / 06.00 PDT.
Sony's follows 30 minutes later, May 13 at 13.30 CEST / 14.30 BST / 09.30 EDT / 06.30 PDT.
All leave at RedShark has been canceled and we will, of course, have all the news here as it breaks.
But, we thought it more than worthwhile to peek a bit further ahead than that and take a detailed look at the other major manufacturers and see what they are up to. Yes, we know on the gimbal camera side of things interest in the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P and the Insta360 Luna is running at something approaching fever pitch, but what about the mirrorless market?
It turns out that the latest Canon and the Sony A7R VI might represent the breaking of the dam, but there are plenty more new models ready to flood out behind them. Someone's even cooking up a new DSLR.
Much of what we know about upcoming cameras comes not from factory leaks or insider whispers, but from a rather unlikely source: Chinese wireless certification databases. CMIIT (China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) requires any device with wireless capability to be registered before it can be sold in the country, and these filings are public from the day they’re made. It’s dry, it’s bureaucratic, and it’s impressively reliable.
Indeed, the CMIIT certification database predicts actual launches with better than 90% accuracy. Its filings usually precede camera announcements by a few weeks to a few months, and a whole batch of filings between February and early April 2026 place several major cameras firmly in the pipeline.
Nikon's CMIIT filing under the code N2324 adds a new affordable Z-series body to the pipeline. It's described as a sibling to the Z50 II, Z5 II, and P1100, and is likely an accessible or mid-tier body, probably without an EVF (which seems to be becoming a trend for 2026 already), aimed at vloggers or entry-level users.
Specific model identity remains unclear, though the Nikon rumor community has been circling around the Z30 II and ZFC II as candidates. An announcement is expected somewhere in Q2–Q3.
Fujifilm plans to launch the X-T6 in September 2026. This will be the first camera on Fujifilm's sixth-generation platform, with X-Processor 6 and tri-band Wi-Fi 6 support across 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands. That makes it a performance release rather than a resolution one, delivering the same base spec as the X-T5 just faster and more efficient with improved autofocus.
A Vietnamese retailer has listed the X-T6 with an improved 40 MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS 6 HR BSI sensor, 200 MP Pixel Shift Multi-Shot mode, and 8K video recording, though that retailer also flagged the specs as unconfirmed reference information. Take with a large grain of salt.
Other rumored specs include 6.2K/30p unsampled video, 4K/60p oversampled, 10-bit H.265 recording, up to 7 stops of IBIS, and deep-learning tracking for people, animals and vehicles. There might also be a fully articulating LCD screen, billed as a superior design over the 3-way tilt screen of the X-T5.
Panasonic seems to be firmly in stealth mode. Two Panasonic models, the P2409A and P2501A, received CMIIT certification in February 2026, but their identities remain unclear. Candidates for the slots include a G100 II that would add phase detect AF to the mix, but not much is certain here.
A replacement for the nigh on seven-year-old S1H is the thing that has been taking up the most attention. A set of leaked specs from Chinese social media shows an FX3-style body with a spec sheet including 4K240p uncropped, 16+ stops of dynamic range, an ARRI codec, 32-bit float audio, phase hybrid AF, 8.5 stops IBIS, dual CFexpress Type B slots, and active cooling. And if that feels more like a wish list than a spec sheet, that's often what Chinese social media leaks turn out to be.
October 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the Ricoh GR1, and Ricoh has already acknowledged the milestone, saying it plans to launch special items commemorating the anniversary. The GR IV was released in 2025 and the GR IV Monochrome dropped only this February, so it could be a bit soon for a whole new model. A GR IVx variant with a longer focal length perhaps?
On the Pentax side, reliable leaker Asahiman has stated a new Pentax DSLR will be announced in 2026, with the K-1 Mark III rumored to feature a 61 MP BSI sensor with IBIS, improved SAFOX 14 AF, GPS, 4K60p, and dual CFexpress Type B slots. This would make it arguably the most capable DSLR ever built. Pentax remains the only manufacturer still actively developing the format, which following the Nikon D5’s bravura performance on the recent Artemis II mission, is having a bit of a renaissance.
Talking of monochrome, the OM-3 and OM-5 Mark II both landed last year. Micro Four Thirds saw a notable upswing in enthusiasm through 2025, driven partly by renewed interest in the OM-3. The next flagship OM-1 Mark III has been discussed but isn't imminent. Instead, there is increasing noise that OM System may launch a monochrome version of the OM-3 this fall. The OM-3 is compact, rugged, and stabilized, and popular among travel and street photographers, and this would give monochrome fans plenty of MFT depth to explore.
Leica has officially confirmed it is developing a new sensor in collaboration with Gpixel, intended to push the boundaries of image quality, with development expected to complete around the beginning of 2027. The long-rumored and equally long-delayed M12 will almost certainly be first in line to receive it, which makes that a 2027 camera rather than a 2026 one. A Leica S4 mirrorless medium format body and a Q4 with a higher-resolution sensor are also in the potential pipeline. None of this is imminent, but a Leica building its own silicon is a definite event and worth paying attention to.