Canon’s Japan outlet has issued a cryptic teaser that suggests the camera company is developing a new vlogging camera for content creators.
The teaser translates with words promising this new camera will offer “new possibilities for vlogs” and will be formally announced on May 11, 2023.
Image Credit – Canon Japan
The teaser has only been published in Japan, leading many tech insiders to conclude that the new camera design may be exclusively available in the land of the Rising Sun, or as an initial rollout there to see how interest goes.
But there is no indication if the camera will be offered in other regions.
And while about 95% of the camera is covered with a red cloth, much can be derived from what can be seen.
First and foremost, the camera looks to be a taller design, leading many to conclude that the camera is designed primarily to capture vertical video that is popular with social media sites like TikTok and Instagram.
Image Credit – Canon Japan
This could mean that the camera also has wireless connectivity in order to make connecting to those sites easier for uploading.
But the camera could also be standing on its end since there’s a vague outline of the camera’s zoom lens protruding at the top, and that would make a vertically aligned camera rather top-heavy.
Canon is no stranger to out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to camera design, however, with the release of the XC10 fixed lens video camera back in 2015.
That camera captured 4K video and stills but since it wasn’t designed for the selfie generation and suffered from poor image quality, it wasn’t very popular.
Canon tried a second time with the Powershot Zoom, which was geared more towards birdwatchers and nature fans who wanted a camera that could do double duty as a monocular-style telephoto scope that could also capture images.
The Zoom had a 1/2.3 CMOS image sensor that could capture 1080p HD video and 12-megapixel still images from a pill box design that hung from a neck-mounted lanyard.
The Powershot Zoom was released initially in Japan, but in 2020, the market expanded to other countries. It’s still available for a retail price of around $300. Other uniquely designed cameras include the Canon IVY Rec and the PowerShot Pick. Neither moved the needle much in terms of sales.
Clearly, however, in spite of the fact that content creators have moved away from point-and-shoot style cameras in favor of mobile devices to capture social media-related content, Canon seems to believe there’s plenty of interest in a dedicated camera that can compete outside of the mirrorless/DSLR categories.
Only time will tell if their design pays off once it is announced. But it’s going to have to be quite the design with unique features to pry content creators away from their mobile phones, and it will have to provide superior image quality to do that.
Users can head over to the Canon Japan website and sign up for early bird notifications from their mail magazine.
[source: Canon Japan]
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