Yes, In my opinion Canon is clearly talking about introduction time of Canon flagship DSLR camera Canon 1dx Mark III. When interviewer from DPreview asked “Olympics in 2020 is coming up – what will we see” . Then Canon clearly hinted us that we will going to announce a Pro Model at that time.
Yep – they are taking about 1DX Mark III.
1. Canon 1dx Mark III Announcement Time hint
Q. The Tokyo Olympics in 2020 is coming up – when we look at photographers shooting with Canon at Tokyo in two years time, what will we see?
A. The Tokyo Olympics is a very important opportunity for us. If we look at the professional camera market, we would like to introduce a professional model at that time. Having said that, we take reliability very seriously. So when we talk about [creating] a model for the Olympics, we’re not just talking about performance. We’re also want to make sure that we can achieve the same level of reliability that we’ve always delivered [in our professional DSLRs].
Now, we have clear hint that canon will going to announce the 1dx mark III camera before 2020 Olympics. Or may be they are talking about introduction of a completely new Pro body DSLR body ? .. Keep in mind that every Canon DSLRs are announced under a series (either entry level, mid or high-end), And if Canon is talking about a Pro DSLR that clearly means they are talking about the 1DX Series for sure.
2. Canon 1DX Mark III in Q1 of 2020
Now let’s talk about the timeframe when 1dx Mark 3 camera will going to be announced ? The 2020 Olympics will going to start from, Friday 24 July 2020 and will going to end on 9 August 2020.
3. Life-cycle of Canon FF Flagship DSLR camera Camera
In general Canon keep 4 to 5 years of Gap to announce a Pro Flagship body, but due to intense market completion we may see Pro DSLR before scheduled announcement date.
| Canon 1DX | Canon 1DX Mark II | Canon 1DX Mark III |
| Oct 2011 | Feb 2016 | 2020 ? |
4. Announcement Time vs Shipping Time
Canon 1DX Mark II was announced in Feb 2016 and the shipping of the camera was started from April 2016.
Now, you have to understand that there is a difference between the announcement of a product and the shipping of a product. If any manufacturer announces a camera today then in general it shipping will going to start from after 2 or 3 months of time.
5. End of 2019 or Beginning of 2020
So, clearly means Canon 1dx Mark III is somehow scheduled to arrive at the end of 2019 or maybe in the beginning / Q1 of 2020. So photographers can get hands-on camera before 2020 Olympics.
Thanks Canon for letting us know that yes you are working restlessly to bring up new flagship camera for us before the 2020 Olympics.
Do share your thoughts and suggestion with us.
Also see – Canon 7D II coming with Dual DIgic 8 Image processor
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Photokina 2019 would make sense for announcement, with shipping for Xmas or early 2020. I actually hope it’s a paradigm shift and is mirrorless, much lighter (not really much smaller however), higher res and not some pathetic 2MP bump, at least 24MP but preferably 30MP.
Has that picture of the 1DX iii got a mirror in it?
Agree @Odin
Photokina 2019 is sure the best place to announce 1DX Mk III camera.
@Jonathan
No need to remove mirror, they have to just introduce global shutter and a mirror lock-up function (already DSLRs have).
Given that Nikon’s D5s got aborted out of Nikon’s 2-year lifecycle of flagship speed bodies (most probably due to Sony A9 being superior), I doubt Canon would survive long enough with another bulky DSLR.
Flapping mirror is now limiting the cameras, it’s at its mechanical limits. I’d love something in between A9 and 1DXII in size and weight, stacked sensor, massively upgraded AF with similar coverage as A9, 30MP, 16-20fps, hybrid EVF+OVF, dual CFexpress (essentially the XQD replacement), tilt screen with 2.4MP res, WiFI, BT5, GPS, dual digic 8 + digic7 for AF, 1MP colour metering sensor for greatly improved 3D tracking, 4k and UHD video with either full sensor or 6K capture then downsampled, also super35 mode, much more efficient codecs, x264 and x265 in hardware, 1080p @ 240fps.
I hope !dx mark 3 have more focus points and fast focus ability. touch screen also.