Camera Rumors for 2015

Camera rumors, precedents and possibilities

We can't tell you for certain what 2015 holds in store for new cameras, but we can give you our best guess – and we think we've nailed a few key stories already.

We've gathered together rumours, tip-offs and speculation from a number of respected sources and combined this with our own research and experience to produce a list of cameras we think we could see in 2015.

Some of these are fairly predictable updates to existing cameras. Most cameras have a fixed shelf life within a manufacturer's range and we've spent some time analysing past launches to work out what's coming next.

But we also know what technology the camera makers use, the cameras they use it in and how it could be adapted for new models. Even where we don't know for sure what the makers are going to do, we know what they ought to do… and there are plenty of possibilities for new cameras which you may not have thought of.

Finally, there are some crazy, wild rumours which might just be true. We've done our own research to see whether these things are technically possible, whether they've been done before or just how they might be implemented.

So sit sit down, buckle up and hold tight as we take a wild ride through the cameras we think may be coming in 2015…

Canon rumors

There's a feeling that Canon's been treading water over the past few years with its DSLRs, and the EOS-M compact system camera has failed to make any significant impact. But is 2015 the year when all this changes?

Canon PowerShot GX

Can we expect another big-sensor PowerShot from Canon? We think so. There's an intriguing remark at the end of a press release on Canon's Hong Kong website which, as well as listing the PowerShot G7 X, says that a new PowerShot camera is under development with a large image sensor, high zoom capability and compact body.

So just to be clear, this is a third large-sensor PowerShot, in addition to the G1 X Mark II and G7 X. We think this will be a big-sensor bridge camera along the lines of the Sony RX10 or Panasonic FZ1000. Both these cameras use 1-inch sensors, and Canon has already used a 1-inch sensor in the G7 X.

Regular bridge cameras have extra-long zoom ranges which are only made possible by the use of very small 1/2.3-inch sensors. Sony and Panasonic, however, have gambled on users valuing better image quality over massive zoom ranges, and Canon may be about to follow suit.

Canon EOS 150D/Rebel ES2

Canon's pint-sized EOS 100D DSLR has now been out for almost two years, and it uses the venerable 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor that Canon's been using in its amateur DSLRs almost as far back as we can remember. But we think the Hybrid CMOS AF II system used in the EOS 100D was just a stepping stone to the Dual Pixel CMOS AF system in the newer EOS 70D and that the new sensor holds the future for Canon's beginner SLR range.

Our prediction, then, is that there will be a new EOS 150D/Rebel ES2 (assuming Canon follows its usual model numbering scheme) with the 20.2-megapixel Dual Pixel CMOS AF sensor from the 70D. That's a big enough jump in itself – Canon won't need to do much more except perhaps increase the continuous shooting speed slightly and improve the rather basic 9-point AF system.

But there is another scenario, and one involving Canon's flagging EOS-M range…

Canon EOS-M 3

Will Canon actually continue with its super-small EOS 100D DSLR sub-range? It's amazingly petite, for a DSLR, but an SLR-style compact system camera would be smaller still.

Canon might decide that mirrorless is a better bet and take the opportunity to merge two product lines, boosting its flagging EOS-M compact system camera range with a DSLR style EOS-M 3 (our name) that takes over from the EOS 100D product line.

Again, Canon's 20.2-megapixel Dual Pixel CMOS AF sensor would be the ideal candidate, offering faster hybrid autofocus than a simple contrast AF system – remember, there's nowhere to put a regular phase-detection AF sensor in a mirrorless camera, so this would be of particular relevance.

Consider this. DP Review ran a very interesting interview with Canon at Photokina 2014, where the company revealed that users could expect to see mirrorless developments in the near future. Northlight Images, meanwhile, has published a tip-off that the next Canon Rebel DSLR will have an electronic viewfinder.

Now it seems strange to us that Canon would sacrifice the optical viewfinder in a DSLR body, and far more logical to produce an up-market EOS-M with an SLR-style body and an EVF. Canon, like everyone else, must have seen the way the Fuji X-T1 and Olympus OM-D series have captured the headlines.

Canon EOS 750D/Rebel T6i

The current Canon EOS 700D arrived early in 2013, and Canon normally issues a replacement for its top beginner's DSLR every year to 18 months, so a new version is overdue. We think Canon will follow its regular +50 naming convention (UK) and call the camera the EOS 750D, or the Rebel T6i in the US.

We also think Canon will pension off its old 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor and swap to the 20.2-megapixel Dual Pixel CMOS AF sensor currently in the 70D.

Canon needs to make sure that any new camera doesn't cannibalise sales from the 70D, so the 750D might offer a continuous shooting speed boost up to 6fps or a swap to the 19-point AF system in the 70D, but not both. Canon might also take the opportunity to add 60p and 50p frame rates for full HD movies.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II

Next on the list for replacement is Canon's entry-level full-frame camera, the EOS 6D, which was launched in 2012. The EOS 6D Mark II seems the most likely name, since '7D' is already taken and Canon has a history off adding 'Mark' numbers to new cameras which replace well-established originals.

Canon Rumors has posted a tip that the new camera will be pitched slightly higher, and there is quite a price and feature gap between the current 6D and 5D Mark III which it could slot into. The 6D's specs are pretty basic, so Canon could choose to replace the sensor with the 22.3-megapixel imaging unit from the 5D Mark III. Swapping over to the 5D Mark III's sophisticated 61-point AF system, though, would perhaps be a step too far.

Or Canon could take a different approach entirely, follow Nikon's lead with the D750, and introduce a more versatile, swivel-screen do-it-all enthusiasts D-SLR between the 6D and the 5D Mark III. With Wi-Fi and maybe even GPS built in, it could be like a full-frame version of the 70D – and that really could shake up the market.

Canon EOS-1D x Mark II

Canon has indicated higher resolutions are imminent (see the DP Review interview with Canon), and the EOS-1D x, launched way back at the end of 2011, would seem to be the obvious candidate. Nikon has had the high-resolution full-frame market to itself ever since the launch of the 36-megapixel D800, and surely Canon can't let this continue much longer?

But there has been so much crazy talk about a super-high-resolution Canon pro SLR over the past few years – all of which has come to nothing – that it's tempting to take any new rumours with a pinch of salt.

However… the EOS-1D x is three years old, there is speculation that Sony has a 46-megapixel full-frame sensor in the pipeline and Canon has indicated (DP Review interview) that it will use sensors from other makers if they are the best ones for the job.

Nikon rumors

Nikon has enjoyed two or three really good years in the DSLR market, but has it used up all its good ideas – and, for that matter, all its new tech? Maybe so, but we still think there's more to come from Nikon in 2015, and not necessarily just in the DSLR market.

Nikon CoolPix A II

This is an interesting situation for Nikon. Its first and only big-sensor compact, the CoolPix A, is now two years old. It's a good camera (if a little slow) but expensive, and no-one's paid it much attention. If Nikon does decide to replace it, we can probably expect a new version with the 24-megapixel non-anti-aliased APS-C sensor used in the D3300, D5300 and D7100.

Nikon P8000

But Nikon's other high-end compact, the P7800, is also due for an update – the P7800 arrived in 2013, the P7700 before it came out in 2012, just a year earlier. Here, Nikon surely faces a dilemma. Other makers (Sony, Canon, Panasonic) have launched high-end compact cameras with big sensors, while the P7800 has a much smaller 1/1.7-inch sensor. Should Nikon persist with the smaller sensor size and risk losing ground, or take the plunge with a new, big-sensor compact?

It has two choices. One is to produce a 'zoom' version of the CoolPix A, though lens size is proportional to sensor size, and even a modest 3x zoom would almost certainly be too big for a compact camera.

The second is to swap to a 1-inch sensor.

Why not? Nikon has used 1-inch sensors extensively in the Nikon 1 range, and has already made a power-zoom kit lens to go with it. So our shot-in-the-dark tip for 2015 is a Nikon CoolPix 8000 with a 1-inch 18-megapixel sensor from the Nikon 1, with a retracting lens, 20fps burst mode and built-in Wi-Fi.

Nikon D5500

We've already reported on the latest Nikon D5500 rumors. The Nikon Rumors website says it will have an APS-C sensor, like the existing D5300/D5200 cameras, and a touch-screen display – a first for a Nikon D-SLR. According to our own camera timeline chart, the D5300 is indeed due for a replacement, but Nikon has got so far ahead of the DSLR curve, sensor-wise, that it's hard to see how much else it could add.

The D5300 already has built-in Wi-Fi and GPS, and 24-megapixel non-anti-aliased sensor and a fully-articulating rear LCD display.

But it does have weaknesses. Nikon does not yet have (that we know of) a hybrid live view AF system for its DSLRs to match Canon's, and its 24-megapixel images stretch its buffer to bursting point – it can only shoot 6 14-bit raw files in a burst.

On the other hand, Nikon might be able to scale up the super-fast hybrid AF system in the Nikon 1 range, and scale down the high-speed shooting/processng and cavernous buffer capacity of the D4s.

The problem for Nikon is that the D5500 must not encroach into the territory of the D7100 (or its replacement). If the D5500's continuous shooting gets any better, the D7100's starts to look worse.

Nikon D7200

But then Nikon Rumors thinks the D7100 will be replaced with a new D7200. Our camera timeline chart supports this – the D7100 was launched back at the start of 2013, and recent launches lower down the range mean that although it's a more powerful camera with more features, it now has no sensor advantage over Nikon's cheaper models.

Nikon Rumors expects a newly-designed 24-megapixel sensor, a tilting screen like that seen on the full-frame D750, built-in Wi-Fi, the same 6fps continuous shooting speed but a buffer capable of handling up to 16 RAW+JPEG images and video improvements.

If true, this will represent an incremental upgrade to Nikon's top amateur camera, and not the long-awaited replacement for Nikon's pro-spec D300s.

This would leave Nikon in a bit of a hole. With the release of the EOS 7D Mark II, Canon now has an affordable amateur APC-format camera that can shoot at professional speeds – 10 frames per second. Nikon does not – not by a long chalk.

Nikon D400 (again!)

This revives a long-running Nikon rumor. The D300s was the company's last professional APS-C format SLR and many photographers lament its passing. Would Nikon replace it? The D7000 and D7100 turned out to be well-specified amateur cameras, not the pro model that D300s fans wanted. And now, if the D7200 turns out to be a modest development of the D7100, the clamour is likely to start all over again.

Interestingly, DP Review carried out an interview with a senior Nikon spokesperson at Photokina 2014 and asked that very same question – to be told that Nikon is 'studying demand'.

In the absence of any information whatsoever, we can only speculate. The obvious name for any D300s replacement would be the D400, and apart from the same strengths as the D300s – all-metal body, pro controls, Nikon's pro-level 51-point AF system – it would need high-speed continuous shooting capability.

Sensor-wise, Nikon has a choice. Its last-generation 16-megapixel APS-C sensor (D7000) might not be the most modern, but Nikon uses a non-anti-aliased version in the CoolPix A to good effect, and it might ease the pressure on the camera's processor and buffer and allow the high-speed continuous shooting that this camera would need.

The alternative is the 24-megapixel sensor currently used by the D7100 and other models, but the limited buffer capacity and shooting speed of the D7100 suggests that getting similar speeds to the EOS 7D Mark II may be no easy matter for Nikon.

We're dubious. We really do hope there will be a D400, but right now we're not that optimistic.

Olympus rumors

Olympus has been so busy reinventing its camera range that its easy to forget that most of its high-end cameras are actually quite new. All, that is, bar one…

Olympus OM-D E-M5 II

It seems hard to believe, but the Olympus OM-D E-M5 is now almost three years old. This was the camera that kickstarted the OM-D revival, and it's since been joined by the OM-D E-M10 and OM-D E-M1.

According to 43rumors.com, a new version is on the way in the early part of 2015. Called the OM-D EM5 II, or OM-D E-M5 Mark II, it's expected to have a number of improvements to the operation and design, but the big story is talk of a new sensor-shift exposure system that can create images with a resolution of up to 40 million pixels.

This isn't as crazy as it sounds – in fact, it's been done already. Hasselblad uses it for the Multi-Shot system in its H5D 200c MS medium format camera.

Hasselblad's Multi-Shot system moves the sensor either one pixel or half a pixel between exposures. In Four Shot mode, a single pixel movement is used to capture full red, green and blue colour information for each pixel. Six Shot mode adds half-pixel movement to capture detail 'between' pixels and boost the resolution.

Olympus has a very good 5-axis stabilisation system which, in principle, could be adapted to do exactly the same thing – the only issue is that the Hasselblad Multi-Shot system takes many seconds to operate, so it only works with statics subjects.

But if Olympus could find a way to capture multi-shot sequences at something approaching regular shutter speeds, then this rumor may not be crazy at all. It would also sidestep a looming problem for Olympus and Panasonic, that development of Micro Four Thirds sensors seems to have stalled – for now – with the latest 16-megapixel version.

Sigma rumors

Our camera timeline planner breaks down somewhat with Sigma, which follows its own development path in its own sweet time. Nevertheless, the arrival of two 'Quattro' compact cameras is a sure sign that at least two more cameras with the same multi-layer sensor will follow.

Sigma DP3 Quattro

Sigma's DP-series cameras are compacts with 'Quattro' multi-layer APS-C size sensors and fixed focal length lenses. Rather than offering interchangeable lenses, Sigma offers different camera variants with fixed lenses. The DP1 has a wideangle 28mm equivalent f/2.8 lens, the DP2 has a 45mm equivalent f/2.8 lens and the forthcoming DP3 will have a 75mm equivalent f/2.8 lens.

These cameras are also notable for their extremely odd and elongated shape. If you add the optional viewfinder/LCD hood attachment, they look odder still.

The odd shape of the DP1, DP2 and DP3 is apparently due to constraints on the sensor, processor and battery requirements – but having recognised the need for an engineering solution, Sigma seems very happy with the styling outcome.

With all the talk of Sony multi-layer sensors, yet to be confirmed, it's easy to forget that Sigma did it first. The Foveon sensor uses three layers sensitised to blue, green and red light, and the Quattro sensor is a development of that which quadruples the number of pixels in top layer to provide higher resolution overall and luminance information for the green and red layers below.

Sigma SD1 Quattro

The DP3 may not be the only Sigma announcement next year, though. In an interview published on the Photo Yodobashi website, a Sigma spokesperson acknowledged that a DSLR version was in the pipeline.

The new Sigma SD1 Quattro (our name – we don't know Sigma's) would replace the current SD1 Merrill DSLR, offering improved resolution and other as yet unknown enhancements.

The SD1 Merrill is fascinating technically, but has had little or no real impact on the camera market. As a test bed for new and experimental sensor technology, however, it's very interesting.

The Foveon sensor captures full colour data at each photosite and does not need an anti-aliasing filter. It produces images with relatively modest resolution (in megapixels) but much better clarity and definition at a pixel level than regular single-layer sensors.

Sony rumors

Like Olympus, Sony has been very busy, constantly innovating and developing new products in a bid to muscle in on the high-end camera market dominated for so long by Canon and Nikon. Sony is so good at springing surprises that it's hard to predict what might come next.

We have one fascinating sensor rumour at the very top end of the market, but most camera sales are made lower down the range, and we think we've identified some strategically important cameras that are due for replacement.

Sony a59

At the press briefing for the Sony a7 II, Sony told us that it was still committed to the alpha SLT range and alpha lenses. If so, there's one camera that's certainly due for an update in 2015. It might not be Sony's most glamorous camera, but the a58 is great value for beginners and is now coming up to two years old. It's also being heavily discounted – Jessops in the UK is offering a triple-lens kit for just £399.

We wouldn't expect any cutting edge new technology on an entry-level camera, but if Sony were to launch an a58 replacement there are a number of areas where it could make useful improvements.

For example, Sony could use a higher-resolution 24-megapixel sensor, boost the continuous shooting speed to 10fps and add a higher-resolution, tilting screen. All these features were found on the Sony a65, so there would be no technical or marketing barriers, now that the a65 is no longer listed.

Sony a3100

There is another vacancy at the entry-level end of the Sony camera range which we would hope to see filled at some point in 2015. Sony's cheapest entry-level compact system camera used to be the NEX-3 and its subsequent variations, ending with the NEX-3N.

At that point, Sony swapped its CSC naming system from 'NEX' to 'alpha', and released the a3000, which was a mistake. It looked like an Sony SLT but wasn't, so you got the bulky body without the translucent mirror and fast phase-detection AF.

It's rather telling that the a3000 has now disappeared from the Sony website (in the UK, at least) but the NEX-3N is still listed, so the smart thing for Sony to do would be to launch a modernised replacement which returns to the super-compact body style of the NEX-3N.

Currently, the Sony a5000 is on sale at heavily discounted prices compared to its replacement, the a5100 – this is a sure sign that it's about to disappear altogether. So, in principle, Sony could take the a5000 technology – its 20-megapixel APS-C sensor and basic but effective 25-point contrast AF focusing – put it in a cheap, entry level CSC called the a3100 and fill a rather large and obvious gap in its camera range.

Sony a9

Sony sensor rumors are creating lots of speculation right now, and our information comes from Sony Alpha Rumors. It's believed that Sony has developed a 46-megapixel full-frame sensor and that it's going to debut in a new a9 mirrorless model which will sit above the A7 series in the Sony range.

There's also talk, possibly unrelated to the a9 rumor, that Sony is working on a multi-layer sensor which can capture full red, green and blue colour information at each photosite, in a similar manner to Sigma's Foveon X3 sensor.

At the same time, Sony has patented an APCS (Active-Pixel Color Sampling) sensor design that shifts the coloured filters above the sensor's photosites during the exposure to capture full-colour data at each photosite.

This is an interesting parallel with the sensor-shift rumor surrounding the Olympus OM-D E-M5 II and the Multi-Shot system developed by Hasselblad.

The net result would be the same as a multi-layer sensor's, so it's possible the two rumors are describing the same technology.

Sony a99 II

But let's not forget Sony has another full-frame product line. The a99 SLT camera has been out since 2012 without an update, and if Sony is indeed serious about maintaining this Alpha line, an a99 II is the obvious next step – Sony has committed heavily to a-mount lenses, don't forget, and although you can use them on mirrorless alphas bodies with an adaptor, it's not the ideal solution.

If Sony were to launch an a99 II it wouldn't be too hard to guess at the specs. The obvious sensor choice would be the 36-megapixel full-frame sensor from the a7R, though this might have a negative impact on the maximum continuous shooting speed. Or, if Sony does indeed have a 46-megapixel sensor waiting in the wings, it could use it here too – though it might prefer to reserve it for the a9 alone.

The other obvious area for improvement is the a99's relatively basic 19-point AF system. The fast, accurate and sensitive new 79-point AF system in the Sony a77 II was a major step forward, so if Sony could scale this technology up for a full-frame Sony a99 II, it could breath new life into Sony's SLT range and keep the pressure on Canon's and Nikon's full-frame D-SLRs.

Is that it?

Almost certainly not. There are bound to be stories and launches we didn't predict, but you can count on Techradar to report on every new camera announcement as soon as it happens on our camera reviews and news home page.

We'll also update this article throughout the year, revising predictions which turn out to be wide of the mark and adding new ones as they filter down through the grapevine.

So stay tuned, and get ready for some surprises!

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