As a Canon photographer, it’s easy to have mixed feelings. The Japanese photography company, which was founded in 1937, was until recently at the forefront of the world photography market.
As with many large companies, there are always bigger decisions to make, profits to be made and shareholders to be happy. But is Canon putting profits over people lately? Well, I’ve found it hard to stay loyal to Canon at times in recent years, as they’ve taken some major anti-consumer moves that have left a pretty sour taste in my mouth.
But it’s not all bad. In fact, I think it’s important to show both sides of the coin to ensure balance. So I’ve put together my top five pro- and anti-consumer moves by Canon in recent memory, and I really hope the company takes note of this article — and not only changes a few of its bad behaviors, but also continues to do the things customers love .
Please chime in and let me know if you agree, disagree, or if I missed something.
Positive…
1) Firmware update
Before we get to the negatives, one of the things I love about being a Canon shooter in the modern age is the regular firmware updates. Canon regularly releases new updates that are easy to install and can give your cameras new features and extend their life.
I remember back in the days of the Canon EOS 5D Mark III where you had to risk ruining your camera by installing third party software like Magic Lantern to get some of the features you wanted. The cameras were capable of features like RAW video and zebra peaking, but Canon didn’t include them in any official way – so users had to take their chances through unofficial channels.
Now, with regular updates, all new Canon cameras can stay up-to-date, get the latest features and help users get the most out of their current kit, helping them stave off switching to a new camera for a while.
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2) Revolution in the RF holder
It did take a hot minute for Canon to follow Sony’s lead into the full-frame mirrorless world – although it could be argued that it took plenty of time to ensure it got such a big shift just right.
I’d say Canon nailed it because the RF mount revolutionized photography. Its larger diameter mount allowed incredible optics like the Canon RF 10-20mm f/4L IS STM and the Canon RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z to be achieved – lenses that many would consider impossible if you they asked. it’s still a few years ago.
3) Aftercare, warranty, support and Canon Club
Another positive is the aftercare, support and reliable warranty you get with Canon products. Customers also have access to the Canon Club if you have purchased a product in the last 12 months, where they can enjoy benefits including tutorials, workshops with brand ambassadors and VIP discounts.
You also have Canon’s more advanced Professional Services, known as CPS, to help working professionals stay on top of maintenance and service. It’s highly rated by many of the pros I’ve asked – and reasonably priced too.
4) Still invested in DSLR
I’m glad that Canon is still supporting and selling some of their DSLR cameras, although I’m not 100% sure how much longer that will be. This means that many of Canon’s competitors have now discontinued their DSLR lines and gone exclusively mirrorless.
Canon’s most affordable DSLR (Rebel T7 / EOS 2000D) is still well below its cheapest mirrorless (EOS R100), so it’s great to give customers on a tight budget another option.
5) Canon EF-EOS R mount adapters
Finally, I would like to talk about the Canon EF-EOS R mount adapters from Canon. Note how I said ‘adapters’ plural. It would be easy for Canon to pull out a standard adapter to make DSLR EF mount lenses compatible with the new RF mirrorless mount.
However, Canon went the extra mile and brought more mount adapters with additional features such as a control ring or a plug-in filter, so DSLR users didn’t feel the need to immediately cash in on their old lenses. I personally enjoyed using these various adapters with my old EF lenses as I still find it too expensive to upgrade to RF glass.
Negative
1) Sun visors!
Okay, let’s start with the big one that’s been bothering me for years: Canon is one of the few manufacturers that charges extra for their lens hoods. Its premium, high-end L-series optics come with a lens hood, but if you buy any non-L-series lens, be prepared to part ways – or suffer without it.
You might be even more shocked when you see the prices of some of these hoods! If you’re lucky, it might cost you as little as $20, like the ES-68 aperture for the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM, but it might cost you more than $70 if you need the ET-74B aperture for the Canon EF 70- 300 mm. f/4-5.6 IS II USM.
With prices so steep for a bit of plastic, it’s really no surprise that many Canon photographers have turned to 3D printing – either printing their own or buying them cheaply online. You’ll work it out, Canon!
2) A distinct lack of auto focus RF lenses from other manufacturers
One of the biggest advantages of owning an interchangeable lens system is the ability to switch lenses to suit your specific needs – whether you need a wide-angle lens for sweeping landscapes or a telephoto lens for zooming in on distant nature. Every brand of camera should have a wide range of optics to suit your needs for the task at hand.
While Canon launched its revolutionary full-frame RF mount back in October 2018, it took until this year for the company to fully make the mount available to third-party manufacturers – and even now it still appears to be limited to a handful of APS-C lenses. from Sigma and Tamron.
It’s true that Canon has done a good job over the years of building a range of RF and RF-S lenses to cover popular focal lengths, but only offering its own options undoubtedly holds back the competition. Many of Canon’s L-series lenses cost several thousand dollars, and without any third-party competition, they can basically charge whatever they want because consumers have no third-party alternatives to keep prices in check.
This is in stark contrast to the likes of Sony and Nikon, who have been very quick to open up their full-frame mirrorless cameras (with autofocus) to third parties (though Nikon has dragged its heels a bit).
With Canon hoarding all lens sales for themselves, is it any surprise that many Canon users have switched? In recent years we’ve seen Canon fall from its position as the market leader and Sony reach its peak – could the two be somehow correlated?
3) Change in the design of the body and lens cap
I switched from Nikon to Canon in 2019 and one of the small but noticeable positive changes was that you can attach body and lens hoods to Canon DSLRs in any of three ways. It may seem trivial, but anyone who has upgraded from a Canon DSLR to a Canon mirrorless will no doubt understand my frustration with the newly designed caps!
In the old system, it was virtually impossible to screw up the body and lens hood attachments, but now they only fit in one particular orientation instead of the original three. Again, this may seem like a small thing, but the extra time required to line them up carefully when changing lenses has cost me a “shot” on more than one occasion. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it Canon!
4) Information on the number of shutters
Knowing your camera’s shutter speed is useful for many reasons. Maybe you want to know how much life is left in your shutter, or you want to sell your camera and want to give the buyer as much information as possible. You can charge more for a camera with a lower number of shutters.
Many camera manufacturers include this information in the metadata of JPEG and RAW images. While I wish it was as easy as going into the camera menu to find this information, it’s not too difficult to upload one of your images to a website like Camera Shutter Count to find out.
It used to be possible to use this method with EOS cameras, but at some point something changed. In the past, you could even connect your Canon to a computer and use the Canon EOS Utility to do so. But now you either have to send your camera to Canon for repair, or more likely download a third-party app like ShutterCount to get this important information.
Most people will no doubt buy an app like ShutterCount because it won’t break the bank, although I’m not sure how good it is for Canon to manage this information since they don’t see any money from their customers buying a third party app. . This seems very anti-consumer and this information should be readily available.
5) Ink cartridges
Canon adheres to the frustrating (yet fairly standard) practice of embedding computer chips and DRM (Digital Rights Management) in its ink cartridges, putting a barrier in the way of users who would like to use cheaper third-party cartridges or refill their own inks. from larger, more affordable ink bottles.
While Canon would no doubt claim that this ensures the printer is operating in optimal conditions with the correct ink, ultimately I believe it should be up to the customer to do what they like with it. If they would prefer to use a lower quality ink, they should have the right to make that decision. More than likely, Canon doesn’t make much, if any, profit on printers, so it expects to profit from repeat sales of Canon inks at a hefty markup.
A chip inside the ink cartridge can also make the printer think it has no ink left when it does. This is particularly outrageous given that first party printer ink is often more expensive than gold (pound for pound)!
In an ironic turn of events in the 2022 global shortage of chips and semiconductors, several news outlets have reported that Canon does not have enough chips for its print cartridges and is shipping them without them, telling its customers how to bypass DRM – you can’t make it up!
Check out the best Canon cameras in the R system right now, along with the best Canon RF lenses to pair with them.