Canon’s General Manager of the Image Communication Business Division, Takeshi Tokura, was recently interviewed by Toyo Keizai about the success of R5 and R6. In it, Tokura seems to suggest that 8K was important to include in the R5, mainly to beat the competitors.
At launch, there was a significant negative impression involving the R5’s overheating problems in its 4K and 8K video modes. Tokura says the reason the camera is still selling well, despite these hardware limitations, is because video performance is not important to the main camera market.
“I don’t think video-focused users are boosting the reputation of this new product,” he says. “I was specific about the specifications for 8K and was excited to launch it first, ahead of other companies,” explains Tokura.
Tokura admits that the R5 is not intended for camcorders and that the 8K specification was included only to beat competitors and be the first to implement it, which of course looks great in marketing materials.
Echoing feelings that were reported last week, Tokura says sales of the EOS R5 were “more popular than expected”.
“The EOS R5 is a professional product and the price is quite high. Not only the body, but also the (sales of) interchangeable lenses for normal sized mirrorless cameras are continually growing, and I feel that this shows the solidity of the R series, ”says Tokura.
Canon’s success, despite the collapse of the camera industry in 2020, is particularly surprising, especially considering the high price of R5 and R6 products. Tokura attributes this to good times, high performance and solid marketing.
“Firstly, it has high performance and strong product appeal,” says Tokura. “The timing of the launch was also great. The camera market has declined significantly since spring, and we were able to launch new products when it recovered. In some respects, the market’s return was favorable. “
Tokura says that the last big key to success was basically marketing: the name EOS R5, the inclusion of 5, contributed to the hype that sold the camera.
Toyo Keizai’s The full interview is particularly revealing, as the Canon executive is much more candid with the publication than any representative tends to be when it comes to interviews with Western media. It is a very good read and can be found here.
(via Toyo Keizai via EOS HD)