Canon testing 75-megapixel camera: report

A monster image processor could be connected to a 4K ultra-high-definition screen in Canon's next flagship professional DSLR camera.

The report, courtesy of Photography Bay, says that the camera could be revealed this year ahead of an official 2014 launch. The company's EOS range of cameras, alongside long-time competitor Nikon's D models, have helped define, build and innovate the professional digital photography market for nearly 20 years.

However, as the performance of other devices, from 'hybrid' mirrorless cameras to smartphones such as Nokia's 41-megapixel Lumia 1020 cameraphone start to catch up on the once-untouchable brand, the company clearly feels it needs to launch something 'game changing' in order to keep professionals and enthusiastic amateur photographers engaged and focused on its wares.

The company's current flagship EOS camera only sports a 21-megapixel sensor (though the company does have 50- and 120-megapixel sensors that it uses in other cameras that are currently too big for a DSLR) but by more than tripling the number of megapixels, Canon would overtake Nikon (biggest image sensor - 36 megapixels) and could bring a camera capable of shooting still images in never-before-seen detail and recording video in full Ultra High Definition format too. Camera Bay's source claims that the camera's rear-side display boasts a 'shockingly high resolution.'

Earlier this month, in an interview with Bloomberg, Nikon's president, Makoto Kimura, revealed that the company was planning to reinvent the camera as it attempted to fight back against the tide of smartphones and other devices. 'We want to create a product that will change the concept of cameras. It could be a non-camera consumer product.'

Explaining that the company is working to 'find an answer' to the change in the business environment caused by the smartphone explosion, Kimura would not be drawn on the subject of whether or not Nikon intended to build its own smartphone but did say that the device the company is planning 'could be a non-camera consumer product.'

Although Photography Bay writer Eric Reagan stresses that his Canon source is reliable he also urges caution as Canon, like Apple, has a history of field-testing technologies and innovative new designs that never make it to market.