Where other camera-makers might have the specs or the buzz, only one has the throne: Canon. Industry reports indicate the company has notched yet another year atop global sales of interchangeable lens cameras, extending that reign to 21. Yes, Canon's reign is now old enough to drink. And that's not to say their 2025 was booze-addled, but rather that there may be some unease in the cant of their crown. To paraphrase The Oracle, what those with the most market share want is more market share, and Canon's year speaks to this, with 2024's photo-centricity giving way to 2025's pivot to the emerging compact and video-first hybrid markets.
Three New Cameras for Content Creators
Canon's pivot reflects a maturation of multiple trends centered around the explosion of short-form video content across social media platforms. There's an interesting relationship at play: as the smartphone becomes the primary node for content consumption, it has fallen in favor for content creation. Even as most content is consumed on the smartphone, creators understand that while folks might start a video on their phone, they may finish it on a desktop monitor or even a living room television. And as fledgling creators jockey for audience in their efforts to transition to more traditional (and potentially more lucrative) entertainment spaces, production quality has become an important lever.
Enter Canon, whose three new cameras in 2025 are all aimed squarely at content creators, differentiating among production needs but all emphasizing the potential jump in production value over the smartphone.
PowerShot V1
The opening salvo in the revitalization of Canon's compact PowerShot series was March's release of the V1. Characterized as a reboot, this new PowerShot "flagship" caters primarily to video content creation. The camera has an innovative new 22MP, Type 1.4 sensor with almost twice the area of the 1” sensor of the G7X Mark III. It carries many of the same autofocus features as the R6 Mark II, achieving high-speed and high-precision AF with eye tracking in people and animals and enhanced subject tracking.
Video tops out at 4K60p with a 1.4x crop, with a built-in cooling fan and vents that allow capture times of up to two hours at this maximum setting. When shooting at a slower 4K30p, the camera makes use of the full sensor with footage oversampled from 5.7K. Multiple in-camera movie modes are supported as well. The camera’s compact form-factor still accommodates connections for headphone, microphone, USB-C, and HDMI, and a wired connection also allows the use of the V1 as a webcam.
EOS R50 V
Released in tandem with the V1, the EOS R50 V features a bigger 24MP APS-C sensor and an interchangeable lens mount. While carrying over much of its spec sheet from the original R50, the shift in design philosophy to video-first is immediately visible. The R50 V has a brick-like, building-block design, with sleek, rounded corners, a front record button, and—perhaps most important for content creators—a second, 1/4”-20 thread for mounting the camera in a vertical orientation. The software doubles the hardware’s vertical optimization with shooting and playback available in the vertical orientation, along with auto level display during recording.
To the predecessor’s video capabilities, the R50 V adds the cropped 4K60p video, along with Slow and Fast modes for creative control over frame rate and playback speed, improved subject detection in autofocus including Register People Priority, advanced video features such as Canon Log 3, and automatic exposure and scene modes for creators like Close-Up Demo and Smooth Skin. The camera also has remarkable versatility in live streaming, offering four different modes of connection to computers, smartphones, and switchers.
EOS C50
Nearly six months later, Canon released its latest full-frame cinema camera, the C50, to general acclaim. Bundled with an XLR top handle that features a start-stop button and zoom rocker, the C50 represents the smallest Cinema EOS camera to date, capturing 7K full-frame video in a 3:2 open gate mode on its 32MP sensor. Again, Dual Pixel CMOS AF II is here to leverage the improved light-gathering efficiency into gains in autofocus performance. Auto-crop modes reduce turn around times when formatting videos for social media deliverables.
Rather surprisingly, this aggressively video-centric camera has enough stills power to rattle off a 40fps continuous shooting rate when using the electronic shutter. This feat has not gone unnoticed by the public at large, who are perhaps expecting this functionality to pop up elsewhere. The camera also has a fan-based cooling system to prevent overheating, and robust I/O including a full size HDMI out, a USB-C port capable of power delivery or network connection, built-in Wi-Fi and XC Protocol, 13 customizable buttons, and a DIN Timecode port.
Additionally, Canon announced that two of its full-frame EOS R-series cameras, the R6 Mark II and the R8, are available preloaded with Canon's cropping guide firmware.
Taken together, Canon used 2025 to target multiple tiers of the creator market with high-functioning, video-first cameras for internet content.
The Return of “Vintage” Point & Shoots
While Canon stylized the V1 as a reboot of the PowerShot series, the company actively revived two older point-and-shoot cameras as well. Marketed as a brand new camera, the PowerShot ELPH 360 HS A is a near twin to 2016's PowerShot 360 HS. While more expensive than the MSRP of its older counterpart, the 360 HS A is only marginally more expensive than what the old camera sells for in 2025, new or used.
The PowerShot G7 X Mark III continues to be a top-seller for Canon, even though it's been out of production for some time. That is until now, with the manufacturer announcing that they will restart production to fill back orders of the coveted compact camera.
A Quiet Build-Out of the RF Lens Ecosystem
Whether tagging along to the hybrid camera hype or announced alone, Canon released several new lenses this year to further build out its RF-mount ecosystem. Known for gatekeeping its ecosystem, Canon's new releases, which include two premium L-series lenses, continue the company's captive strategy that helps keep them king of the hill.
Premium L-Series Primes
The company released two more of its top-tier L-series primes, the RF 20mm f/1.4 L VCM and the RF 85mm f/1.4 L VCM. Both were announced alongside more headline-grabbing camera releases, and didn't receive the same level of attention. Nonetheless, the lenses further advanced Canon's hybrid-oriented market stance, sporting a Voice Coil Motor autofocus mechanism that balances speedy performance with quiet operation, suppressed focus breathing, shared 67mm front filters for easy switching among the other Hybrid primes, and an optical design that yields impressive clarity, color accuracy, and sharpness.
Consumer-Friendly Zooms
The headliner here is the RF 16-28mm f/2.8 IS STM, the product that opened the year for Canon. Engineered to deliver L-series build and image quality while remaining accessible to shooters of all levels, it was billed as the smallest and lightest zoom in the RF family and an ideal anytime, anywhere lens for both photo and video. A more affordable option still built for hybrid applications, it features a leadscrew-type STM focusing motor, suppressed focus breathing, and up to 5.5 stops of built-in optical image stabilization. Also like its L-series muses, the lens has a robust weather-resistant construction, meant to endure both time and adverse environments.
Canon also announced two other highly affordable zoom lens options. Designed specifically to accompany the R50 V, the RF-S 14-30mm f/4-6.3 IS STM PZ lens is a versatile, video-ready, compact lens with power zoom functionality and image stabilization. The built-in image stabilizer works with Movie Digital IS in compatible bodies (like the R50 V) and the lead screw-type STM AF system is fast enough for continuous focus while being smooth and quiet enough for video work. The RF 75-300mm f/4-5.6, offering extensive reach in a lightweight form factor.
Cinema-First Zoom Lens
Released alongside both the C50 cinema camera and the RF 85mm f/1.4 L VCM, the CINE-SERVO 11-55mm Compact-Servo Cine Zoom Lens is a serious, professional-grade lens—the widest and lightest that Canon has made of its kind. With a built-in 1.5x extender, a new V Drive unit, focus breathing compensation, and enough detail and clarity for 8K capture, it gives serious filmmaking chops to the C50, where it will also support Dual Pixel CMOS AF and Image Correction.
While it's a fair bet that Canon will swing back to photo-centric cameras in its upcoming releases, 2025's hybrids, compacts, and lenses are a testament to the company's continued market savvy, delivering quality solutions for every market tier. For more information about the Canon releases from 2025, check out the blog or the B&H SuperStore.
