Canon's Confusing Product Lines Explained

Canon has many lines of camera's ranging from high-end mirrorless cameras to point and shoot DSLRs, but the way they named all the models is beyond confusing. In this article, I'm going to break it down for you so that it's easier to understand what is what in the hierarchy of Canon cameras and get an estimate of who it's for by just looking at the naming.

The most confusing line though is the DSLR camera's, so let's begin there at the top.

The highest quality and top-tier DSLR camera's from Canon are the camera's named with a number and then 'D'. For example the 5d or 1d, but what's the difference between 5d and 1d? - for the camera's named with one digit, the lower the number the better. That means that the 1d is better than the 5d or 6d. The one similarity between the all 1 digit named DSLRs from Canon is that they have full frame sensors. Note: there can be newer versions of a single digit camera: 5d Mk IV is an updated 5d Mk II. The higher the mark within a single camera line, the newer it is. 5d Mk IV is newer than the 5d Mk III and IdX III is newer than 1dxII.

The mid-range camera's are the one's with 2 digits followed by a 'D': XX D. For example a EOS 77d or EOS 80d are in this category, but the better one's within this 'category' are the camera's with a higher number. That means the 80d is better than the 77d. The feature that categorises the 2 digit class/category is that they have Canon's APS-C sensors (crop sensors), and so that I don't have to keep repeating it, the rest of the DSLRs in the next two classes have APS-C sensors as well.

The next class of cameras are the one's with three digits followed by a D: XXXD, so the 550d or 700d. Just like the XXD range, the higher the number, the newer or better the camera. So the 850d is better than the 700d. In the states, these camera's are known as the Rebel i series. So the Canon EOS Rebel T2i is the same thing as the 550d in the UK just like the Rebel T7i is the 800d.

The low end Canon DSLRs have 4 digits: XXXXD like 1300D or 1400d, and just like the previous classes, the higher the number the newer the camera. 1300d is older than the 1400d. These camera's also follow the Rebel series line, but don't carry the 'i' that signifies that the camera is better. The 2000d is the Rebel T7 and the 1300d is the T6. The t7/2000d is better than the t6/1300d.

Here's a little sheet to show you the differences.

80d is better than the 800d.

80d is better than the 77d.

77d is better than the 800d.

550d is better than 2000d. - pay attention, in some cases the 550d is worse because it is 10yrs old whereas the 2000d is much newer

550d is better than 500d

500d is better than 1300d.

1d is better than 5d.

5d IV is better than 5d III

5d is better than 80d.

Attention!: just because a camera is technically worse because of the class, it could still be better than a camera from the class above because you can't really compare a modern camera to one from 10-15 years ago.

That was only the DSLRs, now for the mirrorless, at least they are simpler.

Since mirrorless cameras are more modern and came out recently (compared to DSLRs), canon has fewer of them (9 in total) and planned the naming scheme in a more 'practical' manner. They have two lines, the M series and the R series.

The M line of Canon mirrorless cameras are the lower/entry-level mirrorless cameras while the R cameras are aimed at professionals looking for top-tier specs and quality in their camera.

Currently, Canon has 4 EOS M cameras: the M5, M6, M100 and M50. Technically, the lower the number the better it is just like the 1 digit DSLRs, but the M50 makes the exception to this. The M50 is considerably newer than the other three, and has a newer image processor and can shoot 4k (with the 1.6x crop factor though).

Mini tip: if you are looking to buy into the M series, go with the M50.

For the EOS R series, there are 5 models: the original R, the RP, RA, and then the two latest ones released in 2020: the R5 and R6. In a comparison, from greatest to worst, I would probably do R5, R6, R, RA followed by the RP. Note: the R and RA are basically the same with identical specs, but the Ra was tweaked and has some extra features for shooting astronomy hence the suffix 'a'. The Rp is the entry-level to this series aimed at those upgrading from crop sensor cameras (for example the 80D or 800D) with a full-frame sensor and 26 mp.

The R6 and R5 were released very recently, with the R5 being the king of the EOS R lineup. From my view, the R5 is a monster with 8k video and 45 mega pixel resolution- more than double the R6.

Even though the R6 has a 20 mp sensor compared the the R/Ra which have 30 mega-pixels, the R6 beats the original with more modern specs and video capabilities (it can do 1080p @120fps or 4k @60fps).

I know that was a lot, and if you are wondering why Canon did this, I feel you, it's really 'un-Canon' like. If you have any questions and if there's something that you need to clarify, leave a comment below or message me privately in the messenger (bottom right of the screen). Thank you and I hope to see you again sometime soon!