This year marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Canon's first EOS-1, a 35mm SLR which offered staggering autofocus and burst performance for its time—up to 5.5fps with an add-on grip, 2.5fps without one, all with a single central autofocus area.

In those 30 years, film has given way to digital, and even basic models like the Rebel T7i offer faster capture rates and much more advanced autofocus systems.

But the type of customer who was buying the EOS-1 in the early 90s wants more than entry-level. Canon has continued to develop the EOS-1 series in the digital age, most recently with 2016's EOS-1D X Mark II. The Mark II is a full-frame model with a 20MP sensor, tank-like build, an integrated vertical grip, and Raw capture at 14fps, with continuous autofocus. It's a true pro model, with a $5,999 price tag to match.

Development Announcement

Today, Canon is announcing the development of its successor, the EOS-1D X Mark III. It's not unveiling the full spate of features or specs, but rather teasing some of the camera's more intriguing features. Typically, this type of news is released so the camera can be more freely tested by pros in the real world.

The timing also means there is very little doubt the 1D X Mark III will be Canon's most robust camera for capturing action next summer, when the Olympics come to Japan. There's certainly a level of bragging rights among Canon and its largest rivals, Nikon and Sony, when it comes to capturing the highest profile sporting event of the year.

Not to be left out in the cold, Nikon made a similar development announcement about the D6, and Sony will start shipping the a9 II within weeks.

What We Know

Canon isn't totally tight-lipped about the Mark III. We know that from a design perspective it's a near clone of the Mark II. Canon isn't saying that it's identical, though. We've not yet seen a photo of the camera's rear control layout, but Canon promises that the control buttons are now backlit.

The rear has what Canon calls a "new device for autofocus point operation." We don't know what that will be yet, but if you prefer the old-fashioned focus joystick, the body still has two of them, one when you hold it in landscape orientation, and a second for portrait use.

Autofocus has been updated too. There's a new phase detect sensor with more than 28 times the resolution of the Mark II. The net benefit is better subject detection when using the optical viewfinder—especially useful for face detection. Canon has reworked the autofocus algorithms to take advantage of the improved sensor.

The camera also fires a bit faster—16fps with the optical viewfinder and mechanical shutter, or at up to 20fps using Live View and the electronic shutter. Even at these top speeds, the Mark III will acquire focus and exposure for each shot.

Canon has greatly improved the shooting buffer—it's now five times larger. We don't know the sensor resolution yet, though, which can impact how many shots the larger buffer will hold. The company has opted to stick with the CFExpress card format, with both card slots supporting the format, a change from the Mark II, which split between CompactFlash and CFExpress.

In addition to Raw and JPG capture, the 1D X Mark III is the first standalone camera we've seen to support the HEIF file format. Even though it's most closely associated with Apple devices, HEIF is an open standard, developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). It's a 10-bit format, capturing more information than 8-bit JPGs, but not as much as a 14-bit Raw file. It should give you more leeway for edits than working in JPG, with smaller file sizes than Raw.

Canon promises that the Mark III will offer the best video features of any EOS camera. We know it will record in 4K at up to 60fps with 4:2:2 10-bit quality to a memory card. We don't know if that's with the full width of the sensor, or restricted to a cropped area. Canon also touts Raw video capture, directly to the memory card, but we don't know much more than that.

Connectivity is improved as well. The Mark III has built-in Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi, as well as an Ethernet port. The network setup interface has been simplified, and if you need faster Wi-Fi transfers, you can add the external WFT-E9 transmitter to boost reception and connect to 802.11ac networks at top speed.

We'll know more about the 1D X Mark III at a future, unspecified date. But for now, if you're a Canon photographer who relies on the 1D series for work, don't fret—there's an upgrade on the horizon.

What About Mirorrless?

Canon debuted its full-frame EOS R mirrorless system last year. The first entry, the EOS R, underwhelmed this reviewer, but a recent firmware upgrade has dramatically improved autofocus speed and added useful features like eye detection.

There's a higher-end EOS R coming, though. Canon tells us it's working on a new sensor, as well as its own In Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) system. It is putting an emphasis on improving autofocus performance, especially for disciplines that lend themselves to high-speed burst capture.

To reinforce this, the company is announcing two new lenses for EOS R. They won't work with the 1D, but should help to lay the foundation for pros when Canon does develop a mirrorless camera that's on par with its flagship SLR.

The first is a bread-and-butter lens for every event photographer, the RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM. It promises five stops of stabilization, 1:4.3 macro magnification, and dual focus motors. It's a compact lens, with a retractable design, so it can stow vertically in many camera bags. It's going to ship in late November and is priced at $2,699.

It's joined by a portrait lens, the RF 85mm F1.2 L USM DS. The lens is a clone of the standard RF 85mm F1.2 L USM, with the addition of an apodization filter. We've seen this type of filter in lenses from other manufacturers—notably the Sony FE 100mm F2.8 STF GM OSS and the Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 APD. The internal filter smooths and feathers defocused areas of the image, for more pleasing background blur. It does come at the cost of light transmission. It's priced at $2,999 and will ship in late December.

The Last 1D SLR?

Canon and Nikon were not as quick to embrace mirrorless technology as rival Sony, but are working hard to play catch-up with their respective EOS R and Z mirrorless systems. Both companies are working to build out their native mirrorless lens libraries, and I'd expect them to release more mirrorless cameras than SLRs going forward.

Given the long development cycle of the 1D, along with improvements in EVFs, and Canon's stated commitment to the R system, the 1D X Mark III may turn out to be the last entry in the series to sport an optical viewfinder. Only time will tell—we'll check back in 2023 to see if Canon is prepping the EOS-1D X Mark IV for the Paris Olympics.