The original Canon EOS R8 had one glaring gap, and everybody who shot handheld video with it knew which. It had no in-body stabilization. The R8 Mark II, announced in September 2026, fixes that.
Canon’s new full-frame body packs five-axis stabilization that The Verge’s Andrew Liszewski says corrects as much as 7.5 stops of shake, and more when paired with a lens that has its own stabilization. Canon bills it as the lightest full-frame mirrorless body with IBIS. Loaded with battery and card it comes to 546 grams, or 1.2 pounds by Liszewski’s count, slightly more than the R8 it replaces.
Price and timing
The body alone costs $1,899. A kit with a 24-50mm stabilized lens runs $2,099. Both were due in late October, and Imaging Resource reported a shipping date of October 20, 2026, and said pre-orders were open at B&H Photo among other stores. That sits above the original R8, which launched at $1,499, and below the $2,799 EOS R6 Mark III. The Verge says Canon trimmed some specs to land there.
Same sensor, new body
Inside, little has changed. The sensor carries over: a 24.2-megapixel full-frame chip shared with the R6 Mark II. Canon’s newer R6 Mark III stepped up to 32.5 megapixels. The camera relies on an electronic shutter only and tops out at 40 frames per second. A pre-continuous mode quietly buffers up to 20 extra frames ahead of the full press. Canon says uninterrupted bursts run 58% longer for JPEGs and 30% longer for RAW than on the first R8.
Autofocus still uses Dual Pixel CMOS AF II, now with what Canon describes as “more tenacious tracking.” It spots animals, vehicles and people, and you can register up to 10 faces and rank them by priority. Video tops out at 4K/60fps, taken from 6K oversampling, or 180fps if you drop to 1080p.
The outside got the bigger rethink. Canon swapped the curves of the first model for a boxier, angular shell. According to Liszewski, Canon points to its EOS 650 from almost four decades ago, with the pentaprism housing on top, as the inspiration. A multi-controller joystick now sits by the viewfinder, so you can move the focus point without digging through menus. The single SD card slot has moved to the side of the body so it stays reachable when the camera is on a tripod.
Connectivity covers Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 and a USB-C port that handles data, charging and livestreaming. Imaging Resource lists battery life at roughly 220 shots with the viewfinder and 340 shots using the rear screen in power-saving mode.
Canon is also selling a $99.99 EG-E2 extension grip for bigger lenses. In October it plans a free Windows app, Dual Pixel 3D Converter, that turns the 2D photos into 3D images, models or short animated clips using dual-pixel autofocus data.
Sources
- The EOS R8 Mark II is Canon's lightest full-frame camera with stabilization – The Verge
- Canon Unveils EOS R8 Mark II, Its Lightest Full-Frame Camera With IBIS – Imaging Resource
