Some active conversations are happening that cameras are being delayed because of EU regulations that went into effect this year. The two regulations that people are speculating as the cause of delays are the EU USB-C and AI laws.
Common Charger Directive 2022/2380
According to the Common Charger Directive 2022/2380 approved by the Council of the European Union (EU), all devices with wired charging capabilities must feature a USB-C port to be eligible for sale within the EU. The ruling will start on 28 December 2024 and applies to all manufacturers of “small and medium-sized” portable electronics, including:
- digital cameras and video game consoles
- headphones, earbuds and portable loudspeakers
- mobile phones
- portable navigation systems
- tablets and e-readers
- wireless mice and keyboards
We had previously talked about this law back in November, here. And we don’t think this is much of a problem, nor should it be for new cameras. As a matter of fact, the only cameras that would have problems with this are older cameras that don’t have USB-C charging. The only aspect that Canon may have had to change for new cameras would have been packaging and identification, but Canon had already (and the same with other manufacturers) allowed the cameras to be charged via USB-C.
Artificial Intelligence Act
This law was approved by the EU parliament in March of this year. It will be fully active 2 years from now, with the first of effective date for prohibited AI coming into effect at the end of 2024. The point of the law is to protect the privacy of EU citizens. It’s the facial recognition section that I would imagine applies to any of the camera companies, but to be honest, I struggle to classify the AI autofocus and metering systems used by camera manufacturers.
The AI Act classifies AI according to its risk:
- Unacceptable risk is prohibited (e.g. social scoring systems and manipulative AI).
- Most of the text addresses high-risk AI systems, which are regulated.
- A smaller section handles limited risk AI systems, subject to lighter transparency obligations: developers and deployers must ensure that end-users are aware that they are interacting with AI (chatbots and deepfakes).
- Minimal risk is unregulated (including the majority of AI applications currently available on the EU single market, such as AI enabled video games and spam filters – at least in 2021; this is changing with generative AI).
I noticed that some sites took this article and ran with it, confusing deep learning that Canon and other camera manufacturers have been using for the last decade as large-vision model Generative AI. Yeah, it’s not the same, but then again, the EU government doesn’t know that either.
The deep learning used by camera manufacturers is one-way only and used to determine focus, not capture or personal recognition. The learning modules don’t generate, create, or modify any content. If anything, I do believe that this would fall under minimal AI risk. But I’m no lawyer, and reading government laws always makes my teeth ache more than reading patent applications.
Amusingly, the marketing and the need to have the current buzzwords of “AI” and “Artificial Intelligence” in marketing new products may have caused the camera manufacturers more red tape.
No matter what, this is mostly just a paperwork issue for Sony, Canon, Nikon, and the other camera manufacturers to comply with the laws, so while I’m not expecting any actual camera changes, things may be more held up because they need to comply with future regulations.
My Opinion?
The USB-C law isn’t in effect until December of 2024, and the AI law isn’t in effect until 2025. Blaming it all on the EU seems like a lazy reason and I’m not buying this – because Canon (and others) could release in the USA, Asia, and China, and delay the EU release based on compliance. It wouldn’t be the first time that Canon decided to release a camera and excluded a region from the initial shipping.
There is nothing that is stopping Canon or any camera manufacturer from announcing the products now, and then working through the EU laws between now and the shipping date. They could even provision the announcements by stating shipments to the EU may be delayed, etc. So while the EU laws may stop shipments into the EU, it wouldn’t stop any announcements from happening now, or any shipments happening to the rest of the world.
Canon used to do crazy things when the cold war between Canon and Nikon was at its maximum, so holding onto their cards until the last minute, is a very Canon thing to do.
It could be that some have just missed the mark predicting camera releases this year, and are loathe to admit it. (Of course, we are never wrong)
More to come!
|
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's how it works. |
It doesn't really matter how far away the hole is (there's things in the ground that tell you, or the golf cart does anyway) , it's not going to help with the ball going 50 yards to right for me.
Who buys these things? If you're actually good.. you don't need one. If you're bad, it ain't gonna help.
I'd rather Canon actually put some work into improving the optics of their IS binoculars... This PowerShot random product thing..........
I suspect they made this rangefinder one to make it look more 'manly'. I bet you could market the black version to people doing long range target shooting :)
I want some longer binoculars, but I can't hand hold above 8.... but the Canon IS bins are awful optically. It's a bummer.
And I might also mention the horrid soft coating they use on the binoculars, with time it gets softer and softer and turns into a glue. Have they changed this?
If binos, then Leica, Zeiss, Swarovsky, Nikon, Kowa. But certainly not Canon...
I have played and shot hundreds of rounds and never seen anyone pull a rangefinder out. Maybe it's a geographical thing.. I dunno.
The German optics with IS... one can dream.
Another possibility would be to spray some varnish on the item. But Canon's decision to use this stuff is hard to understand, and even harder to understand why they've been using it for so long on expensive products. :mad:
Craig and I have some theories. I think he's writing something up on it.
Yes. Should not have come as a surprise to any one of them, and even if by chance it did, the laws arent effective any time soon, AND it wouldn't stop announcements.
However, the internet was blathering on about it, so here we are.
Perhaps that's why Canon, and Sony, and Nikon, haven't released a new camera model all year.
We have been going down the certification rabbit hole. The time between certification of wifi/bluetooth and when a product is announced has zero consistency.
You can see below when the planet went sideways,.....
I will note that there are different DS model numbers in some regions. for example the EOS R5 is DS126838 with Korean regulators. The certification dates are approximate, as the processes may have started and ended at different points in time depending on the country and this list is comprised of information from various agencies.
Is that what Nikon used on their cameras years ago?