Canon to Offer image.canon Next April

Canon, USA., Inc. announced its parent company, Canon, Inc., will launch in early April 2020¹ image.canon, a cloud platform that connects select Canon cameras with compatible PCs, smartphones and external web services.

image.canon will enhance post-production workflow and provide a new way to experience photography.

Serving as a hub for users’ content, image.canon allows the transfer of image files from connected compatible PCs, smartphones and external web services. The service will provide new ways to enjoy photography and will cater to a range of photographers seeking to improve their post-production workflows, including professionals who want to enhance their creative process, enthusiasts who want to streamline image editing and entry-level users who want to enjoy casual photography and share their images on social media.

The Functions and Features of image.canon include: 

• Direct image uploading via Wi-Fi connectivity: Beginning with the currently-in-development EOS R5, future Canon cameras equipped with an automatic image transfer function will be able to automatically upload still image and video files² in their original quality to image.canon via Wi-Fi connectivity and store them for up to 30 days³ simply by turning on the device. When uploading an original image file, a thumbnail file (up to 2,048 pixels) will be automatically generated and stored on image.canon. These thumbnail files can be viewed and used, even after the 30-day initial storage period³.
• Long-term storage up to 10GB: Users who want to save still image and video files in their original quality after the initial 30-day period can migrate the data to a 10GB long-term storage space³.
• SNS connectivity: From the image.canon mobile app, which will be available for free on the App Store and Google Play, users can post on select social network sites and YouTube as well as share still image and video files.

The service will also allow the automatic transfer of images to users’ accounts on services such as Google Drive. Starting from June, image.canon will expand both of its partnerships with Google to include original quality backup with Google Photos via Google One, a membership plan for expanded storage, as well as Adobe Creative Cloud (membership plan). In addition to the automatic transfer of images and the ability to edit images in their original quality on partnered services and applications, image.canon will make it easier for users to store and share their images.

Giving photographers the tools they need to keep up in a 5G and AI-enabled world, Canon will continue to propose new ways to capture images and enjoy photography by enabling cameras to communicate in both directions, such as remote, real-time editing of photos and videos captured at outdoor events, cloud-based RAW image data editing and capture assistance tailored to users’ preferences.

¹ The CANON iMAGE GATEWAY Online Album Service will end operation in mid-March 2020, and image.canon will be a successor to the service. From the beginning of the data migration period until its service starts in early April 2020, users will not be able to access any image or video files or albums uploaded to the CANON iMAGE GATEWAY service.

² Automatic file transferring, available for cameras equipped with the automatic file transfer function, beginning with the currently-in-development EOS R5, requires users to connect the camera to a Wi-Fi access point that has been registered on the camera in advance. Wi-Fi enabled compatible Canon cameras released before the EOS R5 will support manual file transfer. Manual file transfer will be enabled from the start of the new service in April 2020. Users can access the list of compatible cameras on the image.canon website.

³ Original image and video files are stored for 30 days from upload. There will be no capacity restrictions for the initial storage; however the long-term storage space will be limited to 10GB per user account. If a user does not access image.canon for one year, all image and video files, including thumbnail files, will be deleted from the service.