Canon Dumps Astro Body

The Ra is no more. The EOS Ra was a modified version of Canon’s stop-gap mirrorless full frame offering, the EOS R, designed to take images through the earth’s atmosphere, which requires some different sensor filters. Its run lasted less than two years, the modification having been released at the very end of 2019, a year after the EOS R came out. Many retailers had already taken it out of product listings, though, giving the ill-starred camera about a year of actual run.

Canon’s previous astronomy-focused body, the EOS 60Da was released in 2012 and proved very popular among nocturnal shooters.

Half a year after the Ra became available, Canon released the R5, which provided 50 percent more resolution and improvements to dynamic range and low noise performance that – for many – beat the Ra’s astronomy optimizations.

Both the R and the Ra were beefily priced, and neither camera saw any significant discounting after the first year. Canon’s entry level full frame camera, the RP came at about half the price, but nerfed in some ways, such as disallowing a silent shutter. At star parties, sky shooters reported seeing more modified R5 and R cameras than stock Ra bodies.