In response to (seemingly never-ending) European cybersecurity regulations, Canon Japan has recently announced the introduction of password protection on some cameras in its mirrorless line. Whether this will prove to be a boon or a bane is something we can gauge soon enough, but it appears that users have already begun to encounter some unwanted issues after updating the firmware on some cameras.
For now, it appears that the password protection firmware updates are being rolled out only via Canon’s Japan website. This new functionality allows users to set a numeric password, appearing to restrict access to camera functions until the correct code is entered. We could go on endlessly about what led to these regulations or why they’re supposedly good for you, but that’s not what this article is really about. Our focus here is on trying to understand clearly whether this is going to make life easier for you as a photographer or going to make you jump through an extra hoop or more before you can take your next best photo.
How’s This Done
The implementation of the password protection system appears to be quite straightforward. Once you download the latest firmware for any of the cameras below (seen alongside the latest firmware version), you can set up a new password that you will be prompted to enter each time you turn the camera on:
- EOS R1 Firmware Version 1.1.0
- EOS R3 firmware version 1.9.0
- EOS R5 Mark II Firmware Version 1.1.0
- EOS R5 firmware version 2.2.0
- EOS R6 Mark II Firmware Version 1.6.0
- EOS R7 Firmware Version 1.7.1
- EOS R8 Firmware Version 1.5.0
- EOS R10 firmware Version 1.7.0
- EOS R50 firmware Version1.4.0
- EOS R50 V Firmware Version 1.1.1
Is It Really Going To Help You?
A passcode would prevent your nagging colleague from browsing through the photos on your camera when you’ve left it at your desk unattended for a bit. It might prevent them from cheekily turning on the camera and snapping away, even if they didn’t know the first thing about handling a real camera. I find this feature would only be useful in such social scenarios. Will password protection on your Canon camera be a major theft deterrent? I hardly doubt that. Hundreds of smartphones get stolen every day despite password and biometric protection being enabled on pretty much all those devices. Such security methods never really led to any pickpocket slipping back a smartphone to where he nabbed it from; he’d find umpteen ways to reset the stolen device and use it. Similarly, a bricked camera is still valuable to a thief over no camera at all. They typically want cameras to resell them; for parts even.
Will It Slow You Down?
Would serious professionals find password protection useful on their Canon cameras? From an experience perspective, this is going to be a mixed bag of sorts. For a casual user who picks up his camera maybe a couple of times a week, having to punch in a passcode isn’t really going to slow down their workflow. Given that this is an optional requirement, they probably won’t even be the kind that’ll enable such a feature. Photojournalists, wedding shooters, sports photographers, or anyone working with sensitive visuals might appreciate the privacy aspect of this, but I am inclined to believe it would heavily slow down their workflow at shoots. These are photographers who need instant access to their cameras to document history and special moments at the blink of an eye. To have to tap in a passcode, on a touchscreen that would clearly not have the responsiveness of a modern smartphone screen, would mean they’d probably end up missing the shot they were looking to take. Historical moment passed, money-shot gone. You may argue that such photographers should have their cameras on at all times during such events, but in reality, the situation is often different. Canon’s current approach, an optional numeric passcode, is more like the early days of Android lock screens. Useful, but completely bypassable. It lacks biometrics or protected hardware zones that could stop even the most determined intruder. It’s a start, but a far cry from what we have on phones.
Is this more of a sudden reaction to European regulations than an actual security measure by Canon? At this point, it appears to be so. It almost feels like too basic an encryption method. We don’t know yet if it can encrypt the data on your memory cards for a really secure level of protection. It also appears that some users have been having issues already with this. EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II have reported not being able to playback videos shot on these cameras, when memory cards larger than 2TB were used for the recording. This has led to Canon Japan having to advise owners of these cameras not to update the firmware.
How Can Canon Really Improve Security?
Password protection looks like an essential first step, but features like fingerprint authentication, proximity unlocking, and customizable security profiles are essential next phases. A fingerprint scanner on the back of the camera grip is probably the fastest way to protect your camera. The idea itself isn’t new. In fact, it was Canon itself that patented such an idea back in 2018. Such a scanner could also be used to customize multiple access options and control features on both cameras and lenses.
Could proximity-based tools do a better job (I used these in the past to automatically unlock my MacBook when I walk towards my work desk in press rooms at international events)? Or maybe an option to remotely wipe your camera and card data when a stolen camera is connected to a network (much like with smartphones). Until we see more such measures, this password-based measure seems more like a door with digital locks, but with a key you can bypass. Still, it’s a move in the right direction; we’re excited to see what comes next from Canon and what other photography brands bring out in this realm.
Images of the new password protection screens are screenshots from the Canon Japan news page