Large Sensor PowerShot? [CR1]

[Canon Rumors]

Just a dream? From the “a rep said” files, an email today said Canon would introduce a larger sensor PowerShot for the fall. It will apparently end the perceived love affair the world has with the Fuji X-100.

Possible?

I’m not sure. Has Canon ever struck you as a company to get into niche markets in the photographic world? Unless the next “G” camera has a larger sensor for maybe $100 more, I just don’t see it.

cr

[CR Backup Admin]

I've wondered why it isn't done already?  I'm not aware of any physical reason.  We've had tons of point and shoot film cameras that have a lens and system to work with a FF sensor, and who needs a lcd on the back?

[ronderick]

I doubt that having a large sensor powershot is enough to convince enthusiasts who have the x100 to desert Fuji in droves.

After all, there's enough near-compact cameras in the market boasting APS-C sensors (Sony's NEX comes to mind - which also has the capability to switch lens).

Now, if we're talking about the 5D2 FF sensor inside a Canon P or 7 body with Leica M-mount... 

[CR Backup Admin]

I'm thinking the kind of camera you will find at Best Buy, a camera that would appeal to mass sales and production, but have better IQ and low light sensitivity, but still have the typical P&S zoom lens.

I might not buy one, but, if marketed right Best Buy type dealers might sell a lot of them.

I could be wrong, and probably am, the average camera buyer first looks at the price, and if its in his perceived range, he's interested.  Or, they ask the camera expert who quickly directs them to the highest markup item.

[distant.star]

To end the x100 love affair, Canon would have to do something Fuji isn't doing -- manufacture and sell the damn things.

You can't find a retailer who has an x100 at this point. That kind of scarcity is fine if you're selling a $5k camera, but not that kind of camera meant for a mass market.

I'd say it's possible but not likely. Canon seems to have their plate full with reimagining its SLR lineup.

That x100 is a sweet looking  piece though.

[Canihaspicture]

I think it would be best to mass produce FF sensors. put them in everything you can fit them in and then put limitations or crop values via firmware or slight hardware mods like what been done with microprocessors for years. Heck, you really don't even need to use a full frame mirror if it's meant to be a crop camera anyway.

[macfly]

Well it's more than just the sensor, the camera has to work, and based on the aweful G12 I've been messing around with I doubt they're on the right path.

The G12 is such an absolute piece of junk that I won't buy anything expect the absolute top of the range Canon again. I haven't owned such a useless camera since my very first Fed Zorki lll back in the mid 70's. How Canon created such a piece of junk out out what was an almost acceptable platform amazes me. My weekend with at the Montreal F1 GP was so tragic I just started laughing at all the pictures it missed, 19 out of 20, maybe 39 out of 40. No matter what I did to override its silly nanny habits it would still dwell and pause, missing every single bit of action, it was so stunningly useless that I'm actually amazed they sell any of them at all!

So, even if they put a bigger better chip in a pocketable camera, there is no guarantee that it'll be any use at all based on the disaster that is the G12!

[davidonformosa]

When talking about a bigger sensor the question to ask is how much bigger? It may not be going to APS-C size, but rather a percentage increase above the sensor in the current G12.

Canon have to add something new to the next camera in the G series. I suggest a faster lens -- the Canon G12 is only f/2.8 compared with f/2 for the Canon s95.

[hmmm]

Aps-C sensor, or a sensor midway between the current size and APS-C, a reasonable non-interchangeable lens something like a 28-105 f2.8-4 IS, a hot shoe and a tilt swivel LCD, and full 1080P video.   That doesn't sound like to much to ask for in a $500 - $600 camera.   

I've been staying off the G upgrade cycle waiting for a camera roughly along these lines.

[Hillsilly]

With a few overseas trips coming up, I've been considering a small, low weight, quality camera system to take with me.  And, I'm also thinking that such a camera would also be useful for general family photos.  Micro four thirds seems the likely option as I don't like being restricted to the one lens of the x-100.  How I wish Canon would enter the market with a small, mirrorless, APS-C based camera with a new range of fixed pancake lenses, but with the added ability to autofocus quickly with EF lenses with an adapter. 

After doing a bit of reading over the last few weeks, I don't think that "mirrorless" could be considered niche.  Instead, as the quality, responsiveness and range increases, I think more and more first time purchasers will prefer this option over entry level DSLRs. 

My long range prediction - in five years time, there will be no DSLRs below the 7D equivalent.  This is because the only reason to buy a DSLR will be better weather sealing in a tougher body, real-time viewfinder, more computing power, faster autofocus, use of EF lenses without an adapter, better battery life, FF sensor.  But, for people that just want a camera with better picture quality than a P & S, most of the DSLR advantages are irrelevent and I'd be willing to bet they will choose a mirrorless option (and hopefully a Canon one).

[ronderick]

To end the x100 love affair, Canon would have to do something Fuji isn't doing -- manufacture and sell the damn things.

You can't find a retailer who has an x100 at this point. That kind of scarcity is fine if you're selling a $5k camera, but not that kind of camera meant for a mass market.

The thing with the x100 is that it's one of the few MIJ models Fuji has - others are usually limited-run bodies such as GF670 and Klasse W. The rest of the Fuji P&S platoons are mostly MIC. Even w/o the tsunami complicating things, it would still have been in short supply.

BTW, the x100 is not targeted toward the general public. The price of the x100 is comparable to 60D kit with 18-135... Not to mention that there's no recognizable "auto" or "P mode" for this camera.

That x100 is a sweet looking  piece though.

Agreed. I think that's probably the main reason why it's selling so well (though there are also people who find having a bright, built-in optical viewfinder in a smaller-than-ur-typical-DSLR camera too sexy to resist) 

Again... just wish Canon would take a daring step into this supposedly niche market... things would probably get more interesting...

[polpaulin]

without  a large sensor I shall never buy again a phowershot 

[polpaulin]

Well it's more than just the sensor, the camera has to work, and based on the aweful G12 I've been messing around with I doubt they're on the right path.

The G12 is such an absolute piece of junk that I won't buy anything expect the absolute top of the range Canon again. I haven't owned such a useless camera since my very first Fed Zorki lll back in the mid 70's. How Canon created such a piece of junk out out what was an almost acceptable platform amazes me. My weekend with at the Montreal F1 GP was so tragic I just started laughing at all the pictures it missed, 19 out of 20, maybe 39 out of 40. No matter what I did to override its silly nanny habits it would still dwell and pause, missing every single bit of action, it was so stunningly useless that I'm actually amazed they sell any of them at all!

So, even if they put a bigger better chip in a pocketable camera, there is no guarantee that it'll be any use at all based on the disaster that is the G12!

I bought a G10 and sold it 3 months later

[Flake]

I'm just waiting for the release of a Canon evil camera which will work with the flash system, and hopefully the EF series lenses.  Large sensor will give a better IQ, otherwise my only choice will be the excellent G12 (sorry Macfly the rest of the world is against you here).

I cannot see Canon putting a larger sensor in a compact, mainly because of lens limitations, so far as I know there is no camera currently on the market which would compete, large sensor might be a USP, but I can't see that being enough in a market of people who just want a camera for snaps.

Much more likely is a competitor to Sony's NEX or Olympus PEN range which have both sold well, so well in Sony's case that they have taken second place from Nikon in some markets.  Canons has been worried about Sony ever since they bought Minolta and it's very likely they have taken notice of Sony's success and want a share of it.

I'm in the market for this camera when it's released (if ever).

[epsiloneri]

I'm sure large-sensor P&S will come eventually, once sensor-area prices get low enough. The issue now is that sensors are so expensive per area that it dictates the price at the introductory level. To have a P&S with a 600D-like APS-C sensor while being substantially less expensive than a 600D would cut into the margins (to have a P&S at 600D price levels would not sell well).

Once sensors become a smaller fraction of the total cost to produce a camera, we will start to see larger format P&S. Looking even further into the future, I foresee inexpensive P&S to have large sensors with simple, perhaps even plastic, lenses that give better IQ than current P&S.

Once the sensor cost becomes insignificant, I predict that larger-format sensor P&S will be less expensive than the smaller-format P&S.

To me, it's only a question of when.

And no, a camera without preview screen is an impossibility except for very special circumstances.