FF Mirrorless Poll: What Mount Will We See?

What FF mirrorless mount will Canon release? (what they will *release* -- not what you want)


  • Total voters
    47
  • Poll closed .

ahsanford

Particular Member
Aug 16, 2012
8,620
1,651
Wow. So far we have healthy ~25% guess that we'll actually get two bodies at launch (or perhaps there were some votes for a bolt-on permanent EF adaptor).

I don't see this happening myself but felt compelled to put it on there as a possibility.

I voted for two mounts, but staggered in time:

  • Thin up front. Follow the script and arrive with a competent 'me, too' that scratches the largest perception itch with this market, which is that 'mirrorless is about being smaller'. Agree with that mentality or not, it's clearly a chunk of market that (a) exists in some numbers, (b) is selling FF mirrorless rigs already today and (c) may be turned off by the size of SLRs. It makes some sense to have a solid offering in that market.

  • Full EF later, likely with a more comprehensive, beefy higher spec'd professional offering. That one goes to the wedding folks or reporters who want something completely silent, the sports/wildlife folks who want to let 20 fps rip or have working AF all over the frame, etc.

But offering both right out of the gate will considerably water down interest in the thin body's lenses. If a thin body comes out alone, even the most 'I don't care about how small it is' folks will probably buy a small thin mount lens to put on it. Consider: How many initial EOS M buyers who sport a big FF SLR ended up buying that 22mm pancake? I don't see that happening at all with FF if you have the option 'go big' and stay with EF.

- A
 
Upvote 0
Feb 19, 2016
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Don Haines said:
I think it will be full EF, but with the ability for lenses to intrude into the body like EF lenses..... oh yes, and you can use EF lenses on it.....

I would guess you are right and would be surprised if they did anything else.

Some years ago Voigtlander made a tiny 15mm DSLR lens that had a rear element protruding - see here:

http://blog.16-9.net/1236-2

This allows a best of both worlds approach. The small and high quality wide angle lenses of the Sony FE mount (like the Loxia 21 that currently DSLRs cannot match in terms of size+quality combination) combined with the superior ergonomics of the Canon EF mount for lenses like a 70-200/2.8 and 400/2.8 etc.

Any other approach making the mount thinner will mean the next 1DX model will likely be inferior in terms of ergonomics - mounting a big white on the Sony FE mount simply is not as balanced as the Canon EF mount - and I can't see Canon wanting to take a step back in the sports and wildlife arenas.

I think future EF mount Canons might resemble more the Sony A99II in terms of size and features but completely mirrorless. Smaller than the current full frame DSLRs but better ergonomics with big lenses than the Sony A9/A7.

Of course Canon might do something completely different. There's no law of nature that says we must always stick to full-frame. In the 1990s photography fragmented and maybe in the future medium format will come back for wedding and landscapes and Canon could introduce a thinner mount like Hasselblad and Fuji for medium format photographers but sports and wildlife shooters will be unlikely to want something physically smaller while at the same time unlikely to want medium format. A 1DX with a big white is pretty much perfect in terms of ergonomics.

Another aspect is simply economics. Over the past few years Canon has spent a fortune on R&D then building lenses like the 35L II, 100-400L II, 70-200 L III, 16-35L III etc - I struggle to believe they would do that then throw the mount away.

I am more curious as to what Nikon might do, I can imagine them trying to roll the dice more, trying to emulate what Canon did in the 1980s with a new mount to reinvigorate their approach as they have less to lose.
 
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ahsanford

Particular Member
Aug 16, 2012
8,620
1,651
mjg79 said:
Any other approach making the mount thinner will mean the next 1DX model will likely be inferior in terms of ergonomics - mounting a big white on the Sony FE mount simply is not as balanced as the Canon EF mount - and I can't see Canon wanting to take a step back in the sports and wildlife arenas.

Part of this is body weight as a balance, and I don't shoot the superwhites and can't share perspective there, but the grip is another animal entirely.

A thin mount body can have a big chunky grip. If Canon is going to go thin, and I'm guessing they will (at least at first), a chunkier grip really doesn't have any major drawbacks unless you want to travel with an ultra-small body without any lenses attached. But given that even the most basic of zooms will be taller than the grip, why not have that Cadillac grip experience? :D

That said, Canon has a number of FF bodies for SLRs, so I expect the same (over time) for FF mirrorless. They may start small like EOS M and walk their way up in size and specs improve.

- A
 

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Upvote 0
I think EF mount FF will appear first as a professional 5D/1D alternative. NO adapters, straight big body.
I'm not a lens designer but shortening the distance between the last element and sensor suggests to me that the optics needs a greater convergence than a longer distance ...therefore is more difficult and maybe has more distortion. So I think Canon will leave EF alone and bring a full size FF mirrorless out.
But I may be wrong.
 
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