Nikon Mirrorless to be launched in March?

[traveller]

NR thinks so, based upon an article in the German DSLR Magazine. So with Pentax hinting at a mirrorless camera in development and Canon still "monitoring developments", perhaps "the first shall be last and the last shall be first" (apologies on my poor biblical referencing!).

Have Canon missed the boat? In a way, it doesn't matter for anyone considering a puchase because using existing DSLR lenses via an adaptor is a poor solution to the lack of lens availability on current systems. This is micro-4/3rd's greatest advantage over the current Sony/Samsung offerings (credit to Samsung and their comprehensive roadmap).

Whilst mirrorless is currently not up to DSLR technology in performance terms, either it or Sony's SLT technology (ironically pioneered by Canon in the sixties) probably represent the future. The 500lb Gorilla of the consumer electronics world is hedging its bets, while the old silverback of the camera world seems to be digging its heels (or its head) into the sand.

 

[Admin US West]

NR thinks so, based upon an article in the German DSLR Magazine. So with Pentax hinting at a mirrorless camera in development and Canon still "monitoring developments", perhaps "the first shall be last and the last shall be first" (apologies on my poor biblical referencing!).

Have Canon missed the boat? In a way, it doesn't matter for anyone considering a puchase because using existing DSLR lenses via an adaptor is a poor solution to the lack of lens availability on current systems. This is micro-4/3rd's greatest advantage over the current Sony/Samsung offerings (credit to Samsung and their comprehensive roadmap).

Whilst mirrorless is currently not up to DSLR technology in performance terms, either it or Sony's SLT technology (ironically pioneered by Canon in the sixties) probably represent the future. The 500lb Gorilla of the consumer electronics world is hedging its bets, while the old silverback of the camera world seems to be digging its heels (or its head) into the sand.

Canon does not generally leak informatioon about upcoming products, they hold the information very closely. nikon, on the other hand does leak information. Just two different philosophies.

The patents that canon has filed in recent years usually give a mirrorless example in addition to the primary moving mirror implementation. Pellicle mirrors are covered as well. Obviously, they are and have been aware of the interest in mirrorless designs, but tend to be very conservative. When they finally decide to release a design, they have a huge PR department who will make it seem like they were first, and will sell a ton of them based on their reputation and sales power. Canon has always done this, and it seems to work for them. Whatever they come up with will be among the best, not always the best, but will be much less expensive to produce and will sell for a larger profit margin than the competition, thats Canon's stock in trade.

 

[ronderick]

There's one instance I recall reading some Canon officials talking about this topic with the media (check the earlier threads for the link). The time they'll give the mirrorless idea a shot would be the time when technology would allow it to do what current DSLRs do comfortably.

I think the specific mechanism he referred to was AF ability, being comparable with current DSLR models.

So it all depends on how you take these comments - I would say it's only a matter of time (frankly, I prefer Ricoh's modular approach over mirrorless technology as a way of reducing bodysize).