The Future of the G Series

[Canon Rumors Guy]

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<p><strong>Changing?

</strong>We <a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/2011/11/new-aps-c-camera-in-february/">reported a short while ago</a> a suggestion that the next G Series camera would be a departure from what we have now. It won’t just be an S100 with a different body and lens.</p>
<p>There’s speculation about comments Chuck Westfall made recently about the G series camera needing to have better image quality, since it’s priced in the area of entry level DSLRs. It’s suggested by a few people that the G Series may see a larger image sensor and a faster lens.</p>
<p><em>thanks Tom</em></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>

 

[briansquibb]

Yep - the 600D in a P&S would work

 

[infared]

With Fuji and Cell phones coming on strong...it makes sense for Canon to step the G up a notch to compete. I think the P and S market is going to get a LOT smaller. Most average consumers in my life are using their cell phones to tak their photos...

 

[TexPhoto]

It would be great to see some real improvement here. I had a g11 as a 2nd camera and it was great, but each new G in the last 5 years has been less of an improvement.

 

[fotoloco]

The G series will be replaced by a mirrorless system.

 

[8minutestorm]

It would be nice to see a mirrorless aps-c with a fast prime from canon : )

 

[polpaulin]

fast prime pancake

 

[APBPhoto]

Here to hoping the next G series competes with the Fuji X100.
I am holding off buying one as a street camera for Christmas until the G is announced.
Hey Canon, how about new G 13 with the look and feel of a G 2/3 rangefinder.

 

[FAU4U]

IMHO, as a Canon Guy, Having owned $40-$50,000 in Canon gear, Canon needs to start from the ground up and completely redesign the "G" camera... By using the Rebel imager, redesign the zoom lens accordingly, and eliminate the optical viewfinder and utilize very high resolution EVF similar to what SONY has done... Or else, there will be serious migration away from Canon for these Type cameras.. Same goes for their $1300 SLR cameras... Look at SONY's A77 and compare it to the Canon 7D, which we own... Yes the 7D was a great camera when it was released, but Next to SONY's A77, it simply doesn't measure up at all... I'd hate to switch, but I'm contemplating switching to the A77 and the A99 when they become available... I have recently sold almost all our Canon gear on eBay in preparation of the new equipment releases in 2012... So we will see what Canon has in its line up in the next 4 months... In March, 2012, we will be shopping for the best there is... If The Canon SLR cameras have the vision shown with its C300 HD Video gear, we may be pleased... I actually hope so... Otherwise, watch SONY, as their purchase of Minolta was not an accident, SONY is going the one to keep up with... JimW.

 

[Hesbehindyou]

Look at SONY's A77 and compare it to the Canon 7D, which we own... Yes the 7D was a great camera when it was released, but Next to SONY's A77, it simply doesn't measure up at all... I'd hate to switch, but I'm contemplating switching to the A77 and the A99 when they become available

You're surely not complaining that a 2 1/2 year old camera is eclipsed by a rival's new model? I was going to take the mick out of you but people flitting from one brand to the next every time an improved model is released ensures that Canon continues to raise their game.

 

[neuroanatomist]

I was going to take the mick out of you but people flitting from one brand to the next every time an improved model is released ensures that Canon continues to raise their game.

...people flitting from one brand to the next every time an improved model is released ensures that Canon continues to raise their game are pretty rare.

IMHO, as a Canon Guy, Having owned $40-$50,000 in Canon gear...I have recently sold almost all our Canon gear on eBay in preparation of the new equipment releases in 2012...

I'm really not sure what to say about/to someone who sells tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear in favor of something that's not even available yet, and except for the 1D X, is a complete unknown.

 

[cbphoto]

meh. I would love to see Canon come out with an L-prime lens rangefinder camera in the vein of the Fuji X100 or Leica M9. The small chips and mediocre zoom on the G-series camera ruins it for me.

 

[amarlez]

Full-frame Powershot!

 

[100]

If they put a 2.7 crop sensor in like in the Nikon V1/J1 with a fast high quality zoom lens and keep the price low enough, that could be a killer point and shoot.

 

[AdamJ]

Do people still by G Series, when they could have a not-much-bigger Olympus E-PL3 or similar? The G Series looks obsolete to me - none of the compactness of the S100, inferior image quality to the compact system cameras.

 

[gmrza]

The G series will be replaced by a mirrorless system.

Regardless of what Canon does, there will need to be a big departure for the G series. Originally the G series served those users who wanted to move to digital, but could not yet afford a DSLR. For instance, the G5 started out at a retail in the USA of just under $800. Contrast that with the 1100D that listed at around $600. Without taking inflation into account that shows one aspect of the movement of the market.

The niche occupied by the G series has been driven ever thinner. Where size is not an issue, the 1100D makes more sense. Where size is an issue, the S100 makes more sense.
I would like to see the G series morph into a mirrorless system - preferably with an APS-C sensor - hopefully Canon could develop economies of scale by using the same sensor as in its APS-C DSLRs. I wonder though if the niche for such an animal is not too small to be economically viable. - The Sony NEX-7 is, of course, a counter-example to my last statement. If Sony can put such a product into the market, I would like to see Canon do something similar, just with an overall package encouraging manual control, and with a good selection of fast primes.

 

[Rocky]

The G series will be replaced by a mirrorless system.

Regardless of what Canon does, there will need to be a big departure for the G series. Originally the G series served those users who wanted to move to digital, but could not yet afford a DSLR. For instance, the G5 started out at a retail in the USA of just under $800. Contrast that with the 1100D that listed at around $600. Without taking inflation into account that shows one aspect of the movement of the market.

The niche occupied by the G series has been driven ever thinner. Where size is not an issue, the 1100D makes more sense. Where size is an issue, the S100 makes more sense.
I would like to see the G series morph into a mirrorless system - preferably with an APS-C sensor - hopefully Canon could develop economies of scale by using the same sensor as in its APS-C DSLRs. I wonder though if the niche for such an animal is not too small to be economically viable. - The Sony NEX-7 is, of course, a counter-example to my last statement. If Sony can put such a product into the market, I would like to see Canon do something similar, just with an overall package encouraging manual control, and with a good selection of fast primes.

APS-C and Mirrorless. That is a good idea. Jut hopeCanon can do a fast AF. I should come with its own line of lenses to keep the size small. Also Canon should provide the Ef/EF-S and Leica M mount adapter.

 

[gmrza]

APS-C and Mirrorless. That is a good idea. Jut hopeCanon can do a fast AF. I should come with its own line of lenses to keep the size small. Also Canon should provide the Ef/EF-S and Leica M mount adapter.

A lot of those who lurk around CR would like that. However, we swim in a small pond, and probably are not representative of the boarder market. The other problem with making a camera like this small is that with the flange very close to the focal plane, light will be hitting the sensor at a very oblique angle - especially for short and fast lenses. Leica has already dealt with this, and I think patented the associated micro-lens design. It would be a lot of R&D effort for Canon to do something similar to satisfy a relatively small market - hence the costs could be very high.

 

[Flake]

Perhaps the clearest indication yet that Canon intends to enter the 'EVIL' market?

The G series has a strong following because despite its high price it's still a compact camera with good image quality. I have the NEX5 and two friends with G12s, they're both pretty similar up to about 400Iso where the NEX really does show the benefit of a larger sensor.

But the biggest problem with larger sensors is that of the bigger the sensor, the (physically) bigger the lens you need, so the lens on the NEX is as big as a DSLR lens even if the body isn't, the Nikon V1 can get away with something in between, but it's still pretty big, so I do wonder where Canon will pitch this.

I hope that Canon won't make a copy of the Nikon V1 / J1 which has been met with dismay by most photographers, but they do seem to have this habit of following when Nikon launch something new.

It would be a shame to see the quality compact line ended simply because of the cost comparator with an entry level DSLR, it has its own market niche without much competition, to find this niche with even less competition would be dissappointing.

 

[Hyster]

A evil Canonete with a crop sensor. 8)