Modular DSLR Coming from Canon? [CR2]

[skoobey]

NEVER gonna happen. EVER. It cuts the product margin.

Other modular elements will be the following:
memory card
battery
eyepiece
lenses
focus screen

JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER SLR OUT THERE

And that's the cold hard truth.

 

[that1guyy]

Welcome news, as long as its not obscenely expensive, which it most likely will be. Maybe something like a 7DC for $2500 would be great.

 

[VeloDramatic]

Well if we're going to dream here about modular approaches, let's dream BIG. How about a Canon/Apple partnership on a flagship model that incorporates the iPhone. Call it the Canon 1DiOS ;-). The phone module would require a slightly different form factor and ergonomics... snapping on to or plugging into the back of the camera.

The iPhone component would provide connectivity (wifi, LTE and Bluetooth), the benefits of much better Retina screen review, and an unlimited ecosystem of software enhancements (think Magic Lantern x 1000), workflow and productivity benefits, like...

Remote control, file transfer, device interoperability, audio annotation, gps, unprecedented pre-shoot analysis and documentation, multi-shooter connectivity/communication and multi-camera networking, preset storage and recall (think what a boon this would be to news organizations and the rental industry). Plug in your phone and the camera is ready to shoot, ready to share, and collaborate creatively.

Got an old iPhone (or two)... watch third parties develop cables and apps to connect those phone to strobes and continuous lighting, all controllable from the camera/phone interface with precision, history and repeatability that would simplify so many professional assignments.

Not to mention a proliferation of educational opportunities for photographers. Watch the luminaries shoot in real time, from locations all over the globe. See their settings, how they compose, when they know they've got it, the role that serendipity plays. Talk about POV.

Faced with a tricky exposure situation. Ask the camera for a solution, or base the solution off a previous image (yours or someone else's). Use the iPhone's accelerometer data to guide shake reduction in Photoshop (perhaps that even becomes part of the ACR baseline processing).

Are you a member of CPS? Canon support could monitor your camera for cleaning ("we see you have crap on your sensor") or repair and when in for service, techs could recall all kinds of data about that particular model. Right now camera processors do a great job of looking after the mechanics of shooting but they are "islands". The iPhone integration would change all of that.

Basically we're all watching cell phone photography explode. Some of it good, some of it mediocre and most of it terrible. Why not ride the wave Canon? Will it last forever? Of course not, but I could easily imagine DSLR/iPhone integration ushering in a solid decade of innovation, creativity and SALES.

If I was a billionaire photographer, instead of trying to buy elections, I'd do this myself. KickStarter anyone?

 

[SwissCanuck]

Hmmm, I wonder if the following is possible? ..... In theory, if Canon wanted to preserve backwards compatibility with EF lenses for a future "main" mirrorless system, I suppose they could make a FF mirrorless camera mount, give it the form factor of an SLR (like the mirrorless Samsung NX1 or Sony a3000) and include a modular adapter/box that has a mirror, a pentaprism, phase detection sensor, and an OVF. Without the "box", the camera is a FF mirrorless which can mount its own unique lenses; with the "box", it accepts EF lenses and turns the mirrorless into an SLR.

This has already been done before: The Sony A7x mirrorless series has an adapter, LA-E4, that has an SLT mirror inside to allow the mounting of Sony SLR lenses, with continuous phase detection autofocus. Add a modular grip in addition to the adapter, and voila, mirrorless becomes SLR-like

 

[rs]

Hmmm, I wonder if the following is possible? ..... In theory, if Canon wanted to preserve backwards compatibility with EF lenses for a future "main" mirrorless system, I suppose they could make a FF mirrorless camera mount, give it the form factor of an SLR (like the mirrorless Samsung NX1 or Sony a3000) and include a modular adapter/box that has a mirror, a pentaprism, phase detection sensor, and an OVF. Without the "box", the camera is a FF mirrorless which can mount its own unique lenses; with the "box", it accepts EF lenses and turns the mirrorless into an SLR.

This has already been done before: The Sony A7x mirrorless series has an adapter, LA-E4, that has an SLT mirror inside to allow the mounting of Sony SLR lenses, with continuous phase detection autofocus. Add a modular grip in addition to the adapter, and voila, mirrorless becomes SLR-like

Nice idea, but Sony's SLT system is a far cry from an SLR. All the drawbacks of an EVF, coupled with a stop gap workaround before on sensor phase detect AF was mainstream, resulting in a significant reduction in light transmission.

A bolt on SLT mount adapter makes no sense with current mirror less tech, and a bolt on SLR mount adapter would be much more complicated.

An interchangeable EVF/OVF with a conventional EF mount and mirror box built into the body makes more sense, but I see no reason why a true hybrid EVF/OVF cannot be done - after all Fuji have had a rangefinder style version of this in production models for some time.

 

[deleteme]

<p>All we were told is that the viewfinder will be interchangeable, as well as “other parts of the camera”.

So.. like the old F-1? or the Nikon F- series?

 

[Snodge]

When modular and DSLR are mentioned together, I think of something like a medium format Hasselblad. It could also mean if it had backs you could change, you could have different backs for different things (CCD mono for astro for example) as well as potentially getting 3rd party film backs...

 

[Peer]

What would you guys like to see in a DSLR cinema camera that would win you over more than the 1Dc?

Wouldn't mind a 1DC-2 with 12-bit DR and a tilt/flip screen.

-- peer

 

[moreorless]

Nice idea, but Sony's SLT system is a far cry from an SLR. All the drawbacks of an EVF, coupled with a stop gap workaround before on sensor phase detect AF was mainstream, resulting in a significant reduction in light transmission.

A bolt on SLT mount adapter makes no sense with current mirror less tech, and a bolt on SLR mount adapter would be much more complicated.

An interchangeable EVF/OVF with a conventional EF mount and mirror box built into the body makes more sense, but I see no reason why a true hybrid EVF/OVF cannot be done - after all Fuji have had a rangefinder style version of this in production models for some time.

We can question the merits of an EVF vs an OVF but Sony's system does offer superior performance with SLR lenses to a standard mirrorless adapter.

Its also worth considering that whilst as you say it is of questionable use on a system that's sold on small size the same need not be true of a future Canon system. I would argue when/if mirrorless really starts to replace SLR we will probably see larger bodies with more controls and better grips(with larger batteries), such a camera would work a lot better with that kind of adapter compared to the small A7 system.