ahsanford said:
jd7 said:
Hi ahansford
I see a lot of comments on the internet along the lines of your speculation that Canon might be protecting DSLR sales, but I have to say I just don't follow the reasoning about that.
[truncated]
Am I missing something?
My guess is Canon simply sees the strength of mirrorless at this point in time as being the ability to make it small and light, and they think it has too many limitations (eg AF, battery life, EVF v OVF) to be a direct competitor to DSLRs (and could manufacturing cost be a factor there too?).
jd7, I argue that technology exists
today:
* DPAF + Canon's history with LiveView implies they have the AF and realtime EVF content they need today
* They have EVFs galore on other products that they could leverage
* A high-ish burst rate (say 6-8 fps) should be
easier to accomplish than without a mirrorbox to consider -- it might appear that Canon has nerfed EOS-M to not be too sexy.
So -- for some reason -- Canon is offering a finely built system that is underwhelming spec-sheet wise and lacks basic SLR-level functionality. It absolutely has the tech to make a much better system,
yet they choose not to.
I argue that reason is that SLRs -- particularly the consumer-level ones you see in Best Buy and Target -- are Canon's bread and butter volume- and margins-wise. A better mirrorless rig would split Canon's single huge Rebel market / production base / inventory into two different camps, two different assembly lines, etc. and their profits would suffer.
So for now, Canon's printing money with SLRs and will do so as long as they can before caving to the inevitable mirrorless future.
- A
Sorry for the delayed reply ... and that I remain sceptical
My thinking goes like this:
A higher burst speed probably would have required more buffer and/or faster processing, which would have increased cost (and perhaps size).
Further, it is difficult to imagine that putting a faster burst speed on the M would have been of any real practical value with the AF like it is - so any costs or other disadvantages associated with increasing the burst speed would have been for nothing in practical terms.
DPAF might provide the answer to the AF problem - it seems to be clearly a step in the right direction. However, as I understand it, DPAF has proved very good for video AF in combination with STM lenses where you want smooth precise transitions. Does it (at least at this stage of its development) provide fast enough AF for stills photography (including for AF tracking) to be competitive with the PDAF on many DSLRs?
Also, Canon is on record as saying that DPAF sensors are more expensive to make, so related to the previous point, the question becomes would using a DPAF sensor provide a sufficient practical benefit to warrant the cost?
Certainly Canon has plenty of EVFs, but the question is whether they are good enough to be an attractive alternative to an OVF? I realise there is a great deal of subjectivity in answering that - some people are big fans of the functionality EVFs can offer - but I guess Canon is looking at what will appeal to a substantial portion of its target audience for the camera. For my own part, I am yet to use an EVF which I enjoyed as much as using an OVF
The effect of an EVF on battery life also needs to be considered. Some people will not hesitate to buy a bunch of batteries and carry them, so they may dismiss battery life as a serious problem. However, again I assume Canon has any eye on what it thinks its target audience for the camera cares about.
The question is not whether Canon has the tech to make a better mirrorless than the M, the question is whether Canon has the tech to make a mirrorless camera which can properly compete with its DSLRs with acceptable price and profitablity?
If the answer to that last question is no, I can see why it might make sense for Canon to make the M a different product - very much focused on the advantages mirrorless can deliver today (ie be small and light).
The only reason I can think of why Canon would deliberately want to "protect" its Rebel line from a Canon mirrorless camera is if Canon wants people to buy a camera which can use EF lenses natively ... so that if the user eventually decides to move to full frame, hopefully they will have acquired a few EF lenses already, which will encourage them to move to a Canon full frame rather than have to sell everything and start from scratch with a new brand. However, given the stats seems to suggest the bulk of Rebel buyers don't buy additional lenses, I don't know how much of an issue that is really in the big scheme of things.
So, I still think we will see a Canon mirrorless which is competitive with DSLRs when Canon can make one which is genuinely competitive and do it cost effectively. That day is presumably getting closer - and you never know, it might arrive with the M4. That said, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if the M system remains focused on being small and light, even if that means sacrificing performance, and when Canon makes a mirrorless camera which is competitive with a DSLR, it will be closer in size to an existing Rebel and use an EF-S mount. (I realise that would mean having a Canon mirrorless camera which is not part of the M ecosystem, but there is no reason it would have to bear the M moniker, and outside of the gear-obsessed denizens of forums like CR (I guess that would be people like us

), I think most buyers care about things like size/weight/AF/what lenses a camera can use, without caring at all about what technology is inside.)