Completely New Canon G13?

The Canon G11 is basically an S90 with a better lens. The G12 is basically an S95 with a better lens. Will the G13 be an S100 with a better lens? Some signs are pointing to "no."

I don't buy it, yet. Canon and Nikon are both conservative to the point of myopia. I'm mentioning the new G13 because it is being mentioned right around the same time that I published my previous post about shifts in the compact camera market.

The only real interpretation of the rumors that makes sense is that Canon is planning a larger sensor. If true, this is interesting because it means that the executives at Canon were actually able to see past the fat in their heads and recognize the enormous excitement generated by the Fuji X100.

But the X100 isn't the only possible interpretation of that ideal. For a fixed-lens camera, the X100 is quite heavy and more-than-a-bit large. Obviously, there are many combinations between the now-outdated small sensors and the super-large APS-C. I think that Canon could produce a compact camera with a 4/3-type sensor, or, if they are worried about optical costs, use one closer to 1". All of these would have either cost or quality advantages.

Again, I am not sold on Canon having the balls to do this. It is very good business sense, seeing as the market is undergoing a violent shift (one needs only look at Flickr's camera finder, where the iPhone has been the #1 camera for nearly two years. And, as Flickr says in its details, cameraphones do not frequently record their identity in EXIF data, meaning that they are underrepresented). Unfortunately, whenever a company is in the leadership position, good business sense is not something to which they frequently subscribe.

I hope that Canon wows me. I hope that Canon makes a compact, pro-oriented camera with a HUGE sensor in it. I doubt that they will, but I hope.