Canon Reverses Course: Hints At Mirrorless System

Canon has hinted, strongly, at the existence of a mirrorless camera system in the works. This goes against earler statements indicating that Canon was not interested, and instead would work on high-end fixed-lens cameras. The first of these would at least appear to be the G1X, although the 1/1.5" sensor makes that a sad high-end camera.

I do like much of what I'm hearing from Canon, though.

"Camera performance demands a focus on picture quality. Only afterwards is downsizing considered. Even with compact, interchangeable lens cameras, this need must be prioritized. This is the same with a video camera or any other piece of photographic equipment."
-M. Tian Rong Jin, Managing Director Canon Image Communication Business Division

They appear to be subscribing to the philosophy espoused by Sony and Fuji and rejecting that of Nikon and, to a degree, the Micro 4/3 group. Sony wedged a world-class sensor into a super-small body, and while there are limitations and problems associated with the lens size, the increase in picture quality from Micro 4/3 to the NEX-5n or NEX-7 is significant and very noticeable.

Jin goes on to discuss the size of the EOS Kiss (Rebel in the U.S.) line of cameras, and says that their size can be decreased, which is something that I have argued for frequently. The Kiss/Rebel is actually super-small and isn't a serious consideration for enthusiasts because it is cheap, with sub-standard guts, and has access to very few EF-S lenses.

Canon's mistake has not been ignoring the mirrorless market, but failing to recognize that they could have served this market long ago. In a stupid attempt to protect their full-frame business, they left their super-small Kiss cameras rot.

This strangely candid announcement seems to be reactionary. It is coming from the wild success of the Sony NEX cameras and the excitement being generated by Fuji X Pro. It is as though Canon is reminding the blog-reading enthusiast sect that they still exist. Well, Canon, stop being so stupidly conservative and maybe we will start paying attention. Sony innovated. Fuji innovated. Panasonic innovated. What about you?

While I like Canon's language, it is language used by all of the major companies when they feed PR lines to magazines and customers. Much like lawyers, how do you know when a company representative is lying? His lips are moving.