5 ms·

So looking at this over a 5-10 year period and not just about today's specs, what's to keep a manufacturer like Canon or Nikon from building a mirrorless body t

So looking at this over a 5-10 year period and not just about today's specs, what's to keep a manufacturer like Canon or Nikon from building a mirrorless body that continues to work with all of their existing gear? If I were them and that's where I thought the market was going, that's what I'd do.

slantyyz 10y ago
>> what's to keep a manufacturer like Canon or Nikon from building a mirrorless body that continues to work with all of their existing gear? Old school management thinking. The most common speculation as to why Canon and Nikon are behind in mirrorless is that they're afraid of cannibalizing their DSLR product lines.
- ghaff 10y ago
  The bigger thing is that, if taking advantage of a mirrorless format requires a new lens form factor, that means that Canon and Nikon effectively eliminate a huge lock-in to their system. As soon as you've said you have to start over again (Maybe with some kludgy options for existing high end telephoto glass) you've basically eliminated whatever advantage you may have as an incumbent. It's as if Microsoft introduced a great new operating system that couldn't run any existing applications. (This has been done in various ways like Apple with Intel but it's hugely painful.)
petepete 10y ago
When that happens, I'll buy one. There are some difficulties with the distance between the sensor and lens (flange distance) being so different between DSLR and mirrorless but surely there will be a sensible solution at some point. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance
brudgers 10y ago
I suspect that Canon and Nikon are not certain that is where the market is heading. This may be because the camera market is more like an oil tanker than a Jetski. APS [1], Disc [2], and the 126 of my first camera [3] suggest that camera designs come and go. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Photo_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Photo_System [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_film [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/126_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/126_film
djfergus 10y ago
They already do - Canon EOM-M and Nikon J(?). They have a different native lens mount but adapters are available for legacy glass. I think they reviewed poorly against more dedicated mirrorless manufacturers. Reminds me of the Porsche Boxster/Cayman. Mid-engined cars is a fundamentally better design than the rear engined 911 but the company culture and legacy requires that the best performing Porsche models are the 911s. I'd love to see Canon/Nikon build a 918 equivalent, just go all out building a mirrorless using their best tech. Unfortunately they are ceding the ground to Sony/Fuji/Olympus...

slantyyz 10y ago

>> what's to keep a manufacturer like Canon or Nikon from building a mirrorless body that continues to work with all of their existing gear? Old school management thinking. The most common speculation as to why Canon and Nikon are behind in mirrorless is that they're afraid of cannibalizing their DSLR product lines.

ghaff 10y ago
The bigger thing is that, if taking advantage of a mirrorless format requires a new lens form factor, that means that Canon and Nikon effectively eliminate a huge lock-in to their system. As soon as you've said you have to start over again (Maybe with some kludgy options for existing high end telephoto glass) you've basically eliminated whatever advantage you may have as an incumbent. It's as if Microsoft introduced a great new operating system that couldn't run any existing applications. (This has been done in various ways like Apple with Intel but it's hugely painful.)

petepete 10y ago

When that happens, I'll buy one. There are some difficulties with the distance between the sensor and lens (flange distance) being so different between DSLR and mirrorless but surely there will be a sensible solution at some point. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance

brudgers 10y ago

I suspect that Canon and Nikon are not certain that is where the market is heading. This may be because the camera market is more like an oil tanker than a Jetski. APS [1], Disc [2], and the 126 of my first camera [3] suggest that camera designs come and go. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Photo_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Photo_System [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_film [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/126_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/126_film

djfergus 10y ago

They already do - Canon EOM-M and Nikon J(?). They have a different native lens mount but adapters are available for legacy glass. I think they reviewed poorly against more dedicated mirrorless manufacturers. Reminds me of the Porsche Boxster/Cayman. Mid-engined cars is a fundamentally better design than the rear engined 911 but the company culture and legacy requires that the best performing Porsche models are the 911s. I'd love to see Canon/Nikon build a 918 equivalent, just go all out building a mirrorless using their best tech. Unfortunately they are ceding the ground to Sony/Fuji/Olympus...