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What keeps Canon and Nikon in business is that the ecosystem is more worth than the camera itself. If you buy a Nikon or a Canon there is a high probability th

by bborud 13y ago

What keeps Canon and Nikon in business is that the ecosystem is more worth than the camera itself. If you buy a Nikon or a Canon there is a high probability that if someone makes some cool gear, it will work with these cameras. The camera is the least important component since it is nigh on impossible to find a terrible SLR. And you if you are serious about photography, you will end up spending more money on lenses than on cameras.

pedrocr 13y ago
That's what's amazing with mirrorless. Before it used to be pretty impossible to do an EOS to alpha adapter (for example). Once you remove the mirror that becomes much easier because of all the extra space. So even the argument that you should value being able to get something exotic that only Canon/Nikon carry will fade (their tilt-shifts are the only really good example I know of).
- bborud 13y ago
  Perhaps. But just look at the Petzval lens that just got funded on kickstarter. They will make it for Nikon and Canon. At least initially. Imagine the extra risk and extra cost of researching, designing, manufacturing, stocking and selling that lens for half a dozen different camera systems. If you were making a lens, would you prefer to make one or two versions or 6-7 versions?
  - pedrocr 13y ago
    That's fine, and you'll be able to mount it to a NEX/m43 mirrorless camera with full digital link using an adapter (it already exists). We're close to being able to open this market wide open and be able to mount any lens on any body. That's not good news for Canon/Nikon that often rely on making gear that's good enough that people with an investment in the system won't make the switch.
ChuckMcM 13y ago
In technology circles a company that is only surviving because the ecosystem is holding them up is already dead. I watched Sun put DEC there, and it pained me to see Sun get put into the same place by folks like Dell and HP.
- bborud 13y ago
  Well, for photography it has been like this since before the digital cameras. Even in the 80s I chose my film-based SLR not based on camera features, but on the lenses that were available for it.

by bborud 13y ago

pedrocr 13y ago

That's what's amazing with mirrorless. Before it used to be pretty impossible to do an EOS to alpha adapter (for example). Once you remove the mirror that becomes much easier because of all the extra space. So even the argument that you should value being able to get something exotic that only Canon/Nikon carry will fade (their tilt-shifts are the only really good example I know of).

bborud 13y ago
Perhaps. But just look at the Petzval lens that just got funded on kickstarter. They will make it for Nikon and Canon. At least initially. Imagine the extra risk and extra cost of researching, designing, manufacturing, stocking and selling that lens for half a dozen different camera systems. If you were making a lens, would you prefer to make one or two versions or 6-7 versions?
- pedrocr 13y ago
  That's fine, and you'll be able to mount it to a NEX/m43 mirrorless camera with full digital link using an adapter (it already exists). We're close to being able to open this market wide open and be able to mount any lens on any body. That's not good news for Canon/Nikon that often rely on making gear that's good enough that people with an investment in the system won't make the switch.

ChuckMcM 13y ago

In technology circles a company that is only surviving because the ecosystem is holding them up is already dead. I watched Sun put DEC there, and it pained me to see Sun get put into the same place by folks like Dell and HP.

bborud 13y ago
Well, for photography it has been like this since before the digital cameras. Even in the 80s I chose my film-based SLR not based on camera features, but on the lenses that were available for it.