07-23-2012, 06:29 PM
Wim, I agree with most of what you said but I think you downplay the importance of existing competitors. Even if you restrict your view to Sony. I think going for a careful quick first ROI point makes more sense in a risky unknown business. I don't think the mirrorless market can be seen as a risky business anymore : many mirrorless cameras are top sellers on amazon... you can see more and more in the streets, ...mr X start to get a vague idea of what it is. Brick & mortar shops sell them.
So now, it seems to me that the risk now is to differentiate yourself among existing & well established competitors. In that sense, I think Canon fails, especially at that price point. But Canon has a huge branding potential and eventually it will succeed, but I think their first iteration will not be memorable for them or the consumers.
Two things I'll be watching closely :
-Are they going to bump onto the same issues as the NEX7 sensor.
-Will they give this new world a real "life" or will it be turned down so that it doesn't compete with +1 & +2 lines (EF-S, EF) for the first five years? I still think with regrets of the EF-S lenses and their shitty build. They got very nice optics but mind you, Canon wouldn't let any of these get close to any L lens. You paid 1000€ for a lens with superb optics in a plastic garbage can. No EF-S "L". This was extremely frustrating.
That being said, I'm happy they joined and I'll be anxiously waiting for their lens roadmap.
Greetings,
S.
[quote name='wim' timestamp='1343057803' post='19561']
I find the (negative) comments here and on other sites quite amusing. Why? Simply because good business acumen dictates that when a company tests the waters with something completely new, they should preferably do so first in the mass consumer market to get a quick ROI point. This is exactly what Canon did. Essentially a no frills system camera, but still with some very interesting details, like the latest and newest sensor available, a touch screen interface, a few dedicated lenses, and last but abolutely not least of all, an EF->M adapter.
What more could one really have expected at this point in time? If anything, less, if you ask me. What is really nice, is that Canon already has an adapter in place for use with all EF lenses.
This will allow people who don't want the bulkiness of an slr to get a smaller camera, with a few appropriate lenses, and possibly a few extra in EF-S mount which aren't going to be much bulkier than regular M-lenses anyway (55-250, 18-135, 15-85, 60 Macro, etc.). Those who would like to try out this camera and who have an investment in Canon glass can have a go at this system as well, thanks to the immediate availability of the EF->M adapter. Certainly something I would consider because I would really like to use fast glass, just like I am doing with mFT currently (some adapted fast alternate lenses <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />).
I am also quite sure that more sophisticated models will appear soon enough, with additional EVFs etc., once this system establishes itself well enough. I am pretty sure the plans for these do exist already.
It currently isn't one of the cheapest systems, but then Canon doesn't want to sell these systems at the cost of their cheaper dslrs, which are their bread and butter currently. IMO, Canon made a clever move with this system, from a business POV, but also from an implementation POV with a view to the future.
Kind regards, Wim
[/quote]
So now, it seems to me that the risk now is to differentiate yourself among existing & well established competitors. In that sense, I think Canon fails, especially at that price point. But Canon has a huge branding potential and eventually it will succeed, but I think their first iteration will not be memorable for them or the consumers.
Two things I'll be watching closely :
-Are they going to bump onto the same issues as the NEX7 sensor.
-Will they give this new world a real "life" or will it be turned down so that it doesn't compete with +1 & +2 lines (EF-S, EF) for the first five years? I still think with regrets of the EF-S lenses and their shitty build. They got very nice optics but mind you, Canon wouldn't let any of these get close to any L lens. You paid 1000€ for a lens with superb optics in a plastic garbage can. No EF-S "L". This was extremely frustrating.
That being said, I'm happy they joined and I'll be anxiously waiting for their lens roadmap.
Greetings,
S.
[quote name='wim' timestamp='1343057803' post='19561']
I find the (negative) comments here and on other sites quite amusing. Why? Simply because good business acumen dictates that when a company tests the waters with something completely new, they should preferably do so first in the mass consumer market to get a quick ROI point. This is exactly what Canon did. Essentially a no frills system camera, but still with some very interesting details, like the latest and newest sensor available, a touch screen interface, a few dedicated lenses, and last but abolutely not least of all, an EF->M adapter.
What more could one really have expected at this point in time? If anything, less, if you ask me. What is really nice, is that Canon already has an adapter in place for use with all EF lenses.
This will allow people who don't want the bulkiness of an slr to get a smaller camera, with a few appropriate lenses, and possibly a few extra in EF-S mount which aren't going to be much bulkier than regular M-lenses anyway (55-250, 18-135, 15-85, 60 Macro, etc.). Those who would like to try out this camera and who have an investment in Canon glass can have a go at this system as well, thanks to the immediate availability of the EF->M adapter. Certainly something I would consider because I would really like to use fast glass, just like I am doing with mFT currently (some adapted fast alternate lenses <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />).I am also quite sure that more sophisticated models will appear soon enough, with additional EVFs etc., once this system establishes itself well enough. I am pretty sure the plans for these do exist already.
It currently isn't one of the cheapest systems, but then Canon doesn't want to sell these systems at the cost of their cheaper dslrs, which are their bread and butter currently. IMO, Canon made a clever move with this system, from a business POV, but also from an implementation POV with a view to the future.
Kind regards, Wim
[/quote]