My advice to Canon is simple. If you cannot announce a professional full frame mirrorless camera with the EF mount soon, you will never catch up and overtake Sony's lead. This will be a big mistake and grave opportunity loss. Therefore, failure is not an option. Anything less than a high end, native EF mount model with a mid to high 30MP sensor will not excite professional photographers like myself and Canon does not have a lot of chances to make improvements on their mistakes.
I am back from my East Africa Wildlife Photo Tour. It was a great trip with many sightings and photo opportunities. Time to process my photos and return to writing this blog. While I was away, there were a few interesting pieces of photography news that caught my eye.
Apparently, Canon has sent out a rather dramatic invitation to selected dealers and VIPs for a mirrorless camera announcement in February. It is rumored only owners and senior management are permitted to attend, no sales people.
Those who have toured extensively know how heavy an equipment bag can get once all the gear and accessories are accounted for and how tiresome hand holding an EOS-1 body with a proper lens for long period of time can get. I have been interested in buying a professional grade mirrorless camera ever since Sony introduced their A7 and now A9 series of full frame cameras but the current offerings do not meet my needs.
Canon has been experimenting with different versions of their full frame mirrorless camera for over two years now and is expected to announce one some time in either 2018 or early 2019 but in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. They may even announced two versions, a pro model first, followed by a prosumer one later. Not necessary, in my opinion. Do it right with just one top-of-the-line pro model.
In my opinion, any new Canon professional full frame mirrorless camera must have the following features :
Native EF mount
Any new mirrorless camera without an EF native mount is not going to attract serious photographers who have invested in their extensive EF lens inventory. I am NOT interested in using adapters.
Feel, Size and Weight
The current crop of high end mirrorless cameras do not feel right to me. Once a professional lens is mounted, the combo feels front heavy. The new Canon model must have the feel of an EOS-1 body, with built-in molded grip and a well balanced weight, albeit lighter, once the commensurate lens is attached.
Electronic Viewfinder
First in class Electronic Viewfinder is a must and the screen must come with the highest megapixel, replete with crisp and faithful colors reproduction.
Battery Life
The current EOS-1D X Mark II camera's battery can comfortably lasts a full day's shooting on an average trip unless it is in extremely cold climate. The new mirrorless camera must be able to come close to this performance. I know short battery life is the Achilles' Heel of many high end models, like the Sony A7 and A9 but I am confident Canon engineers can and will overcome this limitation.
Burst Rate
As a wildlife photographer, I do need fast shooting speed in my equipment but a burst rate of around 12 - 14 fps is adequate for my needs. Anything faster than that is marketing hype.
The other bells and whistles like 4K video, GPS, WiFi, etc. are nice to have but they add weight, complication and cost to the final product and are not a deal breaker for me. There must a healthy compromise between features, price and weight.
Let me hear your thoughts about what you feel are important in Canon's upcoming high end, full frame, mirrorless camera. Keep checking back for the latest news for any future announcements.
I am back from my High Arctic Wildlife Photo Tour. It was an enjoyable trip, albeit a bit light on the wildlife but I knew that in advance due to the late summer schedule of the tour. Nevertheless, I came across Polar bears, herds of Musk Oxen and Walruses, Arctic hares and foxes, a pod of Fin whales, seals, stunning sea ice and massive icebergs and glaciers as far as the eye can see.
Getting back to my blog and keeping my readers up to date on the latest photography news and rumors but another trip is coming up next month. You can follow my travels on Facebook and Twitter and see my works on MichaelDanielHo.com.
In the past year, I have been reporting Canon is working on a full frame 'prosumer' mirrorless camera and a professional model using the EF mount. There is no secret Sony is ahead of Canon and Nikon in the mirrorless camera space. Both companies will introduce their own full frame cameras finally next year.
My readers know me as The Wildlife Ho-tographer, traversing the globe on wildlife photography tours, utilizing and testing Canon equipment for decades. As an observer of Canon for years, I am not a fan of the current crop of mirrorless cameras on the market but will be very interested in Canon's full frame EF mount model once they have decided to announce it.
Canon is a large and conservative conglomerate. They are usually not the first in introducing new, breakthrough photographic equipment but once they have decided to be a player in a particular space, they will devote the resources and marketing clout to make it a success.
The mirrorless market is one area Canon intends to be a winner eventually. In order to achieve that goal, they will have to announce new full frame mirrorless cameras that excite. Their current family of EOS-M models make a difference without a distinction from their competitors.
Nikon is expected to announce their own full frame mirrorless model in 2018. With the usual Canon caution, they may wait till Nikon make their announcement first and follow suit soon afterwards, not unlike the Nikon D5 vs Canon EOS-1D X Mark II rivalry of last year.
