A new rumour about Canon’s eagerly awaited mirrorless camera has surfaced. NI reports that the mirrorless system camera Canon is supposed to work on, will come “with a kit zoom and an adapter for EF lenses such as the new pancake 40mm lens“. There is also a patent for an EF adapter by Canon (see picture below), filed last year (machine translated). An EF adapter for a Canon mirrorless makes sense, especially if you consider the huge amount of excellent Canon lenses that everyone would like to use on a Canon mirrorless camera. There is a nice animation on NI, showing how much the adapter would contribute to the overall thickness (not very much) when used with the new EF 40mm f/2.8 STM ($199, click here).
canonrumors just posted a rumour about Canon’s possible and upcoming announcement of a mirrorless system camera. Rumors are saying that Cannon will announce its mirrorless camera on July 24th, and that it should be an “entry-level” camera. A more professional mirrorless system camera cabin expected for September (Photokina). There are no specs for Canon’s mirrorless, except that it should have the sensor of the PowerShot G1 X. A camera announcement in th middle of the summer and close to Photokina…weird but not impossible. And what about the supposed June announcement? No news so far. Anyone?
I usually post pictures at the beginning of an article. Not this time. I am so excited about what I can show you today that I have to create some thrill before revealing the image. Ladies and Gentlemen, CanonWatch is proud to present the very first image of Canon’s upcoming mirrorless camera. No detailed specs, except that it looks like the camera has an FD mount, an APS-C sensor with 36MP and a big big touchscreen (really a big one, I have been told that the back of the cam is just a 4″ touchscreen). Moreover, I have been told that the camera has voice control (something like Apple’s Siri). You can talk to your camera! Isn’t that amazing? Nikon won’t have this for the next 10 years! And when they finally have it, it will probably be the camera that is insulting you.
What you are going to see, is an awesome and beautiful piece of timeless post-modern industrial design, something that puts Nikon’s V1 and J1 to shame (regarding aesthetics and performance). It is neither the retro look Olympus and Panasonic embraced, nor the cheesy wanna-be-high-tech look of Nikon’s kindergarten tools. And I won’t even mention Sony, since a company making walkmans and play-stations can’t really be serious about photography. I mean, Sony go on making video-games and let us serious people alone with your boring NEXt stuff! Who wants to shot a Sony (or a Nikon for that matter)!? So, enough words have been spoken, now you have to see it to believe it (after the jump).
Techradar had this pretty smart intuition: The T4i/650D/X6i features technologies that are needed in mirrorless cameras, and that, therefore, the T4i/650D/X6i could be Canon’s testbed for its upcoming mirrorless system cam. Well, there is something in that. As techradar writes:
[…] the EOS 650D [Rebel T4i/Kiss X6i] is Canon’s first DSLR to feature full-time autofocusing in Live View and video mode. Both of these modes require the reflex mirror to be lifted out of the way, so the camera in effect emulates a mirrorless model.
Right. The T4i/650D/X6i sports a new Hybrid AF system, combining phase detection and contrast detection. Hybrid AF system are already featured on mirrorless cameras such as Nikon’s J1 and V1. techradar again:
[…] the technology […] doesn’t have to be DSLR specific. In Live View and movie mode, the camera’s reflex mirror is lifted, and Canon uses a dedicated AF system on the image sensor instead of the independent AF sensor in the camera’s mirror box. It’s a hybrid system that uses both contrast and phase detection to get superfast, precise autofocus. That’s important because it means Canon has built a sophisticated AF system that already works without a mirror.
Next, it’s the touchscreen that captures our attention. Mirrorless cameras are smaller than DSLR yet delivering all the advanced features of the latter. In other words: little room for buttons and controls. A touchscreen would solve that problem.
What do you think? Is the Rebel T4i/650D/X6i showing technologies that are perfectly suited for a mirrorless camera, and could this be a hint that Canon’s mirrorless system camera is really around the corner?
See here for more information (and pre-order links) about the new Rebel T4i/650D/X6i, here for hands-on videos, here for a comprehensive first impressions review.
[techradar via gizmodo]
Canon Mirrorless Concept by D. Riesenberg
Update: it turned out that D. Pogue meant the Sony RX100. Pogue confirmed it in the comments section of the post. Thanks to reader okumonux for pointing me to this.
We should learn something new about Canon’s mirror-less plans in the next few weeks. In the meantime, a statement by David Pogue caused some curiosity. On his blog, David Pogue (New York Times’ gadget columnist) was really enthusiastic about an upcoming, hot camera “with astonishing photographic results”:
[…] in two weeks, I’ll be switching my allegiance. You cannot believe what’s about to come down the photographic pike. Trust me: If you’re in the market for a small camera with astonishing photographic results, hold off for a few weeks.
Speculation is, David Pogue could know something about the Canon mirroless camera that is expected to be announced in the next weeks. The time frame, at least, could match. It’s getting hot and hotter. Do you think we will see a Canon mirror-less in the next weeks?
[via petapixel]
Canon mirror-less camera concept by D. Riesenberg (davidriesenberg.com)
We are getting closer to two important announcements by Canon, both expected for June. CR reports news about a well specced Interchangable Lens Camera and a couple of lenses that, so the rumor, will be launched soon. No news about the mount it will have. Another, contrasting, rumor that’s reported suggests that Canon will not announce a high level mirrorless cam, but that there are plans looking in this direction. Finally, the other announcement we are expecting in June regards the next iteration of the xxxD series, everything suggests the T4i/650D, along with some lenses.
CanonWatch also got various hints about a mirrorless camera to be announced in June (here and here).
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