CCC Forum

It has hardly been a secret over the past few months that both Canon and Nikon will be announcing new, full frame mirrorless cameras to coincide with this year's Photokina. Of the two companies, Canon has been the more open about its plans although neither has yet to reveal much detail. Now Nikon has broken its silence and confirmed that it will be launching a new camera range. In effect, it is the announcement of a future announcement.

So we now know that it will be a full frame model which will have a new mount, as the existing and long lasting F mount is not well suited to mirrorless. Both Nikon and Canon have the awkward task of retaining existing customers as they transition to mirrorless, so naturally Nikon has affirmed its continuing commitment to DSLRs.* There will also be an adapter to use existing lenses on the new camera. If the rumours are correct, Canon is going in a different direction and will have an "innovative solution" to the tricky problem of lens mount compatibility. We will soon know.

The news will be everywhere, this just happens to be how DPReview reported it: https://www.dpreview.com/news/630771445 ... ess-system.

* Traditionally the Olympics have been the showcase for new cameras from both Canon and Nikon and with Tokyo hosting the event in 2020, we can expect every stop to be extended to its maximum extent. I will be amazed if over the next couple of years there will not be an aggressive drive to switch the professional market to mirrorless. I predict that there will be few, if any, DSLRs in evidence at the Games. Make no mistake, these developments have been planned for a long time. Now is not a good time to be investing in new DSLR gear, but there might be some secondhand bargains.

One thing which puzzled me about Nikon's announcement was that there was no mention of crop sensor mirrorless cameras. According to Thom Hogan, these will be coming in due course as Nikon does an extended rollout of its new models over the next few months.

https://www.sansmirror.com/newsviews/an ... -both.html

From next year, Photokina becomes an annual event held in May, rather than every other September as has been the case in the past. It makes sense to start the full frame rollout now and then concentrate on the crop sensor models next May. Sony is the current leader of the full frame mirrorless market by dint of being almost the only entrant, with the exception of the very expensive Leica SL. Competition is set to become more intense as Canon will also soon be entering the fray. It is not a time to be left behind. Addressing crop sensor models is less urgent. Despite the best efforts mainly on the part of Fuji, Olympus and Panasonic, I suspect DSLRs still predominate in that category.