Bottom line, I don't think I am likely to be seduced away from m43rds anytime soon. Why oh why N and C are not producing an enthusiast/pro mirrorless body is completely beyond me.
LouisB
Maybe the relationship between Sony and its sensor customers isn't as rosy red as we would have liked to believe. With the V3, Nikon made an enthusiast camera that, apart from the all important image and video quality, performed more or less like a miniature E-M1. They obviously have the knowledge to make larger sensor mirrorless with even better performance. The question is: do they have access to a DX or FX sized sensor with on-chip phase detect AF that would allow them to make that camera?
They used a Toshiba sensor on the D7100, a sensor that performed very well. Then Sony bought the sensor division of Toshiba and maintained their more or less monopoly. There was an interview published recently with one of the top brass of Sony's camera division where it was indicated that Sony in the future might reserve its most recent sensor technology for themselves. Maybe that is something that in reality has been going on for a while? Sony' investment in mirrorless technology must be enormous, but there is no doubt that many will go back to Nikon or Canon once they come up with viable competitors to the A7 and A6xxx cameras. With native converters working with a hundred million legacy lenses and a market position that Sony is miles away from achieving, the two grandfathers of Japanese cameras might be in a position to shovel Sony off the field in a relatively short time. Like they did when Sony attempted to enter the DSLR market, even if Sony had the advantage of the Zeiss brand and even if their marketing apparatus worked full steam ahead. Canikon are simply better at making the cameras that people want, and from what I hear, Canon's mirrorless cameras are actually selling quite well in Japan, even if the selection of bodies as well as lenses is mediocre to say the least.
Maybe I'm seeing ghosts here, but having tried many of the Nikon 1 Series cameras, it's very difficult to understand why they don't transfer that technology to bodies with larger sensors. When it comes to DSLR cameras, Nikon has been on top of the quality game for almost 10 years now. I can't see why they shouldn't be able churn out mirrorless bodies of similar quality. Unless they don't have access to the sensors they need.
Edit:
Coincidentally, jduncan posted a similar argument to mine here on a thread at the Nikon forum (React or go the Way of the DODO) only minutes before mine here. He also had the link to the Sony interview:
Sony to no longer sell certain sensors to other manufacturers? | Nikon Rumors