Trying to stay on topic to the OPs original question:
Q: Why hasn't Canon forged ahead with mirror-less? A: They didn't have to, and probably still don't have to.
Q: Why is Sony forging ahead with mirror-less? A: Because they had to.
Sorry for the long reply, but it has been one hell of a trek …:facesmack:
Sony acquired Minolta, which positioned itself as innovative for its day ("From the Mind of Minolta"). After a number of so-so crop frame consumer cameras in the Sony Alpha line, they launched the A-900 … a 24 meg FF camera with near pro-level specs and an interesting choice of Zeiss designed optics. Not a full array of pro level focal lengths, but enough to lure a few serious amateurs and professionals away from Canikon. I was one of those photographers. However it wasn't enough to make a dent in the marketplace. So to survive, Sony had to take a different competitive path. They had to. Necessity is the mother of invention.
When Sony realized that to survive they had to change, they did … to the detriment of their newer user base like me. No more OVF, it was an SLT or mirror-less with EVF, and they altered the innovative Minolta flash mount to standard ISO mount thus all but rendering my expensive A-900 flash system and pass-through TTL radio gear useless. The viewfinders were horrible, and smeared like crazy in low light when following moving subjects. Then comes the tiny FF Alpha EVF FF cameras with a different mount, bewildering menus, and an anemic lens line-up. The fortune in A mount lenses I already had could work using the expensive Rube Goldberg style LAEA-4 adapters that were, and still are, a ridiculously awkward solution. To keep the FE lenses at least somewhat smaller and able to work on the FF sensor, the FE lenses tended to be slow maximum apertures. I was astounded that people ignored all this. The 24-70 and 70-200 work-horse focal length for wedding/event/corporate photographers offered horrible W/A distortion, and a slow f/4 max aperture. Now that faster max aperture primes are starting to become available, most are huge, so the over-all size difference is a lot less obvious … and the balance is crappy thus fatiguing to use all day.
My experiences with Canon and Nikon was that (even with Jurassic era OVFs) they worked at "the speed of thought". See it, capture it. Fast max aperture lenses abounded so I could choose what DOF I wanted, including almost none. Plus, Canikon always gets the latest 3rd party innovations with Sony the starving step-child … like with Profoto's TTL mobile flash systems. I honestly can say that relevant innovation not been the case with any of the Sony cameras, especially the A7R. All of them lagged the over-all performance of the Canikon offerings. In that respect, switching to Sony actually effected my output, and not in a good way.
I've since unloaded my A99 and all of the A mount lenses. BTW, IF they had been Canon or Nikon, I could have quickly recovered more of my investment. "A" mount is a dog in the marketplace. Next camera dump will be the slow-witted A7R which is also a dog in the marketplace.
Q: What is in store for the future? A: Haven't a clue, and don't really care since I have to make photos now.
I'm not a Canon or Nikon fan boy, but in hindsight I can say I wish I had NOT swapped systems, or at least had the presence of mind to get out of Sony when they abandoned the A-900, which was a decent camera that could have been great.
Sony may overwhelm the marketplace eventually, but I doubt it. I think cell phones have/or will, and Go Pros, and some other mind bending consumer innovation. Consumers still buy DSLRs for their more serious family stuff … a $750 Canon Rebel is not in danger of being usurped by a Sony A7 for twice+ that amount. Pros that move to Sony are an anomaly, Other than here on GetDpi, I do not know one other wedding/event/portrait/commercial photographer that uses Sony. None. Serious Amateurs/Semi-Pros may be the prime target if this forum is any indication, but I've not seen Sonys being brandished at family gatherings, camera clubs, by wedding guests, or shutter bugs at public events … none.
So, this forum may not be representative of the marketplace. There are a lot of wonderful photographers here. They did great work before moving to Sony, and would continue doing so if they moved to some other brand.
Canon may not get much action on GetDpi, but maybe that's because Canon shooters are out making photos, earning a living, or are a natural everyday part of some family's record keeping rather than writing some long winded reply like this one of mine … :ROTFL:
- Marc