Doug Kerr
Well-known member
I have been chastised (good-natiuredly) by an esteemed colleague here for following what I thought was an "unwritten law" (although I must have seen it written someplace, or I never would have heard of it - how paradoxical!) that we should not in this learned arena discuss cameras that had not yet been announced by their manufacturer (or importer, or foster parents, or whatever).
Silly me.
It is generally considered that on 2018.09.05 (tomorrow, at this writing) Canon will announce the first member of an important new camera family, evidently to be called the "EOS R" family. This will be an interchangeable lens camera with a new mount, called the "RF" mount, and the first four lenses to have that mount will be announced at the same time.
The camera itself will have what I call an "eight-thirds" size sensor (nominally 24 mm × 36 mm, reasonably called a "full-frame 35-mm format, often called a "full-frame" format), and will not use the SLR configuration. This whole set of properties can be summarized with the code (not an acronym, since it is not reasonably pronounceable), "FF35NSLRILC".
Canon has also fairly recently introduced another new camera series, the "M" series, also interchangeable lens cameras not using the SLR formulation, these with what I call a "five-thirds" size sensor (also often called "APS-C" size or "1.6x" size").
These cameras also have a new mount, the EF-M type, and there exists a modest stable of lenses with that mount.
As might be suspected from the smaller native sensor size of the "M' cameras compared to the "R" cameras, lenses for the "M" cameras tend to be a bit smaller than lenses for the "R" cameras, and in fact all the extant "M" bodies are typically smaller than the apparently-about-to-be-announced "R" camera.
Thus the photographer who wants a relatively compact and lightweight interchangeable-lens non-SLR rig may opt to build her arsenal from "M" things rather than "R" things. Those who believe that true fulfillment of our purpose here on Earth only comes from the use of a format as big as possible but not over 24 mm × 36 mm may opt to build her arsenal from "R" things (or who feel that only a large camera body will feel right in her hands). And so forth.
There is over the last couple of days in the Canon cyberspace some gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over how misguided Canon is to have entered the interchangeable-lens non-SLR world with two distinct families of lenses.
Simplistically speaking, we probably cannot put an EF lens on an M body (as, among other things, there is an incompatibility in back flange distances between the two mounts), and if we put an EF-M lens on an R body (as will doubtless be provided for by some intrepid adapter manufacturer), since (assuming an adapter with no internal optics) the EF-M lens will not generate an image circle that covers an eight-thirds sensor. But then we could . . .
I take rather a different outlook. If I want a smaller Canon interchangeable-lens non-SLR system, I will get an M body and a couple of EF-M lenses. If I feel I must shoot in the eight-thirds format, I will get an R body and a couple of RF lenses. That of course is easy for me to say, as I will probably not do either.
Well, I hope this has sufficiently broken the drought of information on upcoming but (as of this writing) unannounced interchangeable-lens non-SLR camera systems with formats larger than four-thirds.
Tomorrow, or later, maybe: The upcoming but unannounced Panasonic FF35NSLRILC.
Best regards,
Doug
Silly me.
It is generally considered that on 2018.09.05 (tomorrow, at this writing) Canon will announce the first member of an important new camera family, evidently to be called the "EOS R" family. This will be an interchangeable lens camera with a new mount, called the "RF" mount, and the first four lenses to have that mount will be announced at the same time.
The camera itself will have what I call an "eight-thirds" size sensor (nominally 24 mm × 36 mm, reasonably called a "full-frame 35-mm format, often called a "full-frame" format), and will not use the SLR configuration. This whole set of properties can be summarized with the code (not an acronym, since it is not reasonably pronounceable), "FF35NSLRILC".
Canon has also fairly recently introduced another new camera series, the "M" series, also interchangeable lens cameras not using the SLR formulation, these with what I call a "five-thirds" size sensor (also often called "APS-C" size or "1.6x" size").
These cameras also have a new mount, the EF-M type, and there exists a modest stable of lenses with that mount.
As might be suspected from the smaller native sensor size of the "M' cameras compared to the "R" cameras, lenses for the "M" cameras tend to be a bit smaller than lenses for the "R" cameras, and in fact all the extant "M" bodies are typically smaller than the apparently-about-to-be-announced "R" camera.
Thus the photographer who wants a relatively compact and lightweight interchangeable-lens non-SLR rig may opt to build her arsenal from "M" things rather than "R" things. Those who believe that true fulfillment of our purpose here on Earth only comes from the use of a format as big as possible but not over 24 mm × 36 mm may opt to build her arsenal from "R" things (or who feel that only a large camera body will feel right in her hands). And so forth.
There is over the last couple of days in the Canon cyberspace some gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over how misguided Canon is to have entered the interchangeable-lens non-SLR world with two distinct families of lenses.
Simplistically speaking, we probably cannot put an EF lens on an M body (as, among other things, there is an incompatibility in back flange distances between the two mounts), and if we put an EF-M lens on an R body (as will doubtless be provided for by some intrepid adapter manufacturer), since (assuming an adapter with no internal optics) the EF-M lens will not generate an image circle that covers an eight-thirds sensor. But then we could . . .
I take rather a different outlook. If I want a smaller Canon interchangeable-lens non-SLR system, I will get an M body and a couple of EF-M lenses. If I feel I must shoot in the eight-thirds format, I will get an R body and a couple of RF lenses. That of course is easy for me to say, as I will probably not do either.
Well, I hope this has sufficiently broken the drought of information on upcoming but (as of this writing) unannounced interchangeable-lens non-SLR camera systems with formats larger than four-thirds.
Tomorrow, or later, maybe: The upcoming but unannounced Panasonic FF35NSLRILC.
Best regards,
Doug