Canon skipped their usual yearly update of the G-Series in the Autumn so we knew they were up to something. Canon Rumors is reporting that a URL briefly displayed a report on this new camera sometime today. Aimed at being the P&S for the professional , the camera features 14-Bit Raw shooting of a 14MP image processed by a Digic 5 processor with full 1080p video as well. No images of the camera have yet emerged though. Shipping in February at a $799 suggested retail. That’s a steep price for a point and shoot camera in today’s market so it’s going to have to be pretty stellar !
Critical Specs
- 14.3mp CMOS (1.5inch) Sensor (1/1.5? probably)
- 4x Zoom (28-112)
- f/2.5-16
- 14bit RAW
- DIGIC 5
- 6fps/4.5fps
- Multiarea White Balance
- HDR Mode
- FullHD 1080p Video
- 720P Movie Digest Mode
Dan, why do you think “Sensor (1/1.5? probably)” ?
A 1.5″ (aka 19x13mm) sensor is between m43 and APS-C; it’s still too expensive at $799, when compared to Samsung’s NX100 – mostly sold under $350 with a surprinsigly good 20-50mm kit, or to NEX 3/5 lines. Canon’s G1X comes very late with a competitor mainly against m43, Fuji X10/100 and Nikon 1… still nothing against the NEX, NX and X-Pro systems. Yes, it may have to self-cannibalize its Rebel, shrunk into 1/2 size, to compete against the APS m-less class.
But again, Canon and Nikon (mostly!), have been lazy and arrogant in disregarding their evolving markets for decades… by pushing SLR-like bricks and cheese slabs invented 50 yrs. ago… too long of a free ride enjoyed in the name of ‘handling’ and ‘performance’. Granted, rangefinders (Fuji/Leica) are much older, having their own pros and cons… yet NEX and NX found a market for their m-less APS designs. I hope they’ll drive a camera design revival, and Canon/Nikon will eventually follow. Mitch
You raise some interesting point Mitch. I’m not yet convinced of what the size of the sensor will be though. One thing that I think is worth considering though is the comments made a couple of days ago by a Canon exec who said that they would be releasing a mirrorless solution in 2012. He implied that it would be APS-C and that EF lens compatibility was a must. So whilst you draw some possible conclusions against M4/3 cameras and NEX etc etc it seems to me that the G1X will not be targeting that market at all. THOSE cameras will be targeted by a forthcoming camera which we have yet to hear about. In which case the sensor in the G1x is probably 1/1.5″. Essentially just a point and shoot with a VERY high price tag. This is my guess, and we probably only have to wait one more day to find out. I’ll be at CES and I will report back on the camera.
If it’s just a very expensive point and shoot camera then I don’t see it being hugely popular but there are still people out there who appreciate the ease of use of a P&S camera.