As mentioned previously in this blog , I have very little interest these days for BIG DSLRs and do not intend to review them on this site. This lack of interest does not come only from the fact that I am no longer in carrying so much equipment but mostly because rules of travel have changed (especially AIR travel) and carrying big DSLRs and big lenses is nowadays more hassle than it is worth.
This comment aside, there is one thing that has been very obvious in the camera industry for the last 18 months or so : Nikon and Canon are a little bit off their game. There is no doubt that there is more innovation to be found among the smaller players, be it the smaller camera brands like Olympus, Fuji or Ricoh-Pentax or the electronic giants (Sony, Panasonic and to a lesser extent Samsung).
Nikon
If i was a Nikon user and interested in something else than their FX line (35mm sensor cameras) I, no doubt, would be very worried and upset that Nikon has dropped the ball on its pro DX (read APS-sized sensors cameras). The D300s has not been replaced for more than 5 years and Nikon seem to have decided that DX owners = entry level users only. This is further illustrated by the DX lens line up which mainly consists of introducing several versions of a 28-85mm equivalent with not so bright maximum apertures.
Instead Nikon brings yet ANOTHER FX camera body with the D750. So, we now have the D610, D750, Df, D810 , D3x and D4s. When you add the fact that most stores have still plenty of stock for the D800 and D800E, it is arguably more choices than one brand needs.
Of course Nikon has also the 1 line but unless you are a hardcore Nikon user, it is difficult to see why you would opt for this system while you have MUCH better choices at Olympus, Fuji or Sony just to name a few.
When you factor in the serious issues that Nikon had over the last few years over several products (chiefly the D600) and the terrible manner in which they tried to ignore the issue, I would not be too surprised if thousands of Nikon Dx300 users would ” jump ship” (switch brand) in the coming months.
The Canon booth is not much more exciting I am afraid. Yes, having all female staff wear a bright red wig is cool (see pic) but for the new products you have to content yourself with an updated version of their 7D APS camera the 7D mark ii with the same 20mp sensor as its older brother. Not in the same category than all APS sensors cameras featuring the highly efficient Sony 24 mp sensor (like in the excellent Pentax K3 for instance).
Wait !! You might say, what about the brand new G7x ?? Well no doubt that this camera might sell in large numbers because it is immediately clear with which this new Canon camera is supposed to be competing with : the Sony Rx100 which is currently on its third version as the name shows RX100 mark 3. Alas, the Canon is in fact competing with its first version as it does not offer any built-in EVF like the Sony Mark3, nor an optional EVF like the mark 2 did.
The Canon G7x offers a larger zoom range than the Sony with a 24-100 zoom range and keeps the 2.8 max aperture at the longest range but unless priced significantly lower than the Sony, the longer zoom range may not be worth the loss of any finder for serious users.
A year ago, this camera would have been a bigger hit (and do not get me wrong I am convinced that Canon will sell loads of G7x) but for a small increase in size you can get a much better camera in the brand new Panasonic LX100 (or its Leica Clone).
The LX100 is presented in my Panasonic booth visit section.