Canon EOS M "APS C" point and shoot announced

[Costas L]

Oh well, since nobody else has bothered to post about this new wonderful "damp squib" from Canon, thought I would do it myself. Not sure who might buy this, certainly not me. I suppose with the quality of cameras in smartphones improving to the extent they now account for most images captured, the P&S camera market is rapidly vanishing, so manufacturers looking elsewhere. Following Sony with the Nex lineup in this case, but more expensive for what seems less. Amazon have it listed at £769.99, the Nex F3 is £449.95. Not sure what it comes with, but if you have to buy the EF / EOS M adapter, thats another $200 (Amazon US site)

A quote I read from canon says

"Although there's no question that this is an EOS camera, it's targeted at people who are not traditionally an EOS camera customer.

It's for people who are interested in photography and want to take better images, but don't know, or don't want to know about shutter speeds, aperture and so on."

http://www.techradar.com/news/photograp ... rs-1089836



http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product ... index.aspx

[lnbolch]

Another quote from Canon

"...take-anywhere partner for a new breed of enthusiasts who chronicle their lives through images, without necessarily considering themselves to be ‘photographers’."

It looks like a reasonable answer to the excellent little Nikon 1. A very powerful family camera that uses the power to be very forgiving and easy to use. "Family camera" is the operative phrase. Snapshots, not photographs. We tend to judge cameras from our viewpoint as enthusiasts. Not only do we enjoy our photographs, but we enjoy the process of creating them. When we post an image on line, we hope that viewers will appreciate it, even if they know nothing of the circumstances under which it is created. A great photograph stands alone.

Family snapshots are entirely different. Context is everything, and content and quality of lesser importance. Snapshots are used to memorialize moments. Great Aunt Gert comes to visit and Paw gets the Kodak to make a phuzzygraph, which is pasted into an album. The family visiting a wonder of the world, lines up in front of it and has their picture taken, proving they were there. The fact that is is backlit and out of focus makes no difference. When showing off the family album, it says "We were there". If a snapshot is also a great photograph, it is pure coincidence.

The mirrorless segment is about the only segment of the camera market that is actually still growing and Nikon and Canon are late to the feast. They have identified a potential market, and are serving it well. Both have an extensive line of enthusiast cameras, so there is no point in diluting it with an enthusiast mirrorless.

[Costas L]

You make many good points there Larry, which I agree with - except snapshooters don't tend to pay £769.99 for their cameras. I am sure the price will drop but doubt it will get below £500 anytime soon.

Pricing of this product says "enthusiast" to me

[Costas L]

Sony has a cashback offer on the NEX range (might be other things as well) 19/07/2012 - 29/08/2012.

The Nex 7 has a street price of £949 (Amazon Jessops) so with cashback of £100 that becomes £849. Looks like this market segment has become more competitive. Thats a good discount, suspect also might be new product announcements end of August for Photokina

[lnbolch]

You make many good points there Larry, which I agree with - except snapshooters don't tend to pay £769.99 for their cameras. I am sure the price will drop but doubt it will get below £500 anytime soon.

Pricing of this product says "enthusiast" to me

We may know different snapshooters. One person that I steered to the Nikon 1 is an entrepreneur I know very well—my best friend's brother-in-law. He could easily afford a Hasselflex system, but would never read the manual, nor would he bother hauling around big system. No interest in getting into photography as a hobby. Beautiful family, travels, wants pictures. There are millions of people like him. Well paid, able to afford something beyond a P&S, nice car, big screen HD, living in Mortgage Manor, and the difference in price between a PowerShot G1 X and an EOS-M is just not a consideration. While they tend to buy wisely, they also tend to buy upscale.