Now I shan't be buying one, but Canon's 'budget' R Mount FFMC the EOS RP strikes me as the way to go for this system. With the Panasonic Lumix S1 / S1R we've seen a manufacturer go big, heavy and expensive but the Canon goes the other way. Light, small and (relatively) cheap. Isn't that supposed to be what mirrorless cameras were meant to be? I'm still bewildered by Panasonics alternative to the DSLR being bigger and heavier than most DSLR's. And it's taken Canon, the DSLR kings after all, to show the way it probably should be done. It's surely gone past the time when a 'proper' camera has to be a great lump in the hand and have pages and pages of menu options, the majority of which will only be used by those irritating 'vlogger' parasites. These are cameras after all and are intended primarily as machines to create pictures with. I'm skeptical as to how many people want a camera with 'pro' video features, with a tripod mounted stacked high resolution mode and all the other 'fluff' that this new generation of FFMC's has. As regular readers of this blog will know, I'm also underwhelmed with the Sony A series. I'm uninterested in all the unnecessary technology that is packed in to those cameras and dislike the whole small camera body / large lenses equation. And for me Sony prices are somewhat inflated for mass produced polycarbonate body cameras that get replaced, upgraded and lose money in an indecently quick period of time.
The more this idea of only concentrating on high end, 'pretend pro' cameras to halt the decline in sales takes root, the more I see the downward spiral only getting faster. The fact that a smartphone is now the vast majorities camera of choice indicates that small, light, simple, uncomplicated cameras are what people are looking for. And yes there are many for whom a smartphone cameras limitations mean they will look for alternatives, but how many of those are looking to carry around a camera weighing a kilogram and costing the price of a decent S/H car?
The EOS RP has some spectacularly good lenses available for it. I've seen proposed bundles that include the marvellous 35mm f/1.8 Macro lens, one of the best lenses I've ever used. Stuck in front of the RP's 26MP sensor this has possibilities for creating extremely high quality images. And the complaining about lack of specs. will be irrelevant to most. In simple terms, most of us just don't want or need this c**p. After all, just what does sitting with a manual working out all sorts of options for customisable buttons and dials have to do with photography? The answer is, of course, nothing.
The more cameras overcomplicate, the less I like them. I see little little point in having cameras full of autofocus options because NO camera knows what I want to focus on. Much as I like my EOS R, it's plethora of AF points only serve to remind me that all I need is one 100% accurate point that I can use. Because when I leave it to the camera it's always wrong. When I want to focus on the foreground it chooses the background and vice versa. And anyone who trusts any AF system is a fool, because they will be sabotaged by their camera time after time. Besides, if you want to be a photographer, shouldn't you actually be learning how to compose, focus snd choose the right settings on your camera without expecting the camera (i.e. some designer in Japan) to do it for you?
For me, a lot of what is being offered in terms of FFMC's is trying to over technologise (is that a word?) cameras. 'Vloggers' and 'reviewers' somehow see a pared down set of specifications as an omission. I see it as a bonus. One of the reasons that I use Leicas is the assumption that anyone who buys one knows what they are doing in terms of creating images. And yes they are expensive, and yes they are too expensive, but the use of premium materials hand assembled in European factories does have a significant cost attached to it. The fact that my Leica M10 will hold it's value better than most FFMC's and probably outlast me in terms of the robustness of it's construction, does mean something. Also Leica product upgrades are longer than most, so when you buy one you will get several years worth of use out of it without being 'out of date'. And unlike the impression that you get on the photographic internet, most people change their cameras far less than you might expect.
As is obvious by now I see little point in paying for a lot of technology I'm not going to use. I also believe that I am far from alone in this. I refuse to believe that what gets posted on the photographic internet i.e. people moaning and complaining about this and that feature, pretty much demanding a camera to make decisions for them, is typical of a 'serious' photographer. I mean, for Gods sake, 'Pet tracking' !!!! What on earth is that all about? If you have a fancy camera and you can't take a decent image of your cat or dog, then why on earth would you want said camera in the first place? You can take perfectly adequate pet pictures on a smartphone. Their huge depth of field means it's actually quite an achievement to get an image out of focus anyway. And for most scenarios that we encounter, smartphones are the perfect tool for the job.
As I've said many times before, whether or not people buy cameras is not of interest to me. Whether or nor camera manufacturers make money or go bust and fold again will have no impact on me. I don't work for them and I'm not a shareholder. Plus I don't make any money from this blog, so a fall in camera sales isn't going to lower my income. However, I do like cameras and I do like choice, so it would be a shame if any of photography's historical names disappeared. However, in order to prevent that they need to look at what genuine customers want. It seems to me that camera manufacturers take far too much notice of the photographic internet in general and those 'reviewers / vloggers' in particular. I firmly believe that price is the major deciding factor anyway. Most people have a budget for what they want to spend on a camera. And too many of the current crop of FFMC's are way too expensive.
The Canon EOS RP strikes me as bucking these trends. It has less in terms of menu options, though those could be seriously trimmed as well and it's not ridiculously expensive. It won't break your back or your bank account and I fully expect it to be top of the best seller lists in the very near future.
