The present and future of cameras March 2019 Tony and Chelsea are on the case

I rarely make reference   on this blog to other bloggers and photo commentators. They  can  blow their own trumpet.

However I sometimes tune in to Tony and Chelsea Northrup’s videos about matters photographic.

Their slightly jokey, don’t-take-us-too-seriously approach may have led many viewers to underestimate them. 

I get this from the many dismissive, rude, and otherwise negative responses to their videos which I often read in the comments and on user forums.

But anyone interested in the present and future of enthusiast photography using proper cameras really should tune in to their video  here

The words in the title of the video appear to have been chosen to grab your attention, true enough. 

But the real substance of the video is much more… well…. substantial   and goes to the heart of the notion of a proper camera (that is my term ).

They discuss a range of serious deficiencies in the design, inner workings and user interface of current cameras and present a coherent and achievable way to rectify those.  

These include Android O.S,  Snapdragon, totally redesigned user interface, stay-inside big battery, fully internal solid state memory, wireless communication, minimal ports and others. 

As it happens I am currently working on a long term user review of the Sony RX10.4 bridge camera. 

This is one of the most capable and powerful all-in-one cameras ever made but after owning it for 14 months and in the process making many thousands of photos I still cannot say that I actually enjoy using this camera.

Why ?  Every aspect of the user interface is excessively complex and overburdened with options which I  consider redundant and never use. The controls need a complete rethink. I will devote a post to this soon.

Essentially this is a camera created by the clever (and they really are clever) technical boffins with little understanding of or regard for the user experience. I have heard several stories of people buying one of these then selling it because they were so daunted by the complexity of the user interface.

The RX10.4  delivers an excellent concept, and excellent specifications, features, capabilities, image quality and performance, let down by an un-necessarily complex and confusing user interface.

I believe that if camera makers continue to make products like this which are technically excellent but so difficult to use that most people can’t be bothered with them then those makers will fail.  And deserve to fail.

I believe further that Tony and Chelsea are right that the camera as we now know it needs a major design re-think along the lines which they suggest.  These include Android

My conceptual vision of this approach would see cameras looking pretty much like they do now but with very different electronic inner workings, more like a smartphone.

I also have been of the view for several years that the future of the “Proper Camera” for enthusiast photographers lies with the fixed lens type, in both bridge style and compact style manifestations.

Tony and Chelsea appear to have a bit of a blind spot there as their discourse is mostly about interchangeable lens types.

As to whether camera makers can deliver a full frame mirrorless ILC for USD500 of course they can. 

They have been churning out APS-C DSLRs at an even lower price point for several years.

When switching from DSLR to MILC you

The flipping mirror, mirror box/prism, submirror AF assembly, focus screen and optical viewfinder. 

As each of these items  must be precisely aligned to an exact position you also remove that  requirement.

Remember that a budget DSLR must also have live view on the monitor and contrast detect AF on the sensor.

Develop a fully electronic global shutter and out goes the  clattering focal plane shutter.

You Add

In the case of an entry model without an EVF, nothing much physical.

However the MILC type has an inherently greater demand for processing power because image preview, metering, focus, global shutter (if enabled) and image capture all occur on the same chip at very nearly the same time.

Overall the MILC is going to be less expensive provided the camera maker has a sufficiently powerful processor ready to go.  This has actually been a weakness for Canon and Nikon in particular so we will see what they come up with. 

Let us look at some actual cameras, their specs and prices.

In Sydney today you can have an EOS M6 (APS-C) with the 15-45mm kit lens for AUD 850, new, retail, GST paid. That is approximately equivalent to USD 543 (without sales tax).

How much would it cost to buy the same sort of camera with the RF mount and a 28-70mm f3.5-6.3 kit lens ?

 A bit more, sure. The sensor would cost a bit more but as the Northrups point out, not a whole lot more. And if Canon could close down its APS-C fab plant and concentrate only on full frame that would in due course lower the cost per unit further.

And the lens might cost a bit more but check this out:  Right now the 15-45mm adds fifty bucks to the price of an M6 body only. Even if the full frame kit lens cost twice as much it would only add a hundred dollars to the body only price.

So, yes, I think Canon and Sony can deliver a USD500 full frame MILC sometime soon, absolutely.  Nikon ?  Panasonic ?

I will go further:  I think the survival of the camera industry depends on the makers doing just that and pretty soon.

The implications if they deliver:

1. The camera industry will survive, after pruning off dying branches.

2.  Bye-bye Canon, Nikon, Sony APS-C.

I think Fujifilm APS-C and MF will be OK provided they can source sensors as their MILC range is already well established and supported both by Fujifilm and the Fuji-fanatics who think the sun shines out of their idiosyncratic, retro style offerings. By the way, all praise to Fuji for reading that market sector right.

Bye-by M43. Why do you think Panasonic is going all out with its entry into full frame ?

This is not because there is anything “wrong” with M43. I have been using M43 since  it began in 2008 and still have a bag of M43 gear and it makes really excellent pictures.

But I think Tony and Chelsea are right. Once there is a USD500 full frame mirrorless camera on the counter,  M43 will be dead on retailers shelves.

Wave good-bye to all consumer DSLRs. 

Pro level DSLRs will stay until mirrorless high speed continuous AF is good enough. This will not take long. Already the Sony A9 MILC and Sony RX10.4 bridge model are just about there.

Shed some tears for Olympus which refuses, or likely lacks the resources, to go full frame and Pentax ILCs which lack the R&D resources from Ricoh to go mirrorless.

Actually Pentax did roll out the disastrous K-01 in 2012 to immediate and complete market failure. Using Marc Newson,  a generic designer who had never “done” a camera before was, unsurprisingly a huge mistake.

Will Ricoh let the Pentax brand have another go at a MILC ?  …………………Would you ?..........

3. Hullo (I hope) a newly re-invigorated fixed lens sector of the market. This is in the doldrums at the moment but in my view has huge potential for the development of fully featured cameras which can appeal to the expert/enthusiast user. Fixed lens cameras have many advantages over interchangeable lens types which the makers and camera sellers have not promoted well and which I suspect many buyers do not understand.

We live in interesting times………….