Originally posted by normhead Who made video they could pack into an ILC still camera that was smaller and much more compact than earlier video monstrosities is all that matters here.
No, it's not all that matters. If it was, how did Sony and Panasonic leap ahead of Canon and become the standards for this form of camera when used for video? I believe it's because Sony and Panasonic had already been selling full ENG cameras to the professional market for quite some time so they understood the market better. On this forum, we come at this mirrorless movement from a still photography perspective. That's why we debate the incremental advantages of mirrorless vs DSLR and wonder whether those gains are worth it. For me and my use for still photography, a mirrorless doesn't really offer me much over my DSLR. The extra weight of a DSLR isn't enough to make me want to switch and I prefer an optical viewfinder over an EVF. I think this is why I'm not seeing a huge shift to mirrorless cameras among the members of my camera club. In a club with 100+ members, we have 4-5 folks shooting mirrorless and about half to three fourths of those are using Fuji. But on the video side of my world, there is a massive shift towards mirrorless cameras like the Sony a7iii and the Panasonic GH5. The reason everyone is moving to them is because there are major, major differences and advantages. Now we're not talking weight differences measured in grams. We're talking 10-20 pounds lighter. An EVF vs an optical viewfinder isn't an issue because video cameras have always had EVFs. And instead of having to spend $40,000 for a camera body and another $15,000 for a lens for a traditional video camera...you can match or exceed that video quality for 1/10th or 1/20th the price. Sure, there's cheaper all-in-one camcorders that can be used professionally, but not many of those let you use interchangeable lenses...which in turn allows you to use specialty lenses, like macros, fisheyes, or extreme telephotos. Another reason mirrorless cameras are becoming more popular is because we're a dual-media world these days due to the internet. In addition to taking still photos, newpaper photographers are being asked to shoot video for the paper's website...and videographers are being asked to shoot a few stills while out on location for posting on social media. So this is why I'm skeptical as to whether Canon or Nikon will dominate Sony in the mirrorless market in the long run. From what I'm seeing in comparisons, Canon had a chance to build a whole new camera from the ground up and they still have fallen short of the Sonys and Panasonic cameras out there. It's entirely possible that they'll catch up at some point, but so far they haven't done so.