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09-14-2019, 04:14 PM   #1
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Interesting interview with Canon executive

It was on google tech web
This give more idea what direction Canon goCanon 1D C Canon
RedShark Editor in Chief, David Shapton, sits down with Yuichi Ishizuka, President and CEO of Canon Europe, Ltd and Managing Executive Officer - Canon Inc.
When you think about it, we have a strange relationship with a lot of companies. We know their names so well that they could almost be part of our families. We know their products because we have probably grown up with them and seen them grow through multiple generations. We may even have met staff from the company at trade shows, and met other end users, especially if we’re professionals.
But how well do we really know the company itself? My guess is not very well.
But all of that changed for me in the space of half an hour, when I sat down to interview Mr Yuichi Ishizuka, President and CEO of Canon Europe, Ltd and Managing Executive Officer - Canon Inc.
Mr Ishizuka is a cultured and thoughtful person. He’s also steeped in the history of his company. That’s important, because a recurring theme is that Canon’s heritage - which stretches back over seven decades - is an essential part of the modern company. When you have that sort of history, it’s going to be much, much harder to make products that aren’t good.
Of course, in 30 minutes, we were only able to scratch the surface. We are going to follow up this interview with a much more in-depth one as soon as we can. But here’s what I learned, just to give you a flavour - in the order that follows, simply because the course taken by our conversation.
R system
While this is a very new lens mount system, the planning behind it went back a long way: hardly surprising when you consider that its predecessor lasted over thirty years. The new system needed more bandwidth - physically manifested as more pins on the mount.
The R system is NOT just for mirrorless cameras. It is relevant to all of Canon’s camera types - including video
C500 II.jpg
Speed to market
Canon has three fundamental technologies that are world-leading: Optics (lenses), sensors and processors. Because it makes these, it has full control over them. So it’s not surprising that Canon wants them all to work together to their full potential. That’s not easy. They’re working at such a high level of performance that any discrepancy could seriously affect the performance of all three elements in this technology stack.
So Canon prefers to wait until everything is just right before launching a product. There’s obviously much more to it than this but this is the essence of it.
Mirrorless vs SLR
Even though mirrorless can create incredible images, there are still some areas where DSLRs are better. Currently Autofocus is better with DSLRs, and some photographers prefer to have zero latency in a viewfinder - although viewfinders are improving. So it might be between three to five years until mirrorless cameras are better in every way than DSLRs.
Co-operation
Canon is very open to working with other manufacturers where to do so might speed up the availability of a product. Working with Atomos is an example.
R&D
An astonishing 8% of Canon’s revenue (note: revenue, not profit) is spent on R&D. It’s a never-ending quest. Some of this research goes back a long time. Canon was the first company to put a CMOS sensor in a camera. The first product was in 2003, but CMOS had been in R&D since 1985!

09-15-2019, 01:04 AM - 1 Like   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by dstar Quote
Mirrorless vs SLR
Even though mirrorless can create incredible images, there are still some areas where DSLRs are better. Currently Autofocus is better with DSLRs, and some photographers prefer to have zero latency in a viewfinder - although viewfinders are improving. So it might be between three to five years until mirrorless cameras are better in every way than DSLRs.
Three to five years! I thought they were better now. Surely not?
09-15-2019, 04:00 AM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by RobA_Oz Quote
Three to five years! I thought they were better now. Surely not?
It depends. If you decide to buy a mirrorless ILC, you aren't going to say it is inferior to a DSLR, are you?
09-15-2019, 04:09 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by biz-engineer Quote
It depends. If you decide to buy a mirrorless ILC, you aren't going to say it is inferior to a DSLR, are you?
Probably not. But there’s the President and CEO of Canon Europe saying they aren’t, and they make them.

09-15-2019, 04:14 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by RobA_Oz Quote
But there’s the President and CEO of Canon Europe saying they aren’t, and they make them.
Yes because Canon make what people want to buy, they are business driven, even if technically it makes no sense, the money coming in tastes the same.
The "I want a mirrorless camera" was developed by Sony, at the cost of huge promotional efforts.

Last edited by biz-engineer; 09-15-2019 at 04:35 AM.
09-15-2019, 04:16 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by RobA_Oz Quote
Probably not. But there’s the President and CEO of Canon Europe saying they aren’t, and they make them.
Read the article, Rob? They admitted they are inferior, but say they hope in three to five years they aren't.
09-15-2019, 04:19 AM - 1 Like   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by biz-engineer Quote
They make mirrorless models because Sony developed the "want" for it (what we call the primary demand in marketing), and in a declining market any additional source of revenue is welcome.
Yes, I understand that. I thought it was an astounding admission, though.

---------- Post added 15th Sep 2019 at 09:20 PM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by clackers Quote
Read the article, Rob? They admitted they are inferior, but say they hope in three to five years they aren't.
I quoted that in my first post.

09-15-2019, 04:57 AM   #8
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They say that *for now* they are not objectively better in all regards... Which reads as "they are a better technology but until the OVF is actually obsolete we'll continue selling DSLRs so that we don't alienate customers".
It's the only answer if you're selling both. He has made it clear that the EF mount has its days numbered.
09-15-2019, 05:53 AM - 2 Likes   #9
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Canon exec: "Even though mirrorless can create incredible images, there are still some areas where DSLRs are better. Currently Autofocus is better with DSLRs, and some photographers prefer to have zero latency in a viewfinder - although viewfinders are improving. So it might be between three to five years until mirrorless cameras are better in every way than DSLRs."


Pentaxian interpretation: "See, even Canon executives admit that mirrorless sucks and it's all a big scam!"
09-15-2019, 01:36 PM   #10
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The take-away of this interview for me is the straight admission that Canon's short term intent is to fully orphan the EF-mount. This is not shocking information for me (expected actually), but should cause some dismay for those heavily invested in EF-mount lenses.


Steve
09-15-2019, 01:47 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by RobA_Oz Quote
Three to five years! I thought they were better now. Surely not?
It's been five years since I joined this forum in 2009...
09-15-2019, 01:51 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
The take-away of this interview for me is the straight admission that Canon's short term intent is to fully orphan the EF-mount. This is not shocking information for me (expected actually), but should cause some dismay for those heavily invested in EF-mount lenses.


Steve
I don't actually see this as a problem because Canon has pretty seamlessly offered an adapter that allows for standard EOS lenses to be mounted on RP cameras. If your lens functions exactly the same on the new mount, it really shouldn't make any difference to you.

This is quite a bit different from the FD mount situation where the lenses weren't worth anything because their mount was abandoned.
09-15-2019, 01:53 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by ThorSanchez Quote
Canon exec: "Even though mirrorless can create incredible images, there are still some areas where DSLRs are better. Currently Autofocus is better with DSLRs, and some photographers prefer to have zero latency in a viewfinder - although viewfinders are improving. So it might be between three to five years until mirrorless cameras are better in every way than DSLRs."


Pentaxian interpretation: "See, even Canon executives admit that mirrorless sucks and it's all a big scam!"
Actual Pentaxian interpretation: “Ricoh was right to wait until the technology improves.”
09-15-2019, 02:00 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by ThorSanchez Quote
Canon exec: "Even though mirrorless can create incredible images, there are still some areas where DSLRs are better. Currently Autofocus is better with DSLRs, and some photographers prefer to have zero latency in a viewfinder - although viewfinders are improving. So it might be between three to five years until mirrorless cameras are better in every way than DSLRs."


Pentaxian interpretation: "See, even Canon executives admit that mirrorless sucks and it's all a big scam!"
I think the MILC/SLR discussions are very polarized. I think most Pentaxians believe that MILCs are here to stay. They do tend to prefer OVFs and think that the majority of photography is not improved (or hurt) by losing a mirror from their cameras.

I think more than anything, though, they believe quite strongly that it would be disastrous for Pentax, with their current pace of development and amount invested in R and D to launch an MILC with the needed new mount. Simply releasing a new MILC when the market is pretty saturated with Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Nikon and Canon MILCs is probably not a recipe for success unless you can find some niche that isn't being covered by those current players. That feels unlikely and furthermore, I don't think Pentax has the tech know-how necessary to launch such a camera and have it compete with those already on the market.

MILCs aren't a scam, but they aren't necessarily the solution to declining camera sales either.
09-15-2019, 02:06 PM   #15
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MILCs aren't scam, but they are certainly un-necessary to take good pictures.
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