Let the mirrorless wars begin
The fight for the future of the camera market kicked into high gear recently after Nikon announced two new models.
While camera manufacturers release several models a year, this was the first time one of the two top companies has released a serious mirrorless camera.
Mirrorless cameras have been touted as the future of cameras for several years.
They are smaller, lighter and faster as they don’t have a mechanical mirror like digital DSLRs which have dominated for more than a decade.
But the two camera giants, Nikon and Canon, have largely ignored them while others such as Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic and Olympus have released mirrorless models that are now all but equal to DSLRs.
Now Nikon has announced two new models, the Nikon Z6 (US$2000 or NZ$3000) and Z7 (US$3400), which are aimed at the serious photographer.
They go on sale overseas later this year but no New Zealand
Mirrorless cameras have been touted as the future of cameras for several years.
prices or release dates are available.
It comes as an admission that it needs to be in the high-end mirrorless game if it wants to stay relevant.
These aren’t the first Nikon mirrorless cameras but they’re the first to be good enough to take on mirrorless market leader Sony, which has released several critically acclaimed, high-selling models.
Canon also has mirrorless models available but its most recent efforts were aimed at the average user rather than the big spending, influential, serious photographer. Expect Canon to match Nikon’s move soon.
They will need to move fast to dominate the mirrorless world, as this year the mirrorless market is tipped to over take the sales of DSLRs for the first time.
Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic and Olympus have done well to develop and promote mirrorless technology.
However, they are still small players in the camera market compared with Nikon and Canon and all should be worried about Nikon’s recent move.
The two Japanese giants dominate cameras and their name recognition is still powerful but their cameras will need to be equal to, or better than, the competition if they want to stay relevant in the coming decades.