Chosun,
That's for that report. Somewhat reassuring, but I'm confused..
From your post:
"The rumour source in the link I posted said that 2020 (Olympics year) was going to be a big year for Canon releases (as it will be for Nikon). This means the Canon 1DX III / 7D III, and Nikon D6 /D500S"
"I think the DX Mirrorless road is paved with confusion and indecision for both Canon and Nikon so I wouldn't be expecting any {Mirrorless} Pro level APS-C models from either company before about 2022 ...."
Um, which is it do you think? I'm getting old.
Kevin,
From what I can gather piecing the rumours together it's
DSLR 'Pro' flagships in 2020. FF for sure - Canon 1DX III and Nikon D6. And likely - based on need and history (and parts sharing economies of scale), their respective APS-C 'brothers' - Canon 7D III and Nikon D500S (probably both ~18months away on the streets). The Olympics will be a big driver - thank goodness !
The second sentence you quoted I was referring purely to Mirrorless DX. No Pro level Mirrorless CaNikons released until at least ~ 2022 would be my estimation.
I said DX Mirrorless is messy because both companies are still working through their strategies there .....
I know for myself and a lot of other enthusiasts/Pro's the beauty of the DSLR APS-C mount compatibility with DSLR FF means you can put FF lenses on them and get that all important extra ~1.5x or so reach. I like the Nikon's with the extra 1.3x in-camera crop too which ends up giving you 2x reach at about ~12~15 MP (the main benefit is in better AF, exposure, and an extra fps on my D7200). Given that I would almost certainly expect any eventual Pro level DX Mirrorless to use the big FF Mirrorless mounts (Canon R, and Nikon Z)
Canon has the APSC-M mount which offers small size and an existing lens catalogue .... however no upgrade path or interchangability through that mount to FF. I don't mind this, small size is the key. They can always offer a Pro level DX Mirrorless with an R mount later (a Mirrorless 7D if you like) - but that's a lot of years away.
Nikon would still be mulling the whole DX Mirrorless thing over. Certainly a Pro MDX with a Z mount, but will they make the entry level DX's in Z mount too? I suspect yes, but I'm not certain. It all depends on whether there is a significant weight penalty with the DX specific lenses - there are probably engineering solutions to this and the benefits of compatability and an upgrade path likely outweigh any weight/ size drawbacks for Nikon. They may surprise us with an entirely new small mount, but they are stretched resource-wise already (they talked about 24/7 operations and more automation even to deal with the current F and Z mounts going forward).
In some ways I think Canon has the better end of the Mirrorless DX stick because of the existing progress on the M mount - I'm sure they are happy for their customers to have to upgrade entirely !
If you did come over to the dark side (Nikon D500+PF500 f5.6) you'd have no FOMO worries for at least 18 months (before a D500S or 7D III hit the streets) and it should be good for half a dozen years before Mirrorless starts to show compelling gains. The lens would still be adaptable too. I believe there is news of the supply of PF500 f5.6 lenses flowing again too, so I'd jump in quick
Chosun :gh: