Hi Niels, yes, I'm well aware of the relationship between Panasonic and Leica, and the 'badge engineering' involved.
This deal makes sense for Sigma since it could quite easily convert it's existing lenses from its Sony range.
The FF mirrorless lens mount battle is now pretty much split down the middle in terms of physical dimensions - Sony/Pana/Leica v's Canon/Nikon. The first group has a good population of lenses (and/or easier conversions), while the second group's lens range is in its infancy and will take quite some effort and time to populate.
It is interesting when you look at who makes up the groups too - the first group are the electronics upstarts - with a long history of competition between the two (along with collaborations with traditional camera makers Leica and Olympus), while the second group consists of the traditional camera industry stalwarts - again huge competitors with each other. Very interesting the way it has panned out !
As far as third party lenses will now go for the CaNikon mirrorless offerings they will either fall into one of two camps:
(i) they will be converted (rather involved) from the existing Sony range, and be less than ideal (in terms of compactness, weight, cost, and that last bit of optical performance) compared to what the mounts could offer, but will appear much sooner than the second case .....
(ii) lenses will be purpose designed for the wider ('shallower' for Nikon too) mount. This will result in lenses that are just that tiny bit more compact, lighter, cheaper to produce (notice I didn't say buy !
, and maximize the optical benefits of these wider optimal mounts (this will be particularly evident at wide and fast formats). This road of course will take longer to travel.
Any third party lens maker is going to have to come up with something pretty special to outdo the CaNikon duo - look for some cheeky offerings that plug the gaps. The mirrorless market is going to be a bit of a 'bitzer' going forward and take a very slow evolutionary path.
I don't think any of the big camera brands has (or will in the short term) landed the knock out blow to lure customers from rival brands (and to a lesser extent, systems). It will be a terse (and at times both exciting and frustrating for the consumer) battle for hearts, minds, and wallets over the ensuing years. :cat:
Ultimately Nikon has put itself in the box seat, but I wouldn't expect them to become dominant (in performance terms of the market) due to resources/lack of partners, until this flat plane sensor caper is nearly done and dusted and then the whole game starts anew in a decade in the curved sensor arena ........
I expect a strong product response from Sony if they are to be any hope of retaining let alone increasing their market share. Interesting, good, (if not exactly cheap :-O ) times to be a buyer in the mirrorless market going forward :cat:
Chosun :gh: