![\"Panasonic](\"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/gx7.jpg\")
<\/a>Across the industry, manufacturers made major adjustments that moved the needle and satisfied their users. In the Micro 4\/3 world, Olympus took the criticism from the E-M5, namely the lack of a substantial grip, hard to reach buttons and poor continuous autofocus and gave us the OM-D E-M1<\/a>…a camera with outstanding ergonomics and quite decent phase detection autofocus. \u00a0Panasonic finally gave Lumix fans what they’ve been asking for for years, a high-end rangefinder style body with a corner EVF and in-body IS. \u00a0The resulting GX7<\/a> received high marks and praise for doing so. \u00a0Panasonic also leveraged what is Micro 4\/3 greatest strength in the face of new competition from APS-C and now full-frame mirrorless manufacturers: Size. \u00a0The Panasonic GM1 with its exceptionally tiny 12-32mm pancake zoom lens creates a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that is similar in size to a compact like the Sony RX100.<\/p>\n On the lens front, we finally saw the first pro-grade zoom lens from Olympus, with the 12-40mm f\/2.8, and Panasonic announced (though has yet to release) the Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f\/1.2. \u00a0However, those looking to get a fast portrait lens for Micro 4\/3 can pick up the last leg of the Voigtl\u00e4nder Nokton trinity, the 42.5mm f\/0.95<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fujifilm continually updated their camera line with huge firmware updates, adding much needed improvements in autofocus capabilities, plus focus peaking and other usability improvements.<\/p>\n The X-E2 <\/a>sought to fix essentially all the complaints from the X-E1<\/a>, and they added two small bodies to take care of those wanting a smaller X-Series camera with the X-M1<\/a> and X-A1. \u00a0Meanwhile, they truly fleshed out their lens lineup with the 55-200mm f\/3.5-4.8<\/a>\u00a0telephoto zoom, provided an outstanding fast wide-angle with the XF 23mm f\/1.4<\/a> and provided a small carry along pancake with the 27mm f\/2.8<\/a>, while announcing their ultra-wide 10-24mm zoom. \u00a0All in all, in less than two years, Fuji has managed to put together a system that has nearly all the bases covered with very high quality glass.<\/p>\n Finally Sony made waves in the industry by providing the product that many enthusiasts and pros had been eagerly awaiting for years: A full-frame mirrorless camera. \u00a0The Sony A7<\/a> and A7R provide bodies with incredible image quality in a small package. \u00a0While the starting full-frame lens lineup is small, it already covers a fairly decent range, with more to come soon. \u00a0Hopefully Sony has a little more dedication in filling out the FE lens lineup than they have with the NEX system, but even without it, the already released Zeiss FE lenses like the 35mm f\/2.8<\/a> and 55mm f\/1.8 are incredible optically.<\/p>\n In all these manufacturer’s cases, it is apparent that all these manufacturers are listening to photographers and have figured out that listening to photographers works. Also, the established systems now all have extremely complete lineups, providing the majority of capabilities for photographers nowadays. \u00a0 Unfortunately, the big two, Canon and Nikon, seem content to slowly modify the status quo. \u00a0Nikon’s sole foray into trying to ride trends resulted in the Df…a camera with an amazing sensor in imaging, but is an ergonomic nightmare (Really, Nikon? \u00a0You make the exposure compensation dial permanently locked and on the top LEFT of the camera, making it impossible to change EC with your eye to the viewfinder?) \u00a0The smaller manufacturers are listening, and it’s creating great products with outstanding capabilities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Obviously, I’m not a clairvoyant person. \u00a0Had I been, I would have not said “I don’t see Sony releasing a full frame mirrorless camera this year” in my Mirrorless Industry roundup<\/a> in May. \u00a0Obviously, I was quite wrong about that. \u00a0However, I don’t feel I’m wrong on this: Full frame mirrorless will not kill the smaller formats.<\/p>\n Over the past month or so, I’ve seen every type of trolling post on message boards as well as several articles from different sources that have proclaimed that the coming of the Sony A7 and A7R spells the end of APS-C and smaller mirrorless format. \u00a0Micro 4\/3 is doomed and even APS-C cameras are dead now.<\/p>\n No, they’re not.<\/p>\n Listen, I’m not saying all the systems will survive the next 5 to 10 years. \u00a0I’m sure some will fade into oblivion. \u00a0It’s possible Micro 4\/3 will go away, it’s possible some of the APS-C makers will go away, but I feel very confident in saying that many will still be here for the long run. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Simply look to the past. \u00a0When Canon released the original 5D, the first full-frame camera that was priced in reach of enthusiasts in August of 2005, there were many at the time who thought this spelled the end of APS-C DSLRs. \u00a0Well, guess what…they’re still here, and they still sell far more than Full Frame cameras. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Price. \u00a0Even though full-frame bodies have come down over the years, they still are more expensive than similarly featured APS-C DSLRs, and due to the larger sensor and the tougher corners, the lenses required to really take advantage of the larger sensor tend to be the expensive pro-grade lenses as well. \u00a0To build a full-frame DSLR kit with lenses that will make it an obvious step up from an APS-C kit with good lenses, you’re going to spend quite a bit more money.<\/p>\n With mirrorless, there are TWO reasons, not just one. \u00a0Price, of course, and SIZE. \u00a0The big attraction to mirrorless is smaller size vs. a DSLR. \u00a0 On the price front, the cheapest full-frame mirrorless camera is $1,700. \u00a0The cheapest current APS-C one is about $400 and the cheapest current Micro 4\/3 camera is around $350 (not counting those with the older 12MP sensors). \u00a0Not to mention Sony has priced even slow primes in the stratosphere (though the optical quality is outstanding). \u00a0Regardless of any advancement, building a solid full-frame kit will continue to be more expensive. \u00a0A Sony A7 with 35mm, 55mm, 28-70 and 70-200 is going to run you over $5,000. \u00a0A similar Fuji X-E2 kit with 18-55, 23mm, 35mm and 55-200mm lenses runs around $3500 and a similar Micro 4\/3 kit with 12-50, 17mm, 25mm and 35-100mm costs about the same, though going to slower lenses and getting an E-PL5 with 14-42, 17mm, 20mm and 40-150mm costs about $1600.<\/p>\n In the size department, no matter what you do, a larger sensor is going to equal larger lenses. \u00a0I’m not talking about trying to match full frame depth of field. \u00a0If you want an 85mm f\/1.2 look on full frame, get a full frame camera with an 85mm f\/1.2…I’m talking about building a kit that provides great image quality and capabilities.<\/p>\n Because a larger format requires longer focal length lenses for the same field of view, the larger you go, the larger the lenses are. \u00a0My Fuji kit is larger than my Micro 4\/3 kit, but it’s still small enough to be very portable. \u00a0Once you go beyond about 85mm on full frame, the lenses get large quite quickly, and you’re not going to have a particularly small kit, aside from the camera.<\/p>\n Combine these two things and there will always be a market for smaller sensor cameras, regardless of the market segment.<\/p>\n There have also been reports coming out recently spelling the end of mirrorless completely. \u00a0This I don’t buy for a second. \u00a0The mistake these analysts are making is they are assuming that the point of mirrorless was to tempt point and shooting casual snappers to upgrade to them instead of DSLRs. \u00a0If the mirrorless makers are expecting this and budgeting accordingly, then I agree: they’ve made a big mistake.<\/p>\n Mirrorless cameras, like DSLRs, are experiencing a market correction. When digital SLRs first came out for the masses around 10 years ago, there was a huge influx to get them because they provided an absolutely enormous leap in image quality. \u00a0This growth wasn’t sustainable, and as smartphone cameras have improved in image quality and provided connectivity options, the average person isn’t bothered any more to lug the bigger gear. \u00a0If they won’t carry a DSLR, they’re not going to carry a compact camera or mirrorless camera either. \u00a0This low end of the market is lost to cell phones, and it’s not coming back.<\/p>\n However, there will ALWAYS be a market for SLRs and other high quality imaging solutions for enthusiasts and professionals, and in this segment, mirrorless cameras are becoming more and more popular. \u00a0Read any photography publication, go to any major photography forum, listen to major photography podcasts and you will see pros and enthusiasts alike adding mirrorless cameras to their kits regularly, with many switching entirely. \u00a0The mirrorless market is never going to be as big as the DSLR market was in, say, 2008, but NO interchangeable lens camera system is likely to be that popular again. \u00a0The market is correcting itself, and I predict that most enthusiasts and many pros will transition to mirrorless cameras of all kinds over the next 10-15 years. \u00a0DSLRs will still have a place for many pros and for many kinds of work for quite some time, but as EVFs improve and on-sensor autofocus improves, there will be fewer and fewer reasons to hold onto the old reflex mirror.<\/p>\n Another year has gone by, and I wanted to discuss two things. \u00a0First, thanks to all of you who come here to read my articles and reviews. \u00a0I started this site two years ago, and 2013 has seen a major growth in readership. \u00a0Admiring Light has had nearly 1.2 million page views this year…more than double what we had in 2012, and I thank you for continuing to return.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Continue: The Future<\/a><\/h4>\n
The Future<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/a>The End of Mirrorless?<\/h3>\n
Some Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n