CanonWatch spotted the documents from the company’s Corporate Strategy Conference. And there is really no hiding anymore. Canon writes

“We will go on the offensive and work to expand our sales in the mirrorless camera market. This will allow us to reach our goal of 50% market share of the entire interchangeable-lens camera market.”

Canon believes they can reach a percentage of over 50% which is something they never had before. It would mean their new mirrorless offerings should beat the current Sony-Fuji-MFT systems. Hard to believe as they would really bring some kind of unexpected innovation to grab some attention.

Is this just marketing blabla or do they really have some exciting news ahead?

Focus Numerique interviewed Nikon at the Cp+ show. Here are some key info google translated from the original french text:

On the lack of innovation
“we are not the first to launch a new technology. What is important to us is that our technologies are reliable and bring real added value to our users. For example, technologies such as Nano Crystal processing, PF lenses and optical stabilization are developed through our discussions with users.“

On sensor stabilization
“Nikon currently only uses optical stabilization. One of the problems of sensor stabilization, the sensor may no longer be exactly on the image plane of the camera and the image can lose precision. As we explained, we are not deploying new technology without being certain of its reliability and usefulness. Please wait, because we are developing this technology that will be used in the years to come.“

100 Megapixel on Full Frame sensor and diffraction issue:
“It will be possible! Diffraction is governed by physical laws and this phenomenon can not be eliminated only with optical technologies. We consider that on this point, a numerical correction is effective. What is very important for Nikon is that the use of digital corrections is not governed by technical constraints on a goal, but only to mitigate phenomena that we can not optically avoid.“

About a possible Full Frame mirrorless:
“Nikon launched the F mount 60 years ago. We have already sold 100 million goals. We have massive users who are already using our F mount lenses. Think of them. Nikon lens enthusiasts are very precious to us. In any case, it is difficult to answer your question clearly.”

My comments on this:
1) In this interview Nikon manages to sell their weakness as a strong point :)
2) Nikon is still hiding their cards on their mirrorless strategy.

Today Goerz launched the new Citograph 50mm f/2.8 fundrising on Kickstarter. The lens is available as Fuji X, Sony E and Leica M option too.

The French website Mizuwari (google translation here) interviewed Sigma CEO MR. Kazuto Yamaki. There are a lot of news inside their article and I am only sharing four of them here:

Glass versus Plastic Glass: “Plastic glasses suffer from a major problem: they dilate strongly when it is hot and shrink just as much when it is cold. These variations are detrimental to optical performance.”

Curved sensors: “The curved sensors would be an interesting solution for smartphones but too restrictive for a conventional camera, fixed or non-fixed.”

Foveon sensors: “We are not against supplying Foveon sensors to other manufacturers, but it is not so simple. Beyond the hardware, it is also necessary to take into account the dedicated processor, the way to exploit it, the very particular algorithms that make it possible to take advantage of the triple layer architecture.
I am completely for a Leica M with Foveon sensor! And if we made bigger sensors, I’d love to see Hasselblad Foveon sensors.”

Medium Format: “we can not afford to embark on such an adventure.”

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One more thing: The new Sigma FE lenses are now on preorder here:
All lenses listed on one page at BHphoto (Click here). In detail:
Sigma 14mm f/1.8 for $1,599 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 24mm f/1.4 for $849 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 for $949 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for $1,199 at BHphoto.
Sigma 135mm f/1.8 for $1,399 at BHphoto.

The big disappointment was big when Sigma announced their first FF E-mount lenses. But Sony folks will find new hope in today’s french magazine Focus Numerique article. They interviewed Sigma CEO Mr. Kazuto Yamaki and he said:

“We will develop native optics for Sony FE if they are different from what we can already offer in our “reflex” range.“

At last some common sense :)

The same french magazine also interviewed Olympus CEO Terada where he confirms there will be no professional video oriented MFT camera from Olympus.