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| Which design do you prefer? Photos: Mitchell Clark |
Last year, Fujifilm released the X half – a quirky camera that leans heavily on retro styling, and that emulates a more analog shooting process, especially in its film camera mode. It’d be a stretch to say that it’s the type of thing we expect from the company, but it didn’t completely shock us like it would’ve had it come from another company with less of a history in mimicking film cameras.
Perhaps we should start getting used to the idea.
Canon is showing off a concept at its booth at CP+ that takes the metaphor even further. Design-wise, it looks like an old camera with a waist-level viewfinder, but rather than using film, it has a Type 1 (13.1 x 9.8mm) sensor. According to a diagram displayed alongside it, light from the lens (a manual focus-only 50mm equiv. F1.8) bounces off a mirror, and up into the viewfinder. But flip a lever on the side, and another mirror directs it to the sensor.
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| The prototype attendees got to handle was much less polished than the ones under glass. |
To be clear, we’re a long way from this – or even anything similar – being an actual product, if that ever happens at all. The one I got to play with seemed like it was at least partially 3D printed, and had a display that didn’t do anything; the live view was shown on a TV, with a signal passed along a cable plugged into the side of its body. I’m not sure it could even actually take a picture, and the buttons on the back didn’t seem to do much beyond making the camera switch into modes that didn’t actually work.
However, it’s interesting to see Canon even displaying it, and asking attendees to vote on which of two potential designs they like best. The mock-ups on display are more refined, seeming to feature actual shutter buttons and a large knob on the side, though its purpose is unclear. The survey also asks questions about what you’d look for in this kind of camera and how much you’d be willing to pay for one, were it to actually make it to market in some form. To me, that indicates that it’s not just a fun toy the company’s engineers cooked up solely to give people something to play with at its booth.
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| The booth drew a lot of attention; we’d be surprised if Canon didn’t take notice of how many people wanted to play with it. |
Canon has said before that it sees itself as a company that’s always looking forward, despite a somewhat traditional approach to product designs. Some have used that perception to dismiss the idea it would ever release a throwback camera like the Nikon Zf or Pentax 17. But this camera shows a more playful side of the company, and even if we never see this particular model again, it makes us wonder if the X half was just the start of something, rather than an odd one-off.
Our DPREVIEW Tribute:
After nearly 25 years of operation, DPReview closed on 10 April 2023. This difficult decision was part of the annual operating plan review that parent company, Amazon, shared earlier this year.
Over the course of 25 years, DP Review built up a reputation as being one of the most informative places to go for information about that new camera or lens you’re after. DP Review began as an independent reviews site based in the UK in 1998, the brainchild of Philip and Joanna Askey, but it was eventually purchased by Amazon in 2007 and relocated over to Seattle in the USA in 2010.
Cheers DPReview – thanks for the great work and content that guided photographers, videographers and techno junkies the world over!