With sensor prices dropping and given that mirrorless finally has some competition at the top end, it’s time for Nikon and Canon to treat its customers to something classic: a pocket-sized camera featuring a full frame sensor and a fast, fixed prime lens.
My case isn’t a strong one. Cameras with fixed prime lenses are few and far between. Leica makes a couple, with the Q2 its most recent offering and commanding the rather tasty price tag of $4,995, assuming you can get your hands on one. German engineering, precision manufacturing, incredible lens sharpness and its magnesium-alloy body ensures that Leica remains a choice for hardened fans and the mid-life crisis, as well as being the millionaire's point-and-shoot. 47.3 megapixels means that its 28mm lens can be optically cropped to 35mm and 50mm with the push of a button or two, while still achieving reasonable image quality. Hardcore enthusiasts wait with bated breath to find out if Leica will release an identical camera without the red logo on the front at the cost of an extra $500. Stealth mode comes at a premium these days.
Of a similar ilk is the RX1R II, bringing in-lens leaf shutter technology to Sony’s selection of full-frame cameras. Again, this is not a cheap offering but for discrete wedding work and moments where you need to be less intrusive, it offers a solid choice for anyone with a spare $3,298. If that sounds a little ridiculous, no, I can’t imagine that they’ve sold by the bucket-load either. However, as Fstoppers' own Ryan Mense mentioned back in 2015, this is an unfeasibly small camera given its innards, and Nikon and Canon have had almost four years to try and catch up.
The margins and sales numbers for this type of camera are both tiny which goes a long way to explaining why other manufacturers aren’t falling over themselves to produce something similar. The fixed prime body is where you send the dev guys with the biggest beards and the reddest eyes to dream, play, and come up with absurd ideas that somehow make it to market. For example, build a leaf shutter, remove the removable storage, and install Lightroom: Zeiss is still cagey about when the ZX1 will reach the shelves and the price is truly anyone’s guess, though we can be certain that it won't be cheap. This type of camera is never going to be a money spinner but does make for some funky technology and refreshing experimentation.
The Zeiss ZX1. Loveable lunacy loaded with Lightroom.
When it comes to Canon and Nikon, I’m quietly (perhaps stupidly) optimistic. If Nikon can plough resources into developing the rather insane 58mm f/0.95 S Noct, I hereby selfishly demand that they also waste some R&D on a camera that I’d like to see but will almost certainly never buy. Canon has its own array of problems to deal with right now, but that’s not an excuse either; if you go back far enough, there’s plenty of inspiration to be discovered, and one in particular proved very popular.
A Canonet GIII QL-17 from the early 1980s. A public domain photograph by John Kahrs
The Canon Canonet arrived in 1961 and made the perfect pocket camera, its rangefinder technology blending ease of use with practicality alongside a couple of other progressive features. Obviously, with the proliferation of smartphones, there’s no demand for such a camera today but the styling and history offers Canon plenty of ideas for a means of elevating its staid and conservative branding. This will never be a camera that sells; by contrast, this is about creating an audacious product that makes the company as a whole feel as though it offers something special.
So fundamentally, this isn’t simply about me wanting an expensive toy. It’s about me wanting camera manufacturers to step outside of their comfort zones and breathe some innovation into their brands. Company affiliation is built not simply on lens choices and the number of autofocus points, but also on how people perceive a company’s soul. Leica and Zeiss might not be good comparisons, but if Sony can muster a photographic folly that makes us feel happy despite the fact that we may never consider buying it, perhaps Canon and Nikon should give it a go too.
At a time when the battle for the mirrorless market is ever-more intense, I’m probably being unrealistic. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Lead image by John Kahrs.
I agree ! I just tried Fuji ( XE-3 ) very disappointed. I don't see the supposed secondary type of photography as any different than the first. A play camera if you will. If serendipity occurs I don't want a second rate file. There is no reasonable full frame smaller camera for anyone except those with 3-6K to spend.
Sony makes one for a little over $2.5K
Has everyone forgotten the Nikon 35Ti and 28Ti? Two quirky little cameras I lusted after. Dunno if either churned a profit or brought Nikon any significant notoriety. No matter, the real question is why Nikon or Canon would pay any heed to the above article? It is devoid of any business plan.
Unfortunately, starting with the Canonet illustrates the problem: 35mm fixed lens compact rangefinders were not all that expensive. But today, the compact FF or even APS-C, M43, or 1" cameras actually are, relative to DSLR and mirrorless.
Why? They come complete. Every ILC is available body-only, or with an awful kit lens for $50-$100 more. The kit lens is probably sold at or around cost, but it makes the system sale. But when you pay $1700 for an RX10 or $3200 for an RX1, much of that is the cost of an exceptional lens.
who need pocket camera when you have a smart phone?
Andy: you make a great point that this is a segment Canon and Nikon need to join. But you are far off point when you say a fixed lens, full frame camera would have dismal sales and ultra low margins, that only the strangest or weakest development execs are sent to this corporate segment.
Oliver Kaltner, Leicas last CEO, said in an interview that the first gen Q’s “demand was 3 times the supply” (even into 2017, a while after it’s release). He said it was an “outstanding success”. As a company, it was one of their greatest modern accomplishments at staying relevant. Check the link from leicarumors for the interview by the magazine/blog Infofotografi by Enche Tjin (interviewer).
I'd sooner buy a Canonet G-III again. Really enjoying shooting with that little camera.
How about a 24-70 2.8 FF VR/VC bridge cam. Doubt any manufacturer has this product out there. Will definitely compete well against many of entry crops as well as pathetic bridge cams if priced right.
I'd love to see a full frame Nikon camera similar to the X100 series with a fixed 50mm lens. I think there should be a market for this.