Future of EOS-M cameras and EF-M lenses...

keeponkeepingon wrote:

Thank you very much for the thoughts on mirrorless vs DSLRs!

I've been dragging my feet on upgrading my original EOS-M and sitting on the sidelines waiting for the R to drop before deciding if I should bail and go totally over to the "Dark Side" (AKA Sony)

Sony's products are popular although most Sony and Canon users tend to prefer the Canon colors and Canon ergonomics.  The Canon PowerShot Pro1 used a Sony chip from memory (see below).

Comments:
Motorola Razr not Nokia Razor

(Nit picking but in case you intend to publish elsewhere it's one of those imperfections that can be distracting).

Yup. That's right. Although it was around 4am when I wrote that reply so ... show a little mercy!

It was a total @ss camera by todays standards but it's the first camera I remember using on a phone and even though I owned the S100/Ixus often it was the "camera I had with me" as the S100 was technically the wife's so I had to let her use it once in a while.

Jealous that you were able to follow up the S100 with the Pro1.

I think I waited for a 3x optical zoom to come out and ended up buying an s400 (IXUS) in 2003.  Then the Pro 1 came out in 2004.  Another chap here and myself leaked the first images of the Pro 1 here on DPreview (he supplied the pictures) and I was severely mocked by members because they didn't believe such a camera could exist.  Also, the leak and reveal by Canon took place almost two weeks AFTER a major camera series announcement so it made no sense for Canon to announce a new camera after the recent Expo had ended.  The other chap who supplied me with the images lost his job over it when Canon Japan contacted staff here at Dpreview and demanded the member's details.  Nobody knows if they were compliant or not.  These were the days when Phil A. ran (and owned) the site.
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I took out a small personal loan from my bank to buy the Pro 1 because I didn't have enough cash on hand at the time... and I also ordered a custom-made Pro-Book laptop from Apple computers.  It arrived from Singapore with a bright red stuck pixel in the middle of the laptop screen and they had to make another.  I traveled with the two of them.  The cost of the camera was something like AUD $1299 but the computer was over $7K at the time and I'd already saved some money to put towards it.

Gosh I lusted after that camera and the Sony equivalent but never could justify the cost. Still the only powershot with "L" glass I think?

Was the Sony called the R1? (or something like that?).  I thought it took a very impressive picture although the specs were similar to the Pro1 and the Sony also required their very expensive Sony Memory Sticks if I remember correctly.  The Pro 1 had a fast enough lens with f/2.4 - but the sensor was so small that its benefits were lost on the size of the sensor.

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My old Canon PowerShot Pro 1 - all it lacked was Image Stabilization.
An L-series lens (28mm -200mm f/2.4L) on a PowerShot compact camera!

Speaking of the pro1 what is that floating head sticking out to the right of the woman's midsection on Waikiki? There's no way I can make a body to go with the head out of the other stuff in the background, maybe it was a ghost glaring at you for using your camera in public?

I'm guessing she was from Japan. No idea about the floating head...  I hadn't really noticed it before. The Japanese are obsessed with Hawaii and I met with several wedding groups there who told me they found it cheaper to fly their entire families to Hawaii rather than celebrate in Japan.
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Canon PowerShot Pro1.
This camera was really quite exceptional and yet the tiny sensor size was no different to other sub-compact cameras at the time. Canon were going to drop I.S. into it but changed their mind at the last moment due to the additional weight and bulk it would have added. Three years later they managed to miniaturize the IS system for smaller lenses and it was terribly sad that they did not follow up with a Pro 1 Mk II model. There's always a chance they will revisit this amazing camera some day with a revision. The purpose of the Pro1 was to enable professional photographs without a need to edit them outside of the camera (presumably the in-camera editing was enhanced by the DiGiC Chip inside). The colors and saturation were bold if not a little enhanced by user settings. The camera came with a bayonet style threaded 58mm filter mount.
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The 28mm focal length on this camera shows what I might expect from the upcoming RF 28-70mm f/2L USM lens.  I happen to think Canon has a winner of their hands with that monstrous piece of glass.
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Some shots from that same trip below, taken with the Pro1...  I really loved that camera.  I sold it on Ebay when the G1X came out to justify it.  The larger sensor made a difference.  But it's the only thing I've regretted selling.
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