There are a number of digital cameras on the market today that are mirror-less cameras offering compact size and D-SLR levels of performance. Major players in the mirror-less camera market include Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung; all of which have mirror-less cameras in their lines.
Of all the companies in the digital camera world, the name with the most recognition would be Canon in many minds. Canon is reportedly considering a move into the mirror-less digital camera market. The news comes after Canon has finally been able to restore the full production capacity for its existing camera models after the giant earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
The disaster forced Canon to cut its sales goals for cameras for 2011 to 7 million units from 10 million units before the disaster. One of the big lures for camera makers to the mirror-less market are the expensive and high-profit accessories that go a long with the cameras such as lenses. Some analysts fear that if Canon steps into the market it would open itself up to more price competition.
However, other analysts think that the name recognition of Canon would help it to sell better than other brands. Analyst Tetsuya Wadaki from Nomura Securities in Tokyo said, "If they [Canon] market it properly, and differentiate it from other products, it will be positive." He also said, "The market reputation of Canon's cameras is on a different level from other manufacturers. People who hadn't considered a mirror-less before will probably buy it. But Canon have to be careful not to cannibalize sales of high-end compacts, where they make quite a bit of profit."
Canon's Masaya Maeda, head of the camera division said, "We are considering the technical aspects [of a mirror-less design]. We will launch an interesting product next year." However, he didn’t confirm if that product would be a mirror-less camera or not.