Look deep in Canon’s history, and you’ll see only a few iconic cameras that aren’t SLR-style camera bodies. Those two cameras are also possibly some of the most beloved from their portfolio. The mere mention of the Canon Canonnet QL17 can get any rangefinder camera lover’s heart beating. And if they want a second helping, they’ll probably speak to the Canon 7 series rangefinder and the beautiful lenses it could use. Truly, Canon’s rangefinder-style cameras are stunning, but considering that all Canon really seems to make are SLR-style cameras, we’re not sure that we can expect a rangefinder-style camera.
Lead image by Shueido Camera and used in our feature on their custom camera work.
Don’t Get Your Hopes Up
For this article, I’m defining a rangefinder-style camera as one that is made with a small or no grip and also has the viewfinder off to the side of the camera. As it is, Canon hasn’t really made anything like that where the viewfinder is constantly available. Even the older G-series point and shoots like the G9 series had the viewfinder right in the center.
However, that would be pretty important to a retro-series camera from Canon. The success of the Fujifilm X100vi is partially from the retro-style looks and the fact that it’s so unique contrasting to the massive amount of SLR-style cameras out there.
If we look at history, Canon doesn’t take risks. They wait for everyone else to do something, and only then do they launch something pretty good. It’s a smart business move because it means that everyone else has done the market research for you. Considering that they started out as a company that copied Nikon, they’re being authentically themselves with a move like this.
The Retro Canon Camera of My Dreams
What I’d love to see from Canon is the brand embracing that long-lost part of themselves and who they were when they were a younger company. Why not make a luxury-style rangefinder-inspired camera? Why not give it a fixed lens and a full-frame sensor? Why not make it weather-resistant the way that the Canon G1x Mk III was? Canon has all the parts in place to do something like this; and they don’t have to appeal to the vlogger market with it. Truly, these cameras are things that photographers would buy to make photos with it. I don’t go to Canon reps and ask them to put a hot shoe and RAW photo abilities in their C300 series of cinema cameras.
Canon has been known in the past to make a few brass cameras along with black paint, silver, white, etc. Why not do that?
So why can’t photographers have something just for them?
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