This is the week where the biggest announcements centered around the big Japanese consumer photography show, CP+, will get made. I've had a page up on sansmirror detailing the announcements so far, and it will continue to update it as each new announcement is made, but we're also getting a few products that don't fall into the mirrorless category, so I'll cover them here.
February 19th. The big non-mirrorless news so far is the curiously low-key announcement of the Canon Powershot V1. Yes, that camera is only going to be available in Asia (at least for awhile), but even in Asia the announcement was relatively low key.
The irony is that the V1 is a power shot directly at the Sony vlogging machine (ZV-1F, ZV-E10, maybe even FX30). Clearly, Canon is feeling that they need to throw everything into their competition with Sony now. The V1 has a brand new dual-pixel 22mp image sensor that's virtually equal to the m4/3 size in area (225mm2), but without the 4:3 aspect ratio. 4K/30P is downsampled, 4K/60P is done from a pixel-to-pixel 1.4x crop. Canon Log3 is supported, with 10-bit capture.
As you'd expect from a vlogging-style camera, it relies upon a fully articulating 1.04m dot Rear LCD touchscreen (no EVF) and has both headphone and mic sockets, as well as an audio connector built into the hot shoe. Interestingly, the V1 also has a built-in cooling fan so that it can be a continuous vlogger (or streamer, as UAV/UAC is built in). While the V1 is designed to be handled like a vlogger, it is capable of 18.7mp (5750 x 3840) stills at up to 15 fps mechanical shutter, 30 fps electronic.
Up front we have a retractable-for-transport 16-50mm (equivalent) f/2.8-4.5 5EV stabilized lens that can focus to 2" (0.05m) backed by a 3EV ND filter. Overall, the V1 is about the same size as the old M100/M200 type cameras and weighs 426g. Price is under US$1000. But the camera will only be available initially in China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. And that apparently won't happen until April. I'm told that the V1 will eventually be announced worldwide, though.
Also ironically, Nikon had something similar in mind back in 2016 when they announced and then unannounced the DL18-50 (though that was with a 1" image sensor). Nikon didn't believe me when I said a true wide angle compact would sell. Apparently now that the camera companies are listening to "influencers", going wide with the zoom turns out to be almost necessary. If the V1 sells in quantity, I'll consider myself vindicated. Again.
I still have to wonder, though, if the camera makers are mostly missing the point. These days I do vlogging chores with a DJI Osmo Pocket 3 because it is designed to purpose really well, and the smartphone connection works fast and reliably. A 30 fps still camera with a reasonably big sensor in a (large) pocketable camera is interesting, but as far as I can tell, the V1 isn't truly optimized for still use, so it's not going to dislodge others easily. (Disclosure: I have reviews of the Leica D-Lux8 and Fujifilm X100VI coming soon, but I'm still trying to clear a lot of other things off my plate first. 11 lens reviews. Another book. Web site designs. Remodel the office. Oh my.)
