Canon Hints at Mirrorless Cameras by 2012

Canon was hit with production troubles after the March 2011 natural disaster that rocked Japan. Masaya Maeda, Head of Canon’s camera division has stated that the company has restored their camera production to levels seen before the disaster. According to a report by Reuters, the Head of the division dropped a major hint that they would be launching an Interchangeable Lens Camera by 2012. He stated the same by saying that the company was considering the technical aspects of it and also hinted that Canon would launch an interesting product by next year.

Could we see an ILC from Canon by 2012?

The Interchangeable Lens Camera (ILC) segment is currently dominated by the likes of Olympus, Pentax and Sony with the companies launching compact, mirrorless cameras at relatively inexpensive prices as compared to DSLRs. The report goes on to suggest that Canon could succeed in this segment due to the vast following of the company’s fans. People who hadn't considered a mirrorless camera before will probably buy it. Though the market reputation of Canon's cameras is on a different level from other manufacturers. Canon has to be careful not to cannibalize sales of high-end compacts, where they make quite a bit of profit. Though the comment made by Masaya Maeda suggests that an ILC is in the pipeline, it is not a confirmed fact, but a very likely indication that it would be a suggestion of the same.

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Maeda went on to state that Canon's production of cameras returned to pre-quake levels at the end of June after parts shortages following the earthquake and tsunami forced the company to halt manufacturing at its plants on the southern island of Kyushu for about 10 days and hampered production for months.