This is the email I received about a potential Canon APS-H 1.3x mirrorless camera:
"Canon APS-H 1.3x mirrorless
I was talking with a friend of mine who often tests EOS cameras, that I can't wait any longer to buy my first mirrorless system but in the same time that am not satisfied with the IQ of any of the available offers (M4/3, NEX …etc)! He said "if IQ is what you want then maybe you should wait just a little bit longer". What do you mean?! I asked. "Canon will soon be launching an APS-H mirrorless camera" he said. APS-C you must've meant?!. "No it's 1.3x" he insisted. That's likely to be heavier, bulkier and more expensive then the competition, I commented. "Not really, the size & weight aren't any higher than Panasonic G1/GH1". The price could be comparable to xxD, he is guessing based on the build quality & features of the almost-finalized version he tested.Why would Canon use an APS-H sensor in that upcoming camera but not in the seemingly more demanding 7D class? I asked my friend. He thinks the main reason 7D didn't get APS-H is that Canon already has two lines of SLR lenses and doesn't want to add a third one to solve the UWA problem of 1.3x, but for mirrorless they have to introduce a new line of lenses anyway so the sensor can be any size. And Canon chose the APS-H according to my friend because of the following:
- They think that APS-C in general and their 1.6x (versus others' 1.5x) in particular is becoming increasingly difficult to improve on, update after update.
- Sensor production costs have fallen and there isn't much difference between 1.6x and 1.3x for Canon.
- Canon develop a new 1.3x sensor for the 1D series every few years and no other camera shared the R&D cost with the 1D before, but this time round the 16MP sensor of 1D4 will have a new use.
- Weight and size can be taken care of by design. So a larger sensor does not necessarily mean a heavier and bulkier package than the competition."