New Canon mirrorless interchangeble-lens compact camera

EORI wrote in post #14732747
Exactly. The primary benefit of going with a mirrorless camera design is size and weight reduction. I have an Olympus Pen E-P3, and while a third party adaptor is available to attach my collection of FD/EF/EF-L lenses, I haven't been compelled to get one. I much prefer the tiny, native m43 lenses for their size, weight and AF, not to mention very high IQ.

+1000

RetroBlader wrote in post #14733791
The real question is how much function the adaptor will provide.

As you may know, of all the mirrorless adaptors out there, only Sony's adaptors offer AF capability. This is because all mirrorless cameras out there use contrast-detection AF (except for Nikon 1-series using a hybrid system), and most of the current DSLR lenses are designed to be used with phase-detection.

That's not exactly true. From using liveview on Canon DSLR cameras, we know Canon lenses can focus (slower) via contrast detect. Olympus adapters have done this from the get go. Sony, too. The Pentax K01 can AF the older DSLR K mount lenses without a phase detect module. Contrast detect AF wouldn't be ideal for action, though, but it works just fine in general.

EORI wrote in post #14732784
A thought just occurred to me. I speculated earlier that Canon will make all APS-C sensor cameras mirrorless, leaving the DSLRs to go FF (perhaps to retain the optical viewfinder). The mirrorless camera to be released shortly will get a new lens mount. Where does that leave the future of current APS-C mount lenses? Many have wondered why Canon has not released more APS-C lenses (particularly primes and fast zooms), and I suspect it's because those will be phased out in favor of a lens lineup dedicated to the new mirrorless mount.

Seeing how that is all speculation, I'd say we don't need to worry much about it. Canon will make traditional DSLR models as long as they think they can sell them.

RetroBlader wrote in post #14733791
As you may know, of all the mirrorless adaptors out there, only Sony's adaptors offer AF capability. This is because all mirrorless cameras out there use contrast-detection AF (except for Nikon 1-series using a hybrid system), and most of the current DSLR lenses are designed to be used with phase-detection.

tkbslc wrote in post #14734539
That's not exactly true. From using liveview on Canon DSLR cameras, we know Canon lenses can focus (slower) via contrast detect. [...] Contrast detect AF wouldn't be ideal for action, though, but it works just fine in general.

Ok, that is technically correct, but my main point remains valid. Let me rephrase:

Most of the current DSLR lenses are designed to be used with phase-detection, but they can be used with contrast-detection AF as well, albeit much slower, and often with some hunting before locking on.

I suspect most of us here at POTN have a LiveView-capable body and at least one USM lens, so I don't need to tell you how much slower contrast-detection AF works with our USM lenses.

That doesn't mean contrast-detection AF does not work. It is often more accurate (when it eventually locks on), but I think it is also fair to say the process can be frustratingly slow, especially when most of us bought USM lenses in the first place so we can achieve focus faster!

The sad thing is that most point-and-shoots (where the lenses are optimized to be used with contrast-detection AF) can achieve focus faster than my 7D in LiveView with USM lenses.
(Or should I be or ?)

Anyway, my point is that we shouldn't expect the new Canon mirrorless to give us the best of both worlds -- some compromise will be needed somewhere.

Judging by the new hybrid sensor in the 650D, and the introduction of STM lenses, I suspect the new Canon mirrorless will use contrast-detection as the main mode of AF. This means we shouldn't expect our USM lenses to work as beautifully on the mirrorless as they do on our DSLRs....