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Blink, and you missed them! Though it may seem at times that we have only seen incremental improvements in the new cameras introduced in 2024, that is fortunately not quite the case. In fact, there have been five important and very useful developments that we predict will become more and more commonplace in future mirrorless cameras. Plus, we report on a sixth developing trend.
1. Camera to Cloud (C2C)
Camera to Cloud (C2C) allows you to shoot a picture or video and have it uploaded automatically and instantly to cloud storage. You just have to pair your camera to your smart phone once, and you don’t have to fiddle around anymore after that. As soon as you take a picture, it’s automatically sent to your cloud storage. You don’t need to wait to download your pictures to your hard drive after you return to your hotel, home or studio.
For journalists and reporters, C2C means that while they are shooting an event, their editorial team back at the news office can start curating and post-processing the pictures and videos right away. By working together with the photographer in “parallel,” the editors can curate the best pictures and videos and publish them on their news site even as the event is unfolding in real-time. Viewers can thus witness a live event in progress before it becomes old news.
This C2C seamless workflow is currently possible using some cameras and cine cameras from Fujifilm (GFX 100II, GFX 100SII, X-H2S/H2, X-T5, X-T50, X-S20, X100VI), Panasonic (LUMIX S5IIX/S5II, GH7) and RED (all V-RAPTOR and KOMODO models). We expect to see C2C migrate to more camera brands.
2. Look-Up Tables (LUTs)
Even though C2C workflow saves a lot of time, the pictures and videos that are automatically uploaded to cloud still need to be edited and post processed for the desired look and effect.
If you have a team of editors working back at the office studio, well and good, but for content creators working solo, wouldn’t it be great if they could apply a pre-edited look and effect to their photos and videos in-camera? If a pre-edited look and effect can be accessed and applied to a picture or video in-camera, then no further editing or post-processing would be needed.
That is where the idea of pre-edited looks through the use of Look-Up Tables (LUTs) come into play.
LUTs have been available for some time now as a professional post-processing tool for achieving a cinematic look in video cameras. Panasonic and Leica have offered LUTs in their hybrid cameras for color grading videos. More recently, Panasonic has offered Real Time LUTs in its full-frame mirrorless cameras (LUMIX S5IIX/S5II, G9II, GH7, S9) for both videos and stills. Of course, you can think of LUTs as Film Simulation or Picture Controls for stills photography. LUTs, though, are much more versatile, allowing you to choose or create your own desired unique effect.
For solo content creators, LUTs are a real time and life saver, and we are starting to see cameras that have a dedicated LUT dial. We expect to see LUTs migrate to more camera brands.
3. Seamless Integration to Smartphone
Next, instead of just uploading the picture or video to cloud storage, why not also post it directly (and automatically) to your website or favorite social media sites?
To be able to do that, you need your camera to seamlessly integrate to your camera at all times. In most cameras, you only connect to your smartphone (with more or less touch-and-go success) when you want to post something to your social site. It means, stopping taking pictures, going into the menu to launch the connection app, waiting, retrying a number of times until successful connection, and then publishing, then disconnecting — only to go through the whole process for the next photo you want to publish. With seamless integration of your camera and phone, every picture you take is automatically uploaded to your phone, ready to be published at the click of a button.
In this way, a one-team person can single-handedly 1) take a picture or shoot a video, 2) apply a pre-edited look to it in-camera (with LUT), 3) instantly and automatically upload it to cloud storage (C2C), and 4) automatically and instantly publish it to social sites (with seamless phone integration).
That is more or less the premise behind the Panasonic LUMIX S9 full-frame mirrorless camera. Though it does not offer C2C workflow (it does not need to since with LUTs, there’s no editing to be done out of camera), it substitutes that with the LumixLab app for a seamless integration from camera to smartphone for instant and automatic upload to your social media sites.
Once more content creators start understanding the advantages of this automated workflow, they will all want it. So, look out for these three features in future mirrorless cameras: 1) C2C / LumixLab-type feature, 2) the LUT feature, and 3) seamless integration with phone, making instant publishing to social sites more prevalent.
4. Predictive AF
A feature that we did not quite see coming but is now here in a limited way is Predictive AF. Predictive AF uses deep learning to construct a knowledge base of actions for specific sports. For example, in volleyball, it will track the ball and the players, and it will attempt to predict which player will be the main or most important subject. The latter might be the one jumping up to smash the ball or the one diving to retrieve the ball, etc.
The premise is that Predictive AF has the potential to free the photographer from having to decide where to position the AF target and let the camera do it automatically, thus allowing the photographer to instead concentrate on following the action and deciding when to take a picture at the decisive moment — confident that the camera will get the most important subject in sharp focus. Of course, when there are many players in the field interacting with one another, Predictive AF may not succeed.
Predictive AF is currently only available in Canon’s flagship EOS R1 full-frame professional mirrorless camera. It is called Action Priority AF and it currently supports three sports: soccer, basketball and volleyball — with the understanding that more sports will be added in the future via firmware updates.
Depending on how accurate and successful Predictive AF works, this feature may well become the next frontier in the never-ending battle for the best tracking AF in modern mirrorless cameras.
5. Generative AI & Content Authenticity
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is steadily and surely making inroads into mirrorless cameras, one example being the Action Priority AF in the Canon EOS R1. This is “good” AI in the sense that it helps the photographer with a task that does not manipulate the resulting image.
Another type of AI gaining traction, especialy in smartphone cameras, is Generative AI. Generative AI has no qualm manipulating the image captured, automatically applying digital effects to add more drama to the image (or to “instagram” an image), resulting in a “non-authentic” image. It could also make minute adjustments to the captured image to try to render it “more realistic.”
And herein lies the danger of AI digital manipulation: when does it start to encroach into the authenticity of an image? Content Authenticity is of paramount importance if we are ever going to be able to trust an image or video instead of questioning if it was generated, enhanced or manipulated by AI.
So, even as camera engineers use AI to help the photographer capture more creative images, they also have to factor in how to ensure the authenticity of each image. Besides securing the metadata of each image, perhaps we might also see in future cameras a button (or menu option) that will quickly disable all Generative AI (but not the non-image manipulation AI) features so you can guarantee the content authenticity of the pictures you’re about to shoot (e.g., as you witness a news-worthy event unfolding before you).
These are the five developments we feel are important but may have gone mostly under the radar for most photographers. Watch out for them appearing in future mirrorless cameras.
6. Back to the Future
To our five technology developments, let’s add a sixth observation. This is not so much a technology development than a trend away from the “do-everything-for-you” technology we just highlighted above. Even as we see our cameras getting more and more intelligent and doing more and more for us, we see a trend happening where some photographers are choosing to go back to shooting with film cameras or basic digital cameras. It has nothing to do with retro look or operation, but more a return to authenticity, even simplicity. They do not want a “doctored” image, but one that they feel they took, warts and all. It’s like wanting to cook a meal yourself instead of buying the same restaurant fare everyday. Though the restaurant dishes may be delicious at first, we quickly get tired of it and soon they all start to taste the same. It’s about authenticity, genuineness, imperfection and the beauty in it. Camera manufacturers should be wise to pay attention to this developing trend.
MODELS ANNOUNCED IN 2024
Here are some of the models announced during 2024 (click each model to read more):
| Canon | Fujifilm | Nikon | OM System | Panasonic | Sony | |
| JAN | OM-1 II | |||||
| FEB | X100VI | |||||
| MAR | ||||||
| APR | ||||||
| MAY | GFX100SII X-T50 | S9 | ||||
| JUN | Z6III | GH7 | ||||
| JUL | EOS R1 EOS R5 II | FZ80D | ZV-E10 II | |||
| AUG | ||||||
| SEP | ||||||
| OCT | X-M5 | |||||
| NOV | Z50II | A1 II | ||||
| DEC | G97 ZS99 |
The Future of MFT and APS-C
In the last few years, we have witnessed the emergence of full-frame mirrorless cameras as the de facto standard. We’ve seen Panasonic introduce its full-frame S Series, and both Canon and Nikon are introducing a full stable of full-frame models for every shooting level and price point.
Is there a future for APS-C/MFT? We believe so and fervently hope so. But Olympus, Panasonic and Fujifilm need to design and build smaller, lighter and especially more affordable APS-C/MFT cameras. Make them retro-looking (like the beautiful Canonet QL 28, a 35mm film rangefinder camera). I mean, look at the success of the retro Fujifilm X100 series. As we reported, a new trend has started with photographers seeking out simpler models. Note that simpler does not mean technologically deficient. Basic models are definitively in. But if you provide IBIS, then it’s better be top notch — or else do not provide it. Same for Tracking AF: it’s got to be fast and sticky — or do not provide it. Make these cameras small, compact, light, pocketable, weather resistant, tough, beautiful, and affordable — and they’ll sell like hot cakes.
Buying A Camera in 2025
There are now lots of great mirrorless cameras available to suit every need and budget. It’s almost impossible to buy a bad mirrorless camera these days and our Camera Buyer’s Guide has them all.
Thank-You
We thank you, our readers, for your continued support. Every visit and every purchase (however small) you make through the links on our site help us continue to publish.
We thank the camera companies, their PR firms, and our affiliate partners.
Remember: No matter which camera you purchase and use, Enjoy your photography!
Wishing y’all a Happy and Safe New Year 2025!
En vous souhaitant une bonne et heureuse année 2025 !
– Photoxels Editors
