[Ayoh]

Yes, I agree here. The mirrorless gang has to be prepared to go for a long battle. The camera market is a religious one.

However, unlike Canikon they have no constraints and on the long run this will make a difference.

Or to phrase it differently - when was the last time, Canon and Nikon came up with a (DSLR-centric) innovation ? 

But yes, given their brand strength, they could still turn the tide any time.

IF they would come up with mirrorless cameras of similar capabilities (than their DSLRs), they would sell like hot cake. Even the half-hearty EOS-M did better than expected given the quality and scale of the system. In this case, nobody would even raise a question anymore whether mirrorless is the real thing.

Honestly exactly that happened over at Sony. Their DSLR lineup is dead.

 

I think Canon is just complacent due to their strong market position. If motivated they will continue to dominate technologically. I remember reading an interview with a Canon engineer who expressed (subtly) his frustrations that engineering innovation is often bridled by management when they see no need to release new technology quickly due to their strong market position.

 

If you look at all the big developments in camera technology, most of it is initially developed by Canon and the others eventually follow e.g electronic lens mount communication, USM, IS, CMOS sensors, sophisticated PDAF (f2.8 sensors, large AF point arrays), live view, duel-pixel design, full frame, video, diffractive optics, extreme lens designs (200mm 1.8, 85 1.2), fast frame rates. Canon has always been a dominant technological leader and there is no reason this should not continue. I think its more a question of them not feeling enough pressure to feel the need to do more.

 

Even with the hype around mirror-less cameras, they do not really sell that well globally and the manufacturers are not making money on them. Attempting to be profitable is probably why something like a EM-1 is so over priced compared to a competing DSLR, which is definitely more expensive to build.