As a user, besides better low-light performance (though I’m not unhappy with my 50D’s, that’d still make a 60D tempting), I’d like to see a powerful AF-assist light built in. A bigger viewfinder with 98% magnification would also be huge (the better viewfinder was the killer feature that moved up from XXXd to XXd). Add space for more custom modes on the mode dial, and make it possible to customize the functions of more buttons. Those features would make real differences in my shooting in the real world, rather than just a desire to compare specs and numbers with other geeks online.

APS-H? It’s neither fish nor fowl, and having a third format with very low sales can’t be a good business strategy (they’ll certainly never design lenses for it unless they drop APS-C, which isn’t going to happen). If you want a larger sensor now, go to FF. Let APS-H die. Put the money saved into reducing noise on APS-C. If as the rumor says they’re continuing to improve the chip without adding more MP, that’s a good sign. Canon and many Canon users have put too much money into EF-S lenses to abandon the format at the semi-pro level (there are at least a couple of excellent EF-S lenses).

More focus points? Nice to brag about, but the system on the 50D hasn’t been a problem for me (though I realize it could be useful for people with different needs and thus would be a real improvement–I’m not dismissing it as a useful feature, just questioning how many of the people going on and on about it actually have any real photographic problems it would solve).

RC-1? Not vital, but it would be slightly useful and it seems like it’d be cheap to implement, so why not? But at this point people with a need already have radio wireless sets that are far more capable than infrared (my Chinese eBay cheapie works well and does everything but the laundry, all from much farther away than infrared could dream of).

Higher frame rate? Important for a small number of people, but for me and 90% of people who’d be buying an XXd (and 90% of the people going on and on about frame rate), it’d be nice to have but wouldn’t make a big enough difference frequently enough to really be important.

Higher res LCD/OLED? The jump to 920K pix made a big difference; going 11.8% higher to 1150K won’t (25% more pixels means only 11.8% higher resolution). Though if it’s brighter and saves battery life, that’s always good. Still, brightness on the 50D isn’t a problem, so unless it makes a dramatic difference in battery life (unlikely), it’s not going to make much difference in using the camera. The video users wanting better screens for 1080p may be on to something, but from their own comments, it seems what they need is a much bigger display, not another one about the same size with more pixels (and they probably need a display way too big to be built into the camera).

SDHC/CF? Replacing a few cards isn’t a significant expense next to the cost of an XXd. I do like the bullet-proof durability of CF, though–I’ve had more than one SD come apart on me. Either way, memory card format isn’t going to make a big difference in real life.

Battery? If it gives longer life than continuing with the old one would, great. As with memory cards, I’m not going to complain about replacing a couple of extra batteries–against the cost of the camera it’s not that significant. (Especially considering the APS-H fans who’d cheerfully have me spending US$2000 to replace a pair of EF-S lenses.)

MLU button? That actually would fit my way of shooting, but since I can set up a custom mode with MLU and remote, etc., a button wouldn’t make much difference. More custom modes right there on the dial would be super, though. And more reprogrammable buttons–I might like an MLU button, but it’d be useless to 95% of users, and whatever someone else might find indispensable would probably be useless to me.

My guess is it’ll come out at $1199, although $1299 again is also a strong possibility (especially given the Yen vs. Dollar exchange rate right now). The Rebel line, 5D line, and 1D line also show similar price drops from model to model.

Moore’s Law is awesome.

The 50D wasn’t a very big upgrade from the 40D…but neither was the 30D a very big update from the 20D. They’re due for a big update.