Messages

31

Lenses / Re: rumors about a new EF-S 10-22mm ??

« on: August 12, 2011, 06:51:50 AM »

I guess he heard about a new Canon ultra-wide zoom. Which is really coming soon. The Canon 8-15mm F4L (tested recently on Lenstip: http://www.lenstip.com/index.php?test=obiektywu&test_ob=311. 
But never heard about an update of the 10-22mm yet.

32

EOS Bodies / Re: EOS 7D mrk. II

« on: July 02, 2011, 07:44:33 PM »

I doubt that Canon has even started to spec out the 7D II in any serious way. It's at least a year and two other models (5D and 1Ds) away from being released.

You forgot the 650D, probably 700D, 70D and maybe even 1D Mk5 if they decide not to merge lines (7D was out just before 1D Mk4 was).

I expect that they have it pretty well planned out, but I do not think anyone outside a very few at Canon are privy to the plan.  Many camera parts are long lead time, so you need to have a model planned a year before you plan to introduce it.  That does not mean everything is cast in stone, but, if they do not know what sensor, LCD, processor, etc they plan to use, it will be more than a year off.  you do not just decide these things and a week later cameras start rolling down the production line, all the prototyping, tooling, testing, etc take much longer than many think.

Definitely.
The development of a new sensor or a new body start before the release of the previous one! If 1DsIV will be released this summer, expect Canon to already start thinking about 1DsmV, what to change and improve, explore different options, etc... Such high grade camera is specced out maybe 1 year before release. Then start software development and debugging, real life testing, etc...

R&D is a very long process barely understood by many people.

33

EOS Bodies / Re: Do Canon still develop Full Frame Cameras?

« on: July 01, 2011, 04:42:56 AM »

You only have to look at the xxxD series to see that, without even looking at the other glaring example, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D.

So people willing to spend $1000 or less have had 6 cameras in the same timeframe as the pros who spend $3-6000 have had 2.

Am I the only one that doesn't feel pros are a priority anymore?

That is a very good example, thank you very much. So people that bought all the XXXD or the 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D spent 6000+$. Finally, wat did they get? During this 6 years, they just get a camera which do not provide yet a better picture than the 3000$ 5DmI that a pro would have bought 6 years ago.
So finally, upgrading XXD bodies every year during 6 years did not even catch up the antediluvian pro body IQ, not even talking about the "old" 5DmII.

Maybe that's why real professional don't care about getting a "new" body every year.
Then, if you feel better pro with a 600D because it is more recent, please, go ahead. 

34

EOS Bodies / Re: Do Canon still develop Full Frame Cameras?

« on: July 01, 2011, 12:46:08 AM »

You know, our photography department should have you write their proposal for replacing their outdated fleet of 1DIII with the new 1DIV. I'm sure you'll be able to convince our boss the benefits of what the new bodies can do where the old ones can't.

Getting a tad fed up of sarcastic comments. Some people it would seem would be happy if Canon updated every 20 years or so.

The 1DMk4 is hardly new, it's older than an iPad 1 at 18 months.

What about no updates, ever? Happier now? Wow, i can do sarcasm too.

As I've said repeatedly, IF YOU are happy, or your department is happy with a 3 year or longer cycle, go for it.

Keep your cam till it's dies after years and years, and replace it with the same one if you like, I couldn't care less.

I have no issue with that. It's your choice to be in that environment. I don't want that. I want to give Canon money more often, they just don't seem to want it.

And if you have do a problem getting your bosses to buy current kit, get a new boss or become your own, because the fast moving independent photographer is eating this dusty industry alive, and it's easy to see why.

What kind of improvement do you expect on a pro camera after "only" 18 months? Do you have any idea of the cost to develop new technology? Your 1 stop improvement for half step camera + 2 stops for next full step camera is just a joke and so ridiculous...
Look at the APS-C Canon cameras. They are almost all using the same sensor since 2 years now, because developing a new sensor is VERY expensive, difficult and requires time. So the only thing they improve is body/ergonomics/electronics.
So is that what you want in your 5Dm2.5? A tilting screen and 1 or 2 more buttons? Because that's all what Canon would offer to you for the same price. Then, happy you, you paid 3k dollars to have the same camera with slightly improved ergonomics. Excuse us, not so rich people, to prefer to keep or money for the next real upgrade.

What you ask to canon now is to develop 4 new FF sensors every 18 months, plus the new APS-C one(s) of course that are the real one(s) to bring money to Canon. OK, so be ready to pay 10k dollars each FF camera, because that's what it would cost.

If spending 10k dollars every 18 months is not a problem for you as you suggested earlier, why don't you also buy a Nikon Camera to do the job you need in low light if not happy with Canon. That would be the price to have the full Nikon set, and for the following years you can enjoy just changing bodies when they come out from the brand having the best offer.

By the way, why do you think no still camera can offer all the video options you and some other videographers are asking? Because it is today technologically impossible! Big sensors such as FF cannot have the same read speed as small sensors (cf rolling shutter). I am not saying it will never be possible, but until today, it was not, at least not at an acceptable price. Also, I wonder why there is so many people here complaining about video abilities of DSLR. Never saw so many videographers before, probably an american specificity. In Europe and Asia, people don't really care about doing serious movies with DSLR.
DSLR are not video-camera, have never been and it will never be their main purpose. That is just an option, a possibility. Do not expect much more. Especially for 5D series, which is a (semi-)professional tool for still photography.

35

EOS Bodies / Re: End of the APS-H sized CMOS?

« on: June 27, 2011, 10:13:30 AM »

I still don't understand something, so please people help me.

Why do you think Canon should stop APS-H sensors? What is the interest for Canon?

I can understand that you want the best of the 2 worlds (1Ds FF sensor with 1D performances), but that is just "not possible" (at least not for an affordable price). So, why Canon should try to mix the 2 lines, removing all the specific superiority of each body (1D= crop + speed; 1Ds= resolution + image quality) to get an average one?

What is the point for Canon to do that?

One last question: if Canon build a FF body with crop option to mimic the loss of APS-H bodies, who will enjoy shooting sport or wild-life with the crop mode in a half-sized ViewFinder smaller than any APS-C camera VF?

36

EOS Bodies / Re: End of the APS-H sized CMOS?

« on: June 24, 2011, 11:07:40 AM »

I don't believe APS-H is going away, simply due to cost.  They make and sell a ton of the 1D camera bodies for $5,000 and charge $8,000 for full frame.

Certainly, APS-C is not going away either, in fact, I expect a smaller format for mirrorless cameras.

I totally agree with scaleusa!

Maybe I am wrong, but I am pretty sure that Canon sells more 1D bodies than 1Ds bodies. The number of journalists (especially sport one, and they are really many) that use and need an APS-H sensor is just too big.
1D and 1Ds bodies are tools, and each tools fit to one specific need. That's the way to be efficient.

Replacing it by a FF sensor would not make the match: the bigger sensor means to have a very high pixel density to "compete" with APS-H sensors. But, if you increase that pixel density, you will reduce the speed of your camera (too many data to manage --> lower frame rate).

Furthermore, 1D bodies are the exact opposite of 1Ds bodies: one is made to work in high isos (for very short shutter speed), the second one with very low isos (remember, the limit of 1DsIII is 1600 isos! No need more in fashion world, but less than 50 isos would be very welcome!) One more time, professional users will not find what they are looking for in a merged version.

37

EOS Bodies / Re: Will Canon Withdraw from the Megapixel War?

« on: June 22, 2011, 10:13:11 AM »

I still don't understand why people complain about "too many" pixels...

Because extra pixels have an extra cost. Yes, this cost drops with time, but that drop is cancelled by the extra pixels.

Oh yes, right. That's why D700, with half of 5DmII pixel amount is also half the price... What, it is not!?! What the hell!?! (it works also with D3s vs 1Ds)

And please, do not compare Nikon's strategy to Canon's one. Canon is deciding by itself what it will do.

Indeed, Canon should decide whether it should lose customers to Nikon.

Why should customers leave Canon? Actually, Canon just get more costumer during the past years than its competitors and increased its market share to become leader in 2010 (with it's 21MP FF bodies and 18MP APS-C bodies: http://www.canonrumors.com/2011/04/canon-destroys-nikon-in-dslr-marketshare/), while Canon and Nikon was at the same level in 2007 and 2008 (http://www.photoscala.de/Artikel/DSLR-Welt-im-Wandel)

everybody was saying they are stupid, too many pixels, it will reduce image quality

Quality is not the only consideration.

Really? So what are we expecting from a new sensor if not a better quality? Why are you crying for less pixels if it is not for quality? At least it is not for quantity.

38

EOS Bodies / Re: Will Canon Withdraw from the Megapixel War?

« on: June 22, 2011, 02:49:09 AM »

I still don't understand why people complain about "too many" pixels...

I also one of the guys that say "never enough". The printing argument is irrelevant: I never print any photo. Instead, I watch them on my computer. And as I am doing landscape (day or night), sometime I enjoy to look at a very small detail of my picture. The more details I can get the happier I am. 
And please, do not compare Nikon's strategy to Canon's one. Canon is deciding by itself what it will do. And since many years it is increasing strongly the number of pixels, in APS-C and FF models. When they released the 5DII, everybody was saying they are stupid, too many pixels, it will reduce image quality compared to 5DmI. Result: the 5DmII, 3 years later, is still one of the most amazing camera on the market. And still outperforms APS-C camera, for both image quality and pixel numbers.
In Nikon's land, the equation is different. They mostly depend on Sony's strategy. Ans I am amused to read people saying that Nikon is not running the MPxls race. Do you know what will be their next camera? The D400 will be 24MPxls! And their next FF will be around 40MPxls.

So then, I hardly imagine Canon releasing a flagship FF camera with <30MPxls camera, that would be economically irrelevant after 1 year.

And I have not doubt that their 30+ MPxls (can I ask around 40MPxls?) will outperform in noise control, dynamic range and iso ability (so image quality) the 5DmII, but also the next APS-C camera for the next 3 years.

The race is not over, it is just starting!

39

Lenses / Re: Bokeh comparison 24-70 f/2.8 vs 24-105 f/4

« on: May 30, 2011, 10:20:34 AM »

Here is a sample of 24-105 f/4L bokeh (on 5DmII).

In my opinion this zoom lens produces a very nice bokeh (for a zoom ).


IMG_5248 par YoukY63, sur Flickr

40

EOS Bodies / Re: 5D Mark III [CR1]

« on: May 20, 2011, 10:04:35 PM »

I just don't see the point of 32Mp. Why spoiling the burst rate because of this? Such an MP count would just momentarily fill up memory cards and your PC. And as someone mentioned before, shooting with sRAW does not work with some software. With such specs it actually seems dissapointing, because of only increased MP, ISO and AF. One of the previous topics clearly showed that between ISO, FPS, autofocus points and raw video, increased MP was the last thing people wanted. 24MP would still be ok and would give a much better FPS performance.

And if these were the only improvements Canon makes to the camera, which I doubt it will be, then I thing most of us will be very dissapointed.

Then you are not a landscape photographer. If you want burst speed, don't buy a 5D serie Camera, there are not designed for that. What you want is a 1D serie camera: lower MP and higher burst rate, + better AF.
For me, 32MP sounds very logical. I was expecting 30 to 40MP. With an increase of 2 stops of sensitivity, that camera (if informations are true) will make me happy until 5DmIV! 
I shoot mostly landscape and portraits, daytime and also complete dark time. As a landscaper, I never have enough pixels to record all the smaller details from these wonderful Japanese scenery (which explain the success of medium format camera with 80+ MP in landscape community).
The increase of sensitivity will also be very welcome since I mostly use fixed focal lenses for my night pictures, but as they lack stabilisation I sometime fall short with the actual 5DmII sensitivity (even with f/1.4 lenses).

PS: also do not forgot that Sony will be presenting a 24MP APS-C sensor in a few weeks, and is expected to release a 40+ MP FF sensor around fall. Canon made a big part of its success during the past few years on high resolution DSLR, they cannot let Sony's sensors (Sony but also Nikon and Pentax cameras) win this war.

41

Lenses / Re: Sudden increase in price of 16-35 mkii?

« on: March 05, 2011, 08:42:37 PM »

Someone has to pay the 29% profits increase they've promised their shareholders !

That is not the real problem...
The problem is the money exchange rate. Do not forgot that all the camera brands (excepted Samsung and the big Germans ) are Japanese. Therefore, they think in Yen, not in dollars.

In 2006, 1 dollars was the equivalent of 118 yens, in 2009 it was 91 yens, today it is 82 yens. So in less than 5 years, for the same product sold at the same price in US, Canon earns 30% less. That is a massive loss for a company.

Compared to euro, in 2007 1 euro was the equivalent of 162 yens, in 2009 it was 133 yens, today it is 115 yens! That means another 30 % loss for Canon.

The yen is very strong since a few years, and dollar + euro became weak recently. Japanese companies were expecting for a quick regulation during the past 2 years, but it appeared recently it was not going to happen anytime soon. Furthermore, they recently experienced massive loss and had to fire many people. Crisis also stroked Japan. So they decided to increase prices to maintain their standard and keep japanese economics in a not too bad health.

PS: it is still amazing for me to see that prices in North America or Europe are still much cheaper than in Japan! Here, the 16-35 mkII costs 200.300 yens, which is 2.400 US dollars!!!

42

Lenses / Re: Sudden increase in price of 16-35 mkii?

« on: March 05, 2011, 08:27:47 AM »

All the photographic equipment have increased this year, and not only Canon. I am checking closely Canon prices, and bodies (even the old 5DmII), lenses (such as 70-200 f/4L IS) or compact cameras (S95) are more expensive now than last december.
But nothing new, it was expected: http://photorumors.com/2011/01/01/canon-rumors-us-price-increase-plus-new-compact-cameras-for-ces-2011/#ixzz1A07NaEZv

It is true in North America, but also Japan where I live and also Europe where I come from (France).

43

Lenses / Re: Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II Patent?

« on: October 31, 2010, 11:10:44 PM »

Anyone know if it is common for Canon to publish a patent about a product not on the market until months?
I sincerely don't know. But I don't think so (or we would not be surprised and wondering every time which will be the next new lens).
So I guess this patent is just to protect a good formula close to their (actual) product, but does not necessarily means there next 24-70 will look like that. It is common for all the brands. My 0.02.