Messages

91

EOS Bodies / Re: Eye Control Focus

« on: February 26, 2012, 04:58:53 AM »

My hunch, for what it's worth: if you think about how far technology has come in the 14 years or whatever it is since the EOS3 was launched, then I suspect that Canon could do a much better job on eye controlled focus than in those days. And if you calibrated it correctly, it was (and is) pretty good. With more AF points, and more intelligence, I suspect it could be world beating. Maybe even those people who hated it last time around would learn to love it...

My son fences. For this sort of fast action, with constant overlapping of the fencers in the frame, eye control is fantastic. Not perfect all the time, but pretty good.

92

EOS Bodies / Eye Control Focus

« on: February 25, 2012, 02:51:14 PM »

I've seen a few rumours around the place suggesting that the 5DX may include eye control focus, for the first time since the EOS3. I love my EOS 3 and especially the eye control, which I still use regularly, and really, if I'm being honest, the planned 5DX purchase is my upgrade for my EOS 3, not the crop-frame sensor digital I currently have.

There have been huge developments in processor speed and AF technology since the EOS3, and I wondered what you guys thought of the concept, who has tried it, who loves it, who hates it? What would a revised 61 pt version look like?

93

EOS Bodies / Re: The Next 5D on February 27/28, 2012 [CR3]

« on: February 25, 2012, 02:41:45 PM »

I'm on the european part of the earth. does that mean 27th or 28th of feb?

I'm on the English part of Planet Earth.... It means that just as I am waking up, my colleagues in Australia are going to bed. It's a damn nuisance. But the good news for the 5DX is that the 28th of February starts (at midnight usually...) around midday on the 27th in England. Japan is 8 hours ahead of England, so if the announcement is (say) 7am, then this would be 11pm on the 27th in England. But it could be earlier or later.

Obviously it depends on where you are, and what time the announcement goes live. CR guy probably knows more about the timing these things usually are, but he seems to have disappeared the last couple of days...

94

EOS Bodies / Re: The Next 5D on February 27/28, 2012 [CR3]

« on: February 23, 2012, 05:59:20 AM »

Wow - lots of posts overnight ! But there seems to a be a lot of confusion about prices. Let's try and bring some reality to this discussion:

Canon do not determine prices - we do, collectively, through our purchase decisions. If no one buys this thing (or insufficient to Canon's production line being kept busy) the price will drop. If it drops below some profit margin floor, they will cease production, and do something different.

Our willingness to purchase depends, as some have stated, on whether we have the cash or not (of course) but also on the perceived benefit compared to the alternatives: namely, swap to Nikon, or more likely stick with what we have already, and wait until something better comes along.

If the specification is not deemed by you and me to be worth $3500, the price will drop, regardless of exchange rates, cost to produce, hedging or anything else for that matter.

Contrary to popular opinion, price bears NO resemblance to the cost of producing these things. If it cost $2 to produce, they would still sell it at $3500 if they could - this is the delight of capitalism! If it costs them $3000 to produce, and Nikon forces them to sell at $2700 becuase of the D800, they have hard choices to make - sell at a loss to maintain market share whilst they think of something better, or reduce cost to produce (maybe move production to Thailand or whatever) or they choose to exit this market segment.

But to be be clear, Canon are driven by us, not the other way around. You can bet someone from Canon marketing is reviewing this site from time to time (or the Japanese equivalent), and who knows, maybe they are even changing price tickets as we speak...

95

EOS Bodies / Re: The Next 5D on February 27/28, 2012 [CR3]

« on: February 22, 2012, 04:24:06 PM »

Incidentally, Canon have at least two competitors for the 5DIII/X - Nikon and 'do nothing'. You can bet this will drive their thinking on price, at least after the initial rush.

96

EOS Bodies / Re: The Next 5D on February 27/28, 2012 [CR3]

« on: February 22, 2012, 04:21:21 PM »

Anyone heard of 'anchor pricing' - the idea is to establish the idea of a price in someone's head (whether they can afford it or not). Then discount it. People think the vendor is doing them a huge favour. If I were Canon, I would be seeding these rumours into the market in just the way we have seen today, and everyone is "ooh, can I afford it, ouch", etc. Then announce it next week at say $3000 or $3200, and everyone thinks - "wow what a bargain!". Maybe they are right, and it is a bargain. But for me, just like with eBay purchases, the only thing that matters is 'is it worth it' not how much it has been discounted or what the exchange rate is...

97

EOS Bodies / Re: March 2, 2012 The Day for an Announcement?

« on: February 22, 2012, 10:41:58 AM »

For what it's worth, and based on no inside knowledge whatsover, just my experience in sales, my money is on two DSLRs being announced next week. First up, the 650D. The 25th anniversary of the EOS 650 launch is just too good a marketing opportunity to pass up. Then we get into more interesting territory. At a guess, I'd say the 5DX will be announced next week, probably at 22MP. And then in time for Photokina in the Autumn (or fall if you prefer) a 3DX at 45MP. Or just possibly vice versa.

My concern though is not much leakage yet, which seems odd.

The waiting is driving me nuts ... just like the rest of you.

98

Canon General / Re: Is it worth *really* studying photography?

« on: February 18, 2012, 04:37:58 AM »

There's been a lot of debate in the national press in the UK recently about the value of some school qualifications (GCSEs - taken at 16 after 2-3 years study). I have to say that my view of the photography GCSE qualification is that it's not worth the paper it's printed on. A friend of mine asked me to spend some time with her daughter recently, who has just completed her photography GCSE (and passed with flying colours). Whilst she could take decent pictures and had a good eye, technically she didn't understand even the most basic things - for example, she was fascinated with my collection of lens hoods - she had no clue what they were for. Unbelievable... Having a degree in physics, I'm a strong believer in a university education, but I believe it's better to go for solid high end courses, rather than vocational, so for photography, I would guess that physics with optics or an arts course would be of more value in the long term than an out and out photography course. And in parallel, get a good portfolio together.

99

Lenses / Re: 36+ Mp EOS dSLR (rumored): How do existing EF lenses cope?

« on: February 17, 2012, 12:26:37 PM »

There are films out there which claim a resolution of 800 lines per mm. (see for example http://www.adox.de/english/ADOX_Films/ADOX_Films/ADOX_CMS_Films.html) I've used these films, and they provide pretty amazing results using existing Ef lenses such as 17-40mm L. I cannot confirm that they actually reach 800 lines per mm, as I have no means of measuring, and they sure are a pain to use, but I don't have any doubts that a good EF lens will have no difficulty with 50MP or thereabouts. I think the limiting factor is more likely softness resulting from diffraction limits at f8 and above, and the processing overheads of large files. Even on this latter point, I regularly work with scanned film images in the 80-100mb size range without any problem. It is only once you get into the 200-400mb range (which you do scanning 120 format negatives at 4800 dpi) that my poor laptop struggles (Windows 7 32 bit, 4 gb RAM). My understanding is that 50MP or less translates to RAW files less than 100mb. Just my 2 cents anyhow.