Messages

1561

EOS Bodies / Re: 26.4mp 5D Mark III Mid-year? [CR1]

« on: April 18, 2011, 11:18:43 AM »

" 19 point AF system, 3 cross-type points"
That is a few steps backward from the 7D. 7D is ALL 19 points cross.

I think they meant f/2.8 cross-type points, with the rest being f/5.6.

This is the one spec that kind of stands out to me; where would the 3 be? Seems kind of odd...I would think 5 would make more sense (1 center, 4 corners or 1 center and 1 on each side of the center). Being 3 it might be Center, then the one directly to the left and right of it.

The various comments about "3 focus points" makes for interesting reading because those who've been using Canon SLRs for longer than the "digital years" will be familiar with how Canon arranged auto-focus points on SLRs with of 3 them. Strange as it may seem, when there were only 3 auto focus points, I was still able to take photos that were in focus.

Strange as it may seem, people took good photos of all sorts of things before the viewfinder was full of autofocus points - heck, how many auto-focus points do you think Ansel Adams had? Photographers that are children of the Internet revolution are such babies.

1562

EOS Bodies / Re: NAB Report - New DSLR Soon? [CR1]

« on: April 13, 2011, 01:50:01 PM »

Now that you've put a price on your mind ($0.02), why not put it up on ebay for auction to see if you can get people to pay more for you to change it?

1563

EOS Bodies / Re: 5D Mark III & 7D Mark II Within a Month! [CR0]

« on: April 12, 2011, 01:03:14 PM »

but were you on a day long hike through the mountains, not wanting to pack the camera away because if you do, in the time it takes you to get it out and ready, the <insert random animal> that you have come upon by chance will be long gone, along with the moment and shot.

1564

EOS Bodies / Re: Upcoming DSLR [CR1]

« on: April 09, 2011, 11:48:21 PM »

I have one comment to make on this...

If the earthquake has seriously impacted Nikon more than it has Canon and it will push Nikon's product release dates further out into the future than they otherwise would have and Canon are not impacted in the same way then there may be an advantage for Canon to deliver its new products sooner, giving them more time in the market place without any competition from Nikon.

So maybe the earthquake will disrupt things in ways that nobody anticipated...

... which is to say that maybe the product announcements and release dates have changed more since the start of the year and the earthquake than just a few lenses being pushed back a bit.

Food for thought.

1565

EOS Bodies / Re: What do you want from the 5D mk III

« on: April 06, 2011, 08:09:31 PM »

None of the above.

(*) no banding and higher IQ with 13 or more stops for dynamic range

1566

PowerShot Cameras / Re: HD Video taken in low light with the Canon S95

« on: April 01, 2011, 07:19:40 AM »

There are two big downfalls of the Canon S95 in my opinion.  1)  Battery life.  I went to the St Patricks Day parade and after an hour or so of shooting with it the battery was nearly empty.  2)  You are limited to direct flash since there is no provision for an external flash.

No external flash is the big issue for me too. Although another 1/3 or 1/2 more light would have been good too.

I have been on a lot of trips and carrying a big DSLR is a big downfall when it comes to weight.  Airlines are not DSLR friendly.  Going through the TSA is always a big hassle for me as they prefer to examine everything in my photography bag seperately for some reason.

I don't have any such trouble with TSA nor ailines with my *SLRs - maybe your name is on a different list to mine

1567

Canon General / Re: The Bad News [CR2]

« on: March 30, 2011, 12:25:48 AM »

And of course this will have an impact on the 2nd hand market too... it will be interesting to see what sort of prices turn up on ebay, craigslist, etc.

Also, if the major manufacturers are preparing to take a hit, what does that mean for camera stores that make nice juicy dollars on the DLSRs, etc? To that end, if lens become harder to come by in the short term, will that push the market for rentals?!

Will have to wait and see!

1568

Canon General / Re: Beware the land of rising yen

« on: March 26, 2011, 07:25:18 AM »

I forgot to add - as the Yen rises, so too will the price of everything made in Japan - i.e. Canon cameras and lenses, meaning that I would be very very surprised if the 5D3 is the same price or cheaper than the 5D2.

1569

Canon General / Beware the land of rising yen

« on: March 26, 2011, 06:20:04 AM »

http://www.theage.com.au/money/investing/beware-the-land-of-rising-yen-20110319-1c1a0.html

THE economic aftershocks of the earthquake in Japan are yet to reach us, but they will.

I'm afraid this is going to be a long, slow burn, in which Japan suffers most but none are left unscathed.

The markets aren't quite sure what to do. But when in doubt, as the old hands are probably saying, don't just sit there, panic!

Still, they are leaning towards accepting lower global growth for now, which will be made up for later in the year as Japan rebuilds - a sort of macro version of time-shifting.

Don't bet on it.

Japan's economy was shrinking in the December quarter, its government is shaky and the nuclear plants have been found to be vulnerable in the only country that has been nuclear-bombed.

Such a severe crisis of confidence could easily tip it into a 1930-type depression, where prices (except oil, inevitably) and incomes fall.

How would the new economic superstar, China, or for that matter, the rest of the region, not to mention Australia, cope with that?

We know already global growth will be lower as a result of the tsunami and nuclear disaster, though economists disagree on how much.

And despite being in, or close to, recession for two decades, Japan still has a lot of clout in the global financial system.

In fact, it's the biggest lender to other countries, especially the US.

The weird thing is it's also the biggest borrower - from itself.

Japan's government debt-to-GDP ratio of 225 per cent is worse by far than any other advanced country, another reason to suspect a prolonged slump in household and business spending since it is obvious taxes will rise.

By the way, the reason Japan can lend to others is because it also runs a huge trade surplus with them, which is second only to China's.

But the Japanese are already pulling money back home, which could precipitate the long-feared crash in bond prices in the US.

This would drive up interest rates in the US, which would choke off its recovery and could even, gulp, create a GFC 2, where banks are starved of funds.

Already the yen is soaring, which is odd considering the problems Japan faces. But the higher it goes, the worse it will be for the Japanese economy and the shakier global sharemarkets will be.

1570

EOS Bodies / Re: 3 More DSLR's in 2011? [CR1]

« on: March 24, 2011, 09:56:29 PM »

Did someone forget that the 600D was released this year?

I think someone is confusing "3 DSLRs to announce in 2011" with "3 more DSLRs to announce in 2011."

The title of the story is "3 more" but in the story it says "More Cameras! It’s been suggested Canon has 3 DSLRs to announce in 2011".

There only has to be 2 more for Canon to announce 3 DSLRs in 2011.

Maybe the person that wrote the story can fix up either the title of it or the quote because they are not the same.

1571

Canon General / Re: More price rises to follow Yen?

« on: March 21, 2011, 07:19:54 AM »

If we thought new lens prices were high...  wait.....

  <http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/general/1283662/gadget-prices-set-to-rise-due-to-japanese-tsunami>

We need to start making product here in the US and put our people back to work!!!!

Chinese labor is too cheap - won't happen.

It's probably more accurate to say that US labor is too costly.

Different side of the same coin.

Besides, Chinese labor is much more expensive than it used to be. Some firms packed up and moved further inland, while others relocate to other nations in S.E. Asia where labor cost is relatively cheaper.

And none of which amounted to moving jobs back to the USA... so....

Most unfortunately for the Japanese, their products gaining in price with less features (to try to keep prices down) is going to drive consumers to other countries products (Korea, etc.) and that will FURTHER delay their recovery. They are in an economic black hole, it would appear.  The highest debt to GDP ratio of any developed nation and now this....

I don't think that they will try to keep the prices down by delivering less features.

Brands like Sony/Toshiba already have other brands like Samsung being full on competitive.

I think it's still two distinct markets: the people who think cheap price is the important factor will continue to buy the ones that makes the most economic sense, while those with cash (or because they make a living off photography) will still pick up the expensive models. It's a M-shape society today, and companies can still make good money off the rich and the powerful who believe price is no concern.

I disagree. People will buy cameras that best suit their needs. I don't know if you've ever driven or walked down the streets of areas where all of the houses are valued at >$1,000,000, but not all of the cars owned by those people are luxury cars. If I earnt $1,000,000 a year, I still wouldn't buy a 1Ds camera for the simple reason that it doesn't make sense for me. Nor would I buy a 80MP MFDB. A S95 that fits in my coat pocket will likely suffice for most social photographs. There's a huge ergonomic factor to deciding which camera to buy.

btw, I don't know anybody that is "rich and powerful" that believes price is of no concern. People get rich because they're careful with money. Rich people who are not careful with their money end up poor - people who win lotto, etc, are great examples of this (they don't know what to do or how to manage the money they have, so they quite often just spend it all.)

1572

Canon General / Canon falling behind in sensor performance

« on: March 21, 2011, 06:54:36 AM »

From DxO's conclusion on the 600D:
http://dxomark.com/index.php/Our-publications/DxOMark-reviews/Canon-EOS-600D-in-depth-review/Conclusion

"The new EOS 600D brings no improvement over the 550D other than a few features. The two sensors perform exactly the same, and show the same persistent noise problem in dark areas at low ISO speeds, preventing it from achieving good dynamic range metrics. By contrast, Sony’s new sensors have efficiently solved this issue, and it will be interesting to see how Nikon’s D5100 performs. Competition may be tough between Sony and Nikon, but Canon continues to lag behind them both."

Ouch!

Seems like Canon is asleep at the wheel...

1573

Canon General / Re: More price rises to follow Yen?

« on: March 18, 2011, 11:28:22 AM »

If we thought new lens prices were high...  wait.....

  <http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/general/1283662/gadget-prices-set-to-rise-due-to-japanese-tsunami>

We need to start making product here in the US and put our people back to work!!!!

Chinese labor is too cheap - won't happen.

Most unfortunately for the Japanese, their products gaining in price with less features (to try to keep prices down) is going to drive consumers to other countries products (Korea, etc.) and that will FURTHER delay their recovery. They are in an economic black hole, it would appear.  The highest debt to GDP ratio of any developed nation and now this....

I don't think that they will try to keep the prices down by delivering less features.

Brands like Sony/Toshiba already have other brands like Samsung being full on competitive.

1574

Canon General / Re: NAB Announcement? [CR1]

« on: March 18, 2011, 11:23:39 AM »

http://tinyurl.com/4z4g8h9

A more informative post would have been to say that is April 9-14 in Las Vegas for Digital Media.

To a whole country of people, NAB is the name of a bank:

http://www.nab.com.au/

so we wouldn't even think of it being related to something else. Even Google puts it above other things there.

NAB as a photography show is not as well known as is Photokina/CES.

The world is a bigger place than the USA.

1575

Canon General / Re: NAB Announcement? [CR1]

« on: March 17, 2011, 11:39:27 PM »

When is NAB?