Canon - Quick Thoughts & Talks

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Do you think Canon would be better off by stopping over saturating their product line, I get so turned off with all the choices. I really wish they would just have four DSLR, all with the same sensor IQ or close. Lower and Higher ends of Crop and FF, mainly low FPS vs high FPS and have standard specs. I don't want to theorycraft but just saying.

P.S. No trolling but that Sony RX1 really really interests me for some reason. Yes I like an optical viewfinder and Canon in general but I really don't mind a fixed lens with a camera like that which looks like it takes amazing IQ photos. Any thoughts? Please don't try to troll me, I am just honestly asking.

[Marsu42]

Do you think Canon would be better off by stopping over saturating their product line, I get so turned off with all the choices.

It seems they are merging the split 60d/7d crop sensor line again, because that segments gets smaller (pressure from below = good Rebels/Nikons & p&s - plus above from the 6d & 600d).

But from apart from that it's the same with most electronics - the less they cost, the more offers there are because for those buyers $100 do make a difference. And I'm sure canon marketing has thought this thorough - customer confusion vs. internal cannibalization vs. competition that happens to have a product with the "right"  price for the potential customer.

[Dylan777]

More selection for the consumer = more sales.

For Sony RX1, I would have that one on pre-order if it wasn't the fixed lens. At 35mm, it's a bit too wide for me, I prefer 50mm. We still need to give Sony credit for trying though...

[AmbientLight]

Actually I don't think Canon is oversaturating the market. They are just offering upgrade (or sidegrade?) options to just about anyone. That is an understandable and quite effective strategy. I have been in different buyer's categories, so I can still remember how interesting something like a 7D once was for me and I am still happy with every Canon camera I ever purchased (strange, isn't it?). I believe what Canon do really well is to keep their customers interested.

Although I am quite a happy Sony-customer in other areas I would not purchase a RX-1, because of the fixed lens. I fear in case you purchase one, you will end up like some kind of technology tester and you are even paying a premium to be in the test group. For Sony I believe it is just a stepping stone until they achieve something better (more like a camera system with exchangeable lenses) and the RX-1 is just getting released to win some of their hard-spent R&D budget back from consumers.

Disclaimer: That's just my personal suspicion and may not in any way reflect Sony's thinking.

[tortilla]

Do you think Canon would be better off by stopping over saturating their product line, I get so turned off with all the choices. I really wish they would just have four DSLR, all with the same sensor IQ or close. Lower and Higher ends of Crop and FF, mainly low FPS vs high FPS and have standard specs. I don't want to theorycraft but just saying.

Um, that's not easy to understand - if you are confused about all the options why not just take any SLR that fits in your budget?

As for me there are not even enough options I'm looking for a simple crop camera like the 550d (I don't even care for video) but with the viewfinder and customizing possiblities of the 7d. But it seems that Canon will not offer anything that fit my needs with up-to-date sensor technology in the upcoming future...

[Zlatko]

Do you think Canon would be better off by stopping over saturating their product line, I get so turned off with all the choices.

Not at all.  Even with 10 or 11 DSLRs in the current product line, there are still people who want something else and at a different price.  Canon can't please everyone, but offering more choices pleases more people.  I guess one could be turned off by all of the choices in lenses too.  And yet we can likely all think of a lens or two we would like to be added to the lens line because they would meet a particular need for us. 

Photographers come in all types, with a great diversity of photographic budgets, needs and applications.  A camera maker is smart to saturate the many parts of that diverse market.  I suspect that fewer choices would mean fewer buyers.

[kubelik]

I think oversaturation occurs when you have too many choices that are in fact false choices - similar specifications in different products.  Canon has clearly differentiated its market segments (at least at the upper end of the market) so no, I don't think oversaturation is a problem there.  there is a bit more confusion at the bottom with overlapping specs but that's bound to happen, given the fact that Canon can't upgrade all of its DSLR lineup at the same time.

the product segment to me that is oversaturated is the m4/3 section ... with the exception of say, the OM-D, it's a whole bunch of same-ish stuff in different colored wrappers.