Coming Tech & More [CR2]

[WarStreet]

I assume we can expect the improved DR to be offered to all Canon cameras as the various models are upgraded. Its the best news I've heard in a while as DR has been the stumbling block with digital.

Agree ! Improving the biggest weakness in comparison to film, is the best move.

[lcdsantos]

Nothing about a new speedlight???

Speedlight´s rumors to a 580EX replacement (680EX, 700EX...) started more than one year ago.

And I see nothing on the horizon line...

I want need to buy a new speedlight (I have just one very very old 380EX) and don´t wanna invest on an 580EX2 if a 700EX is soon to be lauched...

[bvukich]

also, if canon is really taking 35mm to the ~30MP range, I hope the AA filter is being weakened or removed.  as medium format shooters have noticed, moire really drops off as your resolution increases; I can't see it being a huge issue if we are shooting 32 MP images

Ditto.  At the resolutions we're getting to, for stills moire should almost be a non-issue.  It's video where you'll see the problems, unless they are doing binning instead of line skipping, which should help.  All the more reason though, to split the line into great video with acceptable stills, and great stills with acceptable video.  It will probably take a couple generations before we can have both in the same camera (but I hope they prove me wrong).

and if moire is a problem on some images can´t it be removed via software afterwards?

Unfortunately, not really. You can often do it manually and get acceptable results, but only because a human knows what it should look like, and can tweak until it looks usable.  Many of the obstacles to removing moire in software are the same as de-interlacing video.  You can do it, but you have to both invent, and throw out data.  Never a good thing when quality is concerned, and it will never be as good as getting clean source data.

[kubelik]

also, if canon is really taking 35mm to the ~30MP range, I hope the AA filter is being weakened or removed.  as medium format shooters have noticed, moire really drops off as your resolution increases; I can't see it being a huge issue if we are shooting 32 MP images

32MP FF is less density than the current APS-C cameras and they still use AA filters, and they use them for good reason

from everything I've heard from Leica M9 shooters, the prevalence of moire effects occurring in photos is grossly exaggerated.  and that's only an 18 MP full frame camera.  so I'm not sure that I buy the idea that 32 MP isn't sufficient to make moire a non-issue in 99% of situations.

also, the supposition that moire is read at an absolute level and not a relative is incorrect.  for the purposes of moire, an 18 MP APS-C sensor is ... an 18 MP sensor, not a 46 MP-equivalent sensor.  an 18 MP full frame and 18 MP APS-C shooting the exact same image (in terms of framing) will exhibit the exact same amount of moire.  a 32 MP sensor, whether APS-C or FF, will perform better than either 18 MP sensor.

[60D User]

Can't wait to see what they mean by "massive" is it 1, 2 or dare I say 3 stops of improved DR

OLED is also very welcome, I can already imagine  the screen of my Galaxy S on a canon camera (drool)
an OLED screen will also help with battery life

this is CR2 so it's still not confirmed but very plausible

OLEDs use less power and look nice but typically don't do well in bright ambient light situations. Unless they have improved a lot on OLED would not be fun to try to see outside. Well, the normal LCD isn't that much fun either actually.

OLED screens do very well in bright ambient light situations. Much much better than an LCD would do, all while saving battery as well. The OLED screen on my phone when I am outside at high noon, I can turn the brightness up and it is as clear as day. This is a great addition for cameras.

[Edwin Herdman]

Chuck Westfall is on the record saying OLED was "coming soon," back in 2009.  That was after a 2007 acquisition of Tokki Corporation and a decision to "accelerate" OLED development in that year.  Considering that OLED appears to be rolling out on a variety of devices now, I'd say it doesn't sound crazy at all.  Probably the one "rumor" I've seen recently that I think is certain to translate to reality.  A bit different from the SEDtv debacle.

Personally I'm still holding out hope for

It's video where you'll see the problems, unless they are doing binning instead of line skipping, which should help.  All the more reason though, to split the line into great video with acceptable stills, and great stills with acceptable video.

Of course, the AA filter has really no impact at all on video moire - since (so far) the line more-than-skipping approach is the only one that there has been the data throughput and processing capability to utilize.  I suppose that, going forward, they will have to start using at least some binning (maybe in conjunction with line skipping) else you won't see any improvement in dead / hot pixel effects, and moire certainly won't improve if they continue sampling a fixed resolution from an ever-growing number of pixels on the sensor.  Hopefully the new DIGIC will represent a leap forward in that area.

[Canihaspicture]

Dear Canon: If you can give me 14+ stops of DR then I will be your new best friend. Thanks (fingers crossed)

[bwhitz]

4:2:2 is GREAT for video. Just hope it comes out sooner than later.

+1

If Canon uses their 4:2:2 50mb/s Mjpeg codec (which they probably will, since they don't want to license AVCHD from Sony/Panasonic) with 12-14 stops of DR... they are going to absolutely destroy every sub-$50,000 video device on the market. It will basically be a mini-Arri Alexa for around $3500. Not to mention the FF sensor, which is an amazing look not equaled by ANY other video medium besides Imax. Those "Proper video camera" guys will have to kiss the F3,FS100, and AF-100 goodbye...

[Stuart]

a multi level sensor i hope.

[bvukich]

It's video where you'll see the problems, unless they are doing binning instead of line skipping, which should help.  All the more reason though, to split the line into great video with acceptable stills, and great stills with acceptable video.

Of course, the AA filter has really no impact at all on video moire - since (so far) the line more-than-skipping approach is the only one that there has been the data throughput and processing capability to utilize.  I suppose that, going forward, they will have to start using at least some binning (maybe in conjunction with line skipping) else you won't see any improvement in dead / hot pixel effects, and moire certainly won't improve if they continue sampling a fixed resolution from an ever-growing number of pixels on the sensor.  Hopefully the new DIGIC will represent a leap forward in that area.

Good point, the frequency cutoff on the AA filter is way to high to have any tangible effect on video unless you were just cropping to get the pixels you need.  Binning really is the way to go.  You can bin semi-sanely from 8k->4k->2k, you just end up with a tiny crop factor up or down because of the non-sane resolution progression between each.

<videoresolutionrant>
They should have let an engineer come up with the standard resolutions.  As it is now they can't even decide on a standard horizontal resolution for 4k.

If I were king...
Spec at academy ratio, and crop down the vertical as desired:
2k   2048x1536   3.1 MP
4k   4096x3072   12.6 MP
8k   8192x6144   50.3 MP
16k   16384x12288   201.3 MP

</videoresolutionrant>

[Edwin Herdman]

Good point on the resolution.  At the price points of even "2K" video projectors and cameras, though, I think the real driver has probably been old-fashioned industry rivalry.  Hey, if you ain't got 70mm you're nobody!  Then there's the real name of the Sony sound standard "SDDS" ..."still doesn't do $&@!"  All more headaches for projectionists.  Of course, consumers have been thankfully insulated from a lot of this, mainly because modern computer / display hardwares are becoming sophisticated enough to stretch most content invisibly to the consumer and to a more or less reasonable degree of quality.

[FredBGG]

"massive jump in dynamic range"
 This would be very interesting, but it would be silly if this "massive jump in dynamic range" were not included in the flagship camera.

[gferdinandsen]

Honestly, the only thing I care about in that rumour is DR.  Battery life is not a big deal, and I don't shoot video.  Even extra MP is just pushing the limits, my PXMIA 9500 can't even print a 21.3 MP print at 100%, and I have only ever once printed something larger (a scan printedd at 18x24)...none the less, I have a friend who will buy my 5D2, so I guess I will get a 5D3 when availaible.

[kubelik]

Honestly, the only thing I care about in that rumour is DR.  Battery life is not a big deal, and I don't shoot video.  Even extra MP is just pushing the limits, my PXMIA 9500 can't even print a 21.3 MP print at 100%, and I have only ever once printed something larger (a scan printedd at 18x24)...none the less, I have a friend who will buy my 5D2, so I guess I will get a 5D3 when availaible.

plenty of folks here print larger than that ... much larger.  it would be great not to have to stitch multiple images together to get 24x36 or 30x40 prints, especially when its not landscapes but buildings you're photographing

[Super Mario]

Good point, the frequency cutoff on the AA filter is way to high to have any tangible effect on video unless you were just cropping to get the pixels you need.  Binning really is the way to go.  You can bin semi-sanely from 8k->4k->2k, you just end up with a tiny crop factor up or down because of the non-sane resolution progression between each.

<videoresolutionrant>
They should have let an engineer come up with the standard resolutions.  As it is now they can't even decide on a standard horizontal resolution for 4k.

If I were king...
Spec at academy ratio, and crop down the vertical as desired:
2k   2048x1536   3.1 MP
4k   4096x3072   12.6 MP
8k   8192x6144   50.3 MP
16k   16384x12288   201.3 MP

</videoresolutionrant>

You shouldn't really worry about that since 1080p on Canon cameras is "fake 1080p" and in reality closer to 720p. Lets just wait if they can come up with a real 1080p first.