PowerShots Next Week [CR2-CR3]

[Canon Rumors]

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Next announcements Next Tuesday we will be seeing some more Canon announcements. Alas, no DSLRs will be announced. We’re reminding the folks of previous information.

PowerShot SX40 HS [CR3] 12mp 35x Zoom HD Video

The second camera to be announced isn’t quite as definite, we’re pretty sure it’s an S95 replacement.

PowerShot S100 (tentative name) [CR2] 12mp 5X Zoom

G13? Again, there has been nothing about a G13, so it looks like the G12 will remain a current product for the time being. Could this be a sign the series is taking a turn? Here’s hoping.

Another theory is the “S100″ rumors we’re hearing are actually for a G13 and the “S” series isn’t getting an upgrade.

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[Ricku]

Dear Canon.

The world doesn't need or want more powershots. The ones that are avalible right now are still sufficient for all the amateurs and soccer moms.

What the world wants and needs, is the 5D Mark III.

[bimbobo]

Dear Ricku,
on behalf of the rest of the world "except" you, PS cameras are more than welcome.

I think that before claiming that "you" speak for the world, a more objective starting point
should be more humble.

We are not all interested in IQ vs thousands of dollars. But compromises between the 2 things. 

[TCampbell]

I kind of agree with Ricku on this one -- not because I really want to see the next DSLR (although I do), but just from consumer and market driven reasons.

You can't buy a 'new' DSLR for under $500 (let's say $550).  Even if a consumer wants a DSLR, there are lot of people who just cannot afford to spend $500+ on an item.  It's important for a company to offer a spread of products at various price points that consumers can afford.  E.g. there's a consumer who can afford a $100 camera but cannot afford a $200 model.  So if you neglect to offer a $100 model then there's a $100 in revenue that your company won't make.  Since most of the technology is hand-me-down from the higher end models, it doesn't cost a company so much in R&D to develop the camera.  The most expensive part of the camera is the sensor... but the sensors are developed for higher end models and then re-used in lower-end models over time.

The second issue mixing into this is the ubiquity of the camera phone.  Long know to take horrible photos and only desperate people would use them and then only for photos they didn't really care about -- more recent phones are actually starting to have better cameras.  I know quite a number of people who use the cameras in their iPhone and Android phones so heavily that nearly every photo of theirs which is posted to Facebook would have been taken with a camera phone.  If you have an iPhone... do you really NEED a $100 point & shoot?

I'm convinced that camera phones are cannibalizing the low-end point & shoot market and will probably continue to erode in the middle-end point & shoot until ... there eventually comes a day when the point & shoot market is so heavily eroded that it goes the way of the rotary dial telephone (nobody uses it anymore and those who do are just holding onto it for nostalgic reasons.0

For the time being, 0 point & shoot cameras would clearly be the wrong number.  So what is the right number of point & shoots?  Is it 5?  10?  How about.... 27! 

Yes... Canon "currently" markets 27 different point & shoots priced from roughly $80-500.  Do consumers REALLY need THAT many choices (and that's not counting the models that come in various colors).  There are 11 camera phones in the $80-200 range.  Another 10 in the roughly $200-300 range.  This is JUST Canon... never mind the other brands.

So I think Ricku has a good point when he says that they're probably putting just a few too many resources into point & shoots... not only is the market saturated and the consumers are confused, but the market itself is certainly already experiencing some market share erosion to the camera phone -- particularly in the low-end price points.

[ecka]

I hope Canon won't fail with their CCD superzoom again.
Previously (SX30) it was like:
IQ - great (at low ISO)
optics/IS - good
build - plastic, worse than competition
speed - slow, worse than competition
video - worse than competition
LCD - worse than competition
no RAW! - bad (you'll say "CHDK" - I say "next year?")
price - higher than competition
Maybe it is time for a higher class superzoom? SX2 HS? But, it better be a decent speed CCD, instead of superfast/supernoisy CMOS or superslow CCD.

Talking about the new G camera, maybe they should make it EVIL . IMHO, small sensor high-end P&S for $500 won't be very popular anymore, because many are switching to mirrorless for better IQ and lenses ($600-$700 with kit lens). You can argue that G12 is smaller, but if you want "pocketability" then S95 would be a much better choice anyway.

[dajazz]

Dear Ricku,

I have a 5D2 and a 7D and I'm still interested in the upcoming S100.

- someone else in this world

[Dave]

Dear bimbobo

on behalf of the rest of the world "except" you

Please do not count me to the rest-of-the-world-part. I want I 5D III!

Nobody needs the threethousandsevenhundredfourtyfifth powershot camera.

[elflord]

So I think Ricku has a good point when he says that they're probably putting just a few too many resources into point & shoots... not only is the market saturated and the consumers are confused, but the market itself is certainly already experiencing some market share erosion to the camera phone -- particularly in the low-end price points.

Implicit in Ricku's comments is the premise that a 5D mark III would be available sooner if Canon were not  "putting just a few too many resources into point and shoots". 

In the absence of any evidence offered in support of this claim, I believe it's based on at least three fallacies.

The first is that the long product life cycle for pro bodies like the 5D is due to lack of resources. But this is not what drives product life cycles. The product life cycle needs to be short enough to pre-empt slackening of demand or falloffs in market share. Product lifestyles are driven by lifecycle management principles, not by whiners on rumors websites.

The second fallacy is that resource allocation for these products is a zero sum game -- that is, the idea that there is a fixed pool of resources to allocate between products -- that is, developing point and shoots requires starving the SLR products. That's only true if the point and shoots are losing money for Canon.

The third is that the manufacturers operating costs are heavily dependent on the number of models. Show us the evidence.

In addition, I think he's off base in the claim that there are an excessive number of point and shoot models. At present, there are no less than 10 different SLR models available, excluding different kit combinations (if that's included, the number would be very close to the 27 for point and shoots).

I'm not remotely interested in super zooms but I'm not blaming them for Canon's failure to align their product releases to my preferred purchase time frame.

[Nostrada]

Ricku is right. I neither need, nor want, another Canon powershot. I need and want the Canon 5D Mark III.

Sincerely,

The World.

[neuroanatomist]

Dear Ricku,

I have a 5D2 and a 7D and I'm still interested in the upcoming S100.

- someone else in this world

Ditto.  I have an S95, and while I couldn't care less about the additional 2 MP rumored to be in the replacement, the 5x zoom will be very welcome IF it remains f/2 at the wide end and IF the wide end is 24mm instead of the current 28mm FF-equivalent (i.e. I would like - and buy - a replacement with a 24-120mm equivalent zoom, but probably not a 28-140mm zoom).  Given that one of their main competitors - the Panasonic Lumix LX-5 - starts at 24mm, I hope that's the direction that Canon goes in replacing the S95. 

[Dave92F1]

Another theory is the “S100″ rumors we’re hearing are actually for a G13 and the “S” series isn’t getting an upgrade.

I think not.

If the rumor about the S100 is true - 12 Mpixel bump and no "G13" announcement, I think Canon's strategy is pretty clear.

The "S100" is probably real - it's the best competitor in the really-tiny pocketable category, and a major change like a larger sensor would not be an improvement - it would either end up bigger or with worse optics, so the S95 series will continue with minor tweaks.

But the "G13" absence, together with Nikon's soon-to-be-announced EVIL with a 2.7x crop sensor, is telling.

As far as I know, Nikon doesn't make sensors - they buy them from Sony, same place that Canon buys their small sensors for the PowerShots.   So probably Sony (or, just possibly, Fuji) is making Nikon's 2.7x sensor - either way, surely they offered it to Canon too.

PREDICTION:

So, I'll predict that the G12 replacement will use the same 2.7x crop sensor used the Nikon EVIL.  That means a total redesign, which explains why it won't be ready at the same time as the "S100". 

Personally, I think that's a great decision on Canon's part, provided they do it right. 

The larger sensor will be very welcome for less noise at high ISO.  And I'd _love_ if they could make it focus faster - that's my main complaint with my G11 (more so than the noise). I hope it's not any bigger than the G12, which is already at the upper limit of size for me.  And I really hope they keep the flippy screen - I won't buy it without one (I'd sooner buy a G12). 

But an interchangeable lens on a camera in this size class really isn't important to me.  I see the G-series cameras as high-quality but very portable cameras to be taken along when you're _not_ primarily doing photography  If I need interchangeable lenses, I'm primarily doing photography, and will drag along my 60D and lenses (and tripod) for that.

Cheers,

--Dave

[takeapic]

Is there still suppose to be some kind of announcement today?

[Canon Rumors]

I was originally told September 15 for an announcement and changed it to 13th to 15th, I'd say Thursday is the day.

[takeapic]

So you are still hearing the S95 replacement will be forthcoming, but nothing anytime soon for a G12 replacement?

[mayhem2408]

Implicit in Ricku's comments is the premise that a 5D mark III would be available sooner if Canon were not  "putting just a few too many resources into point and shoots".

Actually, 'TCampbell' comments are correct. Not a lot of resources need to be spend and point and shoots because they simple reuse previous generations DSLR technology. Not a lot needs to be spend to P&S as the technology already exists. DSLRs on the other hand always have to break new ground and that new technology is very costly and time consuming.